How to load a resource bundle from a file resource in Java?

Question

I have a file called mybundle.txt in c:/temp -

c:/temp/mybundle.txt

How do I load this file into a java.util.Res

Answer 1

If, like me, you actually wanted to load .properties files from your filesystem instead of the classpath, but otherwise keep all the smarts related to lookup, then do the following:

1. Create a subclass of java.util.ResourceBundle.Control
2. Override the newBundle() method

In this silly example, I assume you have a folder at C:\temp which contains a flat list of ".properties" files:

public class MyControl extends Control {
@Override
public ResourceBundle newBundle(String baseName, Locale locale, String format, ClassLoader loader, boolean reload)
        throws IllegalAccessException, InstantiationException, IOException {

    if (!format.equals("java.properties")) {
        return null;
    }

    String bundleName = toBundleName(baseName, locale);
    ResourceBundle bundle = null;

    // A simple loading approach which ditches the package      
    // NOTE! This will require all your resource bundles to be uniquely named!
    int lastPeriod = bundleName.lastIndexOf('.');

    if (lastPeriod != -1) {
        bundleName = bundleName.substring(lastPeriod + 1);
    }
    InputStreamReader reader = null;
    FileInputStream fis = null;
    try {

        File file = new File("C:\\temp\\mybundles", bundleName);

        if (file.isFile()) { // Also checks for existance
            fis = new FileInputStream(file);
            reader = new InputStreamReader(fis, Charset.forName("UTF-8"));
            bundle = new PropertyResourceBundle(reader);
        }
    } finally {
        IOUtils.closeQuietly(reader);
        IOUtils.closeQuietly(fis);
    }
    return bundle;
}

}

Note also that this supports UTF-8, which I believe isn't supported by default otherwise.