Add README.md

1 files changed, 46 insertions, 0 deletions

diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..b6ee271
--- /dev/null
+++ b/README.md
@@ -0,0 +1,46 @@
+libproperties
+=============
+
+A simple library to parse properties. The rules for the format are as follows:
+
+* Entries are generally expected to be a single line of the form, one of the
+following:
+
+	* propertyName=propertyValue
+	* propertyName:propertyValue
+
+* White space that appears between the property name and property value is
+ignored, so the following are equivalent.
+
+	* name=Stephen
+	* name = Stephen
+
+White space at the beginning of the line is also ignored.
+
+* Lines that start with the comment characters `!` or `#` are ignored. Blank
+lines are also ignored.
+
+* A property value can span several lines if each line is terminated by a
+backslash (‘\’) character. For example:
+
+```
+targetCities=\
+        Detroit,\
+        Chicago,\
+        Los Angeles
+```
+
+This is equivalent to `targetCities=Detroit,Chicago,Los Angeles` (white space
+at the beginning of lines is ignored).
+
+* The characters _newline_, _carriage return_, and _tab_ can be inserted with
+characters `\n`, `\r`, and `\t`, respectively.
+
+* The backslash character must be escaped as a double backslash. For example:
+
+```
+path=c:\\docs\\doc1
+```
+
+* UNICODE characters can be entered as they are in a Java program, using the
+`\u` prefix. For example, `\u002c`.