JavaFX FXML 2.2 - Deploy Application with bitmaps - deployment

Question

I have searched a lot and tried several ways to do this, but am stumped. I am writing a desktop app (though I suppose it could also run in a browser) that allows an Android programmer to edit all of their dimens.xml files at once. I have created my own images to use in ImageViews as buttons. I am using different methods to access these images:
Some are referenced in the FXML file, like <Image url="#Icons/ic_launcher.png" />. The path is "src/Icons/". The path of the FXML file is "src/application/xxx,fxml".
Some are referenced in the css file, like "-fx-image:url("QuestionMark.png");". The css file and png file are in the same directory "src/MessageBox/"
Some are changed dynamically at runtime:
ImageView mButtonIcon = new ImageView("/insert_item_above.png");
The path of the image: src/
The path of the class: src/ContextMenuButton/
The above only works in Netbeans 7.4. None work when I run the app in Eclipse.
If I go to the dist/ directory and run it from any of the 3 methods, I see my images.
If I move the dist/ folder somewhere else, the only way I can get it to work is if I copy the src/ folder to the same directory and delete everything but the png and css files. So, I end up with:
+ F:/AndroidDimens
+ dist
xxx.jar
+ src
insert_item_above.png
+ Icons
ic_launcher.png
+ MessageBox
QuestionMark.png
So, the jar file has modified all of the paths to be relative to the src/ folder. My goal is to make the paths relative to where the jar file is. I tried to place the images where I would not need project related paths. But it must have made the paths something like "../src/MessageBox/QuestionMark.png" in the jar (relative to the project's dist/ folder).
Is there any way to fix this? Ideally, I would like all images to be in one directory. Then I could zip that directory, and someone else could just unzip it and run the app.
Thanks!
EDIT
Thanks to #jewelsea (in chat), I found that the problem was due to having an older version of JDK 7u13 installed with the latest one needed for JavaFX 2.2. Deleting the old version, and updating global variables that referenced it, solved the problem. No changes were needed to the default project settings.

Answer 1

Packaging Advice
Package all of your application's runtime class files and resources (fxml, css, png, etc) in the application jar file using the JavaFX packaging tools.
Using the JavaFX packaging tools is what NetBeans 7.4 does automatically during it's build process for JavaFX application projects.
Eclipse and other build environments will not use the JavaFX packaging tools automatically. I believe, if you use Eclipse with the recommended e(fx)clipse extension toolset for JavaFX development, then that toolset will, through its UI, provide you with the ability to use the JavaFX packaging tools to package your application.
There are 3rd party packaging alternatives for JavaFX such as the JavaFX Maven Plugin or the JavaFX Gradle Plugin which will also package your application correctly.
Whatever packaging tool you choose, test the packaging process by unzipping the files from your resultant jar and checking that all of the resource files (fxml, css, png, properties etc) are where you expect them to be in the jar's internal directory structure. This unzipping process is just a developer sanity check, you don't need to ask your end users do perform such an extraction.
Your end users can run your application as either an installed native application (JavaFX term self-contained application) or as a click to execute jar file (JavaFX term standalone program) and all of your application's resources will automatically be available from the packaged application, with no additional work required by the user.
Resource Access Advice
I advise not referring to a src path in your code (as you won't have a src path inside your distribution jar), css or fxml files, but instead refer to those paths relative to the root of the distribution jar or your JavaFX application class. For example, to load a scene style sheet in a JavaFX Application subclass, use a form as recommended by the JavaFX deployment guide - 3.3.4 Loading Resources:
scene.getStylesheets().
add(this.getClass().getResource("my.css").toExternalForm());