OVERVIEW
========

Java uses Resource Bundles for i18n stuff.

Here's a typical bundle:

    lang.properties
    ---------------

    key1 = value1
    key2 = value2
    multiline = Line 1\
                Line 2\
                Line 3


Non-ASCII symbols are encoded as Unicode Entities:

    russian_letter_ya = \u044F

See more info on Jva properties files at
http://java.sun.com/j2se/1.4.2/docs/api/java/util/Properties.html#load(java.io.InputStream)

rberl will try to bring Resourse Bundles' functionality (most of it anyway) to Erlang

GETTING STARTED
===============

ALSO SEE EDOCS IN THE DOCS DIRECTORY!

The library comes in two flavors: a module to process .properties files and a gen_server

You can use the module to handle translations yourself or use the gen_server for a
(questionably) easier handling.

TO USE THE MODULE
-----------------

1. Compile rberl.erl from src folder
2. run

     > rberl:rberl:process_file("./../examples/lang.properties").

   to get a proplist containing all key-value pairs from the specified file

TO USE THE GEN_SERVER
---------------------

1. Compile both rberl.erl and rberl_server from src folder
2. run

     > rberl_server:start()

   to start the server

3. run

     > rberl_server:load("./../examples/", "lang").

   to load strings from all *.properties files that start with "lang" from the
   specified directory

4. run

     > rberl_server:get("multiline", "ru").

   to get the value associated with key "multiline" for locale "ru"

5. run

     > rberl_server:reload().

   to reload all files

MISC
----

- When calling load, make sure that the dir ends in a trailing slash (to be fixed)
- When retrieving keys, make sure that "complex" locales use underscores. I.e.
  use ru_RU and ru_RU_UNIX instead of ru-ru and ru-ru_UNIX


CURRENT FEATURES
===============

1. Parses .properties files into key-value pairs
2. Both keys and values are strings (lists)
3. Parses multiline values
4. Parses unicode values in the form \uxxxx
5. Handles all of the weirdness described here:
   http://java.sun.com/j2se/1.5.0/docs/api/java/util/Properties.html#load(java.io.InputStream)


TESTS
=====
The included tests was created using the ABNF generator from
http://www.quut.com/abnfgen/

See the ABNF for Java properties file in priv/properties.abnf

The ABNF does no define a correct properties file, however. Here's a properties file that conforms to the abnf-file:

------- start sample properties file ----------

key = value
key2 : value2
key3 value3
key4 = a multiline\
       value
an_invaild_line

-------- end sample properties file ------------

The purpose is to create a parser that will process such a file and simply 
skip over invalid lines as if they were comments

Test results have been coded by hand, so there are bound to be errors

REQUIREMENTS
============

Should run on R12B or later

Specific modules:
unicode, http://erlang.org/doc/man/unicode.html