Can you set the current running directory from the

Question

I am running a Java application from the command line. Can I specify a command line argument to set the current running directory to something other than where the application is actually going to run?

Answer 1

There is a JVM argument -Duser.dir which can be used to set working directory for JVM.

Answer 2

I found this SO post and it helped me solve my problem. Though I wanted to share something specific about IntelliJ that might trip somebody else up.

I have posted a picture below where the -Duser.dir flag is used and also the Working Directory text field is filled in.

In this situation, the Working Directory will be set to "JarLearning" rather than "2ndTry".

Answer 3

If it all possible I would rather use a script to run the java application and set the directory in the script:

#!/bin/sh
cd <your dir>
java <some arguments>

The JNI-solution may affect all kinds of relative paths in your application; for examples the classpath you put in.

Answer 4

If you want to change the current directory, you'll have to use JNI and invoke a native API from your Java code. For example, for Windows you would use SetCurrentDirectory