How to read values from config.json in Console Application

Question

I just installed ASP.NET 5 and created a Console Application in Visual Studio. I've added a file, config.json, to the root folder of the project.

It looks like this:

{
    "Data": {
        "TargetFolderLocations": {
            "TestFolder1": "Some path",
            "TestFolder2": "Another path"
        }
    }
}

My Program.cs looks like this

public void Main(string[] args)
{
    var configurationBuilder = new ConfigurationBuilder(Environment.CurrentDirectory)
    .AddJsonFile("config.json")
    .AddEnvironmentVariables();
    Configuration = configurationBuilder.Build();

    //Doesn't work...null all the time
    var test = Configuration.Get("Data:TargetFolderLocations");

    Console.ReadLine();
}

How can I access the TargetFolderLocations key with code?

Doesn't work with .TargetFolderLocations either unfortunately... — JOSEFtw
– JOSEFtw, Commented Aug 7, 2015 at 20:21

Kiran · Accepted Answer · 2015-08-08 14:38:50Z

7

Have a type like the following:

public class FolderSettings
{
    public Dictionary<string, string> TargetFolderLocations { get; set; }
}

You can then use the ConfigurationBinder to automatically bind configuration sections to types like above. Example:

var folderSettings = ConfigurationBinder.Bind<FolderSettings>(config.GetConfigurationSection("Data"));
var path = folderSettings.TargetFolderLocations["TestFolder1"];

answered Aug 8, 2015 at 14:38

Kiran

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1 Comment

JOSEFtw Over a year ago

this is really clean, I had it bound to types previously but I think the syntax changed and I couldn't find any documentation...will try this out and accept it as correct answer if it works!

Ali Baig · Accepted Answer · 2015-08-07 20:41:55Z

4

You can use JavascriptSerializer (namespace: System.Web.Extension) to parse json into dictionary and find any value based on its key from json. You code would become:

 string json = System.IO.File.ReadAllText("PathToJsonFile");
 JavaScriptSerializer serializer = new JavaScriptSerializer();
 Dictionary<string, object> dic = serializer.Deserialize<Dictionary<string, object>>(json);

If you iterate over the dictionary, you can see all the keys and get their values using dic.

* Just an alternate solution *

answered Aug 7, 2015 at 20:41

Ali Baig

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JOSEFtw · Accepted Answer · 2018-12-11 10:40:25Z

4

I've managed to solve it like this:

public class Program
{
    public IConfiguration Configuration { get; set; }
    public Dictionary<string,string> Paths { get; set; } 
    public Program(IApplicationEnvironment app,
           IRuntimeEnvironment runtime,
           IRuntimeOptions options)
    {
        Paths = new Dictionary<string, string>();
        Configuration = new ConfigurationBuilder()
            .AddJsonFile(Path.Combine(app.ApplicationBasePath, "config.json"))
            .AddEnvironmentVariables()
            .Build();
    }

    public void Main(string[] args)
    {
        var pathKeys = Configuration.GetConfigurationSections("TargetFolderLocations");
        foreach (var pathItem in pathKeys)
        {
            var tmp = Configuration.Get($"TargetFolderLocations:{pathItem.Key}");
            Paths.Add(pathItem.Key, tmp);
        }

        return;
    }

edited Dec 11, 2018 at 10:40

answered Aug 7, 2015 at 21:05

JOSEFtw

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1 Comment

Kwex Over a year ago

Thanks JOSEFtw. You need to initialise your "Paths" dictionary variable else you will get a NULL exception.

Joe Enos · Accepted Answer · 2015-08-07 20:58:40Z

3

The way you've worded your question, your config.json file is at the root of the project, but you're looking in the executable directory at runtime. Assuming you're doing this from Visual Studio, and assuming you're not copying the config file in at build time, Environment.CurrentDirectory is probably bin\Debug, and the file is not there.

You can set the properties of config.json to Copy always from Solution Explorer, to ensure the file gets there.

answered Aug 7, 2015 at 20:58

Joe Enos

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2 Comments

Scott R. Frost Over a year ago

This is no longer the case. In VS 2015 with .NET Core 1.0 tools installed you no longer have that option. Instead, add this inside "buildOptions" in project.json: "copyToOutput": [ "config.json" ]

Özgür Kaplan Over a year ago

@ScottRFrost thank you. Finally got my console application running.

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