Read value from ini file with 'File.ReadAllText'

Question

I have some ini file include this string : _DeviceName = #1234. Now I want to get the _DeviceName value that is 1234 but it shows me the full string that is _DeviceName = #1234. I tried this code:

if (File.Exists("inifile.ini"))
{
    if (File.ReadAllText("inifile.ini").Split('\r', '\n').First(st => st.StartsWith("_DeviceName")) != null)
    {
        string s = File.ReadAllText("inifile.ini").Split('\r', '\n').First(st => st.StartsWith("_DeviceName"));

        MessageBox.Show(s);

    }
}

You're calling `ReadAllText` twice and splitting. Looks like you'd be better off calling `File.ReadAllLines` once. — keyboardP, Aug 01 '13 at 15:08
possible duplicate of [Reading/writing an INI file](http://stackoverflow.com/questions/217902/reading-writing-an-ini-file) — Jay Riggs, Aug 01 '13 at 15:09
possible duplicate of [How to extract a particular value from an INI File using a Regular Expression?](http://stackoverflow.com/questions/1946686/how-to-extract-a-particular-value-from-an-ini-file-using-a-regular-expression) — phillip, Aug 01 '13 at 15:17
If possible, you should use an INI library, or upgrade to the XML conf files that .Net and most modern frameworks strongly encourage. — ssube, Aug 01 '13 at 15:23

score 2 · Answer 1 · edited Aug 01 '13 at 15:14

2

You could add another split to get the value out:

if (File.Exists("inifile.ini"))
{
    if (File.ReadAllText("inifile.ini").Split('\r', '\n').First(st => st.StartsWith("_DeviceName")) != null)
    {
        string s = File.ReadAllText("inifile.ini")
                   .Split('\r', '\n').First(st => st.StartsWith("_DeviceName"))
                   .Split('=')[1];
        MessageBox.Show(s);
    }
}

edited Aug 01 '13 at 15:14

Vivek Jain

3,811
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answered Aug 01 '13 at 15:08

Kenneth

28,294
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You might also `Trim()` it to eliminate the inevitable leading whitespace. – DonBoitnott Aug 01 '13 at 15:09

score 2 · Answer 2 · answered Aug 01 '13 at 15:11

You can use File.ReadAllLines instead. You may want to look at existing ini file readers if you're doing anything more complex but this should work. As a side note, it's not efficient to make two File.ReadAllText calls so quickly; in most cases it's best to just store the result in a variable).

if (File.Exists("inifile.ini"))
{
   string[] allLines = File.ReadAllLines("inifile.ini");
   string deviceLine = allLines.Where(st => st.StartsWith("_DeviceName")).FirstOrDefault();

   if(!String.IsNullOrEmpty(deviceLine))
   {
      string value = deviceLine.Split('=')[1].Trim();
      MessageBox.Show(value);
   }
}

score 0 · Answer 3 · answered Aug 14 '13 at 19:50

I made an application that implements an INI Reader/Writer. Source code not available just yet, but keep checking back, I will have the source uploaded in a few days ( today is 8/14/13) . This particular INI Reader is CASE SENSITIVE and may need modification for special characters, but so far I have had no problems.

http://sourceforge.net/projects/dungeonchest/

score -1 · Answer 4 · answered Aug 01 '13 at 15:09

-1

A dirty way would be to use String.Replace("_DeviceName = #", "")

answered Aug 01 '13 at 15:09

Matt

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2
10

1

I think you mean `s = s.Replace("_DeviceName = #", String.Empty);`...but your point is valid regardless. – DonBoitnott Aug 01 '13 at 15:11
Yes just used String as a generic term – Matt Aug 05 '13 at 16:06

Read value from ini file with 'File.ReadAllText'

4 Answers4