How to specify a path in a properties file to be loaded with Java Properties

Question

I have a.properties file I want to load in a Java Properties object. The file contains some paths. In order to be able to load the properties file without getting a java.lang.IllegalArgumentException: Malformed \uxxxx encoding. when loading the properties from the file with the method Properties.load(), I need to use the escape character '\' in the path.

So my path looks like: C:\\Users\\Harald\\Folder1\\Version1\\Folder2 . And it works this way, no exception is thrown.

The problem is that I can't explain to my user (because this path can be changed by the user.) that he needs to use double '\' in the path.

Does anybody knows a work-around for this problem? Thanks!

Answer 1

Even simpler solution is to use forward slashes . This way your path will look like C:/Users/Harald/Folder1/Version1/Folder2 and everything else will just work - no code change required!

Answer 2

I am a bit confused with your question. Are you asking if there is a way that you can have a user edit the properties file without having to use non-intuitive \\ escape character?

If you are setting this up for a user to be able to edit perhaps you should have a program or script to create the properties file (adding in escape characters when needed)

Answer 3

You might be better off defining a path for the user to place a properties file, or point them to an existing properties file (that contains comments about useful properties etc.) eg ${user.home}\\\\myapp\\\\myprops.properties and then always load that file, or better yet, just provide the directory and load every file that ends in .properties in that directory.

If your application is a GUI app, you could also allow the user to select a file in a file dialog box. The strings you get back out of swing and SWT labels and file choosers are java friendly and you needn't worry about escape characters.

Answer 4

if in java code use \\

if in the properties file use /