Missing example for Net 6 Winforms applications

[AndyWDev]

I'm working with a .Net 6 WinForms application which includes two class libraries. I'm using Microsoft.Extension.Configuration to reference IConfiguration.ConfigurationBuilder().AddXmlFile().Build(); followed by a call to GetRequredSection() to return a typed object.

In the WinForm app, the file App.Config gets renamed to .dll.config after the build process with the output being in the bin folder. Note: in .NET framework apps, the file used to be called .exe.config.

It would be great if there was an example showing how to access this file

Note: I do not have access to a host object as shown in the examples as this is a WinForms application.

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• ID: d4c11507-cd06-292f-53bc-3a7f14affd86
• Version Independent ID: 33eb4890-44e0-522b-b1c1-964fec385b6a
• Content: Configuration providers in .NET
• Content Source: docs/core/extensions/configuration-providers.md
• Product: dotnet-fundamentals
• GitHub Login: @IEvangelist
• Microsoft Alias: dapine

[IEvangelist]

I created a new WinForms for .NET 6 app. Here is what it looks like:

winforms-xml.csproj

<Project Sdk="Microsoft.NET.Sdk">

  <PropertyGroup>
    <OutputType>WinExe</OutputType>
    <TargetFramework>net6.0-windows</TargetFramework>
    <Nullable>enable</Nullable>
    <UseWindowsForms>true</UseWindowsForms>
    <ImplicitUsings>enable</ImplicitUsings>
    <RootNamespace>WinForms.Xml</RootNamespace>
  </PropertyGroup>

  <ItemGroup>
    <PackageReference Include="Microsoft.Extensions.Configuration.Binder" Version="6.0.0" />
    <PackageReference Include="Microsoft.Extensions.Configuration.Xml" Version="6.0.0" />
  </ItemGroup>

</Project>

With an App.config file:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8" ?>
<configuration>
  <SecretKey>Secret key value</SecretKey>
  <TransientFaultHandlingOptions>
    <Enabled>true</Enabled>
    <AutoRetryDelay>00:00:07</AutoRetryDelay>
  </TransientFaultHandlingOptions>
  <Logging>
    <LogLevel>
      <Default>Information</Default>
      <Microsoft>Warning</Microsoft>
    </LogLevel>
  </Logging>
</configuration>

Here is the Program.cs:

using WinForms.Xml;

internal static class Program
{
    /// <summary>
    ///  The main entry point for the application.
    /// </summary>
    [STAThread]
    static void Main()
    {
        // To customize application configuration such as set high DPI settings or default font,
        // see https://aka.ms/applicationconfiguration.
        ApplicationConfiguration.Initialize();
        Application.Run(new MainForm());
    } 
}

Here is the MainForm.cs:

using Microsoft.Extensions.Configuration;

namespace WinForms.Xml;

public sealed partial class MainForm : Form
{
    private readonly IConfiguration _config;

    public MainForm()
    {
        _config = new ConfigurationBuilder()
            .AddXmlFile("winforms-xml.dll.config", optional: true)
            .AddXmlFile("winforms-xml.exe.config", optional: true)
            .Build();

        InitializeComponent();
    }

    protected override void OnLoad(EventArgs e)
    {
        base.OnLoad(e);

        var secretKey = _config["SecretKey"];
        AddItemToGrid("SecretKey", secretKey);

        var transientFaultHandlingOptions =
            _config.GetRequiredSection("TransientFaultHandlingOptions");
        var isEnabled =
            transientFaultHandlingOptions.GetValue<bool>("Enabled");
        var autoRetryDelay =
            transientFaultHandlingOptions.GetValue<TimeSpan>("AutoRetryDelay");

        AddItemToGrid("TransientFaultHandlingOptions:Enabled", isEnabled);
        AddItemToGrid("TransientFaultHandlingOptions:AutoRetryDelay", autoRetryDelay);

        _settingsDataGridView.AutoResizeColumns(
            DataGridViewAutoSizeColumnsMode.AllCells);
    }

    void AddItemToGrid<T>(string key, T value)
    {
        var row = new DataGridViewRow();
        row.Cells.Add(new DataGridViewTextBoxCell { Value = key });
        row.Cells.Add(new DataGridViewTextBoxCell { Value = typeof(T) });
        row.Cells.Add(new DataGridViewTextBoxCell { Value = value });

        _settingsDataGridView.Rows.Add(row);
    }
}

And it's corresponding MainForm.Designer.cs file:

namespace WinForms.Xml
{
    partial class MainForm
    {
        /// <summary>
        ///  Required designer variable.
        /// </summary>
        private System.ComponentModel.IContainer components = null;

        /// <summary>
        ///  Clean up any resources being used.
        /// </summary>
        /// <param name="disposing">true if managed resources should be disposed; otherwise, false.</param>
        protected override void Dispose(bool disposing)
        {
            if (disposing && (components != null))
            {
                components.Dispose();
            }
            base.Dispose(disposing);
        }

        #region Windows Form Designer generated code

        /// <summary>
        ///  Required method for Designer support - do not modify
        ///  the contents of this method with the code editor.
        /// </summary>
        private void InitializeComponent()
        {
            this._settingLabel = new System.Windows.Forms.Label();
            this._settingsDataGridView = new System.Windows.Forms.DataGridView();
            this._keyColumn = new System.Windows.Forms.DataGridViewTextBoxColumn();
            this._typeColumn = new System.Windows.Forms.DataGridViewTextBoxColumn();
            this._valueColumn = new System.Windows.Forms.DataGridViewTextBoxColumn();
            ((System.ComponentModel.ISupportInitialize)(this._settingsDataGridView)).BeginInit();
            this.SuspendLayout();
            // 
            // _settingLabel
            // 
            this._settingLabel.AutoSize = true;
            this._settingLabel.Location = new System.Drawing.Point(25, 25);
            this._settingLabel.Margin = new System.Windows.Forms.Padding(4, 0, 4, 0);
            this._settingLabel.Name = "_settingLabel";
            this._settingLabel.Size = new System.Drawing.Size(527, 23);
            this._settingLabel.TabIndex = 0;
            this._settingLabel.Text = "Settings from winforms-xml.dll.config XML file:";
            // 
            // _settingsDataGridView
            // 
            this._settingsDataGridView.AllowUserToAddRows = false;
            this._settingsDataGridView.AllowUserToDeleteRows = false;
            this._settingsDataGridView.Anchor = ((System.Windows.Forms.AnchorStyles)((((System.Windows.Forms.AnchorStyles.Top | System.Windows.Forms.AnchorStyles.Bottom) 
            | System.Windows.Forms.AnchorStyles.Left) 
            | System.Windows.Forms.AnchorStyles.Right)));
            this._settingsDataGridView.ColumnHeadersBorderStyle = System.Windows.Forms.DataGridViewHeaderBorderStyle.Single;
            this._settingsDataGridView.ColumnHeadersHeightSizeMode = System.Windows.Forms.DataGridViewColumnHeadersHeightSizeMode.AutoSize;
            this._settingsDataGridView.Columns.AddRange(new System.Windows.Forms.DataGridViewColumn[] {
            this._keyColumn,
            this._typeColumn,
            this._valueColumn});
            this._settingsDataGridView.Location = new System.Drawing.Point(25, 69);
            this._settingsDataGridView.Name = "_settingsDataGridView";
            this._settingsDataGridView.ReadOnly = true;
            this._settingsDataGridView.RowHeadersWidth = 51;
            this._settingsDataGridView.RowTemplate.Height = 29;
            this._settingsDataGridView.Size = new System.Drawing.Size(1088, 424);
            this._settingsDataGridView.TabIndex = 2;
            // 
            // _keyColumn
            // 
            this._keyColumn.HeaderText = "Key";
            this._keyColumn.MinimumWidth = 6;
            this._keyColumn.Name = "_keyColumn";
            this._keyColumn.ReadOnly = true;
            this._keyColumn.Width = 125;
            // 
            // _typeColumn
            // 
            this._typeColumn.HeaderText = "Type";
            this._typeColumn.MinimumWidth = 6;
            this._typeColumn.Name = "_typeColumn";
            this._typeColumn.ReadOnly = true;
            this._typeColumn.Width = 125;
            // 
            // _valueColumn
            // 
            this._valueColumn.HeaderText = "Value";
            this._valueColumn.MinimumWidth = 6;
            this._valueColumn.Name = "_valueColumn";
            this._valueColumn.ReadOnly = true;
            this._valueColumn.Width = 125;
            // 
            // MainForm
            // 
            this.AutoScaleDimensions = new System.Drawing.SizeF(11F, 23F);
            this.AutoScaleMode = System.Windows.Forms.AutoScaleMode.Font;
            this.ClientSize = new System.Drawing.Size(1138, 518);
            this.Controls.Add(this._settingsDataGridView);
            this.Controls.Add(this._settingLabel);
            this.Font = new System.Drawing.Font("Consolas", 12F, System.Drawing.FontStyle.Regular, System.Drawing.GraphicsUnit.Point);
            this.Margin = new System.Windows.Forms.Padding(4, 3, 4, 3);
            this.Name = "MainForm";
            this.Text = "Config Example (XML)";
            ((System.ComponentModel.ISupportInitialize)(this._settingsDataGridView)).EndInit();
            this.ResumeLayout(false);
            this.PerformLayout();

        }

        #endregion

        private Label _settingLabel;
        private DataGridView _settingsDataGridView;
        private DataGridViewTextBoxColumn _keyColumn;
        private DataGridViewTextBoxColumn _typeColumn;
        private DataGridViewTextBoxColumn _valueColumn;
    }
}

When I run this, it loads the settings as expected:

Is this helpful?