Implemented fixes that apply to resource loading in the JFX Jar. Should now be launchable, configure loggers correctly, and be able to load embedded files. Added a FileLoader helper class to manage loading resources. Is not thread safe currently, but should be made so.

src/main/java/com/sothr/imagetools/App.java

@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 package com.sothr.imagetools;
 
 import com.sothr.imagetools.errors.ImageToolsException;
-import com.sothr.imagetools.ui.controller.AppController;
+import com.sothr.imagetools.util.FileLoader;
 import javafx.application.Application;
 import javafx.fxml.FXMLLoader;
 import javafx.scene.Parent;
@@ -13,6 +13,8 @@ import org.slf4j.LoggerFactory;
 
 import java.io.File;
 import java.io.IOException;
+import java.net.URISyntaxException;
+import java.net.URL;
 import java.util.Properties;
 
 /**
@@ -22,16 +24,27 @@ import java.util.Properties;
 public class App extends Application
 {
 
-    private static Logger logger = LoggerFactory.getLogger(App.class);
+    private static Logger logger;
 
     private static final String MAINGUI_FXML = "fxml/mainapp/MainApp.fxml";
 
     public static void main( String[] args )
     {
+        configLogging("./log4j.properties");
+        try {
+            //try to run the UI
+            launch(args);
+        } catch (Exception ex) {
+            logger.error("A fatal error has occurred: ", ex);
+            //show popup about the error to the user then exit
+        }
+    }
+
+    private static void configLogging(String propertiesLocation) {
         //Logging Config
-        File file = new File("log4j.properties");
+        File file = new File(propertiesLocation);
         if (file.exists()) {
-            PropertyConfigurator.configure("log4j.properties");
+            PropertyConfigurator.configure(propertiesLocation);
         } else {
             //Simple error logging configuration
             Properties defaultProps = new Properties();
@@ -45,22 +58,18 @@ public class App extends Application
             defaultProps.setProperty("log4j.appender.A1.layout.ConversionPattern","%d{yy-MM-dd HH:mm:ss} %-5p [%c{3.}] - %m%n");
             PropertyConfigurator.configure(defaultProps);
         }
+        logger = LoggerFactory.getLogger(App.class);
+    }
 
-        logger.info("Image-Tools is starting");
-
-        try {
-            //try to run the UI
-            launch(args);
-        } catch (Exception ex) {
-            logger.error("A fatal error has occurred: ", ex);
-            //show popup about the error to the user then exit
-        }
-
-        logger.info("Image-Tools is shutting down");
+    @Override
+    public void init() throws Exception{
+        configLogging("./log4j.properties");
+        super.init();
     }
 
     @Override
     public void start(Stage primaryStage) throws Exception {
+        logger.info("Image-Tools is starting");
         logger.info(String.format("Launching GUI with FXML file %s", MAINGUI_FXML));
         ClassLoader cl = this.getClass().getClassLoader();
         try {
@@ -85,4 +94,10 @@ public class App extends Application
             throw ite;
         }
     }
+
+    @Override
+    public void stop() throws Exception {
+        logger.info("Image-Tools is shutting down");
+        super.stop();
+    }
 }

src/main/java/com/sothr/imagetools/util/FileLoader.java

@@ -0,0 +1,27 @@
+package com.sothr.imagetools.util;
+
+import java.io.InputStream;
+import java.net.URL;
+
+/**
+ * Created by drew on 1/5/14.
+ */
+public class FileLoader {
+
+    private static final FileLoader instance = new FileLoader();
+
+    private FileLoader() {}
+
+    public static FileLoader get() {
+        return instance;
+    }
+
+    public URL getResource(String location) {
+        return Thread.currentThread().getContextClassLoader().getResource(location);
+    }
+
+    public InputStream getResourceStream(String location) {
+        return Thread.currentThread().getContextClassLoader().getResourceAsStream(location);
+    }
+
+}

src/main/scala/com/sothr/imagetools/ui/controller/AppController.scala

@@ -9,8 +9,9 @@ import javafx.scene.Scene
 import javafx.scene.Group
 import javafx.scene.text.Text
 import java.io.{IOException, File}
-import java.net.URL
 import java.util.Scanner
+import com.sothr.imagetools.util.FileLoader
+import java.net.URL
 
 /**
  * Created by drew on 12/31/13.
@@ -29,10 +30,7 @@ class AppController {
     logger.debug("Displaying about screen")
     var aboutMessage = "Simple About Message"
     try {
-      val cl = this.getClass.getClassLoader
-      val url  = cl.getResource("documents/about")
-      val uri = url.toURI
-      aboutMessage = new Scanner(new File(uri)).useDelimiter("\\A").next()
+      aboutMessage = new Scanner(FileLoader.get().getResourceStream("documents/about")).useDelimiter("\\A").next()
     } catch {
       case ioe:IOException =>
         logger.error("Unable to read about file")