Loading a property file from the classpath (See related posts)

    private Properties getPropertiesFromClasspath(String propFileName) throws IOException {
        // loading xmlProfileGen.properties from the classpath
        Properties props = new Properties();
        InputStream inputStream = this.getClass().getClassLoader()
            .getResourceAsStream(propFileName);

        if (inputStream == null) {
            throw new FileNotFoundException("property file '" + propFileName
                + "' not found in the classpath");
        }

        props.load(inputStream);

        return props;
    }