how to store Usability related values (Font, Dimension, Color,…) in properties file using ResoucesBundles

Question

I'm able to fetch the Strings using a properties file and ResourceBundle class using ResourceBundle.getString(). And even able to fetch int and float objects also using:

int a = (int) ResourceBundle.getObject("IntKey");
float b = (float) ResourceBundle.getObject("FloatKey");

But I want to know to how to fetch some complex objects like fonts?

Font font = (Font) ResourceBundle.getObject("FontKey"); 

But how to store the Font values in properties file? can I store the object like: new Font("Tahoma", Font.PLAIN, 12); into a key:value of a properties file.

Update 1:

@doublesharp your answer is fine. Actually I'm not extending ResourceBundle class to override handleGetObjects() method. My implemention is as shown below:

public class Usability {

    private static final String BUNDLE_NAME = "com.upgrade.utility.resources.Usability";

    private static final ResourceBundle RESOURCE_BUNDLE = ResourceBundle.getBundle(BUNDLE_NAME);

    private Usability() {}

    public static String get(String key, Object ... args) {

        String value = null;
        try {
            value = RESOURCE_BUNDLE.getString(key);
            
            for (Object var : args) {
                if (var != null) {
                    try {
                        value = value.replaceFirst("@", var.toString());
                    } catch (Exception e) {}
                }
            }
        } catch (MissingResourceException e) {
            value = '!' + key + '!';
        }
        return value;
    }
    
    public static Font getFont(String key){
        Font value = null;
        try {
            String fontName = (String) RESOURCE_BUNDLE.getString(key+ ".Name");
            Integer fontStyle = Integer.parseInt(RESOURCE_BUNDLE.getString(key+ ".Style"));
            Integer fontSize = Integer.parseInt(RESOURCE_BUNDLE.getString(key+ ".Size"));
            value = new Font(fontName, fontStyle, fontSize);
        } catch (MissingResourceException e) {
            value = new Font("Tahoma", Font.PLAIN, 11);
        }catch (NullPointerException npe) {
            value = new Font("Tahoma", Font.PLAIN, 11);
        }
        
        System.out.println("Font"+ value);
        return value;
        
    }
}

How Can I use your method in this case? I'm new to JAVA, can you please tell me how to modify my implementation to use the method handleGetObjects() ?

Update 2:

@doublesharp: From your last comment, I've modified like this, But getting Class Cast exception in 3rd line of Usability class.

public class Usability {

    private static final String BUNDLE_NAME = "com.upgrade.utility.resources.Usability";

    public static final MyResourceBundle RESOURCE_BUNDLE = (MyResourceBundle) MyResourceBundle.getBundle(BUNDLE_NAME);

    private Usability() {}

    public static String get(String key, Object ... args) {

        String value = null;
        try {
            value = RESOURCE_BUNDLE.getString(key);
            
            for (Object var : args) {
                if (var != null) {
                    try {
                        value = value.replaceFirst("@", var.toString());
                    } catch (Exception e) {}
                }
            }
        } catch (MissingResourceException e) {
            value = '!' + key + '!';
        }
        return value;
    }
    
}

My extended ResourceBunlde class is:

import java.awt.Color;
import java.awt.Dimension;
import java.awt.Font;
import java.util.Enumeration;
import java.util.MissingResourceException;
import java.util.ResourceBundle;

public class MyResourceBundle extends ResourceBundle{

    @Override
    public Object handleGetObject(String key) {
       if (key.contains("Font")) {
           return getFont(key);
       } else if (key.contains("color")){
           return getColor(key);
       }else if (key.contains("Dimension")){
           return getDimension(key);
       }
    return this.getObject(key);
    }
    
     public Font getFont(String key){
            Font value = null;
            try {
                String fontName = (String) this.getString(key+ ".Name");
                Integer fontStyle = Integer.parseInt(this.getString(key+ ".Style"));
                Integer fontSize = Integer.parseInt(this.getString(key+ ".Size"));
                value = new Font(fontName, fontStyle, fontSize);
            } catch (MissingResourceException e) {
                value = new Font("Tahoma", Font.PLAIN, 11);
            }catch (NullPointerException npe) {
                value = new Font("Tahoma", Font.PLAIN, 11);
            }
            return value;
        }
     
     public Color getColor(String key){
            Color value = null;
            try {
                Integer R = Integer.parseInt(this.getString(key+ ".R"));
                Integer G = Integer.parseInt(this.getString(key+ ".G"));
                Integer B = Integer.parseInt(this.getString(key+ ".B"));
                value = new Color(R, G, B);
            } catch (MissingResourceException e) {
//              value = new Color("Tahoma", Font.PLAIN, 11);
            }catch (NullPointerException npe) {
//              value = new Color("Tahoma", Font.PLAIN, 11);
            }
            return value;
        }
     
     public Dimension getDimension(String key){
            Dimension value = null;
            try {
                Integer X = Integer.parseInt(this.getString(key+ ".X"));
                Integer Y = Integer.parseInt(this.getString(key+ ".Y"));
                value = new Dimension(X, Y);
            } catch (MissingResourceException e) {
//              value = new Color("Tahoma", Font.PLAIN, 11);
            }catch (NullPointerException npe) {
//              value = new Color("Tahoma", Font.PLAIN, 11);
            }
            return value;
        }

    @Override
    public Enumeration<String> getKeys() {
        return null;
    }
    
}

How to resolve this exception?

And also Is there problem in my answer? using which I was just calling like

Usability.getFont("JPanelUpgradeTypeScreen.ElementLabelFont");

But using your answer techinque, I need to call it like (Type conversion is needed in call) :

(Font)Usability.RESOURCE_BUNDLE.handleGetObject("JPanelUpgradeTypeScreen.ElementLabelFont");

Answer 1

In a class I've defined the following functions, which I call whenever I need to access the usability related valus. All the usability related values are stored at a common place (properties file).

private static final String BUNDLE_NAME = "com.testApp.resources.properties.Usability";

private static final ResourceBundle RESOURCE_BUNDLE = ResourceBundle.getBundle(BUNDLE_NAME);

    public static Font getFont(String key){
        Font value = null;
        try {
            String fontName = (String) RESOURCE_BUNDLE.getString(key+ ".Name");
            Integer fontStyle = Integer.parseInt(RESOURCE_BUNDLE.getString(key+ ".Style"));
            Integer fontSize = Integer.parseInt(RESOURCE_BUNDLE.getString(key+ ".Size"));
            value = new Font(fontName, fontStyle, fontSize);
        } catch (MissingResourceException e) {
            value = new Font("Tahoma", Font.PLAIN, 11);
        }catch (NullPointerException npe) {
            value = new Font("Tahoma", Font.PLAIN, 11);
        }
        return value;
    }

    public static Color getColor(String key){
        Color value = null;
        try {
            Integer R = Integer.parseInt(RESOURCE_BUNDLE.getString(key+ ".R"));
            Integer G = Integer.parseInt(RESOURCE_BUNDLE.getString(key+ ".G"));
            Integer B = Integer.parseInt(RESOURCE_BUNDLE.getString(key+ ".B"));
            value = new Color(R, G, B);
        } catch (MissingResourceException e) {
//            value = new Color("Tahoma", Font.PLAIN, 11);
        }catch (NullPointerException npe) {
//          value = new Color("Tahoma", Font.PLAIN, 11);
        }
        return value;
    }

 public static Dimension getDimension(String key){
        Dimension value = null;
        try {
            Integer X = Integer.parseInt(RESOURCE_BUNDLE.getString(key+ ".X"));
            Integer Y = Integer.parseInt(RESOURCE_BUNDLE.getString(key+ ".Y"));
            value = new Dimension(X, Y);
        } catch (MissingResourceException e) {
//            value = new Color("Tahoma", Font.PLAIN, 11);
        }catch (NullPointerException npe) {
//          value = new Color("Tahoma", Font.PLAIN, 11);
        }
        return value;
    }
}

In properties file which I'm maintaining for usability related values the properties are defined as below:

#BLACK
ElementLabelFont.Color.R=4
ElementLabelFont.Color.G=4
ElementLabelFont.Color.B=4

#ScreenPanel dimension
ScreenPanel.Dimension.X=632
ScreenPanel.Dimension.Y=625

#Font of jCheckBoxYesAgreement
JPanelPreUpgradeStepsScreen.jCheckBoxYesAgreement.Font.Name=Tahoma
JPanelPreUpgradeStepsScreen.jCheckBoxYesAgreement.Font.Style=0
JPanelPreUpgradeStepsScreen.jCheckBoxYesAgreement.Font.Size=12

Answer 2

Objects should not be initialized in a properties file.You should use only constant values inside a properties file

Answer 3

You can serialize your custom object and then wrap binary code with base64 encoding, for example, which you can write to properties as a string

Answer 4

Taking the inputs from all your answers and Comments: This is answer, which is satisfying my requirement:

public static Font getFont(String key){
        Font value = null;
        try {
            String fontName = (String) RESOURCE_BUNDLE.getString(key+ ".Name");
            Integer fontStyle = Integer.parseInt(RESOURCE_BUNDLE.getString(key+ ".Style"));
            Integer fontSize = Integer.parseInt(RESOURCE_BUNDLE.getString(key+ ".Size"));
            value = new Font(fontName, fontStyle, fontSize);
        } catch (MissingResourceException e) {
            value = new Font("Tahoma", Font.PLAIN, 11);
        }catch (NullPointerException npe) {
            value = new Font("Tahoma", Font.PLAIN, 11);
        }
        return value;   
    }

inside properties file I've stored as

#Usability
    DialogTextFont.Name=Tahoma
    DialogTextFont.Style=0
    DialogTextFont.Size=12

Answer 5

You need to override the handleGetObject() method for your implementation. You can't store the object definition in the properties file, but you can store it's initialization parameters as keys, and use those when returning your object. In this example you would set properties for font-family (Tahoma, etc), font-type (text value used to map to Font.BOLD, etc), and font-size. Calling MyResourceBundle.getObject("font") (a class that extends ResourceBundle) would call your implementation of handleGetObject() and then use the previous values to create your object:

@Override
public Object handleGetObject(String key) {
   if (key.equals("font")) {
      String family = this.getString("font-family");
      String strType = this.getString("font-type");
      int type;
      switch (strType){
          case "bold": Font.BOLD;
          default: type = Font.PLAIN;
      }
      int size = this.getInt("font-size");
      return new Font(family, type, size);
   } else {
      return null;
   }
}