UB client DB connection

Hi all, I'm starting the client UI and want to make sure my logic is correct. I'm thinking
1) when JFrame opens immediately pops up the DB chooser window (local or remote)
2) once selected/connected, user clicks away to search, create etc.

Now in the specs it mentions:
a) the user is able to choose the database location
b) All configuration must be done via a GUI, and must be persistent between runs of the program. Such configuration information must be stored in a file called suncertify.properties which must be located in the current working directory.

If local, the app runs as "standalone" from default (hard-coded) location? If remote, am I suppose to get the server's address/port etc from the properties file where the data file resides? Can user change the properties file's attributes? What other attributes are needed in the properties file? What format is the properties file in - XML or plain text?

Hello,
I haven't started the GUI yet, but here is I consider to to :

All parameters like database location, server's address/port are read from the suncertify.properties file. Default values are provided but the user can overwrite them via the connection GUIs.
For the properties file, plain text format should be the best option, given the simple information to store.

Chris

Thanks Chris for your input. Before I really start with the nitty gritty client/server, I need to play around with JTable and multithreading a bit. Then I will need to get down to business when the real design starts lol