The properties files read by Nucleus must follow a format that is recognized by the class java.util.Properties. The rules for the format are as follows:
Entries are generally expected to be a single line of the form
propertyName=propertyValueor
propertyName:propertyValueWhite space that appears between the property name and property value is ignored, meaning that
name=Stephenandname = Stephenare equivalent. White space that appears at the beginning of the line is also ignored.Lines beginning with the characters
!or#are treated as comments and ignored. Blank lines are also ignored.The property value is generally terminated by the end of the line. White space following the property value is not ignored, and is treated as part of the property value.
A property value can span several lines if each line is terminated by a backslash (‘\’) character. For example:
targetCities=\
Detroit,\
Chicago,\
Los AngelesThis is equivalent to
targetCities=Detroit,Chicago,Los Angeles(remember that white space at the beginning of lines is ignored).The characters
newline,carriage return, andtabcan be inserted with the characters\n,\r,\trespectively. The backslash character must also be “escaped” using a double backslash. For example, a property value ofc:\docs\doc1must be entered in the properties file as{propertyName}=c:\\docs\\doc1. Note that it is not necessary to escape backslashes in property values when you use the ATG Control Center Components window, because the ACC handles the escape characters automatically.UNICODE characters can be entered as they would be in a Java program, using the
\uprefix. For example,\u002c.
Nucleus properties files also use several special properties types, indicated by a leading $ character. See Special ($) Properties.
Properties files created by the ATG Control Center will automatically use the correct format. In addition, the ACC checks to make sure that the property value you enter is valid for the property’s data type. The Components editor presents array type properties in a table, with a separate row for each property value entry, so you don’t need to worry about using backslashes to continue lines.
