I'm a bit confused about where to put my program settings.

Firstly, I can choose (I suppose) between .ini, .xml or the registry. Which
one is best?

Secondly, *where* do I place any files I generate on a per-user or
per-application basis? For example, I cannot place user settings in the
\Program Files\My Application directory, because many users won't have write
access to it. Should I place it into the documents and settings\application
data\bla bla directory? Where should I place application settings (such as
the database connection string).

I'm sure there must be some .NET wide scheme for managing all this.

Thanks for your advice,



Robin

The recommended place is the application's configuration file.

Here's couple links to point you in the right direction:

http://msdn.microsoft.com/library/de...figuration.asp

http://msdn.microsoft.com/library/de...FileSchema.asp


"Robin Tucker" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in
message news:clo7d3$83p$1$(E-Mail Removed)...
>
> I'm a bit confused about where to put my program settings.
>
> Firstly, I can choose (I suppose) between .ini, .xml or the registry.
Which
> one is best?
>
> Secondly, *where* do I place any files I generate on a per-user or
> per-application basis? For example, I cannot place user settings in the
> \Program Files\My Application directory, because many users won't have
write
> access to it. Should I place it into the documents and
settings\application
> data\bla bla directory? Where should I place application settings (such
as
> the database connection string).
>
> I'm sure there must be some .NET wide scheme for managing all this.
>
> Thanks for your advice,
>
>
>
> Robin
>
>

I was under the impression that the application configuation file resides in
the same place as the application itself and therefore will not be writable
by ordinary users. I want to store things like "options" on a per-user
basis.

"Richard L Rosenheim" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:%(E-Mail Removed)...
> The recommended place is the application's configuration file.
>
> Here's couple links to point you in the right direction:
>
> http://msdn.microsoft.com/library/de...figuration.asp
>
> http://msdn.microsoft.com/library/de...FileSchema.asp
>
>
> "Robin Tucker" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in
> message news:clo7d3$83p$1$(E-Mail Removed)...
>>
>> I'm a bit confused about where to put my program settings.
>>
>> Firstly, I can choose (I suppose) between .ini, .xml or the registry.
> Which
>> one is best?
>>
>> Secondly, *where* do I place any files I generate on a per-user or
>> per-application basis? For example, I cannot place user settings in the
>> \Program Files\My Application directory, because many users won't have
> write
>> access to it. Should I place it into the documents and
> settings\application
>> data\bla bla directory? Where should I place application settings (such
> as
>> the database connection string).
>>
>> I'm sure there must be some .NET wide scheme for managing all this.
>>
>> Thanks for your advice,
>>
>>
>>
>> Robin
>>
>>
>
>

"Robin Tucker" <(E-Mail Removed)> schrieb;
> I'm a bit confused about where to put my program settings.
>
> Firstly, I can choose (I suppose) between .ini, .xml or the registry.
> Which one is best?

Personal preference.

If human-readability is important, use classic INI files.
If the file should be read easily by the machine, use XML files.

Storing and loading user preferences
<URL:http://dotnet.mvps.org/dotnet/faqs/?id=userpreferences&lang=en>

Creating Your Own Dynamic Properties and Preserve Property Settings in
Visual Basic .NET
<URL:http://msdn.microsoft.com/library/en-us/dv_vstechart/html/vbtchcreateyourowndynamicpropertiespreservepropertysettingsinvisualbasicnet.asp>

> Secondly, *where* do I place any files I generate on a
> per-user or per-application basis?

\\\
Dim s As String = _
Environment.GetFolderPath(Environment.SpecialFolder.LocalApplicationData)
///

> Where should I place application settings (such as the database connection
> string).

Application configuriation files ("App.config").

..NET Framework Developer's Guide -- Configuration Files
<URL:http://msdn.microsoft.com/library/en-us/cpguide/html/cpconconfigurationfiles.asp>

--
Herfried K. Wagner [MVP]
<URL:http://dotnet.mvps.org/>