1. Getting Started

1.1 Using Resources

The first thing is to get hold of / create a [http://jakarta.apache.org/commons/resources/apidocs/org/apache/commons/resources/ResourcesFactory.html ResourcesFactory] for the Resources implementation you want to use...

        ResourcesFactory factory = new PropertyResourcesFactory();
        factory.setReturnNull(true);

N.B. See below for an explantion of the return null configuration option.

Then you can get a Resources instance (the factory may either create a new instance or provide a cached instance, depending on its implementation)...

        Resources resources = factory.getResources("Bar", "file:c:/myapp/foo/Bar");

Once you have the resources instance, you can then use it to retrieve localized resources using one of the five content retrieval methods provided...

        Object resource = resources.getObject("foo.key", locale, null);
        String resource = resources.getString("foo.key", locale, null);
        byte[] resource = resources.getBytes("foo.key", locale, null);
        Reader resource = resources.getReader("foo.key", locale, null);
        InputStream resource = resources.getInputStream("foo.key", locale, null);

1.1.1 Return Null Option

The return null configuration option indicates what the above five content retrieval methods should do when a resource key is not found - they either return a null value or throw a [http://jakarta.apache.org/commons/resources/apidocs/org/apache/commons/resources/ResourcesKeyException.html ResourcesKeyException].

Use the factory's write method for that property to configure your Resources instances for this option:

        factory.setReturnNull(true);

1.1.2 Resources Implementations

OK the next question is what Resources implementation do I use? You have two choices...

• [wiki:ResourcesUserGuideImplementations Standard Implementations] - Commons Resources comes with a set of standard implementations for properties files, XML documents, database resources and versions for use in a Web Application

• [wiki:ResourcesUserGuideCreating Creating an Implementation] - create your own implementation.
  

1.2 Messages

The majority of what Commons Resources is about centers around the Resources type. However there are also two types defined for handling messages:

• [http://jakarta.apache.org/commons/resources/apidocs/org/apache/commons/resources/Message.html Message] - a message representation.

• [http://jakarta.apache.org/commons/resources/apidocs/org/apache/commons/resources/MessageList.html MessageList] - a set of Message objects.
  

There is also a convenience class, provding static methods to facilitate handling messages:

• [http://jakarta.apache.org/commons/resources/apidocs/org/apache/commons/resources/Messages.html Messages] - convenience class for handling messages.
  
  

See the [wiki:ResourcesUserGuideMessages Messages] section in this User Guide for more details.