I need to open app.config with a click of a button. I've been trying to find how to do this with no luck. How can I open the file itself so I could edit it?
If you need to open the application configuration file itself you're doing something wrong.
If you need to access settings defined using Visual Studio's settings designer, use the automatic properties like
var value = Properties.Settings.Default.SettingName;
If you want to edit user settings, do the same thing and save:
Properties.Settings.Default.SettingName = Value;
Properties.Settings.Default.Save();
You can not modify application settings anyway. If the application is installed in Program Files you will not even be allowed to write the file back, as the Program Files folder is not writable to your application.
If the application is installed using ClickOnce you're also out of luck, as the settings file for user settings is named totally differently and is not even in the same location as your application's executable.
So this comes down to: Do it right and keep your hands off app.config!
Related
I have developed a winforms application which consists of a file path value (fetching crystal reports) in add key of app.config file.
I have installed the application and trying to change the file path (in app.config as well as exename.exe file) from old to new but the application doesnt take new crystal reports file path instead retrieves old data.
Am i missing any other file to be updated ? Kindly help to get it solved ASAP.Thanks
You probably don't want to change App.config, as that file will be copied to exename.exe.config when you build.
After installing your program, you'll need to change your exename.exe.config file to pick up your changes.
Verify that the setting you are trying to change in exename.exe.config file is set to User scope rather than Application.
From Visual Studio go to your Project properties and Choose Settings
You will find listed all your settings. From there verify that each setting you want to be change by user has scope User
Here you can find detailed information on the difference between User and Application scope
I am trying to save Name Value pair in settings dynamically. I can see the new saved values dynamically. But, when I access the settings page from the property window , it shows the same old value. Here is the code :
Properties.Settings.Default.Name = textBox1.Text;
Properties.Settings.Default.Age = textBox2.Text;
Properties.Settings.Default.Save();
Any Suggestions?
Assuming you are testing your application with Visual Studio, your problem happens because, when you are changing the setting of your application you aren't changing the original setting file. When Visual Studio starts running an application, it creates a folder inside the directory where your code is named "obj/Debug" or "obj/Release" and copies all your DLLs and resources into that folders, including settings files.
This means that changes to settings will be reflected in your "obj/Debug/yourappname.exe.config" and not in the original file. If you open this file, for example, with a text editor you'll see the contents have changed. Remember that every time you recompile your application in Visual Studio and start running this file will be replaced by the original, losing your new settings.
You can manually run your .exe application inside that folder and validate if your settings have persisted.
After compile the settings file gets deployed into a yourapplication.exe.config file. This is the file you are changing (/Debug/app.exe.config). If you want to see changes in your "property window" you have to manually open the .settings file and edit the xml.
Note: after changing the .config file the changes are persistent .. but only until you compile your application again.
The solution->Properties->Settings is where you set the default values. User settings can be changed at run-time, and will persist with your application, but they are not written back to your visual studio project.
In your example, if you run the program again on subsequent times (* not by hitting debug / rebuild in visual studio), your settings that are saved in your snippet will have been persisted.
Imagine that your program has been deployed on user's pc's - there shouldn't be a mechanism for that to change your visual studio project settings file.
For testing and debugging purposes, I just hard-coded the file paths for the text files that would be used by my application, e.g.
const string CONFIG_FILE_PATH = #"C:\myconfigfile.txt";
But I don't think it's a good idea to leave it as it is in the Beta/Release version.
So I am wondering, what would be the best location for saving these configuration files that will be used / read by the application? Any suggestions?
Many Thanks.
Why not save the strings in the Settings section of your project? GRight click on your project in Solution Explorer, select Properties, go to the Settings section and add a new string with your file path. Then, in your code, you can access it like this:
using ProjectName.Properties;
var path = Settings.Default.MySetting;
To change the setting:
Settings.Default.MySetting = newPath;
Settings.Default.Save();
In the same folder as the executable.
But you should consider using a Settings class (you can read more here). Visual Studio can automatically create a strongly typed wrapper around a section in the app.config file.
The settings are stored in the same file as the executable, but can be overridden (and saved from the application) in a matching file in the user profile for each user.
Another option: If the test config file is intended to sit along side your executable, you can "Add" "Existing Item..." to your project and then change its properties to "Copy always" or "Copy if newer". During debugging, the executable should be able to find the copy of the config in its current working directory.
This isn't such a useful solution when there's a lot of testing to do.
For settings I would certainly use the app.config file. This is proposed by Microsoft and apart from that it is pretty much the easiest way to handle application settings anyway.
For other files I'd recommend either the applications local or roaming settings path, depending on weather you only need the data local or not. For compact, local databases I tend to use this approach. The application directory, as suggested by Albin, is a bad idea. You cannot be sure that the user is actually allowed to write to that directory and/or files in that directory (i.e. the app was pre-installed by an admin with elevated rights).
To get the location of the local paths use
ConfigurationManager.OpenExeConfiguration(ConfigurationUserLevel.PerUserRoamingAndLocal)
and for the roaming path
ConfigurationManager.OpenExeConfiguration(ConfigurationUserLevel.PerUserRoaming)
More information on Windows User Profiles (the actual paths in different versions of Windows for example, you can find here: http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/aa372123.aspx
I'm using setting from my C# application like this:
String str = Properties.Settings.Default.SETTINGS_NAME;
When I save this settings, a settings file is created on
C:\Documents and Settings\<user name>\Local Settings\Application Data\<comp name>\Keb.exe_Url_pbs4eg1o2ija22omldrwjxhdam0jxxi5\1.0.0.0\user.config
Is there a way to change this path to Application.ExecutablePath\user.config, and use it next time so my application can be more portable ?
You can control the location of the user.config file by creating a custom SettingsProvider. Luckily for you, someone at CodeProject already did that.
See my answer here for all the details: How to make designer generated .Net application settings portable
If you want it to be Single user or in other way make the configuration of your application portable i will use a custom config file like an .ini file and keep it my app's root folder.
That way any one want to have those settings can just copy it in his own app's root folder on some other computer. When app runs it just loads the settings and behave accordingly.
save data in a fixed format like
[setting_name] = [Setting_value]\n
or in XML file, with Tag name for setting and value for... well... value :)
You can also go with registry setttings but user don't feel it trivial to copy and merge .reg files
This is the way i have seen some PC Games (for eg. i frequently changed Crysis and MassEffect settings) and Softwares save their config files.
I have a project that reads in a file based on a value in a C# Setting class. This value however changes from machine to machine and Id rather not ask the user the first time the program is run as its a corporate environment, instead Id like it to be set in the installer, but where is the file located? Is there an easier method?
This is a visual studio addin not a standalone program
From your post it appears you have a windows application? , you can store an initial value in the application config, you can make an installer in Visual Studio and write custom actions that can write values to the file on first install in you install project.
The configure file is the easiest way to do what you are asking, however it is NOT the best. In fact it is recommended Not to use .config files for such cases.
whenever users install an 'update', there is a risk of overwriting their existing changes.
some businesses might have policy restrictions on the .config files.
the user cannot easily move his settings from one PC to another.
From my own experience, using XML, MS-Access, Registry or text files to store user settings has proven more useful than using the .config files.
I believe you are talking about designer-generated settings (the .settings file)?
The exact path usually contains some sort of a Hash (check this link). I usually have my own settings class which I serialize to and from xml using XmlSerializer, which gives me more freedom (I think C# settings files don't allow you to add custom enums, for example, or they make it a bit harder to do it than simply adding them to the .settings file).
However, maybe there is no need to set values during installation? For example, you could add a FirstStartup setting (set to true initially), which you can read when your App is started for the first time, and then set it to false. That way you can set your default settings when you detect a "first startup".
You will certainly need some sort of custom action at the end of your installer. You haven't mentioned what technology you're using to deploy your application so I will refrain from giving any specific guidance.
I recommend setting the value in your App.config. This is an xml file which will be named MyApplication.exe.config in the same directory as your application. Add it to your installer if it is not there already. In your installer, add a new setting:
<configuration>
<appSettings>
<add key="MySetting" value="My Value"/>
</appSettings>
</configuration>
In your code, retrieve the setting:
String setting = ConfigurationSettings.AppSettings["MySetting"];
If this is a machine-wide setting, this installer is the right place to set this. If you do it on the first execution you will run into a host of problems with permissions on the files and directories if the first person to run the app is a user with limited permissions.
Registry or an INI file or a XML file whatever suits you best.
Best option would be registry. Istalling the application will require Admin access so writing to the registry during installation will not be an issue.
More over if some one accidently deletes the ini or settings file then the program might stop working.
You said that this is for a corporate environment. You can create an administrative template for group policy to set the default in the registry. Then, your program can just query that one registry value if the default hasn't already been set.
I personally would never use web.config or app.config. Just read your own xml file, have a look at my post on this:
http://www.picnet.com.au/blogs/Guido/post/2009/09/10/XML-Settings-Files-No-more-webconfig.aspx
Thanks
Guido
To answer the "Where is the file located" bit of the original question for those interested (I'm assuming that the "settings file" in question is the "Settings File" item available from the "Add New Item" dialogue).
In Win7 (and probably all the other ones) the settings file will generate under the path:
C:\Users\[user]\AppData\Local
The folder structure from here on out depends on your AssemblyInfo and build information, the "AssemblyCompany" field (if populated) is used for the top-most folder, beneath this is a folder copying the application executable name, followed by the build and then finally the settings file (named "*.config").
In my case, the complete path is as follows:
C:\Users\[user]\AppData\Local\[company_name]\Application.exe_StrongName_zx0v1qxyoass4d0z3mtwe3vbrhaehkjg\0.0.5812.21662\user.config
My case is different, my project is a class library (dll) which have the app.config file. I decided to create 4 application settings variables (title, url, limit, rate). To create this, i right-click ont he project --> Properties --> Settings. this values you can retrieve in code using this command --> Settings.Default.title, ...etc
the problem is let say i instantiate 5 objects (same object for example MyProject.MyClass) from this library, i want the instance be able to have its own settings. i mean each of the instance may have their xml setting file. can this be done?