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I have searched and searched and can't find a solution to my specific problem. I am updating a console app that will now be used for more than one client. We have decided, over storing the info in a db at least for now, to store the clients info in config files. Each client will have their own configuration file. I need to know how to load a/any config file from an "unknown" location. All of the examples that I found want me to put in the path of the file. While using my computer, I will know the path, but once it gets pushed to other servers, the paths to the file will change.

Working under these conditions, how can I load a config file for any client without knowing the path to the file?

EDIT: The console app is only ran on one server, but it is used to go to different clients websites and crawl their site. This is why each client has their own config file. It contains the information needed to get and use their site. We have a task set up for the app to run each client on a timer.

all4you61
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  • Two suggests: 1. You said you have db. You could store each user's path to config file. 2. You can write the path in registry (same place for all users). – etaiso Oct 23 '13 at 18:30

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Since everything was being read from the bin folder, I looked at the properties and changed from Do Not Copy to Copy Always for Copy to Output Directory. Now it WILL locate the config files in the bin folder. And the answer to this question put me in the direction to read my config files.

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all4you61
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What about writing every piece of code with in mind that it is to be used in another file, say with an include statement. So, every file is used in another one until we reach a wrapper file, which only purpose is to define the location of the config file. The application would always be called through such a wrapper file. This wrapper file will do whatever necessary to determine the location of the config file and make it available to the included files. If it knows the user, it can look up in a table. The key point here is that, the wrapper files would not move when you move the code from one environment to another. I think that this is a useful feature, because we do not want edit the code each time that we move it from one environment to another. Another advantage of this approach is that it applies to all environments, even very limited environments. For example, let say you provide only a folder to a programmer as a sandbox to experiment with the code. This programmer does not have access to the /bin or the /etc directory. In contrast, the proposed approach will work fine in this case, because the programmer can set the config files wherever he wants in its local wrapper files. This issue is discussed here How to organize code so that we can move and update it without having to edit the location of the configuration file?

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