ResourceBundle (GNU Classpath 0.94-pre Documentation)

A resource bundle contains locale-specific data. If you need localized data, you can load a resource bundle that matches the locale with getBundle. Now you can get your object by calling getObject or getString on that bundle.

When a bundle is demanded for a specific locale, the ResourceBundle is searched in following order (def. language stands for the two letter ISO language code of the default locale (see Locale.getDefault()).

baseName_language code_country code_variant
baseName_language code_country code
baseName_language code
baseName_def. language_def. country_def. variant
baseName_def. language_def. country
baseName_def. language
baseName

A bundle is backed up by less specific bundles (omitting variant, country or language). But it is not backed up by the default language locale.

If you provide a bundle for a given locale, say Bundle_en_UK_POSIX, you must also provide a bundle for all sub locales, ie. Bundle_en_UK, Bundle_en, and Bundle.

When a bundle is searched, we look first for a class with the given name, then for a file with .properties extension in the classpath. The name must be a fully qualified classname (with dots as path separators).

(Note: This implementation always backs up the class with a properties file if that is existing, but you shouldn't rely on this, if you want to be compatible to the standard JDK.)

Since: 1.1

UNKNOWN: updated to 1.4

Field Summary
protected ResourceBundle	parent The parent bundle.

Constructor Summary
	ResourceBundle() The constructor.

Method Summary
static ResourceBundle	getBundle(String baseName) Get the appropriate ResourceBundle for the default locale.
static ResourceBundle	getBundle(String baseName, Locale locale) Get the appropriate ResourceBundle for the given locale.
static ResourceBundle	getBundle(String baseName, Locale locale, ClassLoader classLoader) Get the appropriate ResourceBundle for the given locale.
abstract Enumeration<String>	getKeys() This method should return all keys for which a resource exists; you should include the enumeration of any parent's keys, after filtering out duplicates.
Locale	getLocale() Return the actual locale of this bundle.
Object	getObject(String key) Get an object from this resource bundle.
String	getString(String key) Get a String from this resource bundle.
String[]	getStringArray(String key) Get an array of Strings from this resource bundle.
protected abstract Object	handleGetObject(String key) Override this method to provide the resource for a keys.
protected void	setParent(ResourceBundle parent) Set the parent of this bundle.

Field Detail

parent

The parent bundle. This is consulted when you call getObject and there is no such resource in the current bundle. This field may be null.

Constructor Detail

ResourceBundle

The constructor. It does nothing special.

Method Detail

getBundle

Get the appropriate ResourceBundle for the default locale. This is like calling

getBundle(baseName, Locale.getDefault(),
 getClass().getClassLoader()

, except that any security check of getClassLoader won't fail.

Parameters: baseName the name of the ResourceBundle

Returns: the desired resource bundle

Throws: MissingResourceException if the resource bundle can't be found NullPointerException if baseName is null

getBundle

Get the appropriate ResourceBundle for the given locale. This is like calling

getBundle(baseName, locale,
 getClass().getClassLoader()

, except that any security check of getClassLoader won't fail.

Parameters: baseName the name of the ResourceBundle locale A locale

Returns: the desired resource bundle

Throws: MissingResourceException if the resource bundle can't be found NullPointerException if baseName or locale is null

getBundle

Get the appropriate ResourceBundle for the given locale. The following strategy is used:

A sequence of candidate bundle names are generated, and tested in this order, where the suffix 1 means the string from the specified locale, and the suffix 2 means the string from the default locale:

baseName + "_" + language1 + "_" + country1 + "_" + variant1
baseName + "_" + language1 + "_" + country1
baseName + "_" + language1
baseName + "_" + language2 + "_" + country2 + "_" + variant2
baseName + "_" + language2 + "_" + country2
baseName + "_" + language2
baseName

In the sequence, entries with an empty string are ignored. Next, getBundle tries to instantiate the resource bundle:

First, an attempt is made to load a class in the specified classloader which is a subclass of ResourceBundle, and which has a public constructor with no arguments, via reflection.
Next, a search is made for a property resource file, by replacing '.' with '/' and appending ".properties", and using ClassLoader.getResource(). If a file is found, then a PropertyResourceBundle is created from the file's contents.

If no resource bundle was found, a MissingResourceException is thrown.

Next, the parent chain is implemented. The remaining candidate names in the above sequence are tested in a similar manner, and if any results in a resource bundle, it is assigned as the parent of the first bundle using the setParent method (unless the first bundle already has a parent).

For example, suppose the following class and property files are provided: MyResources.class, MyResources_fr_CH.properties, MyResources_fr_CH.class, MyResources_fr.properties, MyResources_en.properties, and MyResources_es_ES.class. The contents of all files are valid (that is, public non-abstract subclasses of ResourceBundle with public nullary constructors for the ".class" files, syntactically correct ".properties" files). The default locale is Locale("en", "UK").

Calling getBundle with the shown locale argument values instantiates resource bundles from the following sources:

Locale("fr", "CH"): result MyResources_fr_CH.class, parent MyResources_fr.properties, parent MyResources.class
Locale("fr", "FR"): result MyResources_fr.properties, parent MyResources.class
Locale("de", "DE"): result MyResources_en.properties, parent MyResources.class
Locale("en", "US"): result MyResources_en.properties, parent MyResources.class
Locale("es", "ES"): result MyResources_es_ES.class, parent MyResources.class

The file MyResources_fr_CH.properties is never used because it is hidden by MyResources_fr_CH.class.

Parameters: baseName the name of the ResourceBundle locale A locale classLoader a ClassLoader

Returns: the desired resource bundle

Throws: MissingResourceException if the resource bundle can't be found NullPointerException if any argument is null

Since: 1.2

getKeys

This method should return all keys for which a resource exists; you should include the enumeration of any parent's keys, after filtering out duplicates.

Returns: an enumeration of the keys

getLocale

Return the actual locale of this bundle. You can use it after calling getBundle, to know if the bundle for the desired locale was loaded or if the fall back was used.

Returns: the bundle's locale

getObject

Get an object from this resource bundle. This will call handleGetObject for this resource and all of its parents, until it finds a non-null resource.

Parameters: key the name of the resource

Throws: MissingResourceException if the resource can't be found NullPointerException if key is null

getString

Get a String from this resource bundle. Since most localized Objects are Strings, this method provides a convenient way to get them without casting.

Parameters: key the name of the resource

Throws: MissingResourceException if the resource can't be found NullPointerException if key is null ClassCastException if resource is not a string

getStringArray

Get an array of Strings from this resource bundle. This method provides a convenient way to get it without casting.

Parameters: key the name of the resource

Throws: MissingResourceException if the resource can't be found NullPointerException if key is null ClassCastException if resource is not a string

handleGetObject

Override this method to provide the resource for a keys. This gets called by getObject. If you don't have a resource for the given key, you should return null instead throwing a MissingResourceException. You don't have to ask the parent, getObject() already does this; nor should you throw a MissingResourceException.

Parameters: key the key of the resource

Returns: the resource for the key, or null if not in bundle

Throws: NullPointerException if key is null

Class ResourceBundle