How to read configSections

Question

I've set up some custom config sections in my App.Config, such that I now have a configSection that looks like this.

<configSections>
    <section name="Section1" type="ConfigSections.MySection, MyNamespace"/>    
    <section name="Section2" type="ConfigSections.MySection, MyNamespace"/>    
    <section name="Section3" type="ConfigSections.MySection, MyNamespace"/>    
</configSections>

What I want to do is to read this section in code in order to find out at runtime what sections I have. I have tried:

var mySections = ConfigurationManager.GetSection("configSections");

but this returns null. I'm sure I'm missing something simple, but I cannot find anything about how to do this.

Thanks

It think you have to do it like this: var mySections = ConfigurationManager.GetSection("Section1"); — HW90
– HW90, Commented Apr 26, 2012 at 10:47
To clarify, I am perfectly happy how to read the section called "Section1". I am trying to read the section called "configSections", so I don't have to hardcode the text "Section1" in my code. The reason for this is that I don't know at runtime what or how many sections I'm going to have. — bornfromanegg
– bornfromanegg, Commented Apr 26, 2012 at 11:13
To put it another way, I want to be able to read the "name" attribute, on each of the "section" elements, contained in the "configSections" element (above), in my App.Config. (This is hard to explain!) — bornfromanegg
– bornfromanegg, Commented Apr 26, 2012 at 11:15

Michiel van Oosterhout · Accepted Answer · 2012-05-28 20:58:36Z

6

Use the Configuration.Sections-property to get the names of the declared configuration sections. Then, optionally if you need, use ConfigurationManager.GetSection() to retrieve an individual section.

Note that you may want to use the value of the SectionInformation.IsDeclared or ConfigSource of the respective ConfigurationSection.SectionInformation to find out of the section was actually declared in your configuration file, or is inherited from machine.config or otherwise.

Example:

    var cfg = ConfigurationManager.OpenExeConfiguration(ConfigurationUserLevel.None);
    var localSections = cfg.Sections.Cast<ConfigurationSection>()
       .Where(s => s.SectionInformation.IsDeclared);

Finally, note that this approach will only get you configuration sections. It will not return configuration sections, which are itself inside a <sectionGroup>. For them, you would first need iterate over Configuration.SectionGroups, which has it's own Sections-property that contains the per section group sections. It can also contain nested section groups, again accessible via the SectionGroups property of each ConfigurationSectionGroup instance.

edited May 28, 2012 at 20:58

Michiel van Oosterhout

23.2k16 gold badges100 silver badges141 bronze badges

answered Apr 26, 2012 at 11:33

Christian.K

49.6k10 gold badges108 silver badges156 bronze badges

Sign up to request clarification or add additional context in comments.

2 Comments

bornfromanegg Over a year ago

Thankyou. That appears to be exactly what I need. Cheers!

ChrisW Over a year ago

I guess the first sentence of the last paragraph is trying to say, "This approach will get you root-level configuration sections, but not configuration sections which are nested inside a <sectionGroup>."

HW90 · Accepted Answer · 2012-04-26 11:23:15Z

0

if put all the sections into a section group this would work:

<configSections>
      <sectionGroup name="FMGlobal.Common.SecuritySubsystem.ADAzManFeed">
        <section name="ADFolders" type="System.Configuration.NameValueSectionHandler, System, Version=2.0.0.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=b77a5c561934e089" requirePermission="false" />
      </sectionGroup>
    </configSections>

  var  NVC = (ConfigurationManager.GetSection( _
    "FMGlobal.Common.SecuritySubsystem.ADAzManFeed")

answered Apr 26, 2012 at 11:23

HW90

1,9932 gold badges22 silver badges45 bronze badges

Collectives™ on Stack Overflow

How to read configSections

2 Answers 2

2 Comments

Comments

Your Answer

Linked

Hot Network Questions

Collectives™ on Stack Overflow

2 Answers 2

2 Comments

Comments

Your Answer

Sign up or log in

Post as a guest

Linked

Related