Configuration settings only for development

Question

Short
I want to set certain applicationSetting values to specific values only for my development machine in a config file that cannot be checked in. For this I was thinking to use the configSource attribute with a user.config file. This attribute, however throws an exception when the file is not present.

Extended
I have a library with the following app.config file:

<applicationSettings>
    <A.NameSpace.Settings>
        <setting name="ASettingName" serializeAs="String">
            <value>aSettingValue</value>
        </setting>
    </A.NameSpace.Settings>
</applicationSettings>

Another library is going to use this library and has two options and one described a bit further

Not fill in the A.NameSpace.Settings node so the default aSettingValue is used
Fill in the A.NameSpace.Settings node so the newly configured value is used

This is handy because our build script that prepares setups can now replace environment-dependant parameters (eg: servernames, ports etc)

Now a third option is to have a app.config like this:

<applicationSettings>
    <A.NameSpace.Settings configSource="user.config" />         
</applicationSettings>

and define the same value in a user.config file that is not checked in. This is awesome. Except that in not-dev environment this user.config file should not present and an exception will be thrown when the file is not found.

How can I define configuration values only for my dev machine?

why not use config transforms: http://stackoverflow.com/questions/3004210/app-config-transformation-for-projects-which-are-not-web-projects-in-visual-stud — linkerro, Mar 09 '12 at 16:02

score 2 · Accepted Answer · answered Mar 09 '12 at 16:05

2

I think SlowCheetah is what you are looking for.

Scott Hanselman blogged about it: SlowCheetah - Web.config Transformation Syntax now generalized for any XML configuration file

answered Mar 09 '12 at 16:05

KMoraz

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RIGHT! I read that some time ago and totally forgot about it! – Boris Callens Mar 09 '12 at 16:07
Yes SlowCheetah is what u r looking for! – Sayed Ibrahim Hashimi Apr 07 '12 at 23:51

score 1 · Answer 2 · answered Mar 09 '12 at 16:01

1

You could use config transforms. I will find some documentation on how to accomplish this and post it shortly.

Here is the hanselman article real quick that may help.

answered Mar 09 '12 at 16:01

Justin Pihony

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score -1 · Answer 3 · answered Mar 09 '12 at 16:01

-1

Consider using ant/maven or something like this

answered Mar 09 '12 at 16:01

Plamen Paskov

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Configuration settings only for development

3 Answers3