title: Persist java.util.Properties with Hibernate?
body: <p>How would I go about persisting an object that has a <code>java.util.Properties</code> object in it?</p>
  
  <p>Note that a <code>java.util.Properties</code> object has the ability to lookup properties not only in itself, but also in a <em>default</em> properties list. The default properties list is itself another <code>Properties</code> object, so it too can have another default properties list. Looking up a single property could traverse multiple <code>Properties</code> objects before the property is found.</p>
  
  <p>The application I'm building needs override-able properties in a hierarchical manner like <code>Properties</code> provides, so I was thinking of using <code>Properties</code> instead of implementing my own data structure. But I'm confused on how I would persist them. </p>
  
  <ul>
  <li>Would I need to create a custom UserType? Any pointers on how to do this for this situation? </li>
  <li>Anyone know of a how-to or other resource that demonstrates how to persist Properties in Hibernate?</li>
  </ul>