I'm working on a C# class library that needs to be able to read settings from the web.config or app.config file (depending on whether the DLL is referenced from an ASP.NET web application or a Windows Forms application).
I've found that
ConfigurationSettings.AppSettings.Get("MySetting")
works, but that code has been marked as deprecated by Microsoft.
I've read that I should be using:
ConfigurationManager.AppSettings["MySetting"]
However, the System.Configuration.ConfigurationManager class doesn't seem to be available from a C# Class Library project.
What is the best way to do this?
For a sample app.config file like below:
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8" ?>
<configuration>
<appSettings>
<add key="countoffiles" value="7" />
<add key="logfilelocation" value="abc.txt" />
</appSettings>
</configuration>
You read the above application settings using the code shown below:
using System.Configuration;
You may also need to also add a reference to System.Configuration in your project if there isn't one already. You can then access the values like so:
string configvalue1 = ConfigurationManager.AppSettings["countoffiles"];
string configvalue2 = ConfigurationManager.AppSettings["logfilelocation"];
You'll need to add a reference to System.Configuration in your project's references folder.
You should definitely be using the ConfigurationManager over the obsolete ConfigurationSettings.
Update for .NET Framework 4.5 and 4.6; the following will no longer work:
string keyvalue = System.Configuration.ConfigurationManager.AppSettings["keyname"];
Now access the Setting class via Properties:
string keyvalue = Properties.Settings.Default.keyname;
See Managing Application Settings for more information.
Right click on your class library, and choose the "Add References" option from the Menu.
And from the .NET tab, select System.Configuration. This would include the System.Configuration DLL file into your project.
I'm using this, and it works well for me:
textBox1.Text = ConfigurationManager.AppSettings["Name"];
Read From Config:
You'll need to add a reference to the configuration:
Open "Properties" on your project
Go to "Settings" Tab
Add "Name" and "Value"
Get Value with using following code:
string value = Properties.Settings.Default.keyname;
Save to the configuration:
Properties.Settings.Default.keyName = value;
Properties.Settings.Default.Save();
You must add a reference to the System.Configuration assembly to the project.
You might be adding the App.config file to a DLL file. App.Config works only for executable projects, since all the DLL files take the configuration from the configuration file for the EXE file being executed.
Let's say you have two projects in your solution:
SomeDll
SomeExe
Your problem might be related to the fact that you're including the app.config file to SomeDLL and not SomeExe. SomeDll is able to read the configuration from the SomeExe project.
Try this:
string keyvalue = System.Configuration.ConfigurationManager.AppSettings["keyname"];
In the web.config file this should be the next structure:
<configuration>
<appSettings>
<add key="keyname" value="keyvalue" />
</appSettings>
</configuration>
Step 1: Right-click on references tab to add reference.
Step 2: Click on Assemblies tab
Step 3: Search for 'System.Configuration'
Step 4: Click OK.
Then it will work.
string value = System.Configuration.ConfigurationManager.AppSettings["keyname"];
I had the same problem. Just read them this way:
System.Configuration.ConfigurationSettings.AppSettings["MySetting"]
web.config is used with web applications. web.config by default has several configurations required for the web application. You can have a web.config for each folder under your web application.
app.config is used for Windows applications. When you build the application in Visual Studio, it will be automatically renamed to <appname>.exe.config and this file has to be delivered along with your application.
You can use the same method to call the app settings values from both configuration files:
System.Configuration.ConfigurationSettings.AppSettings["Key"]
As I found the best approach to access application settings variables in a systematic way by making a wrapper class over System.Configuration as below
public class BaseConfiguration
{
protected static object GetAppSetting(Type expectedType, string key)
{
string value = ConfigurationManager.AppSettings.Get(key);
try
{
if (expectedType == typeof(int))
return int.Parse(value);
if (expectedType == typeof(string))
return value;
throw new Exception("Type not supported.");
}
catch (Exception ex)
{
throw new Exception(string.Format("Config key:{0} was expected to be of type {1} but was not.",
key, expectedType), ex);
}
}
}
Now we can access needed settings variables by hard coded names using another class as below:
public class ConfigurationSettings:BaseConfiguration
{
#region App setting
public static string ApplicationName
{
get { return (string)GetAppSetting(typeof(string), "ApplicationName"); }
}
public static string MailBccAddress
{
get { return (string)GetAppSetting(typeof(string), "MailBccAddress"); }
}
public static string DefaultConnection
{
get { return (string)GetAppSetting(typeof(string), "DefaultConnection"); }
}
#endregion App setting
#region global setting
#endregion global setting
}
Also, you can use Formo:
Configuration:
<appSettings>
<add key="RetryAttempts" value="5" />
<add key="ApplicationBuildDate" value="11/4/1999 6:23 AM" />
</appSettings>
Code:
dynamic config = new Configuration();
var retryAttempts1 = config.RetryAttempts; // Returns 5 as a string
var retryAttempts2 = config.RetryAttempts(10); // Returns 5 if found in config, else 10
var retryAttempts3 = config.RetryAttempts(userInput, 10); // Returns 5 if it exists in config, else userInput if not null, else 10
var appBuildDate = config.ApplicationBuildDate<DateTime>();
If your needing/wanting to use the ConfigurationManager class...
You may need to load System.Configuration.ConfigurationManager by Microsoft via NuGet Package Manager
Tools->NuGet Package Manager->Manage NuGet Packages for Solution...
Microsoft Docs
One thing worth noting from the docs...
If your application needs read-only access to its own configuration,
we recommend that you use the GetSection(String) method. This method
provides access to the cached configuration values for the current
application, which has better performance than the Configuration
class.
I strongly recommend you to create a wrapper for this call. Something like a ConfigurationReaderService and use dependency injection to get this class. This way you will be able to isolate this configuration files for test purposes.
So use the ConfigurationManager.AppSettings["something"]; suggested and return this value. With this method you can create some kind of default return if there isn't any key available in the .config file.
Just for completeness, there's another option available for web projects only:
System.Web.Configuration.WebConfigurationManager.AppSettings["MySetting"]
The benefit of this is that it doesn't require an extra reference to be added, so it may be preferable for some people.
I always create an IConfig interface with typesafe properties declared for all configuration values. A Config implementation class then wraps the calls to System.Configuration. All your System.Configuration calls are now in one place, and it is so much easier and cleaner to maintain and track which fields are being used and declare their default values. I write a set of private helper methods to read and parse common data types.
Using an IoC framework you can access the IConfig fields anywhere your in application by simply passing the interface to a class constructor. You're also then able to create mock implementations of the IConfig interface in your unit tests so you can now test various configuration values and value combinations without needing to touch your App.config or Web.config file.
Please check the .NET version you are working on. It should be higher than 4. And you have to add the System.Configuration system library to your application.
You can use the below line. In my case it was working:
System.Configuration.ConfigurationSettings.AppSettings["yourKeyName"]
You must take care that the above line of code is also the old version and it's deprecated in new libraries.
The ConfigurationManager is not what you need to access your own settings.
To do this you should use
{YourAppName}.Properties.Settings.{settingName}
I was able to get the below approach working for .NET Core projects:
Steps:
Create an appsettings.json (format given below) in your project.
Next create a configuration class. The format is provided below.
I have created a Login() method to show the usage of the Configuration Class.
Create appsettings.json in your project with content:
{
"Environments": {
"QA": {
"Url": "somevalue",
"Username": "someuser",
"Password": "somepwd"
},
"BrowserConfig": {
"Browser": "Chrome",
"Headless": "true"
},
"EnvironmentSelected": {
"Environment": "QA"
}
}
public static class Configuration
{
private static IConfiguration _configuration;
static Configuration()
{
var builder = new ConfigurationBuilder()
.AddJsonFile($"appsettings.json");
_configuration = builder.Build();
}
public static Browser GetBrowser()
{
if (_configuration.GetSection("BrowserConfig:Browser").Value == "Firefox")
{
return Browser.Firefox;
}
if (_configuration.GetSection("BrowserConfig:Browser").Value == "Edge")
{
return Browser.Edge;
}
if (_configuration.GetSection("BrowserConfig:Browser").Value == "IE")
{
return Browser.InternetExplorer;
}
return Browser.Chrome;
}
public static bool IsHeadless()
{
return _configuration.GetSection("BrowserConfig:Headless").Value == "true";
}
public static string GetEnvironment()
{
return _configuration.GetSection("EnvironmentSelected")["Environment"];
}
public static IConfigurationSection EnvironmentInfo()
{
var env = GetEnvironment();
return _configuration.GetSection($#"Environments:{env}");
}
}
public void Login()
{
var environment = Configuration.EnvironmentInfo();
Email.SendKeys(environment["username"]);
Password.SendKeys(environment["password"]);
WaitForElementToBeClickableAndClick(_driver, SignIn);
}
Another possible solution:
var MyReader = new System.Configuration.AppSettingsReader();
string keyvalue = MyReader.GetValue("keyalue",typeof(string)).ToString();
I have been trying to find a fix for this same issue for a couple of days now. I was able to resolve this by adding a key within the appsettings tag in the web.config file. This should override the .dll file when using the helper.
<configuration>
<appSettings>
<add key="loginUrl" value="~/RedirectValue.cshtml" />
<add key="autoFormsAuthentication" value="false"/>
</appSettings>
</configuration>
extra : if you are working on a Class Library project you have to embed the settings.json file.
A class library shouldn't really be directly referencing anything in
app.config - the class doesn't have an app.config, because it's not an
application, it's a class.
Go to the JSON file's properties.
Change Build Action -> Embedded resource.
Use the following code to read it.
var assembly = Assembly.GetExecutingAssembly();
var resourceStream = assembly.GetManifestResourceStream("Assembly.file.json");
string myString = reader.ReadToEnd();
now we have a JSON string we can Deserialize it using JsonConvert
if you didn't embed the file inside the assembly you can't use only the DLL file without the file
I'm using Visual Studio for Mac version 17.0.6.
As you can see on this screenshot it is not possible to add a reference to System.Configuration.
Solution:
install NuGet Package - System.Configuration.ConfigurationManager.
Create app.config file and set "Build action" to "EmbeddedResource"
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<configuration>
<appSettings>
<add key="name" value="Joe"/>
</appSettings>
</configuration>
using System.Configuration;
enjoy)
string name = ConfigurationManager.AppSettings["name"];
BTW: Do not add an app.config for a library
I found the answer in this link https://stackoverflow.com/a/1836938/1492229
It's not only necessary to use the namespace System.Configuration. You have also to add the reference to the assembly System.Configuration.dll , by
Right-click on the References / Dependencies
Choose Add Reference
Find and add System.Configuration.
This will work for sure.
Also for the NameValueCollection you have to write:
using System.Collections.Specialized;
Here's an example: App.config
<applicationSettings>
<MyApp.My.MySettings>
<setting name="Printer" serializeAs="String">
<value>1234 </value>
</setting>
</MyApp.My.MySettings>
</applicationSettings>
Dim strPrinterName as string = My.settings.Printer
I am trying to use the ServiceStack clients on a Xamarin iOS project and when debugging it I have the following exception:
“System.ArgumentException: PclExport.Instance needs to be
initialized”.
The code that produces the exception is the following:
try
{
string strReadParam = this.xmlParser.GetString("SyncUrl");
CommonStatic.SyncWSUrl = strReadParam;
var client = new JsonServiceClient(CommonStatic.SyncWSUrl);
client.Timeout = new TimeSpan(0, 0, 0, 5, 0);
var response = client.Get(new mSalesCheckConnectionRequest { DBSource = CommonStatic.DBSource, DBSourceInstance = CommonStatic.DBSourceInstance, DBName = CommonStatic.DBName, DBUsername = CommonStatic.DBUsername, DBPassword = CommonStatic.DBPassword });
return;
}
catch (System.Net.WebException wex)
{
}
I am using ServiceStack.Interfaces, ServiceStack.Client.Pcl and ServiceStack.Text.Pcl all having version 4.0.34. Additionally I referenced Newtonsoft.Json at version 6.0.7.
After some research I realized that the PCL provider for iOS is not registered automatically, so I added “IosPclExportClient.Configure();” before instantiating the new Json Service Client and a I referenced ServiceStack.Pcl.iOS.dll at version 4.0.0.0.
The result is the following error:
“Cannot include both 'monotouch.dll' and 'Xamarin.iOS.dll' in the same Xamarin.iOS project - 'Xamarin.iOS.dll' is referenced explicitly, while 'monotouch.dll' is referenced by 'ServiceStack.Pcl.iOS, Version=4.0.0.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=null'.”
Is there is any suggestion of resolving this problem?
Thank you in advance
You need to call IosPclExportClient.Configure(); when you application starts to initialise the PCL Export Client before use in iOS applications.
So in your Main method:
static void Main (string[] args)
{
// Configure ServiceStack Client
IosPclExportClient.Configure();
// Set AppDelegate
UIApplication.Main (args, null, "AppDelegate");
}
and a I referenced ServiceStack.Pcl.iOS.dll at version 4.0.0.0.
The PCL specific NuGet packages of ServiceStack are no longer maintained, as they have been merged into the main NuGet package using specific profile.
You should only be including the ServiceStack.Client package in your project. So remove all references to ServiceStack in your project, clean the build, and add just ServiceStack.Client.
If you reference ServiceStack.Client.Pcl was well as ServiceStack.Client you will get a conflict.
In my Application I use Common.Logging library in order to abstract logging functionality. In startup assembly it was configured (in app.config file) to work against Log4Net library. There are established some Appenders: ConsoleAppender, RollingFileAppender, TraceAppender. Everything works fine in the single AppDomain. However I have found that logging does not work in the newly created AppDomain. i.e:
Logger.Info( "Logging works here" ); // Logging works here
var appDomain = AppDomain.CreateDomain(
"AppDomain." + componentHost.FullName,
AppDomain.CurrentDomain.Evidence,
AppDomain.CurrentDomain.SetupInformation );
var proxy = (IComponentHost) appDomain.CreateInstanceAndUnwrap(
componentHost.Assembly.FullName,
componentHost.FullName,
false,
BindingFlags.Default,
null,
new object[] { },
null,
null );
proxy.Init(); // Logging does not work in Init() method stack
I'm trying to find a solution, both using app.config configuration as well as Common.Logging API (i.e LogManager.Reset() method), but it doesn't solve a problem.
How can I force Common.Logging / Log4Net to work properly in newly created AppDomain? Please for help.
I have a similar issue with log4net. I used XmlConfigurator.Configure() without parameters that uses Assembly.GetCallingAssembly() to get configuration file. I replaced it with:
var configFile = new FileInfo(AppDomain.CurrentDomain.SetupInformation.ConfigurationFile);
if (!configFile.Exists)
throw new Exception($"Failed to find configuration file '{configFile.FullName}'");
XmlConfigurator.Configure(configFile);
From the code you show, it looks like you're not providing a configuration file for your app domain. It's been a few years since I've done this, but if I recall correctly, the configuration file for a new app domain is empty by default.
Here's an example of how to use the AppDomainSetup class:
AppDomainSetup ads = new AppDomainSetup();
ads.SetConfigurationBytes( Encoding.UTF8.GetBytes(
#"<configuration>
<system.data>
<DbProviderFactories>
<remove invariant="System.Data.SqlServerCe.3.5"></remove>
</DbProviderFactories>
</configuration>" ) );
(Credit to Tom Overton for the code sample.)
See http://social.msdn.microsoft.com/Forums/vstudio/en-US/a23ff0ad-8a4c-4aaf-8281-dcc7e840f8a5/assigning-appconfig-to-appdomain?forum=clr for his explanation of this issue.
When i am using a web application, the line of code below
Configuration objConfig =
ConfigurationManager.OpenExeConfiguration( ConfigurationUserLevel.None);
in class library are giving this error:
"exePath must be specified when not running inside a stand alone exe."
Previously a console application was being used, and the code could access the app.config. I tried using the System.Web.Configuration in class library but the dll was not present in the .Net tab for "Add reference".
Kindly help :)
You need to use a different configuration manager in a web context. The following code
block shows an example of how to deal with this:
System.Configuration.Configuration configuration = null;
if (System.Web.HttpContext.Current != null)
{
configuration =
System.Web.Configuration.WebConfigurationManager.OpenWebConfiguration("~");
}
else
{
configuration =
ConfigurationManager.OpenExeConfiguration(ConfigurationUserLevel.None);
}
I'm not sure what you're doing; but at first glance it looks like you're trying to use code written for a WinForms application in a web environment. This almost certainly will not work, since your web app won't have the permissions you need.
Try looking up how to do this in a web environment (since you seem to be dealing with config files, try searching on WEB.CONFIG to start)
I tried to use the answer from #shane but ended up with the same exception using Hangfire. This code worked for me though:
System.Configuration.Configuration configFile = null;
if (System.Web.HttpContext.Current != null)
{
configFile =
System.Web.Configuration.WebConfigurationManager.OpenWebConfiguration("~");
}
else
{
System.Configuration.ExeConfigurationFileMap map = new ExeConfigurationFileMap { ExeConfigFilename = $"{System.AppDomain.CurrentDomain.BaseDirectory}Web.Config" };
configFile = ConfigurationManager.OpenMappedExeConfiguration(map, ConfigurationUserLevel.None);
}
Note that editing Web.config will cause the application pool to restart!