How to separate key value pairs with comma in Java properties file

Question

Currently, my property file output looks like this

Name=Frank 
Email=frank@mail.com

based on the following codes

File prop = new File(".properties");

if (!prop.exists()) {
    prop.createNewFile();
}        

try {
    FileReader reader = new FileReader(prop);
    Properties properties = new Properties();
    properties.load(reader);
    reader.close();

    properties.setProperty("Name", name);
    properties.setProperty("Email", email);

    FileWriter writer = new FileWriter(prop);
    properties.store(writer, "Settings");
    writer.close();

} catch (IOException ex) {
    Logger.getLogger(PropertiesTest.class.getName()).log(Level.SEVERE, null, ex);
}

I want it to be written in one line, with each key value pair separated by a comma. So it will look like this

Name=Frank, Email=frank@mail.com

How can I achieve this? Or is there a way to group each Name and Email key value pairs with a unique identifier? Basically, I want to have multiple Name and Email entries in one property file and to be able to get each of the entry.

Answer 1

The properties file is not designed to do this. You should instead use CSV, JSON, YAML, XML (but probably XML is too complicated for this use case) or a database.