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Read/Write Configuration in XML file

3.52/5 (20 votes)
9 Sep 20051 min read 1   2.1K  
An article on how to read/write App configuration data in an easy way.

Sample Image

Introduction

A class with a simple, easy to use interface, is ready to help every one to read/write application configuration in an effective way.

Background

First of all, I don't like ConfigurationSettings provided by the .NET framework, as I can not change the config as I want in the App. I did see many articles on the topic, but either they are too big and complex, get me distracted, or can not meet my requirement. My goal is simple: provide a default setting when first launching the App, and on exit, "remember" the user's preference. Registry is another option, but I prefer XML files, which you can open and check more conveniently.

Using the code

All the settings is set by key/value pairs in an XML file, you can insert/update/delete any key/value. The three major public methods are: GetValue, SetValue, removeElement, it's that simple. By default, the XML file should be put in the same folder as your EXE file.

XML
GetValue, key= "CountryLoc"
C#
Config config = new Config();
config.cfgFile = "app.config"; 

txtCountry.Text = 
  config.GetValue("//appSettings//add[@key='CountryLoc']");

I exposed //appSettings in the interface, as you may need access to key/value in different sections. For instance, if you GetValue from key1 in Company section, you can use:

C#
config.GetValue("//Company//add[@key='key1']");

If the section is new, you need to set it up, for example, manually add <Company> </Company> into <configuration>...</configuration>. As in my case, I only have one section, so if you do not like manual thing, you are very welcome to put your code to enhance it. SetValue is quite similar:

C#
config.SetValue("//appSettings//add[@key='" 
                   + txtKey.Text + "']", txtValue.Text);
// config.SetValue("//Company//add[@key='" + 
                     txtKey.Text + "']", txtValue.Text);

Remove element:

C#
//config.removeElement("//Company//add[@key='" + 
//                         txtKey2.Text + "']");
config.removeElement("//appSettings//add[@key='" + 
                             txtKey2.Text + "']");

Reference

This article is based on some code I found on the internet which I have forgotten where it is.

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.

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