===== Resource Converter =====

Resources defined in the property files are loaded with _ResourceConverter_. See [[:GroIMP-Platform:Resource-converter|how to define resources in bundle]]. 

==== Resources Object ====

Resources are defined in a //.property// file. By default loaded as String. If the resource if set as `type value`, it is read through a resource converter. The type and value are separated by the first space. The resource definition must be surrounded with `.

The most common resource object is the //Icon//. 

When GroIMP read the _Icon_ description of the registry item, it first load the String: `icon value`. Then, look into all of its //ResourceConverter// to find if one is capable of converting this value into the correct java object. 

==== Create a new ResourceConverter ====

The //ResourceConverter// are defined in the //PLUGIN// class of a plugin. 

In a //plugin.xml// file the //PLUGIN// class is defined in the first <plugin> tag , e.g.

<code xml>
<plugin
  id="de.grogra.pf"
  version="2.1.1"
  class="de.grogra.pf.ui.UI"
  xmlns="http://grogra.de/registry">
</code>

In that example, the class is de.grogra.pf.ui.UI. That class MUST extends //Plugin// and implements //ResourceConverter//. Then, the class MUST add itself to the converter list on startup, and define the converter methods: //canHandleConversion//, and //convert//.


For the example of the UI class, (which is the converter for _icon_ resources_):

<code java>
public final class UI extends Plugin implements ResourceConverter{

	public static final I18NBundle I18N = I18NBundle.getInstance (UI.class);
	@Override
	public void startup ()
	{
		super.startup ();
		I18NBundle.addResourceConverter (this);
	}
	public boolean canHandleConversion (String name)
	{
		return "icon".equals (name);
	}


	public Object convert (String name, String argument, I18NBundle bundle)
	{
		if ("icon".equals (name))
		{
		...
		}
	}
...	
</code>