[dba-VB] Application settings

Charlotte,

My question really is how do I get at the settings area of the project, and why would I not use that 
instead of this xml thing of yours?  At least in this specific case, I am writing code for myself, 
not distribution.

John W. Colby
www.ColbyConsulting.com


Charlotte Foust wrote:
> Create an xml file called UserSettings (or whatever) and store each value in a node in that.  Then all you have to do is read them back when you need them.  We use several of these, one called OLEDBSettings.xml that looks like this: 
> 
>   <?xml version="1.0" standalone="yes" ?> 
> - <NewDataSet>
> - <connection>
>   <dbtype>0</dbtype> 
>   <provider>Microsoft.Jet.OLEDB.4.0</provider> 
>   <datasource>C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Application Data\Infostat\RIMDrill\5\RIMDrillData.mdb</datasource> 
>   <userid>RIMUser</userid> 
>   <password /> 
>   <initialcatalog /> 
>   <trusted>false</trusted> 
>   </connection>
> - <connection>
>   <dbtype>1</dbtype> 
>   <provider>sqloledb</provider> 
>   <datasource>infoserver</datasource> 
>   <userid /> 
>   <password /> 
>   <initialcatalog>RIMDrillDataSQL</initialcatalog> 
>   <trusted>true</trusted> 
>   </connection>
>   </NewDataSet>
> 
> We actually have a file like this for each application and it lives in the application folder.  This is just to give you an idea, not a how to.   We have a class that wraps this in our apps and uses this kind of routine to read it.  I leave it up to you to translate to C#.
> 
>     Shared ds As DataSet
>     Shared _connectionString As String
> 
>     Shared _xmlPath As String = "OLEDBSettings.xml"         'default to xml file in apppath
> 
>    Private Shared Sub ReadSettingsFile()
>         If IO.File.Exists(_xmlPath) Then
>             Call CreateSchema()
>             ds.ReadXml(_xmlPath)
>             Call DecryptPassword()
>             _connectionString = GetConnectionString()
>         Else
>             If ds.Tables(0).Rows.Count = 0 Then
>                 'placeholder for jet settings
>                 Dim row As DataRow = ds.Tables(0).NewRow
>                 row("dbtype") = 0
>                 row("provider") = "Microsoft.Jet.OLEDB.4.0"
>                 ds.Tables(0).Rows.Add(row)
> 
>                 'placeholder for sql settings
>                 row = ds.Tables(0).NewRow
>                 row("dbtype") = 1
>                 row("provider") = "sqloledb"
>                 ds.Tables(0).Rows.Add(row)
>             End If
>         End If
>     End Sub
> 
>   Private Shared Sub CreateSchema()
>         ds = New DataSet
>         Dim table As New DataTable("connection")
>         table.Columns.Add("dbtype", GetType(Integer))
>         table.Columns.Add("provider", GetType(String))
>         table.Columns.Add("datasource", GetType(String))
>         table.Columns.Add("userid", GetType(String))
>         table.Columns.Add("password", GetType(String))
>         table.Columns.Add("initialcatalog", GetType(String))
>         table.Columns.Add("trusted", GetType(Boolean))
>         table.PrimaryKey = New DataColumn() {table.Columns("dbtype")}
> 
>         ds.Tables.Add(table)
>     End Sub
> 
> Charlotte
> 
> 
> -----Original Message-----
> From: dba-vb-bounces at databaseadvisors.com [mailto:dba-vb-bounces at databaseadvisors.com] On Behalf Of jwcolby
> Sent: Thursday, December 03, 2009 3:39 PM
> To: VBA
> Subject: [dba-VB] Application settings
> 
> I want to create application settings for things like the server instance that the program will bang on, the name of my database that I save my custom UDFs and SPs in etc.  It is trivial to get there in the interface but Google is not my friend tonight in discovering how to access / modify them through code.
> 
> Anybody?
> 
> --
> John W. Colby
> www.ColbyConsulting.com
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