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An INI file handling class using C#

By , 14 Mar 2002
 
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Introduction

I created a C# class Ini which exposes 2 functions from KERNEL32.dll. These functions are: WritePrivateProfileString and GetPrivateProfileString

Namespaces you will need: System.Runtime.InteropServices and System.Text

The Class

using System;
using System.Runtime.InteropServices;
using System.Text;

namespace Ini
{
    /// <summary>
    /// Create a New INI file to store or load data
    /// </summary>
    public class IniFile
    {
        public string path;

        [DllImport("kernel32")]
        private static extern long WritePrivateProfileString(string section,
            string key,string val,string filePath);
        [DllImport("kernel32")]
        private static extern int GetPrivateProfileString(string section,
                 string key,string def, StringBuilder retVal,
            int size,string filePath);

        /// <summary>
        /// INIFile Constructor.
        /// </summary>
        /// <PARAM name="INIPath"></PARAM>
        public IniFile(string INIPath)
        {
            path = INIPath;
        }
        /// <summary>
        /// Write Data to the INI File
        /// </summary>
        /// <PARAM name="Section"></PARAM>
        /// Section name
        /// <PARAM name="Key"></PARAM>
        /// Key Name
        /// <PARAM name="Value"></PARAM>
        /// Value Name
        public void IniWriteValue(string Section,string Key,string Value)
        {
            WritePrivateProfileString(Section,Key,Value,this.path);
        }
        
        /// <summary>
        /// Read Data Value From the Ini File
        /// </summary>
        /// <PARAM name="Section"></PARAM>
        /// <PARAM name="Key"></PARAM>
        /// <PARAM name="Path"></PARAM>
        /// <returns></returns>
        public string IniReadValue(string Section,string Key)
        {
            StringBuilder temp = new StringBuilder(255);
            int i = GetPrivateProfileString(Section,Key,"",temp, 
                                            255, this.path);
            return temp.ToString();

        }
    }
}

Using the class

Steps to use the Ini class:

  1. In your project namespace definition add 
    using INI;
  2. Create a INIFile like this
    INIFile ini = new INIFile("C:\\test.ini");
  3. Use IniWriteValue to write a new value to a specific key in a section or use IniReadValue to read a value FROM a key in a specific Section.

That's all. It's very easy in C# to include API functions in your class(es).

License

This article has no explicit license attached to it but may contain usage terms in the article text or the download files themselves. If in doubt please contact the author via the discussion board below.

A list of licenses authors might use can be found here

About the Author

BLaZiNiX
Web Developer
Canada Canada
No Biography provided

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GeneralMy vote of 5memberElena Futornyak14-Jun-13 1:16 
QuestionoverwritingmemberMember 998609411-Jun-13 16:06 
GeneralMy vote of 5professionalAmogh Natu27-May-13 4:52 
GeneralMy vote of 5memberjai_magical16-Apr-13 11:40 
GeneralMy vote of 5memberSaravanan.rex5-Sep-12 4:00 
GeneralRe: My vote of 5memberHeadzup27-Sep-12 2:16 
GeneralRe: My vote of 5memberSaravanan.rex27-Sep-12 7:23 
QuestionFormClosingmemberpaphnuty27-Aug-12 21:38 
Questionmy vote of 5membervelt_99124-Apr-12 21:09 
QuestionIf you want to support unicode, use this.memberchozekun12-Mar-12 21:11 
using System;
using System.Runtime.InteropServices;
using System.Text;
using System.IO;
 
/// <summary>
/// Create a New INI file to store or load data
/// </summary>
public class IniFile
{
    [DllImport("KERNEL32.DLL", EntryPoint = "GetPrivateProfileStringW",
    SetLastError = true,
    CharSet = CharSet.Unicode, ExactSpelling = true,
    CallingConvention = CallingConvention.StdCall)]
    private static extern int GetPrivateProfileString(
      string lpSection,
      string lpKey,
      string lpDefault,
      StringBuilder lpReturnString,
      int nSize,
      string lpFileName);
 
    [DllImport("KERNEL32.DLL", EntryPoint = "WritePrivateProfileStringW",
      SetLastError = true,
      CharSet = CharSet.Unicode, ExactSpelling = true,
      CallingConvention = CallingConvention.StdCall)]
    private static extern int WritePrivateProfileString(
      string lpSection,
      string lpKey,
      string lpValue,
      string lpFileName);
 
    private string _path = "";
    public string Path {
        get
        {
            return _path;
        }
        set
        {
            if (!File.Exists(value))
                File.WriteAllText(value, "", Encoding.Unicode);
            _path = value;
        }
    }
 
    /// <summary>
    /// INIFile Constructor.
    /// </summary>
    /// <PARAM name="INIPath"></PARAM>
    public IniFile(string INIPath)
    {
        this.Path = INIPath;
    }
 
    /// <summary>
    /// Write Data to the INI File
    /// </summary>
    /// <PARAM name="Section"></PARAM>
    /// Section name
    /// <PARAM name="Key"></PARAM>
    /// Key Name
    /// <PARAM name="Value"></PARAM>
    /// Value Name
    public void IniWriteValue(string Section, string Key, string Value)
    {
        WritePrivateProfileString(Section, Key, Value, this.Path);
    }
 
    /// <summary>
    /// Read Data Value From the Ini File
    /// </summary>
    /// <PARAM name="Section"></PARAM>
    /// <PARAM name="Key"></PARAM>
    /// <PARAM name="Path"></PARAM>
    /// <returns></returns>
    public string IniReadValue(string Section, string Key)
    {
        const int MAX_CHARS = 1023;
        StringBuilder result = new StringBuilder(MAX_CHARS);
        GetPrivateProfileString(Section, Key, "", result, MAX_CHARS, this.Path);
        return result.ToString();
    }
}

GeneralMy vote of 5memberkoiser13-Feb-12 3:51 
GeneralMy vote of 5membersanket_14@rediff.com1-Nov-11 20:40 
GeneralMy vote of 5memberAli Fakoor21-Oct-11 21:44 
QuestionRead and write ini files in VB.NetmemberNasenbaaer5-Oct-11 3:46 
GeneralMy vote of 5memberNasenbaaer5-Oct-11 3:45 
Questionhave 5 starsmemberShivamkalra22-Jun-11 18:57 
Question5 starmemberShivamkalra22-Jun-11 18:56 
RantOKmembermebaba12-May-11 23:06 
GeneralMy vote of 5memberMember 4458079 Jose5-May-11 15:35 
GeneralMy vote of 5memberdv7617-Mar-11 22:20 
Generalsuggestion to add some more methods to this class.memberhugoandrioli@yahoo.com28-Dec-10 0:15 
GeneralRe: suggestion to add some more methods to this class.membermd5sum5-Jan-11 9:28 
GeneralRe: suggestion to add some more methods to this class.member(^-^)h~ugo5-Jan-11 11:45 
GeneralRe: suggestion to add some more methods to this class. [modified]membermd5sum5-Jan-11 12:02 
GeneralRe: suggestion to add some more methods to this class.membertttony076-Mar-11 15:48 
GeneralStrings longer than 254 characters will be truncated.memberdgph21-Nov-10 17:34 
GeneralRe: Strings longer than 254 characters will be truncated.memberf.rivato16-Jan-13 21:35 
GeneralMy vote of 3memberDaniel Moreland4-Nov-10 12:10 
GeneralUnable to add multiple recordmembersammizai4-Oct-10 23:58 
AnswerRe: Unable to add multiple recordmembershrutigupta2124-Dec-10 7:49 
GeneralRe: Unable to add multiple recordmemberkytro36028-Oct-12 5:53 
GeneralGreat Jobmembersos.crow16-Jul-09 16:50 
GeneralCode Update!memberBenjamin Ethington16-Jun-09 9:31 
GeneralRe: Code Update! - ConvertIni2XmlmemberThymine4-Aug-09 8:27 
GeneralRe: Code Update!memberthund3rstruck18-Sep-09 4:46 
GeneralAdded some methods to manage additional data types (read)memberNyarlatotep15-Jun-09 23:42 
GeneralRe: Added some methods to manage additional data types (read)memberAli Fakoor21-Oct-11 21:25 
GeneralRe: Added some methods to manage additional data types (read)memberNyarlatotep21-Oct-11 21:40 
GeneralUsing this class in a aspx web applicationmemberScott Reid4-Mar-09 12:47 
GeneralHits the spotmemberHibbertM13-Feb-09 0:23 
GeneralThanksmemberNAMhatre18-Sep-08 7:47 
Questionlicensing?memberNick Trown14-Aug-08 10:47 
Generala questionmembergyue31-Jul-08 21:18 
GeneralBad pathmemberarj200018-Jul-08 3:32 
GeneralRe: Bad pathmemberBatzen17-Feb-09 1:11 
GeneralRe: Bad pathmemberRalala Yves3-Jan-10 18:32 
GeneralNo Using API Windows (Kernel 32)membercolijunior8-Jul-08 10:56 
Generalexceptionmemberfangar13-May-08 4:45 
GeneralThanksmemberAsmor22-Apr-08 9:23 
GeneralCheck out SnapConfigmemberMember 30271103-Jan-08 8:28 

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