Re: Setting properties (not necessarily "Properties") in Java 5.0

Hi all,

I have been searching around the archives but can't find an easily
digestible answer to my (simple) question.

Question : I'm using Java 5.0, what's the best way to set properties in
my code?

I currently use basic Java Properties, but I'm not sure that's the best
route these days. It certainly works - but I'd like to have macro
substitutions, along the lines of

    myBase = C:/base
    myApp = $myBase/bin/myAppName

which I know I can get from various thirdparty implementations.

I'm also having problems with where I locate the properties files. At
present it/they sit in the top level of my classes dir, accessed like
this ...

        URL propertiesFileUrl = MyMainClass.class.getClassLoader().
            getResource(filename);

... but if I packed that up as a JAR it makes it hard for people to
change the property settings. What if the user wants to override
settings - does this have to be from the command line?

I've reasd about the Preference API but don't know if that's the
answer.

Sigh.

Any opinions on this would be apprecaited - I don't want to start a
religious war on the topic though :o)

Many thanks,
Chris