ConfigReader

Type-safe, convention-over-configuration access to the .Net application configuration, web.config, or other configuration source.

How do I use it?

Step One: Install the Library

Install "ConfigReader" via NuGet via the GUI or "Install-Package ConfigReader".

Step Two: Create the Interface & Default-Supplying Class

Create an interface representing your configuration object.

public interface IMailNotificationSettings{
    Uri SmtpServerAddress { get; }
    string Username { get; }
    string Password { get; }
}

Create a class that implements the above interface that supplies the defaults for the configuration.

public class DefaultMailNotificationSettings : IMailNotificationSettings{
    public Uri SmtpServerAddress { get { return new Uri("http://localhost"); } }
    public string Username { get { return string.Empty; } }
    public string Password { get { return string.Empty; } }     
}

Step Three: Retrieve Instance of IMailNotificationSettings With Defaults From DefaultMailNotificationSettings

Instantiate an instance of ConfigReader and SetupConfigFor<IYourInterface>.

ConfigurationReader configReader = new ConfigurationReader().SetupConfigOf<IMailNotificationSettings>();

Supply defaults from DefaultMailNotificationSettings to ConfigReader.

IMailNotificationSettings mySettings = configReader.ConfigBrowser.Get<IMailNotificationSettings>(new DefaultMailNotificationSettings());

The mySettings now contains an instance implementing IMailNotificationSettings with defaults from DefaultMailNotificationSettings:

Assert.Equal("http://localhost", mySettings.SmtpServerAddress);
Assert.Equal("", mySettings.Username);
Assert.Equal("", mySettings.Password);

Step Four (Optional): Override Default Settings via App.config/Web.config

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8" ?>
<configuration>
  <appSettings>
    <add key="MailNotificationSettings.Username" value="user123" />
    <add key="MailNotificationSettings.Password" value="passwd123" />
  </appSettings>
</configuration>

Using the above config file, Username and Password are overriden, but the default value for SmtpServerAddress remains:

Assert.Equal("http://localhost", mySettings.SmtpServerAddress); // default
Assert.Equal("user123", mySettings.Username); // overridden from config!
Assert.Equal("passwd123", mySettings.Password); // overridden from config!

Defaults Via Anonymous Object

IMailNotificationSettings mySettings = configReader.ConfigBrowser.Get<IMailNotificationSettings>(new {
    SmtpServerAddress = new Uri("http://localhost"),
    Username = String.Empty,
    Password = String.Empty
});

No Defaults, Config File Only

The above example works even with creating/using DefaultMailNotificationSettings:

ConfigurationReader configReader = new ConfigurationReader().SetupConfigOf<IMailNotificationSettings>();
IMailNotificationSettings mySettings = configReader.ConfigBrowser.Get<IMailNotificationSettings>();

Note that doing this requires you to satisfy the IMailNotificationSettings with appropriate entries in your configuration file:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8" ?>
<configuration>
  <appSettings>
    <add key="MailNotificationSettings.SmtpServerAddress" value="http://localhost" />
    <add key="MailNotificationSettings.Username" value="user123" />
    <add key="MailNotificationSettings.Password" value="passwd123" />
  </appSettings>
</configuration>

Custom Type Converters

Let's say you have the following configuration interface:

public interface ICustomConversionExample
{
    IPAddress Address { get; }
    string[] AdminUsernames { get; }
}

And the following configuration file:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8" ?>
<configuration>
  <appSettings>
    <add key="CustomConversionExample.Address" value="127.0.0.1" />
    <add key="CustomConversionExample.AdminUsernames" value="Reshef.Mann;Troy.Goode" />
  </appSettings>
</configuration>

You can process these by registering your own custom type converters:

var configReader = new ConfigurationReader()
    .SetupCustomConverter(source => IPAddress.Parse(source))
    .SetupCustomConverter(source => source.Split(';'))
    .SetupConfigOf<ICustomConversionExample>();

var mySettings = configReader.ConfigBrowser.Get<ICustomConversionExample>;

Assert.False(mySettings.Address.IsIPv6LinkLocal);
Assert.Equal(2, mySettings.AdminUsernames.Count);
Assert.Equal("Reshef.Mann", mySettings.AdminUsernames[0]);
Assert.Equal("Troy.Goode", mySettings.AdminUsernames[1]);

License

Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0.