Properties file

[Leslie Chaim]

Is there any specific switch to pass a Properties file from the command line?

[Dirk Schreckmann]

None that I can see.
http://java.sun.com/j2se/1.4.2/docs/tooldocs/windows/java.html#options

[Jeroen Wenting]

nope. You need to parse the commandline yourself and determine which is the properties file.
Or more likely you will force a specific name and location on the file and read it from there.
Or have another properties file at a specific name and location and read the name and location of the properties file from there

[Leslie Chaim]

I guess I was looking for something of the Properties class in conjunction with the -D switch... Rather then saying arg1=value1 arg2=value2 ... to pass a file.

[Roger Chung-Wee]

If you pass the pathname to the file into the main method, you can create from that String a FileInputStream which can then be loaded into a Properties object.

[Jim Yingst]

You could also use the -D option in conjunction with some new system property - e.g.
java -Dleslies.properties.file=foo/bar/config.properties MyClass
Then use that system property to load the Properties:

Properties props = new Properties();
props.load(System.getProperty("leslies.properties.file"));

[Leslie Chaim]

What a KISS rule! Thanks JRY
I think the Properties file should not be part of cmd-line-args-validation and your solution is a compromise.