How to loop through <configSections > elements?

[=?Utf-8?B?RXZl?=]

I have the following sections defined in my app.config file:

<configSections >
<section name="1"
type="System.Co nfiguration.Dic tionarySectionH andler" />
<section name="2"
type="System.Co nfiguration.Dic tionarySectionH andler" />
<section name="3"
type="System.Co nfiguration.Dic tionarySectionH andler" />
</configSections>

The number of <sectionelement s is not set, but each section will contain
the same key names. I need to get a name of each section (1, 2, 3) to read
the key-value pairs for each section. I can't figure out how to loop through
<configSections elements. I would appreciate your help.

[Peter Duniho]

On Tue, 07 Oct 2008 13:36:06 -0700, Eve <Ev*@discussion s.microsoft.com >
wrote:

I have the following sections defined in my app.config file:

<configSections >
<section name="1"
type="System.Co nfiguration.Dic tionarySectionH andler" />
<section name="2"
type="System.Co nfiguration.Dic tionarySectionH andler" />
<section name="3"
type="System.Co nfiguration.Dic tionarySectionH andler" />
</configSections>

The number of <sectionelement s is not set, but each section will
contain
the same key names. I need to get a name of each section (1, 2, 3) to
read
the key-value pairs for each section. I can't figure out how to loop
through
<configSections elements. I would appreciate your help.

What does the code that you are currently using to read the app.config
file look like?

It's hard to suggest an alternative or improvement on what you're doing
without actually knowing what you're doing.

Pete

[=?Utf-8?B?RXZl?=]

I have a method that accepts a section name as a parameter and retrieves its
settings like this:

public void GetSectionSetti ngs(string sectionName)
{
IDictionary configTable = (IDictionary)Co nfigurationMana ger.GetSection
(sectionName);
string dayOrMonth = configTable["DayOrMonth "].ToString();
...
}

What I need is the code that loops through <configSections <section>
elements and passes the section name (such as "1") to GetSectionSetti ngs
method. I could not find any code on the web that would do that.
"Peter Duniho" wrote:

On Tue, 07 Oct 2008 13:36:06 -0700, Eve <Ev*@discussion s.microsoft.com >
wrote:

I have the following sections defined in my app.config file:

<configSections >
<section name="1"
type="System.Co nfiguration.Dic tionarySectionH andler" />
<section name="2"
type="System.Co nfiguration.Dic tionarySectionH andler" />
<section name="3"
type="System.Co nfiguration.Dic tionarySectionH andler" />
</configSections>

The number of <sectionelement s is not set, but each section will
contain
the same key names. I need to get a name of each section (1, 2, 3) to
read
the key-value pairs for each section. I can't figure out how to loop
through
<configSections elements. I would appreciate your help.

What does the code that you are currently using to read the app.config
file look like?

It's hard to suggest an alternative or improvement on what you're doing
without actually knowing what you're doing.

Pete

[Peter Duniho]

On Wed, 08 Oct 2008 06:33:02 -0700, Eve <Ev*@discussion s.microsoft.com >
wrote:

The code inside GetSectionSetti ngs method retrieves the individual
sections
named "1", "2", "3". The thing is I DO NOT KNOW the names of those
sections.
That's why I need to loop through all <sectionelement s contained within
<configSections to figure out the section name and pass it to
GetSectionSetti ngs().
Sorry, I don't know how to be more specific than that.

You can be more specific by posting the code. A concise-but-complete code
sample would unambiguously explain exactly what is going on.

[=?Utf-8?B?RXZl?=]

Again, this is my code for GetSectionSetti ngs method that accepts a section
name as a parameter and retrieves the section's settings:

public void GetSectionSetti ngs(string sectionName)
{
IDictionary configTable = (IDictionary)Co nfigurationMana ger.GetSection
(sectionName);
string dayOrMonth = configTable["DayOrMonth "].ToString();
...
}

I DON'T have any code that loops through <sectionelement s within
<configSections because I HAVE NO CLUE HOW TO DO IT - that's why I posted my
question on this forum.

"Peter Duniho" wrote:

On Wed, 08 Oct 2008 06:33:02 -0700, Eve <Ev*@discussion s.microsoft.com >
wrote:

The code inside GetSectionSetti ngs method retrieves the individual
sections
named "1", "2", "3". The thing is I DO NOT KNOW the names of those
sections.
That's why I need to loop through all <sectionelement s contained within
<configSections to figure out the section name and pass it to
GetSectionSetti ngs().
Sorry, I don't know how to be more specific than that.

You can be more specific by posting the code. A concise-but-complete code
sample would unambiguously explain exactly what is going on.

[Peter Duniho]

On Wed, 08 Oct 2008 12:12:19 -0700, Eve <Ev*@discussion s.microsoft.com >
wrote:

Again, this is my code for GetSectionSetti ngs method that accepts a
section
name as a parameter and retrieves the section's settings:

>public void GetSectionSetti ngs(string sectionName)
{
IDictionary configTable = (IDictionary)Co nfigurationMana ger.GetSection
(sectionName);
string dayOrMonth = configTable["DayOrMonth "].ToString();
...
}

I don't see any way for that method to work generally. It can only work
for sections that implement the IDictionary interface, and you haven't
explained why the containing section does, never mind what type is
returned by that section.

I DON'T have any code that loops through <sectionelement s within
<configSections because I HAVE NO CLUE HOW TO DO IT - that's why I
posted my
question on this forum.

I'm not asking for the code that you can't write. But you haven't even
posted a concise-but-complete code sample of what _does_ work.

Please see http://www.yoda.arachsys.com/csharp/complete.html and
http://www.yoda.arachsys.com/csharp/incomplete.html

[=?Utf-8?B?RXZl?=]

This is the extract from my app.config file:
<configSections >
<section name="1"
type="System.Co nfiguration.Dic tionarySectionH andler" />
<section name="2"
type="System.Co nfiguration.Dic tionarySectionH andler" />
<section name="3"
type="System.Co nfiguration.Dic tionarySectionH andler" />
</configSections>

<1>
<add key="DayOrMonth " value="M" />
<add key="NoOfDaysOr Months" value="3" />
</1>

<2>
<add key="DayOrMonth " value="M" />
<add key="NoOfDaysOr Months" value="2" />
</2>

<3>
<add key="DayOrMonth " value="D" />
<add key="NoOfDaysOr Months" value="14" />
</3>

GetSectionSetti ngs() code that I posted DOES WORK for me. I simply perform
this call:
GetSectionSetti ngs("1");
GetSectionSetti ngs("2");
GetSectionSetti ngs("3");

and the method gets values for each element in each section (M and 3 for
section "1", M and 2 for section "2", D and 14 for section "3") and does some
processing based on those values.

I don't want to hard-code "1", "2", "3" when I call GetSectionSetti ngs
because there could be 50 sections, not just 3, and I don't need my program
to know what the names of those sections are, I want the program to figure
that out by looping through <configSections elements. It shouldn't be even
necessary for me to post GetSectionSetti ngs() code because it's got NOTHING
to do with how I would loop through <configSections elements.
"Peter Duniho" wrote:

On Wed, 08 Oct 2008 12:12:19 -0700, Eve <Ev*@discussion s.microsoft.com >
wrote:

Again, this is my code for GetSectionSetti ngs method that accepts a
section
name as a parameter and retrieves the section's settings:

public void GetSectionSetti ngs(string sectionName)
{
IDictionary configTable = (IDictionary)Co nfigurationMana ger.GetSection
(sectionName);
string dayOrMonth = configTable["DayOrMonth "].ToString();
...
}

I don't see any way for that method to work generally. It can only work
for sections that implement the IDictionary interface, and you haven't
explained why the containing section does, never mind what type is
returned by that section.

I DON'T have any code that loops through <sectionelement s within
<configSections because I HAVE NO CLUE HOW TO DO IT - that's why I
posted my
question on this forum.

I'm not asking for the code that you can't write. But you haven't even
posted a concise-but-complete code sample of what _does_ work.

Please see http://www.yoda.arachsys.com/csharp/complete.html and
http://www.yoda.arachsys.com/csharp/incomplete.html

[Peter Duniho]

On Tue, 28 Oct 2008 10:50:01 -0700, Eve <Ev*@discussion s.microsoft.com >
wrote:

Does anyone know the answer to my question? I would expect to get some
help
from this site, but nobody provided me with the appropriate code - the
one
that I found myself is only partially working - nobody from all the
experts
knows the solution? I don't mean to sound rude, I'm just looking for
help.

Contrary to what one might think from many of the messages here, this
newsgroup is a) not populated by people who know every last thing there is
to know about .NET, and b) is not really even for .NET programming
questions.

It's specifically for questions about C#, and by implicit community
agreement, questions about .NET wind up answered as people are able too.
But when you're doing something that is outside the normal realm of
experience, it's not too surprising that no one has a direct, easy answer
to your question.

That becomes especially true when you cannot be bothered to post a
concise-but-complete code example that reliably demonstrates your
problem. People who are experienced but not experts can often help work
through a problem. But they are not likely to invest any time or effort
in doing so when the person posting the question won't do their own part.

Pete