stolen from http://www.spychalski.de/recipe-6.html
A property file called test.properties in the classpath.
URL url = ClassLoader.getSystemResource("test.properties");
Properties p = new Properties();
p.load(new FileInputStream(new File(url.getFile())));
System.out.println(p.getProperty("my.property"));
Other method using classpath
It is best to put the properties file in the server's pre-made classpath. You will forget about changing the classpath later on and when you upgrade/change you will get frustrated :)
Anyway, the application's classpath starts in the WEB-INF/classes directory. If you put your propertied in there, the you could use
getClass().getClassLoader().getResourceAsStream(propertyFileName);
to get at it.
If you put it in the same directory as your class (in the class' package) then you could use
getClass().getResourceAsStream(propertyFileName);
Anyway, the application's classpath starts in the WEB-INF/classes directory. If you put your propertied in there, the you could use
getClass().getClassLoader().getResourceAsStream(propertyFileName);
to get at it.
If you put it in the same directory as your class (in the class' package) then you could use
getClass().getResourceAsStream(propertyFileName);