Java - IOException: Failed to open file: Access denied

Question

I've been developing some software in Java that'll be distributed for use with Windows or MacOS. I'm programming on an iMac at the moment (because of the Apple specific requirements). The following method drags a helpfile (.pdf) out of resources and copies it locally so that it can be displayed on the local machine.

private void mHelpActionPerformed(java.awt.event.ActionEvent evt) {                                      
    String sourceFile = "resources/BRC2Help.pdf";
    String destFile = "brc2help.pdf";
    File f = new File (destFile);
    if (!f.exists()) {
            try {
            URL url = ClassLoader.getSystemResource(sourceFile) ;
            InputStream is = url.openStream();
            OutputStream os = new FileOutputStream(destFile);
            byte[] b = new byte[2048];
            int length;
            while ((length = is.read(b)) != -1) {
                os.write(b, 0, length);
            }
            is.close();
            os.close();
            System.out.printf("loaded pdf file from resources: %d bytes\n",f.length());
            } catch (IOException ex) {System.out.printf("loadPDF: %s\n",ex);}
    } else {
        System.out.printf("%s exists: %d bytes\n",destFile,f.length());
    }

    try {
        if (f.exists()) {
                f.setReadable(true);
                if (Desktop.isDesktopSupported()) {
                Desktop.getDesktop().open(f);
            } else {
                System.out.println("Awt Desktop is not supported!");
            }
        }
    } catch (Exception ex) {
        JOptionPane.showMessageDialog(this,
                String.format("%s\n",ex),
                "Helpfile Problem?",
                JOptionPane.ERROR_MESSAGE);
    }
}

This all works well enough on the Mac but gives an IOException on Windows 7:

java.io.IOException: Failed to open file:/C:/Program%20Files/BRC2/brc2help.pdf. Error message: Access denied.

Any idea what's going wrong here ? I've tried copying the .pdf file to other locations but the result is the same.

I've run into a very similar problem and it seems to have something to do with the space in the path name. Right now, I think it may be an issue with the JDK. It also happens with Desktop.open(), so maybe it's an issue with URI decoding. It works fine on Mac OS X. — Rob Heiser
– Rob Heiser, Commented Dec 6, 2012 at 1:06

HeatfanJohn · Accepted Answer · 2012-07-02 02:33:09Z

2

What is the working directory for the program when running on Windows? It is possible that the user context running the program doesn't have rights to write to c:\Program Files\.

You did not specify the path to the file so my assumption is that c:\program files\brc\ is the working directory while running the program. Since Windows Vista, you need to have full administration rights to be able to write to the Program Files and other directories.

Updated: 7/1/2012

Ok, I was able to stub out your program and run it as a main class and was able to have Desktop.getDesktop().open(f); open a PDF file on Windows 7. I manually put a PDF file into the bin directory where Eclipse compiled my class file to.

I now need to try moving the class file and pdf into a subdirectory of c:\program files\ and see if I get the access denied exception you receive.

Hum, I was able to get Desktop.getDesktop().open(f); open the PDF file when it was in c:\program files\test\, see my output below:

C:\Program Files\test>"\Program Files (x86)\Java\jre7\bin\java.exe" MyTestClass
brc2help.pdf exists: 943123 bytes

C:\Program Files\test>dir
 Volume in drive C is OS
 Volume Serial Number is 2035-793F

 Directory of C:\Program Files\test

07/01/2012  10:25 PM    <DIR>          .
07/01/2012  10:25 PM    <DIR>          ..
07/01/2012  09:55 PM           943,123 BRC2Help.pdf
07/01/2012  09:57 PM             2,391 MyTestClass.class
               2 File(s)        945,514 bytes
               2 Dir(s)  567,516,254,208 bytes free

What JRE are you using? Mine is java version "1.7.0_01" Java(TM) SE Runtime Environment (build 1.7.0_01-b08)

edited Jul 2, 2012 at 2:33

answered Jul 1, 2012 at 19:03

HeatfanJohn

7,3732 gold badges38 silver badges42 bronze badges

Sign up to request clarification or add additional context in comments.

8 Comments

user1494618 Over a year ago

The working directory is c:\Program Files\BRC\ Writing doesn't seem to be the problem; the .pdf file gets copied to the working directory well enough ... it just can't read it. I can double-click on the .pdf file and Adobe Reader displays it perfectly.

user1494618 Over a year ago

To clarify things a little ... the JAR file is first wrapped in a exe4j wrapper the the resulting executable wrapped in an Inno setup distribution wrapper. However, if I amble along to the source folder (on my Windows PC, copied from the Mac) and start the program with "java -jar BRC.jar" it does all the right things until I ask to view the .pdf ... when it fails in exactly the same way as above.

HeatfanJohn Over a year ago

@user1494618 Do you have any idea which of the lines of your code that you have pasted here are generating the exception? Since you say that the file is getting written to the directory, then is it Desktop.getDesktop().open(f); that leads to the exception?

user1494618 Over a year ago

I've just tried wrapping Desktop.getDesktop().open(f); in a try/catch block and yes, that's what's throwing the exception ... not much else it could be really.

HeatfanJohn Over a year ago

It's weird that you are able to write out then file, but then not be able to read from it. My recommendation is to figure out how to change your working directory on Windows to something other than c:\program files\... as I have see very restrictive behavior from Windows accessing files in c:\program files\... (although, typically I've only seen the inability to write to that directory unless you are administrator). Are you able to run your program using Windows "Run as administrator" option?

|

saada · Accepted Answer · 2012-07-01 19:28:05Z

0

I agree with HeatfanJohn, it is definitely a permission issue.

Try compiling your java code as Administrator from the command line. Simply run cmd.exe as Administrator and then try compiling/running again.

answered Jul 1, 2012 at 19:28

saada

2,8013 gold badges30 silver badges33 bronze badges

3 Comments

user1494618 Over a year ago

The problem is that I can't compile the code on my Windows PC because of all of the OSX-specific stuff in there - fiddling with the menu-bar, etc. - the libraries aren't available. Unless you know of a way that it can be done ...

user1494618 Over a year ago

If I look at the permissions relating to the .pdf file (that my app copied into the C:\Program Files\BRC\ directory) Windows says: SYSTEM: Full Control; Administrators:Full Control; Users: Read & execute ... and it's currently owned by Administrators (and me). Is that what you meant?

user1494618 Over a year ago

Two things bother me about the error message: (1) the '/' before the drive letter and (b) the '%20' representing the space between 'Program' and 'Files'. Are either of those things relevant do you think?

Pavel Sedek · Accepted Answer · 2014-12-06 23:28:13Z

0

I'm experiencing the same issue. Don't know the reason, but found a solution.

Runtime.getRuntime().exec("rundll32 SHELL32.DLL,ShellExec_RunDLL \"" + StringEscapeUtils.escapeJava(f.getAbsolutePath()) + "\"");

you should use this only if the Desktop method fails, because this is only for Windows.

answered Dec 6, 2014 at 23:28

Pavel Sedek

5295 silver badges13 bronze badges

Collectives™ on Stack Overflow

Java - IOException: Failed to open file: Access denied

3 Answers 3

8 Comments

3 Comments

Comments

Your Answer

Hot Network Questions

Collectives™ on Stack Overflow

3 Answers 3

8 Comments

3 Comments

Comments

Your Answer

Sign up or log in

Post as a guest

Related