java.nio.file.WatchEvent gives me only relative path. How can I get the absolute path of the modified file?
You need to get the parent directory from the WatchKey to resolve the full path
WatchKey key;
WatchEvent<Path> event;
Path dir = (Path)key.watchable();
Path fullPath = dir.resolve(event.context());
This piece of code reads like it needs accompanying documentation to be grasped, it makes little sense on its own. What were their intentions with this particular API design?
And this is only the beginning of possibly unintuitive usage. Java's file watcher API is subjectively inferior to alternative libraries.
Granted that you'll want to watch multiple directories (e.g. monitoring a file tree for change) storing the registered WatchKey
and it's associated Path
in a Map<WatchKey, Path>
would also be a viable solution.
When an event is triggered the Map
could be asked for the associated Path
with the given WatchKey
and then the Path
of the changed file could be resolved with the help of the Path
the WatchKey
is associated with.