Java.util.Properties class in Java

The Properties class represents a persistent set of properties. The Properties can be saved to a stream or loaded from a stream.

Properties is a subclass of Hashtable.
It is used to maintain list of value in which the key is a string and the value is also a string.
One useful capability of the Properties class is that you can specify a default property that will be returned if no value is associated with a certain key.
Multiple thread can share a single properties object without the need of external synchronisation.

Properties defines a instance variable
Properties defaults: This variable holds a default property list associated with a Properties object.
Constructors:

Properties(): This creates a Properties object that has no default values.
Properties(Properties propDefault): The second creates an object that uses propDefault for its default value.

Methods:
In addition to method that Properties inherits from Hashtable, Properties defines some legacy method listed below-

String getProperty(String key): Searches for the property with the specified key in this property list. If the key is not found in this property list, the default property list, and its defaults, recursively, are then checked. The method returns null if the property is not found.
```
Syntax: public String getProperty(String key).
Returns: the value associated with key.
Exception: NA.
```

String getProperty(String key, String defaultProperty): Searches for the property with the specified key in this property list. If the key is not found in this property list, the default property list, and its defaults, recursively, are then checked. The method returns the default value argument if the property is not found.

Syntax: public String getProperty(String key, String defaultProperty).
Returns: The value associated with key.
Exception: NA.

// Java code illustrating getProperty() method 
import java.util.*; 
class PropertiesDemo 
{ 
    public static void main(String arg[]) 
    { 
        Properties gfg = new Properties(); 
        Set URL; 
        String str; 
          
        gfg.put("ide", "ide.geeksforgeeks.org"); 
        gfg.put("contribute", "contribute.geeksforgeeks.org"); 
        gfg.put("quiz", "quiz.geeksforgeeks.org"); 
          
        // checking what's in table 
        URL = gfg.keySet(); 
        Iterator itr = URL.iterator(); 
          
        while(itr.hasNext()) 
        { 
            str = (String)itr.next(); 
            System.out.println("The URL for " + str +  
                    " is " + gfg.getProperty(str)); 
        } 
          
        System.out.println(); 
          
        // looking for URL that not in list 
        str = gfg.getProperty("articl", "not found"); 
        System.out.println("The URL for article is " + str); 
          
    } 
} 

Output:

The URL for contribute is contribute.geeksforgeeks.org
The URL for quiz is quiz.geeksforgeeks.org
The URL for ide is ide.geeksforgeeks.org

The URL for article is not found

void list(PrintStream streamOut): Sends the property list to the output stream linked to streamOut.

Syntax: public void list(PrintStream streamOut).
Returns: NA.
Exception: NA.

// Java code illustrating list() method 
import java.util.*; 
class PropertiesDemo 
{ 
    public static void main(String arg[]) 
    { 
        Properties gfg = new Properties(); 
        Set URL; 
        String str; 
          
        gfg.put("ide", "ide.geeksforgeeks.org"); 
        gfg.put("contribute", "contribute.geeksforgeeks.org"); 
        gfg.put("quiz", "quiz.geeksforgeeks.org"); 
          
        gfg.list(System.out); 
    } 
} 

Output:

-- listing properties --
contribute=contribute.geeksforgeeks.org
quiz=quiz.geeksforgeeks.org
ide=ide.geeksforgeeks.org

void list(PrintWriter streamOut): Prints this property list out to the specified output stream. This method is useful for debugging.

Syntax: public void list(PrintWriter streamOut).
Return: NA.
Exception: ClassCastException - if any key in 
this property list is not a string.

// Java code illustrating list() method 
import java.io.PrintWriter; 
import java.util.*; 
class PropertiesDemo 
{ 
  
      
    public static void main(String arg[]) 
    { 
        Properties gfg = new Properties(); 
          
        PrintWriter writer = new PrintWriter(System.out); 
          
        gfg.put("ide", "ide.geeksforgeeks.org"); 
        gfg.put("contribute", "contribute.geeksforgeeks.org"); 
        gfg.put("quiz", "quiz.geeksforgeeks.org"); 
          
        // printing list using PrintWriter object 
        gfg.list(writer); 
          
        // flushing the stream 
        writer.flush(); 
    } 
} 

Output:

-- listing properties --
contribute=contribute.geeksforgeeks.org
quiz=quiz.geeksforgeeks.org
ide=ide.geeksforgeeks.org

Enumeration propertyNames(): This method returns an enumeration of the keys. This includes those keys found in the default property list, too.

Syntax: public Enumeration propertyNames().
Returns: enumeration of key.
Exception: ClassCastException -- if any key in this 
property list is not a string.

// Java code illustrating propertyNames() method 
import java.util.*; 
class PropertiesDemo 
{ 
    public static void main(String arg[]) 
    { 
        Properties gfg = new Properties(); 
        Set str; 
        String s; 
        gfg.put("ide", "ide.geeksforgeeks.org"); 
        gfg.put("contribute", "contribute.geeksforgeeks.org"); 
        gfg.put("quiz", "quiz.geeksforgeeks.org"); 
          
        Enumeration name = gfg.propertyNames(); 
          
        // print the enumaration elements 
        System.out.println(name.nextElement()); 
        System.out.println(name.nextElement()); 
        System.out.println(name.nextElement()); 
          
    } 
} 

Output:

contribute
quiz
ide

Object setProperty(String key, String value): Associate value with key. Returns the previous value associated with key, or returns null if no such association exist.

Syntax: public Object setProperty(String key, String value).
Returns: the previous value of the specified key in 
this property list, or null if it did not have one.
Exception: NA.

// Java code illustrating setProperty() method 
import java.util.*; 
class PropertiesDemo 
{ 
    public static void main(String arg[]) 
    { 
        Properties gfg = new Properties(); 
          
        gfg.put("ide", "ide.geeksforgeeks.org"); 
        gfg.put("contribute", "contribute.geeksforgeeks.org"); 
          
        gfg.setProperty("quiz", "quiz.geeksforgeeks.org"); 
          
        System.out.println(gfg); 
             
    } 
} 

Output:

{contribute=contribute.geeksforgeeks.org,
 quiz=quiz.geeksforgeeks.org, ide=ide.geeksforgeeks.org}

void load(InputStream streamIn): This method reads a property list (key and element pairs) from the input byte stream.

Syntax: public void load(InputStream streamIn).
Returns: NA.
Exception: IOException -- if an error occurred when reading from 
the input stream.
IllegalArgumentException -- if the input stream contains a malformed
 Unicode escape sequence.

// Java code illustrating load() method 
import java.io.FileInputStream; 
import java.io.FileOutputStream; 
import java.io.IOException; 
import java.util.*; 
class PropertiesDemo 
{ 
    public static void main(String arg[]) throws IOException 
    { 
        Properties gfg = new Properties(); 
        String s = "ide = ide.geeksforgeeks.org"; 
          
        FileOutputStream out = new FileOutputStream("properties.txt"); 
        FileInputStream in = new FileInputStream("properties.txt");   
          
        // write the property in the output stream file 
        out.write(s.getBytes()); 
          
        // load from input stream 
        gfg.load(in); 
          
        gfg.list(System.out); 
    } 
} 

Output:

-- listing properties --
ide=ide.geeksforgeeks.org

void load(Reader reader): This method Reads a property list (key and element pairs) from the input character stream in a simple line-oriented format.

Syntax: public void load(Reader reader).
Returns: NA.
Exception: IOException -- if an error occurred when reading from 
the input stream.
IllegalArgumentException -- if the input stream contains a malformed
 Unicode escape sequence.

// Java code illustrating load() method 
import java.io.IOException; 
import java.io.StringReader; 
import java.util.*; 
class PropertiesDemo 
{ 
    public static void main(String arg[]) throws IOException 
    { 
        Properties gfg = new Properties(); 
        String s = "ide = ide.geeksforgeeks.org"; 
          
        // creating a new reader 
        StringReader reader = new StringReader(s); 
          
        // loading from input stream 
        gfg.load(reader); 
          
        gfg.list(System.out); 
    } 
} 

Output:

-- listing properties --
ide=ide.geeksforgeeks.org

void store(OutputStream streamOut, String Description): After writing the string specified by description, the property list is written to the output stream linked to streamOut.

Syntax: public void store(OutputStream streamOut, String Description).
Returns: the previous value of the specified key 
in this property list, or null if it did not have one.
Exception: 
IOException -- if writing this property list to the 
specified output stream throws an IOException.
ClassCastException -- if this Properties object contains 
any keys or values that are not Strings.
NullPointerException -- if out is null.

// Java code illustrating store() method 
import java.io.IOException; 
import java.io.StringReader; 
import java.util.*; 
class PropertiesDemo 
{ 
    public static void main(String arg[]) throws IOException 
    { 
        Properties gfg = new Properties(); 
        gfg.put("ide", "ide.geeksforgeeks.org"); 
        gfg.put("contribute", "contribute.geeksforgeeks.org"); 
        gfg.put("quiz", "quiz.geeksforgeeks.org"); 
          
        // store the properties in output stream 
        gfg.store(System.out, "Demo of Properties class");    
    } 
} 

Output:

#Demo of Properties class
#Wed Jul 05 22:49:43 IST 2017
contribute=contribute.geeksforgeeks.org
quiz=quiz.geeksforgeeks.org
ide=ide.geeksforgeeks.org

void store(Reader reader, String Description): This method writes this property list (key and element pairs) in this Properties table to the output character stream in a format suitable for using the load(Reader) method.

Syntax: public store(Reader reader, String Description)
Returns: the previous value of the specified key in 
this property list, or null if it did not have one.
Exception: 
IOException -- if writing this property list to 
the specified output stream throws an IOException.
ClassCastException -- if this Properties object contains 
any keys or values that are not Strings.
NullPointerException -- if out is null.

// Java code illustrating store() method 
import java.io.IOException; 
import java.io.StringWriter; 
import java.util.*; 
class PropertiesDemo 
{ 
    public static void main(String arg[]) throws IOException 
    { 
        Properties gfg = new Properties(); 
        StringWriter writer = new StringWriter(); 
        gfg.put("ide", "ide.geeksforgeeks.org"); 
        gfg.put("contribute", "contribute.geeksforgeeks.org"); 
        gfg.put("quiz", "quiz.geeksforgeeks.org"); 
          
        gfg.store(writer, "Demo of Properties class"); 
          
        System.out.print(writer.toString()); 
    } 
} 

Output:

#Demo of Properties class
#Wed Jul 05 22:55:16 IST 2017
contribute=contribute.geeksforgeeks.org
quiz=quiz.geeksforgeeks.org
ide=ide.geeksforgeeks.org

Set stringPropertyNames(): Returns a set of keys in this property list where the key and its corresponding value are strings, including distinct keys in the default property list if a key of the same name has not already been found from the main properties list. Properties whose key or value is not of type String are omitted.
The returned set is not backed by the Properties object. Changes to this Properties are not reflected in the set, or vice versa.

Syntax: public Set stringPropertyNames().
Returns: a set of keys in this property list 
where the key and its corresponding value are strings, including 
the keys in the default property list.
Exception: NA.

// Java code illustrating stringPropertiesNames() method 
import java.io.IOException; 
import java.util.*; 
class PropertiesDemo 
{ 
    public static void main(String arg[]) throws IOException 
    { 
        Properties gfg = new Properties(); 
         
        gfg.put("ide", "ide.geeksforgeeks.org"); 
        gfg.put("contribute", "contribute.geeksforgeeks.org"); 
        gfg.put("quiz", "quiz.geeksforgeeks.org"); 
          
        // property name in the set 
        Set set = gfg.stringPropertyNames(); 
          
        System.out.print(set); 
    } 
} 

Output:

[contribute, quiz, ide]

void loadFromXML(InputStream in): Loads all of the properties represented by the XML document on the specified input stream into this properties table.

Syntax: public void loadFromXML(InputStream in).
Returns: NA.
Exception: 
IOException - if reading from the specified input stream results in an IOException.
InvalidPropertiesFormatException - Data on input stream 
does not constitute a valid XML document with the mandated 
document type.
NullPointerException - if in is null.

// Java code illustrating loadFromXML() method 
import java.io.FileInputStream; 
import java.io.FileOutputStream; 
import java.io.IOException; 
import java.util.*; 
class PropertiesDemo 
{ 
    public static void main(String arg[]) throws IOException 
    { 
        Properties gfg = new Properties(); 
         
        gfg.put("ide", "ide.geeksforgeeks.org"); 
        gfg.put("contribute", "contribute.geeksforgeeks.org"); 
        gfg.put("quiz", "quiz.geeksforgeeks.org"); 
          
        FileOutputStream out = new FileOutputStream("properties.xml"); 
        FileInputStream in = new FileInputStream("properties.xml"); 
          
        // store the properties into specified xml 
        gfg.storeToXML(out, null); 
          
        // load the properties from specified xml 
        gfg.loadFromXML(in); 
          
        gfg.list(System.out); 
    } 
} 

Output:

-- listing properties --
contribute=contribute.geeksforgeeks.org
quiz=quiz.geeksforgeeks.org
ide=ide.geeksforgeeks.org

Run the java code for method no.- 13 and 14 on ide installed in your computer system for the output of code.

void storeToXML(OutputStream os, String comment): This method emits an XML document representing all of the properties contained in this table.

Syntax: public void storeToXML(OutputStream os, String comment)
Returns: NA.
Exception: 
IOException -- if writing this property list to the 
specified output stream throws an IOException.
ClassCastException -- if this Properties object contains any 
keys or values that are not Strings.
NullPointerException -- if out is null.

// Java method illustrating storeToXML() method 
import java.io.FileInputStream; 
import java.io.FileOutputStream; 
import java.io.IOException; 
import java.util.*; 
class PropertiesDemo 
{ 
    public static void main(String arg[]) throws IOException 
    { 
        Properties gfg = new Properties(); 
         
        gfg.put("ide", "ide.geeksforgeeks.org"); 
        gfg.put("contribute", "contribute.geeksforgeeks.org"); 
        gfg.put("quiz", "quiz.geeksforgeeks.org"); 
          
        FileOutputStream out = new FileOutputStream("properties.xml"); 
        FileInputStream in = new FileInputStream("properties.xml"); 
          
        // store the properties into specified xml 
        gfg.storeToXML(out, "Demo of properties class"); 
          
        while(in.available()>0) 
        { 
        System.out.print((char)in.read()); 
        } 
    } 
} 

void storeToXML(OutputStream os, String comment, String encoding): This method emits an XML document representing all of the properties contained in this table, using the specified encoding.

Syntax: public void storeToXML(OutputStream os, String comment, String encoding)
Returns: NA.
Exception: 
IOException -- if writing this property list to 
the specified output stream throws an IOException.
ClassCastException -- if this Properties object 
contains any keys or values that are not Strings.
NullPointerException -- if out is null.

// Java code illustrating storeToXML() method 
import java.io.FileInputStream; 
import java.io.FileOutputStream; 
import java.io.IOException; 
import java.util.*; 
class PropertiesDemo 
{ 
    public static void main(String arg[]) throws IOException 
    { 
        Properties gfg = new Properties(); 
         
        gfg.put("ide", "ide.geeksforgeeks.org"); 
        gfg.put("contribute", "contribute.geeksforgeeks.org"); 
        gfg.put("quiz", "quiz.geeksforgeeks.org"); 
          
        FileOutputStream out = new FileOutputStream("properties.xml"); 
        FileInputStream in = new FileInputStream("properties.xml"); 
          
        // store the properties into specified xml 
        gfg.storeToXML(out, "Demo of properties class", "ISO-8859-3"); 
          
        while(in.available()>0) 
        { 
        System.out.print((char)in.read()); 
        } 
    } 
} 

void save(): This method does not throw an IOException if an I/O error occurs while saving the property list. Calls the store(OutputStream out, String comments) method and suppresses IOExceptions that were thrown.

Syntax: public void save().
Returns: NA.
Exception: 
ClassCastException - if this Properties object contains any keys
 or values that are not Strings.

// Java code illustrating save() method 
import java.io.FileInputStream; 
import java.io.FileOutputStream; 
import java.io.IOException; 
import java.util.*; 
class PropertiesDemo 
{ 
    public static void main(String arg[]) throws IOException 
    { 
        Properties gfg = new Properties(); 
         
        gfg.put("ide", "ide.geeksforgeeks.org"); 
        gfg.put("contribute", "contribute.geeksforgeeks.org"); 
        gfg.put("quiz", "quiz.geeksforgeeks.org"); 
          
        FileOutputStream out = new FileOutputStream("properties.txt"); 
        FileInputStream in = new FileInputStream("properties.txt"); 
          
        // saving the properties in specified txt file 
        gfg.save(out, null); 
          
        gfg.load(in); 
          
        gfg.list(System.out); 
          
    } 
} 

Output:

-- listing properties --
contribute=contribute.geeksforgeeks.org
quiz=quiz.geeksforgeeks.org
ide=ide.geeksforgeeks.org

This article is contributed by Abhishek Verma. If you like GeeksforGeeks and would like to contribute, you can also write an article using contribute.geeksforgeeks.org or mail your article to contribute@geeksforgeeks.org. See your article appearing on the GeeksforGeeks main page and help other Geeks.

Please write comments if you find anything incorrect, or you want to share more information about the topic discussed above.`

My Personal Notes

Aug	SEP	Oct
	16
2018	2019	2020

Suggest a Topic

Recommended Posts: