What is the best way to save user settings in java application?

Question

What is the best way to save user settings in java desktop app securely? For example If I want to save an Ftp account settings what is the best way to do that?

Thank

Answer 1

I usually store in user data directory, with sub directories of application name followed by application version.

public static String getUserDataDirectory() {
    return System.getProperty("user.home") + File.separator + ".jstock" + File.separator + getApplicationVersionString() + File.separator;
}

I had been using the following code for 3 years. This method works quite well either in Windows, Linux or Mac.

Please note that, in Windows, never store it in Program Files, as UAC in Windows Vista or newer may give you a lot of trouble.

Remember put a dot in-front of your application name, so that it will become a hidden folder in Linux.

Good thing by using this methology is that, you are not limited your self in storing primitive value only. Instead, you may save the entire object state to the disk by using xstream

For example :

public static boolean toXML(Object object, File file) {
    XStream xStream = new XStream();
    OutputStream outputStream = null;
    Writer writer = null;

    try {
        outputStream = new FileOutputStream(file);
        writer = new OutputStreamWriter(outputStream, Charset.forName("UTF-8"));
        xStream.toXML(object, writer);
    }
    catch (Exception exp) {
        log.error(null, exp);
        return false;
    }
    finally {
        close(writer);
        close(outputStream);
    }

    return true;
}