Load a file from src folder into a reader

I would like to know how can I load a file lol.txt from src folder into my close method. The code so far:

              public void close() throws IOException {
        boolean loadFromClasspath = true;
        String fileName = "..."; // provide an absolute path here to be sure that file is found
        BufferedReader reader = null;
        try {

            if (loadFromClasspath) {
                // loading from classpath
                // see the link above for more options
                InputStream in = getClass().getClassLoader().getResourceAsStream("lol.txt"); 
                reader = new BufferedReader(new InputStreamReader(in));
            } else {
                // load from file system
                reader = new BufferedReader(new FileReader(new File(fileName)));
            }

            String line = null;
            while ( (line = reader.readLine()) != null) {
                // do something with the line here
                System.out.println("Line read: " + line);
            }
        } catch (IOException e) {
            JOptionPane.showMessageDialog(null,e.getMessage()+" for lol.txt","File Error",JOptionPane.ERROR_MESSAGE);
        } finally {
            if (reader != null) {
                reader.close();  
            }
        }
    }

Console error output on initiation:

Exception in thread "AWT-EventQueue-0" java.lang.NullPointerException
at java.io.Reader.<init>(Unknown Source)
at java.io.InputStreamReader.<init>(Unknown Source)
at main.main.close(main.java:191)
at main.main$1.windowClosing(main.java:24)
at java.awt.Window.processWindowEvent(Unknown Source)
at javax.swing.JFrame.processWindowEvent(Unknown Source)
at java.awt.Window.processEvent(Unknown Source)
at java.awt.Component.dispatchEventImpl(Unknown Source)
at java.awt.Container.dispatchEventImpl(Unknown Source)
at java.awt.Window.dispatchEventImpl(Unknown Source)
at java.awt.Component.dispatchEvent(Unknown Source)
at java.awt.EventQueue.dispatchEventImpl(Unknown Source)
at java.awt.EventQueue.access$000(Unknown Source)
at java.awt.EventQueue$3.run(Unknown Source)
at java.awt.EventQueue$3.run(Unknown Source)
at java.security.AccessController.doPrivileged(Native Method)
at java.security.ProtectionDomain$1.doIntersectionPrivilege(Unknown Source)
at java.security.ProtectionDomain$1.doIntersectionPrivilege(Unknown Source)
at java.awt.EventQueue$4.run(Unknown Source)
at java.awt.EventQueue$4.run(Unknown Source)
at java.security.AccessController.doPrivileged(Native Method)
at java.security.ProtectionDomain$1.doIntersectionPrivilege(Unknown Source)
at java.awt.EventQueue.dispatchEvent(Unknown Source)
at java.awt.EventDispatchThread.pumpOneEventForFilters(Unknown Source)
at java.awt.EventDispatchThread.pumpEventsForFilter(Unknown Source)
at java.awt.EventDispatchThread.pumpEventsForHierarchy(Unknown Source)
at java.awt.EventDispatchThread.pumpEvents(Unknown Source)
at java.awt.EventDispatchThread.pumpEvents(Unknown Source)
at java.awt.EventDispatchThread.run(Unknown Source)

Answer

If you like to load the file from inside a jar file (i.e. from classpath) please see this answer for more options on how to get an InputStream. In the code below I have left-out exception handling and removed your Random related code.

public void close() {
    boolean loadFromClasspath = true;
    String fileName = "..."; // provide an absolute path here to be sure that file is found
    BufferedReader reader = null;
    try {
        
        if (loadFromClasspath) {
            // loading from classpath
            // see the link above for more options
            InputStream in = getClass().getClassLoader().getResourceAsStream("absolute/path/to/file/inside/jar/lol.txt"); 
            reader = new BufferedReader(new InputStreamReader(in));
        } else {
            // load from file system
            reader = new BufferedReader(new FileReader(new File(fileName)));
        }

        String line = null;
        while ( (line = reader.readLine()) != null) {
            // do something with the line here
            System.out.println("Line read: " + line);
        }
    } catch (IOException e) {
        JOptionPane.showMessageDialog(null,e.getMessage()+" for lol.txt","File Error",JOptionPane.ERROR_MESSAGE);
    } finally {
        if (reader != null) {
            reader.close();  
        }
    }
}

Edit: It seems that you are either doing something wrong with your folder structure or you are using a wrong package/file name. Just to be clear. At the moment you seem to have a class called main under a main package. Your folder structure should be something like this:

+ src/
   + main/
      main.java
      lol.txt

When you compile, your lol.txt file (btw those are lowercase L’s not the digit 1 right?) should be copied under /bin/main/ folder

If this is the case then use the code like this: InputStream in = getClass().getClassLoader().getResourceAsStream("main/lol.txt");

If your folder structure is different please change accordingly