encapsulate AppSettings in a class?

Question

I have code like:

var mySetting = ConfigurationManager.AppSettings["mySetting"];

Is there a way to create properties that encapsulate each setting so I don't have to use string keys like "mySetting"? I know you can do that by creating a "custom configuration section", but I don't want to make another section... I want to use the existing <appSettings> section.

Answer 1

Yes - use the Visual Studio provided "Settings" classes - use "Add New Item" and then pick "Settings".

This gives you a class with strongly-typed properties (string, int etc.) and all.

This will add the entries it needs in app.config in a custom config section - but it's really all provided for you already, so why reinvent the wheel?

Marc

Answer 2

Another option would be create a separate interface that you could use to retrieve the application settings

public interface IFooSettings
{
  int MySettings{get;}
}

public class ApplicationSettings : IFooSettings
{
  public string MySettings{get; private set;}
ApplicationSettings()
{
 MySettings = ConfigurationManager.AppSettings["mySetting"];

}
}

The power of this would be if for some reason you wanted to start saving your configuration in the database the only thing you would need to do is derive a class from IFooSettings to use a database

public class SqlApplicationSettings : IFooSettings
{
SqlApplicationSettings()
{
  //Do Something to populate the settings
}
  public string MySettings{get; private set;}
}

Granted this might be a bit of overkill for your application but it would offer a lot of flexability since you would not be tied to the ConfigurationManager or some other source.

Answer 3

Check out Configuration Section Designer which will allow you to do this graphically in Visual Studio.

Answer 4

http://www.codeproject.com/KB/cs/genuilder.aspx will allow you to do this in ASP.NET projects