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An INI file handling class using C#

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4.79/5 (122 votes)
14 Mar 2002 830.3K   19.5K   166   79
A C# class that exposes the INI file handling functions from Kernal32.dll

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

C#
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


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Comments and Discussions

 
GeneralMy vote of 5 Pin
Nasenbaaer5-Oct-11 3:45
Nasenbaaer5-Oct-11 3:45 
Questionhave 5 stars Pin
shivamkalra22-Jun-11 18:57
shivamkalra22-Jun-11 18:57 
Question5 star Pin
shivamkalra22-Jun-11 18:56
shivamkalra22-Jun-11 18:56 
RantOK Pin
mebaba12-May-11 23:06
mebaba12-May-11 23:06 
GeneralMy vote of 5 Pin
Member 4458079 Jose5-May-11 15:35
Member 4458079 Jose5-May-11 15:35 
GeneralMy vote of 5 Pin
dv7617-Mar-11 22:20
dv7617-Mar-11 22:20 
Generalsuggestion to add some more methods to this class. Pin
(^-^)h~ugo28-Dec-10 0:15
(^-^)h~ugo28-Dec-10 0:15 
GeneralRe: suggestion to add some more methods to this class. Pin
md5sum5-Jan-11 9:28
md5sum5-Jan-11 9:28 
GeneralRe: suggestion to add some more methods to this class. Pin
(^-^)h~ugo5-Jan-11 11:45
(^-^)h~ugo5-Jan-11 11:45 
GeneralRe: suggestion to add some more methods to this class. [modified] Pin
md5sum5-Jan-11 12:02
md5sum5-Jan-11 12:02 
GeneralRe: suggestion to add some more methods to this class. Pin
tttony076-Mar-11 15:48
tttony076-Mar-11 15:48 
GeneralRe: suggestion to add some more methods to this class. Pin
Member 922029317-Feb-14 8:55
Member 922029317-Feb-14 8:55 
GeneralStrings longer than 254 characters will be truncated. Pin
dgph21-Nov-10 17:34
dgph21-Nov-10 17:34 
GeneralRe: Strings longer than 254 characters will be truncated. Pin
f.rivato16-Jan-13 21:35
f.rivato16-Jan-13 21:35 
GeneralMy vote of 3 Pin
Daniel Moreland4-Nov-10 12:10
Daniel Moreland4-Nov-10 12:10 
GeneralUnable to add multiple record Pin
sammizai4-Oct-10 23:58
sammizai4-Oct-10 23:58 
AnswerRe: Unable to add multiple record Pin
shrutigupta2124-Dec-10 7:49
shrutigupta2124-Dec-10 7:49 
GeneralRe: Unable to add multiple record Pin
kytro36028-Oct-12 5:53
kytro36028-Oct-12 5:53 
GeneralGreat Job Pin
sos.crow16-Jul-09 16:50
sos.crow16-Jul-09 16:50 
GeneralCode Update! Pin
Benjamin Ethington16-Jun-09 9:31
Benjamin Ethington16-Jun-09 9:31 
GeneralRe: Code Update! - ConvertIni2Xml Pin
Thymine4-Aug-09 8:27
Thymine4-Aug-09 8:27 
GeneralRe: Code Update! Pin
thund3rstruck18-Sep-09 4:46
thund3rstruck18-Sep-09 4:46 
GeneralAdded some methods to manage additional data types (read) Pin
Nyarlatotep15-Jun-09 23:42
Nyarlatotep15-Jun-09 23:42 
GeneralRe: Added some methods to manage additional data types (read) Pin
Ali Fakoor21-Oct-11 21:25
Ali Fakoor21-Oct-11 21:25 
GeneralRe: Added some methods to manage additional data types (read) Pin
Nyarlatotep21-Oct-11 21:40
Nyarlatotep21-Oct-11 21:40 

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