setting file paths

Is there any way I can programmatically tell java.io classes to assume that file paths are within the source file directory? I'm asking because the sdk does this by default but, by running in debug directories, NetBeans changes this.
[248 byte] By [xwingk] at [2007-9-30 9:01:42]
# 1
If you get a file via Class.getResource() or Class.getResourceAsStream() it will find the file in the class path. The file can even be inside a jar file.
Peter-Lawrey at 2007-7-2 20:53:24 > top of Java-index,Administration Tools,Sun Connection...