How to load properties files in Oracle's Weblogic 11G

PropertiesLoader propertiesLoader = new PropertiesLoader(propertiesFileName);
if (propertiesLoader.thePropertiesFileExists()) {
System.out.println("Properties file exists: " + propertiesFileName);
} else { ... }


String serverName = propertiesLoader.getProperty("serverName");


...


And the properties loader class:

package alan.lupsha.properties;

import org.apache.log4j.Logger;
import java.util.Properties;
import java.io.InputStream;

public class PropertiesLoader {
    private static final Logger logger = Logger.getLogger(PropertiesLoader.class);

    private Properties props = null;
    private String propertiesFileName = null;
    private boolean propertiesFileExists = false;

    public PropertiesLoader(String propertiesFileName) {
        this.propertiesFileName = propertiesFileName;
        try {
            props = new Properties();
            ClassLoader cl = this.getClass().getClassLoader();
            // does not work in 11G: java.net.URL url = cl.getResource(propertiesFileName);

            InputStream in = cl.getResourceAsStream( propertiesFileName );
            if( in != null )
            {
                props.load(in);
                setPropertiesFileExists(true);
            }
            else
            {
                logger.warn("InputStream is null while trying to load properties file: " + propertiesFileName );
            }
        } catch (Exception e) {
            logger.error("Error while loading properties from file "
                    + propertiesFileName + ". Error is: " + e.toString());
            System.out.println("Error while loading properties from file "
                    + propertiesFileName + ". Error is: " + e.toString());
        }
    }

    public String getProperty(String propertyName) {
        String returnStr = "";
        if (props == null) {
            logger.error("Sorry, your props file couldn't be loaded: " + propertiesFileName);
        } else {
            returnStr = props.getProperty(propertyName);
            if (returnStr == null) {
                returnStr = "";
            }
        }
        return returnStr;
    }

    public void setPropertiesFileExists(boolean propertiesFileExists) {
        this.propertiesFileExists = propertiesFileExists;
    }

    public boolean thePropertiesFileExists() {
        return propertiesFileExists;
    }
}