roperty lists are a convenient means of storing user preferences andapplication configuration information in a file.The java.util.Properties class makes managing property lists easy.It is a Hashtable intended only to store strings. Rather than use theHashtable put method, you use setProperty(String key, String value). To remove akey, you have to use the Hashtable remove(String key) method.

The Properties class not only allows you to set and remove properties,it also allows you to load a set of properties from anInputStream, save them to an OutputStream, and print them to aPrintStream. The load(InputStream stream)method loads a properties file, >store(OutputStream output, String header) saves theproperties, and list(PrintStream out) lists them. Prettyeasy, eh? The following example demonstrates how to use all of thesefeatures, enabling you to create a properties file, add keys-valuepairs, delete keys, and list the properties.

import java.util.*;import java.io.*;/*** *This program demonstrates how to use the Properties class. It uses *some methods added in JDK 1.2 and will not work with JDK 1.1. You *can add a key-value pair to a properties file using *         java PropertiesExample filename set key value *and delete a key using *         java PropertiesExample filename del key *and list the property file using *         java PropertiesExample filename list *If the file does not exist when you add a key-value pair, it is created. ***/public class PropertiesExample {  public static final int SET  = 1;  public static final int DEL  = 2;  public static final int LIST = 3;  public static void printUsage() {      System.err.println(         "Usage: PropertiesExample filename list|set|del [key] [value]");  }     public static void main(String[] args) {    File file;    Properties properties;    String filename, key = null, value = null;    InputStream input;    OutputStream output;    int action;    if(args.length < 1) {      printUsage();      return;    }         filename = args[0];    file = new File(filename);    try {      if(args[1].equals("list")) {        action = LIST;      } else if(args[1].equals("set")) {        action = SET;        if(args.length < 4) {          printUsage();          return;        }                 if(!file.exists()) {          System.out.println(filename + " does not exist.  Creating file.");          file.createNewFile();        }                 key   = args[2];        value = args[3];      } else if(args[1].equals("del")) {        action = DEL;        if(args.length < 3) {          printUsage();          return;        }                 if(!file.exists()) {          System.err.println(filename + " does not exist!");          return;        }                 key = args[2];      } else {        printUsage();        return;      }              properties = new Properties();      properties.load(input = new FileInputStream(file));      input.close();      switch(action) {      case SET: properties.setProperty(key, value); break;      case DEL: properties.remove(key); break;      case LIST: properties.list(System.out); break;      }             if(action != LIST) {        properties.store(output = new FileOutputStream(file), null);        output.close();      }    } catch(IOException e) {      e.printStackTrace();      return;    }  }  }