title: getResourceAsStream returns null inspite of using servletContext()
body: <p>This is a servlet that reads a .pdf and sends it as response. I don't understand why is it not working.</p>
  
  <pre><code>protected void doGet(HttpServletRequest request, HttpServletResponse response) throws ServletException, IOException {
          response.setContentType("application/pdf");
          ServletContext sc = this.getServletContext();
          String path = sc.getRealPath("/WEB-INF/pdf/order.pdf");
          System.out.print(path);// this prints correct path
          InputStream is = null;
          try{
              is = sc.getResourceAsStream(path); // this is not working
          }catch(Exception e){
              e.printStackTrace();
          }
          System.out.print(is);// it is null
          int read = 0;
          byte[] bytes = new byte[2048];
          OutputStream os = response.getOutputStream();
  
          try{
          while((read = is.read(bytes))!= -1){  //exception is thrown here
              os.write(bytes,0,read);
          }
          }catch(Exception e){
              e.printStackTrace();
          }
          os.flush();
          os.close();
        }
  </code></pre>
  
  <p>Can anyone explain why is it not working, ispite of using this.getServletContext().getRealPath("/WEB-INF/pdf/demo.pdf");</p>
  
  <p>here is  the stack trace:</p>
  
  <pre><code>2/21/13 14:24:21:322 IST] 00000033 SystemErr     R java.lang.NullPointerException
  [2/21/13 14:24:21:323 IST] 00000033 SystemErr     R     at com.tgmc.servlets.DisplayOrder_PDF_Servlet.doGet(DisplayOrder_PDF_Servlet.java:42)
  [2/21/13 14:24:21:323 IST] 00000033 SystemErr     R     at javax.servlet.http.HttpServlet.service(HttpServlet.java:718)
  [2/21/13 14:24:21:323 IST] 00000033 SystemErr     R     at javax.servlet.http.HttpServlet.service(HttpServlet.java:831)
  [2/21/13 14:24:21:323 IST] 00000033 SystemErr     R     at com.ibm.ws.webcontainer.servlet.ServletWrapper.service(ServletWrapper.java:1449)
  [2/21/13 14:24:21:323 IST] 00000033 SystemErr     R     at com.ibm.ws.webcontainer.servlet.ServletWrapper.handleRequest(ServletWrapper.java:790)
  [2/21/13 14:24:21:323 IST] 00000033 SystemErr     R     at com.ibm.ws.webcontainer.servlet.ServletWrapper.handleRequest(ServletWrapper.java:443)
  [2/21/13 14:24:21:323 IST] 00000033 SystemErr     R     at com.ibm.ws.webcontainer.servlet.ServletWrapperImpl.handleRequest(ServletWrapperImpl.java:175)
  [2/21/13 14:24:21:323 IST] 00000033 SystemErr     R     at com.ibm.ws.webcontainer.webapp.WebApp.handleRequest(WebApp.java:3610)
  [2/21/13 14:24:21:323 IST] 00000033 SystemErr     R     at com.ibm.ws.webcontainer.webapp.WebGroup.handleRequest(WebGroup.java:274)
  [2/21/13 14:24:21:324 IST] 00000033 SystemErr     R     at com.ibm.ws.webcontainer.WebContainer.handleRequest(WebContainer.java:926)
  [2/21/13 14:24:21:324 IST] 00000033 SystemErr     R     at com.ibm.ws.webcontainer.WSWebContainer.handleRequest(WSWebContainer.java:1557)
  [2/21/13 14:24:21:324 IST] 00000033 SystemErr     R     at com.ibm.ws.webcontainer.channel.WCChannelLink.ready(WCChannelLink.java:173)
  [2/21/13 14:24:21:324 IST] 00000033 SystemErr     R     at com.ibm.ws.http.channel.inbound.impl.HttpInboundLink.handleDiscrimination(HttpInboundLink.java:455)
  [2/21/13 14:24:21:324 IST] 00000033 SystemErr     R     at com.ibm.ws.http.channel.inbound.impl.HttpInboundLink.handleNewInformation(HttpInboundLink.java:384)
  [2/21/13 14:24:21:324 IST] 00000033 SystemErr     R     at com.ibm.ws.http.channel.inbound.impl.HttpInboundLink.ready(HttpInboundLink.java:288)
  [2/21/13 14:24:21:324 IST] 00000033 SystemErr     R     at com.ibm.ws.ssl.channel.impl.SSLConnectionLink.determineNextChannel(SSLConnectionLink.java:1016)
  [2/21/13 14:24:21:324 IST] 00000033 SystemErr     R     at com.ibm.ws.ssl.channel.impl.SSLConnectionLink$MyReadCompletedCallback.complete(SSLConnectionLink.java:639)
  [2/21/13 14:24:21:324 IST] 00000033 SystemErr     R     at com.ibm.ws.ssl.channel.impl.SSLReadServiceContext$SSLReadCompletedCallback.complete(SSLReadServiceContext.java:1772)
  [2/21/13 14:24:21:324 IST] 00000033 SystemErr     R     at com.ibm.ws.tcp.channel.impl.AioReadCompletionListener.futureCompleted(AioReadCompletionListener.java:165)
  [2/21/13 14:24:21:324 IST] 00000033 SystemErr     R     at com.ibm.io.async.AbstractAsyncFuture.invokeCallback(AbstractAsyncFuture.java:217)
  [2/21/13 14:24:21:325 IST] 00000033 SystemErr     R     at com.ibm.io.async.AsyncChannelFuture.fireCompletionActions(AsyncChannelFuture.java:161)
  [2/21/13 14:24:21:325 IST] 00000033 SystemErr     R     at com.ibm.io.async.AsyncFuture.completed(AsyncFuture.java:138)
  [2/21/13 14:24:21:325 IST] 00000033 SystemErr     R     at com.ibm.io.async.ResultHandler.complete(ResultHandler.java:202)
  [2/21/13 14:24:21:325 IST] 00000033 SystemErr     R     at com.ibm.io.async.ResultHandler.runEventProcessingLoop(ResultHandler.java:766)
  [2/21/13 14:24:21:325 IST] 00000033 SystemErr     R     at com.ibm.io.async.ResultHandler$2.run(ResultHandler.java:896)
  [2/21/13 14:24:21:325 IST] 00000033 SystemErr     R     at com.ibm.ws.util.ThreadPool$Worker.run(ThreadPool.java:1527)
  </code></pre>