This library provides a way to parse Java .properties files in .NET. This parser is intended for scenarios where you care about non-semantic elements such as comments, whitespace, newlines, and escape sequences. Usage is simple:

using JavaPropertiesParser;

// ...

var document = Parser.Parse(input);

Rather than parsing to a dictionary of key/value pairs, this parser gives you an AST that you can query and manipulate as required.

• DocumentFixture has an example of mutating the values in a .properties document while still preserving formatting and other non-semantic elements.
• ParserFixture demonstrates the various .properties constructs that are supported and how they get represented in an AST.

Building .properties Files

If you want to build a .properties file in memory, consider using the Build class:

using static JavaPropertiesParser.Build;

// ...

Doc(
    Pair(
        Key("key"),
        Separator(":"),
        Value("value")
    ),
    Whitespace("\n"),
    Pair(
        Key("key:2", Encode.Key("key:2")),
        Separator("="),
        Value("value")
    )
);