properties.rb

module Properties
  class << self
    def load_properties(properties_filename)
      properties = {}
      File.open(properties_filename, 'r') do |properties_file|
        properties_file.read.each_line do |line|
          line.strip!
          if (line[0] != ?# and line[0] != ?=)
            i = line.index('=')
            if (i)
              properties[line[0..i - 1].strip] = line[i + 1..-1].strip
            else
              properties[line] = ''
            end
          end
        end
      end
      properties
    end
  end
end

puts Properties.load_properties ARGV[0]