Consolidate default values for configuration properties

[Omertron]

Original issue 755 created by Omertron on 2009-04-29T01:55:30.000Z:

I find the current method of specifying default values for configuration properties to be tedious
and repetitive, which makes it error-prone. Basically, I don't like that we have to mention the
default value every time we grab the property from the Properties collection.

I would much rather consolidate all the default values into one location, eg a static initializer in
the PropertiesUtil class. That way properties will always be set to their defaults if not
overridden by the user, so the version of getProperty that takes two arguments would never
need to be used.

Bonus points if we can have the build process generate the default moviejukebox.properties
file based on those defaults.

[Omertron]

Comment #1 originally posted by Omertron on 2009-04-29T06:18:47.000Z:

Good idea.

[Omertron]

Comment #2 originally posted by Omertron on 2009-04-29T06:23:59.000Z:

OK, as long as there is never the situation where you want to override the default
with different values.

I've been meaning to do a code review and look for all the properties as I'm sure
there are some extra ones that aren't documented.

[Omertron]

Comment #3 originally posted by Omertron on 2009-04-29T06:26:56.000Z:

If you think that's an important feature, I can make sure it remains available.

[Omertron]

Comment #4 originally posted by Omertron on 2009-04-29T13:58:46.000Z:

Just thinking aloud really.
Is there a situation where you want to read the property and know if it's defaulted?
I doubt it, as that was the purpose of supplying the default value to the function in
the first place.

[Omertron]

Comment #5 originally posted by Omertron on 2009-04-29T18:44:35.000Z:

These changes would probably also help make Issue 681 easier for localized strings.

[Omertron]

Comment #6 originally posted by Omertron on 2009-04-29T19:39:24.000Z:

How about just having a default.properties file with all the default values?

Something like this:

FileReader rdr = new FileReader( "default.properties" );
props = new Properties();
defaults.load( rdr );
rdr.close();

rdr = new FileReader( "moviejukebox.properties" );
props = new Properties( props );
props.load( rdr );
rdr.close();

rdr = new FileReader( "skin.properties" );
props = new Properties( props );
props.load( rdr );
rdr.close();

The default moviejukebox.properties would just be a copy of default.properties.
If we put default.properties in the .jar file instead of the file system, it would
be relatively hidden from the users so they won't edit it.

[Omertron]

Comment #7 originally posted by Omertron on 2009-04-29T22:32:25.000Z:

That's a very good idea.

[Omertron]

Comment #8 originally posted by Omertron on 2009-08-25T07:42:41.000Z:

<empty>

[Omertron]

Comment #9 originally posted by Omertron on 2010-08-24T13:43:49.000Z:

This has sort of been implemeted with the moviejukebox-default.properties file.

However, having a single place to define what is considered "default" in yamj and not have to look/guess/find the property that it corresponds to would be good.

I know Vincent was looking at implementing something similar.

Perhaps he can enlighten us on the work so far