HotJavaTM Browser Property Files

The HotJavaTM Browser establishes values for property settings by reading several properties files. Most of these properties files are not accessible to users and administrators, except for the admin properties file and the personal properties file.

## Admin Properties File

You can set properties on a system-wide basis for all users of an installation by creating an admin properties file. You might want to do this, for example, to set up system proxy settings or a default home page appropriate for your company.

An example of an admin properties file is in admin.properties.txt. This sample file can be found in the same directory as this document. You can copy the sample file to:

`your-browser-install-directory/properties.admin`

or on JavaOSTM systems, to any location, and edit it for your own use. A commented list of possible properties you might want to set is provided, along with a commented description of what those properties do and how they can be set. In addition to the comments embedded within the sample file, see the document trustProxy.html for a more thorough description of the trustProxy property.

To specify the location of your admin properties file on JavaOSTM systems, set the property `admin.properties` to the location of your admin properties file. For example, in your JavaStation startup script, set:

`-Dadmin.properties=location of your admin properties file`

The above method of setting properties may not work for all JavaOS platforms. For information on how to set properties for your particular JavaStation, see your JavaStation documentation.

On other platforms, you can set system-wide properties by adding a file called `properties.admin` to the directory where your browser is installed. This should be the same directory that contains the file `Browser.jar`.

## Personal Properties File

Each user with a home directory has a personal properties file. This file is called `$HOME/.hotjava/properties`.
On Windows NT systems, the personal properties file is in `install-dir\.hotjava\properties`.

When a user specifies preferences on the Preferences pages, those preferences are stored in the personal properties file. Other user changes are also stored in this file, such as the more recently used width and height of the browser window. These personal properties always take precedence over system and admin properties. Any properties that you set in the admin properties file can also be set in personal properties files.

HotJava Browser both reads and writes properties in your personal properties file. When HotJava Browser writes to the personal properties file, it reorders the items in the file for better performance. HotJava Browser also removes any comment lines. Although you can edit this file, don't bother trying to arrange or format your personal properties file, as your changes will quickly be lost.

Note: You should edit your personal properties file only when the HotJava Browser is not running. Otherwise, your edits will be lost when you quit the current browser session.

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