Use properties to get character in file but some char could not be decode

Question

i use properties class to get a file with Big5 character inside the file, but some character could not be display properly.....
sample code:
import java.io.*;
import java.util.*;
public class Frankie {
public static void main(String[] arg) {
try {
Properties p = new Properties();
p.load(new FileInputStream("file.ini"));
Enumeration e = p.propertyNames();
while (e.hasMoreElements()) {
String name = (String)e.nextElement();
String value = p.getProperty(name);
String coded_value = new String(value.getBytes("iso-8859-1"), "Big5");
System.out.println(name + " : " + coded_value);
byte[] bBytes2 = coded_value.getBytes();
for (int k = 0; k < bBytes2.length; k++) {
System.out.println("byte " + "iso1" + "[" + k + "] = " + bBytes2[k]);
catch (Exception e) {
e.printStackTrace();
==================
file.ini
people=&#20320;
a=&#39184;
==================
result:
a : ?
byte iso1[0] = 63
people : &#20320;
byte iso1[0] = -89
byte iso1[1] = 65
==================
the proper byte of "&#39184;" should be (-64, 92).....
If i use a varible to store this character in the source code, and use value.getBytes("big5"), the byte could be properly display for this character....
how can i solve this? thanks a lot!

Answer 1

The Properties class javadoc says
The load and store methods load and store properties in a simple line-oriented format specified
below. This format uses the ISO 8859-1 character encoding. Characters that cannot be directly
represented in this encoding can be written using Unicode escapes ; only a single 'u' character
is allowed in an escape sequence. The native2ascii tool can be used to convert property files to
and from other character encodings.
which means you are not supposed to use "big5" encoding in your Properties text file
directly. There is a commandline tool "native2ascii" bundled with your jdk package that
you can use to convert your "big5" encoded Properties file into unicode escapes based
text file, then you no longer needs to play the trick
String coded_value = new String(value.getBytes("iso-8859-1"), "Big5");
p.getProperty(name) will give you exactly the correct "value" defined in your properties
file.
-x
btw, when using "native2ascii", if you are not in a "big5" env, using "-encoding big5" option
to force it.