Store array of custom class in settings file

Question

I have one class:

public class CustomClass
{
    public string Columns;
    public string Filter;

    public string SourceDB;
    public string SourceTable;

    public string DestinationDB;
    public string DestinationTable;
}

In the user settings, I need to store an array of CustomClass. This is because I need the user ability to specifiy multiple CustomClass in the app.config file.

Look at implementing your own configuration handler, these can have multiple entries and can be customised to have multiple fields. http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/2tw134k3(v=vs.100).aspx — ChrisBint, Jul 30 '13 at 06:17

score 2 · Answer 1 · answered Jul 30 '13 at 07:53

You will have to start by creating a setting in your project settings file, let's name it CustomClasses. The next part is a little bit tricky, as it involves editing the XML of the Settings.settings file:

<?xml version='1.0' encoding='utf-8'?>
<SettingsFile xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/VisualStudio/2004/01/settings" 
              CurrentProfile="(Default)" 
              GeneratedClassNamespace="ConsoleApplication1.Properties" 
              GeneratedClassName="Settings">
  <Profiles />
  <Settings>
    <Setting Name="CustomClasses" 
             GenerateDefaultValueInCode="false" 
             Type="System.Collections.Generic.List&lt;ConsoleApplication1.CustomClass&gt;" 
             Scope="User">
    </Setting>
  </Settings>
</SettingsFile>

If you open your Settings.Designer.cs file, you should have now:

[global::System.Configuration.UserScopedSettingAttribute()]
[global::System.Diagnostics.DebuggerNonUserCodeAttribute()]
public global::System.Collections.Generic
    .List<ConsoleApplication1.CustomClass> CustomClasses {
    get {
        return ((global::System.Collections.Generic
            .List<ConsoleApplication1.CustomClass>)(this["CustomClasses"]));
    }
    set {
        this["CustomClasses"] = value;
    }
}

You can save the setting in your application:

class Program
{
    static void Main(string[] args)
    {
        Properties.Settings.Default.CustomClasses = new List<CustomClass>() {
            new CustomClass(){Columns="columns1"},
            new CustomClass(){Columns="columns2"},
            new CustomClass(){Columns="columns3"},
            new CustomClass(){Columns="columns4"}
        };
        Properties.Settings.Default.Save();
    }
}

score 0 · Answer 2 · edited May 23 '17 at 12:03

You can declare a CustomClassSection in App.config, and declare inside a collection of CustomClass instances. Something like:

<configuration>
    <configSections>
        <section name="CustomClassSection" type = "A type of class section " />
    </configSections>
</configuration>

<CustomClassSection>
    <CustomClass Columns="column1" Filter="filter1" SourceDB="sourcedb1" SourceTable="sourcetable1" DestinationDB="destdb1" DestinationTable="desttable1"/>
    <CustomClass Columns="column2" Filter="filter2" SourceDB="sourcedb2" SourceTable="sourcetable2" DestinationDB="destdb2" DestinationTable="desttable2"/>
...
</CustomClassSection>

You can see how work with sections here: How to create custom config section in app.config?.

Store array of custom class in settings file

2 Answers2