# data-url

The `data-url` library adds support for the `data` protocol as specified in [RFC 2397](https://www.ietf.org/rfc/rfc2397.txt).

There are several ways to create data URLs. Most are described by the [URL](https://docs.oracle.com/javase/8/docs/api/java/net/URL.html#URL-java.lang.String-java.lang.String-int-java.lang.String-) class.

1. Make use of a shared [URLStreamHandlerFactory](https://docs.oracle.com/javase/8/docs/api/java/net/URLStreamHandlerFactory.html) set on the [URL](https://docs.oracle.com/javase/8/docs/api/java/net/URL.html#setURLStreamHandlerFactory-java.net.URLStreamHandlerFactory-) class. This must return an instance of [Handler](https://robtimus.github.io/data-url/apidocs/com/github/robtimus/net/protocol/data/Handler.html) for the `data` protocol.
2. Add package `com.github.robtimus.net.protocol` to system property `java.protocol.handler.pkgs`.
3. Use [this](https://docs.oracle.com/javase/8/docs/api/java/net/URL.html#URL-java.net.URL-java.lang.String-java.net.URLStreamHandler-) URL constructor, and provide an instance of [Handler](https://robtimus.github.io/data-url/apidocs/com/github/robtimus/net/protocol/data/Handler.html) as the [URLStreamHandler](https://docs.oracle.com/javase/8/docs/api/java/net/URLStreamHandler.html). The `context` argument can remain `null`.
    * It's ill-advised to use [this](https://docs.oracle.com/javase/8/docs/api/java/net/URL.html#URL-java.lang.String-java.lang.String-int-java.lang.String-java.net.URLStreamHandler-) constructor, because it does not ensure the data URL is correctly formatted.
4. Use utility class [DataURLs](https://robtimus.github.io/data-url/apidocs/com/github/robtimus/net/protocol/data/DataURLs.html).

Note that class [Handler](https://robtimus.github.io/data-url/apidocs/com/github/robtimus/net/protocol/data/Handler.html) is stateless, and therefore instances can be shared among multiple threads.