diff --git a/uimaj-core/pom.xml b/uimaj-core/pom.xml
index 1b7d8ab..df15e98 100644
--- a/uimaj-core/pom.xml
+++ b/uimaj-core/pom.xml
@@ -37,6 +37,7 @@
     <uimaScmProject>${project.artifactId}</uimaScmProject>
     <postNoticeText>${ibmNoticeText}</postNoticeText>
     <maven.surefire.heap>650M</maven.surefire.heap>
+    <junit-version>5.9.1</junit-version>
   </properties>
   
 	<dependencies>
@@ -53,6 +54,18 @@
 			<version>${project.parent.version}</version>
 			<scope>test</scope>
 		</dependency>
+    <dependency>
+      <groupId>org.junit.jupiter</groupId>
+      <artifactId>junit-jupiter-engine</artifactId>
+      <version>${junit-version}</version>
+      <scope>test</scope>
+    </dependency>
+    <dependency>
+      <groupId>org.junit.jupiter</groupId>
+      <artifactId>junit-jupiter-params</artifactId>
+      <version>${junit-version}</version>
+      <scope>test</scope>
+    </dependency>
 		<dependency>
 			<groupId>org.assertj</groupId>
 			<artifactId>assertj-core</artifactId>
diff --git a/uimaj-core/src/main/java/org/apache/uima/pear/util/FileUtil.java b/uimaj-core/src/main/java/org/apache/uima/pear/util/FileUtil.java
index f9dc130..50a8ff9 100644
--- a/uimaj-core/src/main/java/org/apache/uima/pear/util/FileUtil.java
+++ b/uimaj-core/src/main/java/org/apache/uima/pear/util/FileUtil.java
@@ -39,6 +39,9 @@
 import java.net.MalformedURLException;
 import java.net.URL;
 import java.net.URLConnection;
+import java.nio.charset.Charset;
+import java.nio.file.CopyOption;
+import java.nio.file.Path;
 import java.util.ArrayList;
 import java.util.Collection;
 import java.util.Comparator;
@@ -55,11 +58,22 @@
 import java.util.zip.ZipEntry;
 import java.util.zip.ZipOutputStream;
 
+import org.apache.uima.util.impl.Constants;
+
 /**
  * The <code>FileUtil</code> class provides utility methods for working with general files.
  */
-
 public class FileUtil {
+  private static final char DOT = '.';
+  private static final String UTF8_ENCODING = "UTF-8";
+  private static final String ASCII_ENCODING = "ASCII";
+  private static final String XML_EXTENSION = DOT + "xml";
+  private static final String BACKUP_EXTENSION = DOT + "bak";
+  private static final String ZIP_EXTENSION = DOT + "zip";
+  private static final char UNIX_SEPARATOR_CHAR = '/';
+  private static final char WINDOWS_SEPARATOR_CHAR = '\\';
+  private static final String UNIX_SEPARATOR = String.valueOf(UNIX_SEPARATOR_CHAR);
+  private static final String WINDOWS_SEPARATOR = String.valueOf(WINDOWS_SEPARATOR_CHAR);
 
   /**
    * The <code>FileTimeComparator</code> class allows comparing 'last modified' time in 2 given
@@ -73,6 +87,7 @@
      *           if the arguments' types prevent them from being compared by this
      *           <code>Comparator</code>.
      */
+    @Override
     public int compare(File o1, File o2) throws ClassCastException {
       long t1 = o1.lastModified();
       long t2 = o2.lastModified();
@@ -83,9 +98,9 @@
      * @param obj
      *          The reference object with which to compare.
      * @return <code>true</code> only if the specified object is also a
-     *         <code>FileTimeComparator</code>, and it imposes the same ordering as this
-     *         comparator.
+     *         <code>FileTimeComparator</code>, and it imposes the same ordering as this comparator.
      */
+    @Override
     public boolean equals(Object obj) {
       return (obj instanceof FileTimeComparator);
     }
@@ -110,25 +125,28 @@
      *          The given file extension.
      */
     public DirFileFilter(String dirPath, String fileExt) {
-      _dirPath = (dirPath != null) ? dirPath.replace('\\', '/') : null;
-      if (fileExt != null)
+      _dirPath = (dirPath != null) ? dirPath.replace(WINDOWS_SEPARATOR_CHAR, UNIX_SEPARATOR_CHAR)
+              : null;
+      if (fileExt != null) {
         _fileExt = fileExt.startsWith(".") ? fileExt.toLowerCase() : "." + fileExt.toLowerCase();
-      else
+      } else {
         _fileExt = null;
+      }
     }
 
     /**
      * @param file
      *          The given file to be tested.
-     * @return <code>true</code> if the given file should be accepted, <code>false</code>
-     *         otherwise.
+     * @return <code>true</code> if the given file should be accepted, <code>false</code> otherwise.
      */
+    @Override
     public boolean accept(File file) {
       boolean dirAccepted = true;
       boolean extAccepted = true;
       if (_dirPath != null) {
         String parentDir = file.getParent();
-        dirAccepted = parentDir != null && parentDir.replace('\\', '/').startsWith(_dirPath);
+        dirAccepted = parentDir != null && parentDir
+                .replace(WINDOWS_SEPARATOR_CHAR, UNIX_SEPARATOR_CHAR).startsWith(_dirPath);
       }
       if (_fileExt != null) {
         extAccepted = file.getPath().toLowerCase().endsWith(_fileExt);
@@ -139,7 +157,6 @@
 
   /**
    * The <code>NameFileFilter</code> class allows to filter files based on specified file name.
-   * 
    */
   public static class NameFileFilter implements FileFilter {
     // attributes
@@ -152,24 +169,26 @@
      *          The given file name for filtering.
      */
     public NameFileFilter(String fileName) {
-      _fileName = fileName.replace('\\', '/');
+      _fileName = fileName.replace(WINDOWS_SEPARATOR_CHAR, UNIX_SEPARATOR_CHAR);
     }
 
     /**
      * @param file
      *          The given file to be tested.
-     * @return <code>true</code> if the given file should be accepted, <code>false</code>
-     *         otherwise.
+     * @return <code>true</code> if the given file should be accepted, <code>false</code> otherwise.
      */
+    @Override
     public boolean accept(File file) {
-      String filePath = file.getAbsolutePath().replace('\\', '/');
+      String filePath = file.getAbsolutePath().replace(WINDOWS_SEPARATOR_CHAR, UNIX_SEPARATOR_CHAR);
       if (filePath.endsWith(_fileName)) {
         if (filePath.length() > _fileName.length()) {
           char prevChar = filePath.charAt(filePath.length() - _fileName.length() - 1);
-          if (prevChar == ':' || prevChar == '/')
+          if (prevChar == ':' || prevChar == UNIX_SEPARATOR_CHAR) {
             return true;
-        } else
+          }
+        } else {
           return true;
+        }
       }
       return false;
     }
@@ -199,8 +218,8 @@
     }
 
     /**
-     * Create instance of the <code>ExtFileFilter</code> class for a given filename extension. If
-     * a given <code>boolean</code> flag is <code>true</code>, this filename filter is case
+     * Create instance of the <code>ExtFileFilter</code> class for a given filename extension. If a
+     * given <code>boolean</code> flag is <code>true</code>, this filename filter is case
      * insensitive, otherwise it's case sensitive. If the given filename extension does not start
      * from the '.' character, adds this character at the beginning.
      * 
@@ -212,8 +231,9 @@
     public ExtFilenameFilter(String fileExt, boolean ignoreCase) {
       _fileExt = fileExt.startsWith(".") ? fileExt : "." + fileExt;
       _ignoreCase = ignoreCase;
-      if (ignoreCase)
+      if (ignoreCase) {
         _fileExt = _fileExt.toLowerCase();
+      }
     }
 
     /**
@@ -226,6 +246,7 @@
      * @return <code>true</code>, if the given file should be included in the list,
      *         <code>false</code> otherwise.
      */
+    @Override
     public boolean accept(File dir, String name) {
       String fileName = _ignoreCase ? name.toLowerCase() : name;
       return fileName.endsWith(_fileExt);
@@ -234,8 +255,8 @@
 
   /**
    * Deletes all files and subdirectories in a given directory. In case of unsuccessful deletion,
-   * calls the <code>deleteOnExit()</code> method to request that files and subdirs are deleted
-   * when the JVM terminates.
+   * calls the <code>deleteOnExit()</code> method to request that files and subdirs are deleted when
+   * the JVM terminates.
    * 
    * @param directory
    *          The given directory to be cleaned-up.
@@ -251,15 +272,17 @@
         File aFile = allDirFiles[i];
         if (aFile.isDirectory()) {
           counter += cleanUpDirectoryContent(aFile);
-          if (aFile.delete())
+          if (aFile.delete()) {
             counter++;
-          else
+          } else {
             aFile.deleteOnExit();
+          }
         } else if (aFile.isFile()) {
-          if (aFile.delete())
+          if (aFile.delete()) {
             counter++;
-          else
+          } else {
             aFile.deleteOnExit();
+          }
         }
       }
     }
@@ -283,10 +306,11 @@
       for (int i = 0; i < allDirFiles.length; i++) {
         File aFile = allDirFiles[i];
         if (aFile.isFile()) {
-          if (aFile.delete())
+          if (aFile.delete()) {
             counter++;
-          else
+          } else {
             aFile.deleteOnExit();
+          }
         }
       }
     }
@@ -317,16 +341,25 @@
         File file = list.next();
         no++;
         if (no > maxLimit) {
-          if (file.delete())
+          if (file.delete()) {
             counter++;
-          else
+          } else {
             file.deleteOnExit();
+          }
         }
       }
     }
     return counter;
   }
 
+  private static String normalizeToUnix(String aPath) {
+    if (aPath == null) {
+      return null;
+    }
+
+    return aPath.replace(WINDOWS_SEPARATOR_CHAR, UNIX_SEPARATOR_CHAR);
+  }
+
   /**
    * Computes relative path to a given file from a given reference directory, if both the reference
    * directory and the file are in the same logical file system (partition).
@@ -343,25 +376,26 @@
    */
   public static String computeRelativePath(File referenceDir, File file) throws IOException {
     // get canonical path expressions
-    String refPath = referenceDir.getCanonicalPath().replace('\\', '/');
-    String filePath = file.getCanonicalPath().replace('\\', '/');
+    String refPath = normalizeToUnix(referenceDir.getCanonicalPath());
+    String filePath = normalizeToUnix(file.getCanonicalPath());
     // compute relative path from reference dir to file dir-tree
     StringBuffer relBuffer = new StringBuffer();
     while (refPath != null && !filePath.startsWith(refPath)) {
       relBuffer.append("../");
-      refPath = (new File(refPath)).getParent();
-      if (refPath != null)
-        refPath = refPath.replace('\\', '/');
+      refPath = normalizeToUnix((new File(refPath)).getParent());
     }
+
     if (refPath != null) {
       // construct relative path
       String subPath = filePath.substring(refPath.length());
-      if (relBuffer.length() == 0)
+      if (relBuffer.length() == 0) {
         relBuffer.append("./");
-      if (subPath.startsWith("/"))
+      }
+      if (subPath.startsWith("/")) {
         relBuffer.append(subPath.substring(1));
-      else
+      } else {
         relBuffer.append(subPath);
+      }
       return relBuffer.toString();
     }
     // relative path does not exist
@@ -379,37 +413,20 @@
    *         otherwise.
    * @throws IOException
    *           If any I/O exception occurred.
+   * @deprecated use Java 7 for this see {@link java.nio.file.Files#copy(Path, Path, CopyOption...)}
    */
+  @Deprecated
   public static boolean copyFile(File source, File destination) throws IOException {
-    boolean completed = false;
-    BufferedInputStream iStream = null;
-    BufferedOutputStream oStream = null;
-    try {
-      iStream = new BufferedInputStream(new FileInputStream(source));
-      oStream = new BufferedOutputStream(new FileOutputStream(destination));
+    try (BufferedInputStream iStream = new BufferedInputStream(new FileInputStream(source));
+            BufferedOutputStream oStream = new BufferedOutputStream(
+                    new FileOutputStream(destination))) {
       byte[] block = new byte[4096];
       int bCount = 0;
       while ((bCount = iStream.read(block)) > 0) {
         oStream.write(block, 0, bCount);
       }
-      iStream.close();
-      oStream.close();
-      completed = true;
-    } finally {
-      if (iStream != null) {
-        try {
-          iStream.close();
-        } catch (Exception e) {
-        }
-      }
-      if (oStream != null) {
-        try {
-          oStream.close();
-        } catch (Exception e) {
-        }
-      }
     }
-    return completed;
+    return true;
   }
 
   /**
@@ -423,37 +440,21 @@
    *         otherwise.
    * @throws IOException
    *           If any I/O exception occurred.
+   * @deprecated use Java 7 for this see
+   *             {@link java.nio.file.Files#copy(InputStream, Path, CopyOption...)}
    */
+  @Deprecated
   public static boolean copyFile(URL sourceUrl, File destination) throws IOException {
-    boolean completed = false;
-    BufferedInputStream iStream = null;
-    BufferedOutputStream oStream = null;
-    try {
-      iStream = new BufferedInputStream(sourceUrl.openStream());
-      oStream = new BufferedOutputStream(new FileOutputStream(destination));
+    try (BufferedInputStream iStream = new BufferedInputStream(sourceUrl.openStream());
+            BufferedOutputStream oStream = new BufferedOutputStream(
+                    new FileOutputStream(destination))) {
       byte[] block = new byte[4096];
       int bCount = 0;
       while ((bCount = iStream.read(block)) > 0) {
         oStream.write(block, 0, bCount);
       }
-      iStream.close();
-      oStream.close();
-      completed = true;
-    } finally {
-      if (iStream != null) {
-        try {
-          iStream.close();
-        } catch (Exception e) {
-        }
-      }
-      if (oStream != null) {
-        try {
-          oStream.close();
-        } catch (Exception e) {
-        }
-      }
     }
-    return completed;
+    return true;
   }
 
   /**
@@ -461,8 +462,8 @@
    * 
    * @param rootDir
    *          The given root directory.
-   * @return <code>Collection</code> of <code>File</code> objects, representing subdirectories
-   *         in the given root directory and all its subdirectories.
+   * @return <code>Collection</code> of <code>File</code> objects, representing subdirectories in
+   *         the given root directory and all its subdirectories.
    * 
    * @throws java.io.IOException
    *           If any I/O exception occurs.
@@ -472,12 +473,12 @@
   }
 
   /**
-   * Creates list of subdirectories in a given root directory. If a given <code>boolean</code>
-   * flag is <code>true</code>, all the subdirectories of the given root directory are also
-   * scanned, otherwise only subdirectories in the given root directory are included.
+   * Creates list of subdirectories in a given root directory. If a given <code>boolean</code> flag
+   * is <code>true</code>, all the subdirectories of the given root directory are also scanned,
+   * otherwise only subdirectories in the given root directory are included.
    * 
-   * @return <code>Collection</code> of <code>File</code> objects, representing subdirectories
-   *         in the given root directory.
+   * @return <code>Collection</code> of <code>File</code> objects, representing subdirectories in
+   *         the given root directory.
    * @param rootDir
    *          The given root directory.
    * @param includeSubdirs
@@ -488,17 +489,20 @@
    * @exception java.io.IOException
    *              If any I/O exception occurs.
    */
-  public static Collection<File> createDirList(File rootDir, boolean includeSubdirs) throws IOException {
-    ArrayList<File> listOfDirs = new ArrayList<File>();
+  public static Collection<File> createDirList(File rootDir, boolean includeSubdirs)
+          throws IOException {
+    ArrayList<File> listOfDirs = new ArrayList<>();
     File[] allDirFiles = rootDir.listFiles();
-    if (allDirFiles == null)
+    if (allDirFiles == null) {
       throw new FileNotFoundException("invalid directory specified");
+    }
     for (int i = 0; i < allDirFiles.length; i++) {
       File aFile = allDirFiles[i];
       if (aFile.isDirectory()) {
         listOfDirs.add(aFile);
-        if (includeSubdirs)
+        if (includeSubdirs) {
           listOfDirs.addAll(createDirList(aFile, includeSubdirs));
+        }
       }
     }
     return listOfDirs;
@@ -511,15 +515,15 @@
    * 
    * @param archive
    *          The input archive (JAR) file.
-   * @return <code>Collection</code> of <code>File</code> objects, representing directories in
-   *         the given archive file.
+   * @return <code>Collection</code> of <code>File</code> objects, representing directories in the
+   *         given archive file.
    * @throws IOException
    *           If any I/O exception occurs.
    */
   public static Collection<File> createDirList(JarFile archive) throws IOException {
-    ArrayList<File> listOfDirs = new ArrayList<File>();
+    ArrayList<File> listOfDirs = new ArrayList<>();
     // set root_dir_path = archive_file_path (w/o file name extension)
-    int nameEndIndex = archive.getName().lastIndexOf('.');
+    int nameEndIndex = archive.getName().lastIndexOf(DOT);
     String rootDirPath = (nameEndIndex > 0) ? archive.getName().substring(0, nameEndIndex)
             : archive.getName();
     File rootDir = new File(rootDirPath);
@@ -528,14 +532,15 @@
     while (entries.hasMoreElements()) {
       JarEntry entry = entries.nextElement();
       File file = new File(rootDir, entry.getName());
-      if (entry.isDirectory())
+      if (entry.isDirectory()) {
         listOfDirs.add(file);
-      else {
+      } else {
         // make sure the parent dir is added
         File parentDir = file.getParentFile();
         while (!parentDir.equals(rootDir)) {
-          if (!listOfDirs.contains(parentDir))
+          if (!listOfDirs.contains(parentDir)) {
             listOfDirs.add(parentDir);
+          }
           parentDir = parentDir.getParentFile();
         }
       }
@@ -546,8 +551,8 @@
   /**
    * Creates list of files in a given directory, including all its subdirectories.
    * 
-   * @return <code>Collection</code> of <code>File</code> objects in the given directory,
-   *         including all its subdirectories.
+   * @return <code>Collection</code> of <code>File</code> objects in the given directory, including
+   *         all its subdirectories.
    * @param filesDir
    *          The given directory.
    * 
@@ -560,8 +565,8 @@
 
   /**
    * Creates list of files in a given directory. If a given <code>boolean</code> flag is
-   * <code>true</code>, all the sub-directories of the given directory are also scanned,
-   * otherwise only files in the given directory are included.
+   * <code>true</code>, all the sub-directories of the given directory are also scanned, otherwise
+   * only files in the given directory are included.
    * 
    * @return <code>Collection</code> of <code>File</code> objects in the given directory.
    * @param filesDir
@@ -574,17 +579,20 @@
    * @exception java.io.IOException
    *              If any I/O exception occurs.
    */
-  public static Collection<File> createFileList(File filesDir, boolean includeSubdirs) throws IOException {
-    ArrayList<File> listOfFiles = new ArrayList<File>();
+  public static Collection<File> createFileList(File filesDir, boolean includeSubdirs)
+          throws IOException {
+    ArrayList<File> listOfFiles = new ArrayList<>();
     File[] allDirFiles = filesDir.listFiles();
-    if (allDirFiles == null)
+    if (allDirFiles == null) {
       throw new FileNotFoundException("invalid directory specified");
+    }
     for (int i = 0; i < allDirFiles.length; i++) {
       File aFile = allDirFiles[i];
-      if (aFile.isDirectory() && includeSubdirs)
+      if (aFile.isDirectory() && includeSubdirs) {
         listOfFiles.addAll(createFileList(aFile, includeSubdirs));
-      else if (!aFile.isDirectory())
+      } else if (!aFile.isDirectory()) {
         listOfFiles.add(aFile);
+      }
     }
     return listOfFiles;
   }
@@ -595,15 +603,15 @@
    * 
    * @param archive
    *          The input archive (JAR) file.
-   * @return <code>Collection</code> of <code>File</code> objects, representing files in the
-   *         given archive file.
+   * @return <code>Collection</code> of <code>File</code> objects, representing files in the given
+   *         archive file.
    * @throws IOException
    *           If any I/O exception occurs.
    */
   public static Collection<File> createFileList(JarFile archive) throws IOException {
-    ArrayList<File> listOfFiles = new ArrayList<File>();
+    ArrayList<File> listOfFiles = new ArrayList<>();
     // set root_dir_path = archive_file_path (w/o file name extension)
-    int nameEndIndex = archive.getName().lastIndexOf('.');
+    int nameEndIndex = archive.getName().lastIndexOf(DOT);
     String rootDirPath = (nameEndIndex > 0) ? archive.getName().substring(0, nameEndIndex)
             : archive.getName();
     File rootDir = new File(rootDirPath);
@@ -612,8 +620,9 @@
     while (entries.hasMoreElements()) {
       JarEntry entry = entries.nextElement();
       File file = new File(rootDir, entry.getName());
-      if (!entry.isDirectory())
+      if (!entry.isDirectory()) {
         listOfFiles.add(file);
+      }
     }
     return listOfFiles;
   }
@@ -632,24 +641,30 @@
    * @return The <code>File</code> object denoting the newly created file.
    * @throws IOException
    *           If a temporary directory not found or other I/O exception occurred.
+   * @deprecated use Java 7 method for this see
+   *             {@link java.io.File#createTempFile(String, String, File)}
    */
+  @Deprecated
   public static File createTempFile(String prefix, String suffix) throws IOException {
     String tempDirPath = System.getProperty("java.io.tmpdir");
-    if (tempDirPath == null)
+    if (tempDirPath == null) {
       tempDirPath = System.getProperty("user.home");
-    if (tempDirPath == null)
+    }
+    if (tempDirPath == null) {
       throw new IOException("could not find temporary directory");
+    }
     File tempDir = new File(tempDirPath);
-    if (!tempDir.isDirectory())
+    if (!tempDir.isDirectory()) {
       throw new IOException("temporary directory not available");
+    }
     return File.createTempFile(prefix, suffix, tempDir);
   }
 
   /**
    * Deletes a given directory, including all its subdirectories and files. Returns
-   * <code>true</code> if the deletion was successful, otherwise returns <code>false</code>. In
-   * case of unsuccessful deletion, calls <code>deleteOnExit()</code> method to request that files
-   * and subdirs be deleted when the virtual machine terminates.
+   * <code>true</code> if the deletion was successful, otherwise returns <code>false</code>. In case
+   * of unsuccessful deletion, calls <code>deleteOnExit()</code> method to request that files and
+   * subdirs be deleted when the virtual machine terminates.
    * 
    * @param dir
    *          The given directory to be deleted.
@@ -664,9 +679,9 @@
     // first, delete plain files and sub-directories (recursive)
     for (int i = 0; i < fileList.length; i++) {
       File entry = fileList[i];
-      if (entry.isDirectory())
+      if (entry.isDirectory()) {
         done = deleteDirectory(entry);
-      else if (!entry.delete()) {
+      } else if (!entry.delete()) {
         entry.deleteOnExit();
         done = false;
       }
@@ -751,48 +766,48 @@
           throws IOException {
     long totalBytes = 0;
     byte[] block = new byte[4096];
+
+    String prefix = normalizeToUnix(targetDir.getCanonicalPath());
+    if (!prefix.endsWith(UNIX_SEPARATOR)) {
+      prefix = prefix + UNIX_SEPARATOR_CHAR;
+    }
+
     Enumeration<JarEntry> jarList = jarFile.entries();
     while (jarList.hasMoreElements()) {
       JarEntry jarEntry = jarList.nextElement();
-      if (!jarEntry.isDirectory()) {
-        // check that file is accepted
-        if (filter != null && !filter.accept(new File(jarEntry.getName())))
-          continue;
-        // extract file
-        File file = new File(targetDir, jarEntry.getName());
-        // make sure the file directory exists
-        File dir = file.getParentFile();
-        if (!dir.exists() && !dir.mkdirs())
-          throw new IOException("could not create directory " + dir.getAbsolutePath());
-        BufferedInputStream iStream = null;
-        BufferedOutputStream oStream = null;
-        try {
-          iStream = new BufferedInputStream(jarFile.getInputStream(jarEntry));
-          oStream = new BufferedOutputStream(new FileOutputStream(file));
-          int bCount = 0;
-          while ((bCount = iStream.read(block)) > 0) {
-            totalBytes += bCount;
-            oStream.write(block, 0, bCount);
-          }
-          iStream.close();
-          oStream.close();
-        } finally {
-          // close streams
-          if (iStream != null) {
-            try {
-              iStream.close();
-            } catch (Exception e) {
-            }
-          }
-          if (oStream != null) {
-            try {
-              oStream.close();
-            } catch (Exception e) {
-            }
-          }
+      if (jarEntry.isDirectory()) {
+        continue;
+      }
+
+      // check that file is accepted
+      if (filter != null && !filter.accept(new File(jarEntry.getName()))) {
+        continue;
+      }
+
+      // make sure the file directory exists
+      File file = new File(targetDir, jarEntry.getName());
+
+      if (!normalizeToUnix(file.getCanonicalPath()).startsWith(prefix)) {
+        throw new IOException("Can only write within target folder [" + targetDir.getAbsolutePath()
+                + "]. Please validate ZIP contents.");
+      }
+
+      File dir = file.getParentFile();
+      if (!dir.exists() && !dir.mkdirs()) {
+        throw new IOException("Could not create directory [" + dir.getAbsolutePath() + "]");
+      }
+
+      // extract file
+      try (BufferedInputStream iStream = new BufferedInputStream(jarFile.getInputStream(jarEntry));
+              BufferedOutputStream oStream = new BufferedOutputStream(new FileOutputStream(file))) {
+        int bCount = 0;
+        while ((bCount = iStream.read(block)) > 0) {
+          totalBytes += bCount;
+          oStream.write(block, 0, bCount);
         }
       }
     }
+
     return totalBytes;
   }
 
@@ -820,15 +835,16 @@
    */
   public static String getFileNameExtension(String fileName) {
     StringBuffer buffer = new StringBuffer();
-    int begIndex = fileName.lastIndexOf('.');
+    int begIndex = fileName.lastIndexOf(DOT);
     if (begIndex > 0) {
-      buffer.append('.');
+      buffer.append(DOT);
       for (int i = begIndex + 1; i < fileName.length(); i++) {
         char ch = fileName.charAt(i);
-        if (Character.isLetterOrDigit(ch))
+        if (Character.isLetterOrDigit(ch)) {
           buffer.append(ch);
-        else
+        } else {
           break;
+        }
       }
     }
     return buffer.toString();
@@ -840,14 +856,16 @@
    * @param fileLocation
    *          The given file location - local file path or URL.
    * @return The given file size, if the specified file can be accessed, -1 otherwise.
+   * @deprecated use Java 7 method for this see {@link java.nio.file.Files#size(Path)}
    */
+  @Deprecated
   public static long getFileSize(String fileLocation) {
     long fileSize = 0;
     // choose file size method: local FS or HTTP
     File file = new File(fileLocation);
-    if (file.isFile())
+    if (file.isFile()) {
       fileSize = file.length();
-    else {
+    } else {
       try {
         URL fileUrl = new URL(fileLocation);
         URLConnection urlConn = fileUrl.openConnection();
@@ -872,46 +890,50 @@
    * @return The relative path of the given object, located in the given root directory.
    */
   public static String getRelativePath(File rootDir, String absolutePath) {
-    String rootDirPath = rootDir.getAbsolutePath().replace('\\', '/');
-    String objectPath = absolutePath.replace('\\', '/');
-    if (objectPath.startsWith(rootDirPath))
+    String rootDirPath = normalizeToUnix(rootDir.getAbsolutePath());
+    String objectPath = normalizeToUnix(absolutePath);
+    if (objectPath.startsWith(rootDirPath)) {
       objectPath = objectPath.substring(rootDirPath.length());
-    if (objectPath.startsWith("/"))
+    }
+    if (objectPath.startsWith("/")) {
       objectPath = objectPath.substring(1);
+    }
     return objectPath;
   }
 
   /**
    * Makes and attempt to identify possible UTF signature (BOM) in a given sequence of bytes.
-   * Returns the identified UTF signature name or <code>null</code>, if the signature could not
-   * be identified. For more on UTF and its signatures see <a
-   * href="http://www.unicode.org/faq/utf_bom.html" target="_blank"> FAQ - UTF and BOM</a>.
+   * Returns the identified UTF signature name or <code>null</code>, if the signature could not be
+   * identified. For more on UTF and its signatures see
+   * <a href="http://www.unicode.org/faq/utf_bom.html" target="_blank"> FAQ - UTF and BOM</a>.
    * 
    * @param prefix
    *          The given sequence of bytes to analyze.
    * @param length
    *          The length of the given sequence of bytes.
-   * @return The UTF signature name or <code>null</code>, if the signature could not be
-   *         identified.
+   * @return The UTF signature name or <code>null</code>, if the signature could not be identified.
    */
   public static String identifyUtfSignature(int[] prefix, int length) {
     String utfSignature = null;
     if (length == 3) {
       // check for UTF-8 signature
-      if (prefix[0] == 0xEF && prefix[1] == 0xBB && prefix[2] == 0xBF)
-        utfSignature = "UTF-8";
+      if (prefix[0] == 0xEF && prefix[1] == 0xBB && prefix[2] == 0xBF) {
+        utfSignature = UTF8_ENCODING;
+      }
     } else if (length == 2) {
       // check for UTF-16 signature
-      if (prefix[0] == 0xFE && prefix[1] == 0xFF)
+      if (prefix[0] == 0xFE && prefix[1] == 0xFF) {
         utfSignature = "UTF-16BE";
-      else if (prefix[0] == 0xFF && prefix[1] == 0xFE)
+      } else if (prefix[0] == 0xFF && prefix[1] == 0xFE) {
         utfSignature = "UTF-16LE";
+      }
     } else if (length == 4) {
       // check for UTF-32 signature
-      if (prefix[0] == 0x00 && prefix[1] == 0x00 && prefix[2] == 0xFE && prefix[3] == 0xFF)
+      if (prefix[0] == 0x00 && prefix[1] == 0x00 && prefix[2] == 0xFE && prefix[3] == 0xFF) {
         utfSignature = "UTF-32BE";
-      else if (prefix[0] == 0xFF && prefix[1] == 0xFE && prefix[2] == 0x00 && prefix[3] == 0x00)
+      } else if (prefix[0] == 0xFF && prefix[1] == 0xFE && prefix[2] == 0x00 && prefix[3] == 0x00) {
         utfSignature = "UTF-32LE";
+      }
     }
     return utfSignature;
   }
@@ -928,23 +950,9 @@
    *           If an I/O exception occurred.
    */
   public static boolean isAsciiFile(File textFile) throws IOException {
-    boolean isAscii = true;
-    FileInputStream iStream = null;
-    try {
-      iStream = new FileInputStream(textFile);
-      isAscii = isAsciiStream(iStream);
-      iStream.close();
-    } catch (IOException exc) {
-      isAscii = false;
-      throw exc;
-    } finally {
-      if (iStream != null)
-        try {
-          iStream.close();
-        } catch (Exception e) {
-        }
+    try (FileInputStream iStream = new FileInputStream(textFile)) {
+      return isAsciiStream(iStream);
     }
-    return isAscii;
   }
 
   /**
@@ -960,17 +968,12 @@
    */
   public static boolean isAsciiStream(InputStream iStream) throws IOException {
     boolean isAscii = true;
-    try {
-      int nextByte = 0;
-      while ((nextByte = iStream.read()) >= 0) {
-        if (nextByte > 127) {
-          isAscii = false;
-          break;
-        }
+    int nextByte = 0;
+    while ((nextByte = iStream.read()) >= 0) {
+      if (nextByte > 127) {
+        isAscii = false;
+        break;
       }
-    } catch (IOException exc) {
-      isAscii = false;
-      throw exc;
     }
     return isAscii;
   }
@@ -986,18 +989,19 @@
    */
   public static String[] loadListOfStrings(BufferedReader iStream) throws IOException {
     String[] outputArray = null;
-    List<String> outputList = new ArrayList<String>();
+    List<String> outputList = new ArrayList<>();
     String line = null;
     while ((line = iStream.readLine()) != null) {
       String string = line.trim();
-      if (string.length() > 0)
+      if (string.length() > 0) {
         outputList.add(string);
+      }
     }
     if (outputList.size() > 0) {
       outputArray = new String[outputList.size()];
       outputList.toArray(outputArray);
     }
-    return (outputArray != null) ? outputArray : new String[0];
+    return (outputArray != null) ? outputArray : Constants.EMPTY_STRING_ARRAY;
   }
 
   /**
@@ -1009,24 +1013,17 @@
    * @return The array of non-empty strings loaded from the given text file.
    * @throws IOException
    *           If any I/O exception occurred.
+   * @deprecated use Java 7 method for this see
+   *             {@link java.nio.file.Files#readAllLines(Path, Charset)}
    */
+  @Deprecated
   public static String[] loadListOfStrings(File textFile) throws IOException {
-    BufferedReader iStream = null;
-    String[] outputArray = null;
-    try {
-      iStream = new BufferedReader(new InputStreamReader(new FileInputStream(textFile)));
+    String[] outputArray;
+    try (BufferedReader iStream = new BufferedReader(
+            new InputStreamReader(new FileInputStream(textFile)))) {
       outputArray = loadListOfStrings(iStream);
-    } catch (IOException exc) {
-      throw exc;
-    } finally {
-      if (iStream != null) {
-        try {
-          iStream.close();
-        } catch (Exception e) {
-        }
-      }
     }
-    return (outputArray != null) ? outputArray : new String[0];
+    return (outputArray != null) ? outputArray : Constants.EMPTY_STRING_ARRAY;
   }
 
   /**
@@ -1042,22 +1039,12 @@
     URLConnection urlConnection = textFileURL.openConnection();
     // See https://issues.apache.org/jira/browse/UIMA-1746
     urlConnection.setUseCaches(false);
-    BufferedReader iStream = null;
-    String[] outputArray = null;
-    try {
-      iStream = new BufferedReader(new InputStreamReader(urlConnection.getInputStream()));
+    String[] outputArray;
+    try (BufferedReader iStream = new BufferedReader(
+            new InputStreamReader(urlConnection.getInputStream()))) {
       outputArray = loadListOfStrings(iStream);
-    } catch (IOException exc) {
-      throw exc;
-    } finally {
-      if (iStream != null) {
-        try {
-          iStream.close();
-        } catch (Exception e) {
-        }
-      }
     }
-    return (outputArray != null) ? outputArray : new String[0];
+    return (outputArray != null) ? outputArray : Constants.EMPTY_STRING_ARRAY;
   }
 
   /**
@@ -1067,29 +1054,20 @@
    *          The given properties file path in the JAR file.
    * @param jarFile
    *          The given JAR file.
-   * @return <code>Properties</code> object containing loaded properties, or <code>null</code>,
-   *         if the properties file was not found in the given JAR file.
+   * @return <code>Properties</code> object containing loaded properties, or <code>null</code>, if
+   *         the properties file was not found in the given JAR file.
    * @throws IOException
    *           If any I/O exception occurred.
    */
   public static Properties loadPropertiesFromJar(String propFilePath, JarFile jarFile)
           throws IOException {
     Properties properties = null;
-    String name = propFilePath.replace('\\', '/');
+    String name = normalizeToUnix(propFilePath);
     JarEntry jarEntry = jarFile.getJarEntry(name);
     if (jarEntry != null) {
-      InputStream iStream = null;
-      try {
-        iStream = jarFile.getInputStream(jarEntry);
+      try (InputStream iStream = jarFile.getInputStream(jarEntry)) {
         properties = new Properties();
         properties.load(iStream);
-      } finally {
-        if (iStream != null) {
-          try {
-            iStream.close();
-          } catch (Exception e) {
-          }
-        }
       }
     }
     return properties;
@@ -1105,26 +1083,13 @@
    *           If any I/O exception occurs.
    */
   public static String loadTextFile(BufferedReader iStream) throws IOException {
-    StringWriter buffer = null;
-    PrintWriter writer = null;
-    try {
-      buffer = new StringWriter();
-      writer = new PrintWriter(buffer);
+    try (StringWriter buffer = new StringWriter(); PrintWriter writer = new PrintWriter(buffer);) {
       String line = null;
-      while ((line = iStream.readLine()) != null)
+      while ((line = iStream.readLine()) != null) {
         writer.println(line);
-      writer.flush();
-    } catch (IOException exc) {
-      throw exc;
-    } finally {
-      if (writer != null) {
-        try {
-          writer.close();
-        } catch (Exception e) {
-        }
       }
+      return buffer.toString();
     }
-    return buffer.toString();
   }
 
   /**
@@ -1135,24 +1100,15 @@
    *          The given text file.
    * @throws IOException
    *           If any I/O exception occurs.
+   * @deprecated use main file util for this, see
+   *             {@link org.apache.uima.util.FileUtils#file2String(File)} if using the default
+   *             charset is OK
    */
+  @Deprecated
   public static String loadTextFile(File textFile) throws IOException {
-    BufferedReader iStream = null;
-    String content = null;
-    try {
-      iStream = new BufferedReader(new FileReader(textFile));
-      content = loadTextFile(iStream);
-    } catch (IOException exc) {
-      throw exc;
-    } finally {
-      if (iStream != null) {
-        try {
-          iStream.close();
-        } catch (Exception e) {
-        }
-      }
+    try (BufferedReader iStream = new BufferedReader(new FileReader(textFile))) {
+      return loadTextFile(iStream);
     }
-    return content;
   }
 
   /**
@@ -1165,24 +1121,16 @@
    *          The given text file encoding name.
    * @throws IOException
    *           If any I/O exception occurs.
+   * @deprecated use main file util for this, see
+   *             {@link org.apache.uima.util.FileUtils#file2String(File, String)} if using the
+   *             default Charset is OK
    */
+  @Deprecated
   public static String loadTextFile(File textFile, String encoding) throws IOException {
-    BufferedReader iStream = null;
-    String content = null;
-    try {
-      iStream = new BufferedReader(new InputStreamReader(new FileInputStream(textFile), encoding));
-      content = loadTextFile(iStream);
-    } catch (IOException exc) {
-      throw exc;
-    } finally {
-      if (iStream != null) {
-        try {
-          iStream.close();
-        } catch (Exception e) {
-        }
-      }
+    try (BufferedReader iStream = new BufferedReader(
+            new InputStreamReader(new FileInputStream(textFile), encoding))) {
+      return loadTextFile(iStream);
     }
-    return content;
   }
 
   /**
@@ -1197,7 +1145,7 @@
   public static String loadTextFile(URL textFileURL) throws IOException {
     URLConnection urlConnection = textFileURL.openConnection();
     // See https://issues.apache.org/jira/browse/UIMA-1746
-    urlConnection.setUseCaches(false);    
+    urlConnection.setUseCaches(false);
     return loadTextFile(urlConnection);
   }
 
@@ -1211,24 +1159,12 @@
    *           If any I/O exception occurs.
    */
   public static String loadTextFile(URLConnection urlConnection) throws IOException {
-    BufferedReader iStream = null;
-    String content = null;
     // See https://issues.apache.org/jira/browse/UIMA-1746
-    urlConnection.setUseCaches(false);    
-    try {
-      iStream = new BufferedReader(new InputStreamReader(urlConnection.getInputStream()));
-      content = loadTextFile(iStream);
-    } catch (IOException exc) {
-      throw exc;
-    } finally {
-      if (iStream != null) {
-        try {
-          iStream.close();
-        } catch (Exception e) {
-        }
-      }
+    urlConnection.setUseCaches(false);
+    try (BufferedReader iStream = new BufferedReader(
+            new InputStreamReader(urlConnection.getInputStream()))) {
+      return loadTextFile(iStream);
     }
-    return content;
   }
 
   /**
@@ -1238,27 +1174,19 @@
    *          The specified text file path inside the JAR file.
    * @param jarFile
    *          The given JAR file.
-   * @return The content of the text specified file, or <code>null</code>, if the text file was
-   *         not found in the given JAR file.
+   * @return The content of the text specified file, or <code>null</code>, if the text file was not
+   *         found in the given JAR file.
    * @throws IOException
    *           If any I/O exception occurs.
    */
   public static String loadTextFileFromJar(String filePath, JarFile jarFile) throws IOException {
     String content = null;
-    String name = filePath.replace('\\', '/');
+    String name = normalizeToUnix(filePath);
     JarEntry jarEntry = jarFile.getJarEntry(name);
     if (jarEntry != null) {
-      BufferedReader iStream = null;
-      try {
-        iStream = new BufferedReader(new InputStreamReader(jarFile.getInputStream(jarEntry)));
+      try (BufferedReader iStream = new BufferedReader(
+              new InputStreamReader(jarFile.getInputStream(jarEntry)))) {
         content = loadTextFile(iStream);
-      } finally {
-        if (iStream != null) {
-          try {
-            iStream.close();
-          } catch (Exception e) {
-          }
-        }
       }
     }
     return content;
@@ -1274,7 +1202,7 @@
   public static String localPathToFileUrl(String path) {
     // get absolute path
     File file = new File(path);
-    String absPath = file.getAbsolutePath().replace('\\', '/');
+    String absPath = normalizeToUnix(file.getAbsolutePath());
     // construct file URL
     StringBuffer urlBuffer = new StringBuffer("file:///");
     urlBuffer.append(absPath.replace(':', '|'));
@@ -1299,12 +1227,15 @@
    *         otherwise.
    * @throws IOException
    *           If any I/O exception occurred.
+   * @deprecated use Java 7 for this see {@link java.nio.file.Files#move(Path, Path, CopyOption...)}
    */
+  @Deprecated
   public static boolean moveFile(File source, File destinationDir) throws IOException {
     boolean completed = false;
     File destination = new File(destinationDir, source.getName());
-    if (destination.exists())
+    if (destination.exists()) {
       destination.delete();
+    }
     if (copyFile(source, destination)) {
       completed = source.delete();
     }
@@ -1312,9 +1243,9 @@
   }
 
   /**
-   * Replaces all occurrences of a given regular expression with a given string in a given text file.
-   * Supports only 1 file encoding - ASCII - for all general text files. Supports 2 encodings -
-   * UTF-8 (ASCII) and UTF-16 for XML files.
+   * Replaces all occurrences of a given regular expression with a given string in a given text
+   * file. Supports only 1 file encoding - ASCII - for all general text files. Supports 2 encodings
+   * - UTF-8 (ASCII) and UTF-16 for XML files.
    * 
    * @param textFile
    *          The given text file.
@@ -1330,23 +1261,22 @@
           throws IOException {
     int counter = 0;
     // for general text file - supporting ASCII encoding only
-    String encoding = "ASCII";
+    String encoding = ASCII_ENCODING;
     // check file extension
-    int extIndex = textFile.getName().lastIndexOf('.');
+    int extIndex = textFile.getName().lastIndexOf(DOT);
     String fileExt = (extIndex > 0) ? textFile.getName().substring(extIndex) : null;
-    if (".xml".equalsIgnoreCase(fileExt)) {
+    if (XML_EXTENSION.equalsIgnoreCase(fileExt)) {
       // for XML file - supporting UTF-8 (ASCII) and UTF-16 encodings
       String xmlEncoding = XMLUtil.detectXmlFileEncoding(textFile);
       if (xmlEncoding != null) {
         encoding = xmlEncoding;
       } else {
-        encoding = "UTF-8";
+        encoding = UTF8_ENCODING;
       }
     }
     // load text file, using supported encoding
     String fileContent = loadTextFile(textFile, encoding);
-    BufferedReader sReader = null;
-    PrintStream fStream = null;
+
     boolean done = false;
     File backupFile = null;
     // get pattern for given regex
@@ -1355,51 +1285,48 @@
     String replaceWith = StringUtil.toRegExpReplacement(replacement);
     try {
       // save backup copy of input file
-      backupFile = new File(textFile.getAbsolutePath() + ".bak");
-      if (backupFile.exists())
+      backupFile = new File(textFile.getAbsolutePath() + BACKUP_EXTENSION);
+      if (backupFile.exists()) {
         backupFile.delete();
-      if (!textFile.renameTo(backupFile))
-        throw new IOException("can't save backup copy of " + textFile.getAbsolutePath());
-      sReader = new BufferedReader(new StringReader(fileContent));
-      fStream = new PrintStream(new FileOutputStream(textFile), true, encoding);
-      String srcLine = null;
-      while ((srcLine = sReader.readLine()) != null) {
-        // count pattern matches in the source string
-        Matcher matcher = pattern.matcher(srcLine);
-        while (matcher.find())
-          counter++;
-        // replace all pattern matches in the source string
-        String resLine = srcLine.replaceAll(subStringRegex, replaceWith);
-        fStream.println(resLine);
       }
-      fStream.close();
+      if (!textFile.renameTo(backupFile)) {
+        throw new IOException("can't save backup copy of " + textFile.getAbsolutePath());
+      }
+      try (BufferedReader sReader = new BufferedReader(new StringReader(fileContent));
+              PrintStream fStream = new PrintStream(new FileOutputStream(textFile), true,
+                      encoding);) {
+        String srcLine = null;
+        while ((srcLine = sReader.readLine()) != null) {
+          // count pattern matches in the source string
+          Matcher matcher = pattern.matcher(srcLine);
+          while (matcher.find()) {
+            counter++;
+          }
+          // replace all pattern matches in the source string
+          String resLine = srcLine.replaceAll(subStringRegex, replaceWith);
+          fStream.println(resLine);
+        }
+      }
       done = true;
     } catch (IOException exc) {
       throw exc;
     } catch (Throwable err) {
-      if (err instanceof IOException)
+      if (err instanceof IOException) {
         throw new IOException(err.toString() + " in " + textFile.getAbsolutePath());
+      }
       throw new RuntimeException(err.toString() + " in " + textFile.getAbsolutePath());
     } finally {
-      if (sReader != null) {
-        try {
-          sReader.close();
-        } catch (Exception e) {
-        }
-      }
-      if (fStream != null) {
-        try {
-          fStream.close();
-        } catch (Exception e) {
-        }
-      }
       if (done) {
         // remove backup file
-        backupFile.delete();
+        if (backupFile != null) {
+          backupFile.delete();
+        }
       } else {
         // restore input file
         textFile.delete();
-        backupFile.renameTo(textFile);
+        if (backupFile != null) {
+          backupFile.renameTo(textFile);
+        }
       }
     }
     return counter;
@@ -1413,7 +1340,7 @@
    * @return The list of files sorted by the 'last modified' time in the descending order.
    */
   public static SortedSet<File> sortFileListByTime(Collection<File> fileList) {
-    TreeSet<File> set = new TreeSet<File>(new FileTimeComparator());
+    TreeSet<File> set = new TreeSet<>(new FileTimeComparator());
     set.addAll(fileList);
     return set;
   }
@@ -1430,7 +1357,7 @@
    */
   public static File zipDirectory(File dir2zip) throws IOException {
     // construct zipped file path
-    String zipFileName = dir2zip.getName() + ".zip";
+    String zipFileName = dir2zip.getName() + ZIP_EXTENSION;
     File zipFile = new File(dir2zip, zipFileName);
     return zipDirectory(dir2zip, zipFile);
   }
@@ -1447,21 +1374,12 @@
    *           If any I/O exception occurred.
    */
   public static File zipDirectory(File dir2zip, File zippedFile) throws IOException {
-    ZipOutputStream zoStream = null;
-    try {
+    try (ZipOutputStream zoStream = new ZipOutputStream(new FileOutputStream(zippedFile))) {
       // open compressed output stream
-      zoStream = new ZipOutputStream(new FileOutputStream(zippedFile));
       // add output zip file to exclusions
       File[] excludeFiles = new File[1];
       excludeFiles[0] = zippedFile;
       zipDirectory(dir2zip, zoStream, dir2zip, excludeFiles);
-    } finally {
-      if (zoStream != null) {
-        try {
-          zoStream.close();
-        } catch (Exception e) {
-        }
-      }
     }
     return zippedFile;
   }
@@ -1469,8 +1387,8 @@
   /**
    * Zips the contents of a given directory to a given ZIP output stream. Paths of file entries in
    * the ZIP stream are taken relatively to a given reference directory. If the reference directory
-   * is <code>null</code>, the file paths are taken relatively to the given directory to be
-   * zipped. The method allows to specify the list of files (or dirs) that should not be zipped.
+   * is <code>null</code>, the file paths are taken relatively to the given directory to be zipped.
+   * The method allows to specify the list of files (or dirs) that should not be zipped.
    * 
    * @param dir2zip
    *          The given directory to be zipped.
@@ -1488,48 +1406,43 @@
           File referenceDir, File[] excludeFiles) throws IOException {
     byte[] block = new byte[4096];
     int inBytes = 0;
-    FileInputStream iStream = null;
-    try {
-      // get list of all files/dirs in the given directory
-      File[] dirFileList = dir2zip.listFiles();
-      // compress all files and sub-dirs
-      for (int i = 0; i < dirFileList.length; i++) {
-        File entry = dirFileList[i];
-        // check if this entry is not in the list of exclusions
-        boolean isExcluded = false;
-        for (int n = 0; n < excludeFiles.length; n++) {
-          if (entry.equals(excludeFiles[n])) {
-            isExcluded = true;
-            break;
-          }
+
+    // get list of all files/dirs in the given directory
+    File[] dirFileList = dir2zip.listFiles();
+    // compress all files and sub-dirs
+    for (int i = 0; i < dirFileList.length; i++) {
+      File entry = dirFileList[i];
+      // check if this entry is not in the list of exclusions
+      boolean isExcluded = false;
+      for (int n = 0; n < excludeFiles.length; n++) {
+        if (entry.equals(excludeFiles[n])) {
+          isExcluded = true;
+          break;
         }
-        if (isExcluded)
-          continue;
-        // for each file - add ZipEntry and compress the file
-        if (entry.isFile()) {
-          // open input stream
-          iStream = new FileInputStream(entry);
+      }
+      if (isExcluded) {
+        continue;
+      }
+      // for each file - add ZipEntry and compress the file
+      if (entry.isFile()) {
+        // open input stream
+        try (FileInputStream iStream = new FileInputStream(entry)) {
           // put ZipEntry for the file
-          String zipEntryName = (referenceDir != null) ? getRelativePath(referenceDir, entry
-                  .getAbsolutePath()) : getRelativePath(dir2zip, entry.getAbsolutePath());
+          String zipEntryName = (referenceDir != null)
+                  ? getRelativePath(referenceDir, entry.getAbsolutePath())
+                  : getRelativePath(dir2zip, entry.getAbsolutePath());
           ZipEntry zipEntry = new ZipEntry(zipEntryName);
           zoStream.putNextEntry(zipEntry);
           // read input stream and write to output stream
-          while ((inBytes = iStream.read(block)) > 0)
+          while ((inBytes = iStream.read(block)) > 0) {
             zoStream.write(block, 0, inBytes);
-          // close input stream
-          iStream.close();
-        } else if (entry.isDirectory()) // zip sub-dir recursively
-          zipDirectory(entry, zoStream, referenceDir, excludeFiles);
-      }
-    } finally {
-      if (iStream != null) {
-        try {
-          iStream.close();
-        } catch (Exception e) {
+          }
         }
+      } else if (entry.isDirectory()) { // zip sub-dir recursively
+        zipDirectory(entry, zoStream, referenceDir, excludeFiles);
       }
     }
+
     return zoStream;
   }
 
@@ -1546,9 +1459,9 @@
   public static File zipFile(File file2zip) throws IOException {
     // construct zipped file path
     String zipFileName = file2zip.getName();
-    int extIndex = zipFileName.lastIndexOf('.');
-    zipFileName = (extIndex >= 0) ? zipFileName.substring(0, extIndex) + ".zip" : zipFileName
-            + ".zip";
+    int extIndex = zipFileName.lastIndexOf(DOT);
+    zipFileName = (extIndex >= 0) ? zipFileName.substring(0, extIndex) + ZIP_EXTENSION
+            : zipFileName + ZIP_EXTENSION;
     File zipFile = new File(file2zip.getParentFile(), zipFileName);
     return zipFile(file2zip, zipFile);
   }
@@ -1567,32 +1480,15 @@
   public static File zipFile(File file2zip, File zippedFile) throws IOException {
     byte[] block = new byte[4096];
     int inBytes = 0;
-    FileInputStream iStream = null;
-    ZipOutputStream oStream = null;
-    try {
-      // open input stream
-      iStream = new FileInputStream(file2zip);
+    try (FileInputStream iStream = new FileInputStream(file2zip);
+            ZipOutputStream oStream = new ZipOutputStream(new FileOutputStream(zippedFile));) {
       // create ZipEntry, using input file name
       ZipEntry zipEntry = new ZipEntry(file2zip.getName());
-      // open compressed output stream
-      oStream = new ZipOutputStream(new FileOutputStream(zippedFile));
       // add new ZipEntry
       oStream.putNextEntry(zipEntry);
       // read input stream and write to output stream
-      while ((inBytes = iStream.read(block)) > 0)
+      while ((inBytes = iStream.read(block)) > 0) {
         oStream.write(block, 0, inBytes);
-    } finally {
-      if (iStream != null) {
-        try {
-          iStream.close();
-        } catch (Exception e) {
-        }
-      }
-      if (oStream != null) {
-        try {
-          oStream.close();
-        } catch (Exception e) {
-        }
       }
     }
     return zippedFile;
diff --git a/uimaj-core/src/main/java/org/apache/uima/util/impl/Constants.java b/uimaj-core/src/main/java/org/apache/uima/util/impl/Constants.java
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..789e802
--- /dev/null
+++ b/uimaj-core/src/main/java/org/apache/uima/util/impl/Constants.java
@@ -0,0 +1,42 @@
+/*
+ * Licensed to the Apache Software Foundation (ASF) under one
+ * or more contributor license agreements.  See the NOTICE file
+ * distributed with this work for additional information
+ * regarding copyright ownership.  The ASF licenses this file
+ * to you under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the
+ * "License"); you may not use this file except in compliance
+ * with the License.  You may obtain a copy of the License at
+ * 
+ *   http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+ * 
+ * Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing,
+ * software distributed under the License is distributed on an
+ * "AS IS" BASIS, WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY
+ * KIND, either express or implied.  See the License for the
+ * specific language governing permissions and limitations
+ * under the License.
+ */
+package org.apache.uima.util.impl;
+
+import java.io.File;
+import java.net.URL;
+
+import org.apache.uima.cas.impl.FeatureImpl;
+import org.apache.uima.jcas.cas.TOP;
+import org.apache.uima.resource.metadata.ConfigurationParameter;
+
+/**
+ * Constants
+ */
+public interface Constants {
+  String[] EMPTY_STRING_ARRAY = new String[0];
+  FeatureImpl[] EMPTY_FEATURE_ARRAY = new FeatureImpl[0];
+  int[] EMPTY_INT_ARRAY = new int[0];
+  Class<?>[] EMPTY_CLASS_ARRAY = new Class[0];
+  char[] EMPTY_CHAR_ARRAY = new char[0];
+  TOP[] EMPTY_TOP_ARRAY = new TOP[0];
+  File[] EMPTY_FILE_ARRAY = new File[0];
+  URL[] EMPTY_URL_ARRAY = new URL[0];
+  ConfigurationParameter[] EMPTY_CONFIG_PARM_ARRAY = new ConfigurationParameter[0];
+  Object[] EMPTY_OBJ_ARRAY = new Object[0];
+}
diff --git a/uimaj-core/src/test/java/org/apache/uima/util/FileUtilsTest.java b/uimaj-core/src/test/java/org/apache/uima/util/FileUtilsTest.java
index 7119bdc..9c1b60a 100644
--- a/uimaj-core/src/test/java/org/apache/uima/util/FileUtilsTest.java
+++ b/uimaj-core/src/test/java/org/apache/uima/util/FileUtilsTest.java
@@ -18,13 +18,24 @@
  */
 package org.apache.uima.util;
 
+import static org.apache.uima.pear.util.FileUtil.extractFilesFromJar;
+import static org.assertj.core.api.Assertions.assertThat;
+import static org.assertj.core.api.Assertions.assertThatExceptionOfType;
+import static org.junit.Assert.assertEquals;
+
 import java.io.File;
+import java.io.FileOutputStream;
 import java.io.IOException;
+import java.nio.file.Path;
+import java.util.jar.JarFile;
+import java.util.zip.ZipEntry;
+import java.util.zip.ZipOutputStream;
 
-import junit.framework.TestCase;
+import org.junit.jupiter.api.Test;
+import org.junit.jupiter.api.io.TempDir;
 
-
-public class FileUtilsTest extends TestCase {
+public class FileUtilsTest {
+  @Test
   public void testFindRelativePath() throws Exception {
     File target = new File("/this/is/a/file.txt");
     File base = new File("/this/is/a/test");
@@ -41,24 +52,37 @@
     }
   }
 
-  public void testReadWriteTempFile() throws IOException {
-    final String tmpDirPath = System.getProperty("java.io.tmpdir");
-    assertNotNull("java.io.tmpdir system property not available", tmpDirPath);
-    File tmpDir = FileUtils.createTempDir(new File(tmpDirPath), "fileUtilsTest");
-    File tmpFile1 = FileUtils.createTempFile("test", null, tmpDir);
-    File tmpFile2 = FileUtils.createTempFile("test", null, tmpDir);
+  @Test
+  public void testReadWriteTempFile(@TempDir Path aTempDir) throws IOException {
+    File tmpFile2 = aTempDir.resolve("file2.txt").toFile();
     final String text = "This is some text to test file writing.  Add an Umlaut for encoding tests:"
-        + "\n  Greetings from T\u00FCbingen!\n";
+            + "\n  Greetings from T\u00FCbingen!\n";
     final String utf8 = "UTF-8";
 
-   //  UIMA-2050 Does not work on all platform encodings
-   //  Solution: Do not do it!
-   //  FileUtils.saveString2File(text, tmpFile1);
-   //  assertEquals(text, FileUtils.file2String(tmpFile1));
-    
+    // UIMA-2050 Does not work on all platform encodings
+    // Solution: Do not do it!
+    // FileUtils.saveString2File(text, tmpFile1);
+    // assertEquals(text, FileUtils.file2String(tmpFile1));
+
     FileUtils.saveString2File(text, tmpFile2, utf8);
-    assertEquals(text, FileUtils.file2String(tmpFile2, utf8));
-    
-    FileUtils.deleteRecursive(tmpDir);
+    assertThat(FileUtils.file2String(tmpFile2, utf8)).isEqualTo(text);
+  }
+
+  @Test
+  void thatAllFilesGoToTargetFolder(@TempDir Path aTempDir) throws Exception {
+    File zipFile = aTempDir.resolve("test.zip").toFile();
+
+    try (ZipOutputStream oStream = new ZipOutputStream(new FileOutputStream(zipFile))) {
+      ZipEntry zipEntry = new ZipEntry("../whoops.txt");
+      oStream.putNextEntry(zipEntry);
+    }
+
+    File target = aTempDir.resolve("target").toFile();
+
+    try (JarFile jarFile = new JarFile(zipFile)) {
+      assertThatExceptionOfType(IOException.class)
+              .isThrownBy(() -> extractFilesFromJar(jarFile, target))
+              .withMessageContaining("Can only write within target folder");
+    }
   }
 }