Properties Multi-line Values to JSON

Multi-line Values in Properties

Java .properties files support multi-line values using a backslash (\) at the end of a line. The backslash, newline, and any leading whitespace on the next line are stripped, and the value continues.

Example: Multi-line Properties

# Long SQL query
db.query.users=SELECT u.id, u.name, u.email, \
               u.created_at, u.updated_at \
               FROM users u \
               WHERE u.is_active = true \
               ORDER BY u.created_at DESC

# Long URL with query parameters
api.endpoint=https://api.example.com/v2\
             /users\
             ?include=profile,settings\
             &limit=100

# Multi-line description
app.welcome.message=Welcome to our application! \
This tool helps you manage your development \
workflow more efficiently. All processing \
happens in your browser.

JSON Output

{
  "db": {
    "query": {
      "users": "SELECT u.id, u.name, u.email, u.created_at, u.updated_at FROM users u WHERE u.is_active = true ORDER BY u.created_at DESC"
    }
  },
  "api": {
    "endpoint": "https://api.example.com/v2/users?include=profile,settings&limit=100"
  },
  "app": {
    "welcome": {
      "message": "Welcome to our application! This tool helps you manage your development workflow more efficiently. All processing happens in your browser."
    }
  }
}

How Continuation Works

1. When a line ends with \, the parser removes the backslash and the newline
2. Leading whitespace on the next line is stripped (allowing indentation for readability)
3. The value continues until a line that does NOT end with \
4. The result is a single continuous string in the JSON output

This is particularly important for SQL queries, long URLs, and descriptive text that would be unreadable on a single line in the properties file.