java property file as enum

Question

Is it possible to convert a property file into an enum.

I have a propoerty file with lot of settings. for example

equipment.height
equipment.widht
e         


        

Answer 1

One way, I could imagine, to get all the properties in your IDE can be to define an Enum with all of them, like this :

public enum Settings
{
   EQUIPMENT_HEIGHT("equipment.height", "0"),

   EQUIPMENT_WIDTH("equipment.width", "0"),

   EQUIPMENT_DEPTH("equipment.depth", "0");

   private String property;

   private String value;

   Settings(final String aProperty, final String aValue)
   {
      property = aProperty;
      value = aValue;
   }

   public String getProperty()
   {
      return property;
   }

   public String getValue()
   {
      return value;
   }

   private void setValue(final String aValue)
   {
      value = aValue;
   }

   public static void initialize(final Properties aPropertyTable)
   {
      for(final Settings setting : values())
      {
         final String key = setting.getProperty();
         final String defaultValue = setting.getValue();
         setting.setValue(aPropertyTable.getProperty(key, defaultValue));
      }
   }
}

The initialization of the enum is self explained (method initialize()).

After that, you can use it like this :

Settings.EQUIPMENT_HEIGHT.getValue();

Adding new property is just adding new enum-Constant.