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Try to create a custom section in Web.config

I am trying to create a custom section in my web.config. I have a custom class and a declaration section in my web.config.
when I run my code however I am getting this error "...does not inherit from System.Configuration.IConfigurationSectionHandler'."
MSDN documentation states that this Interface is now deprecated.
I don't understand what cold be happening.
FYI I used this (http://blogs.perficient.com/microsoft/2017/01/4-easy-steps-to-custom-sections-in-web-config/ as my guide to create my custom section.
Here is my web.config
<configuration>
<configSections>
<section name="nlog" type="NLog.Config.ConfigSectionHandler, NLog" />
<!-- For more information on Entity Framework configuration, visit http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkID=237468 -->
<section name="entityFramework" type="System.Data.Entity.Internal.ConfigFile.EntityFrameworkSection, EntityFramework, Version=6.0.0.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=b77a5c561934e089" requirePermission="false" />
<section name ="BDKConfigs" type="SPS.CardDecryption.Services.BDKConfigs" allowLocation="true" allowDefinition="Everywhere" />
</configSections>
Here is my custom section in the web.config
<BDKConfigs>
<!--collection-->
<BDK>
<!--elements-->
<add name="IDTechPublicBDK" value="0123456789ABCDEFFEDCBA9876543210"/>
<add name="IDTechProdBDK" value=""/>
</BDK>
</BDKConfigs>
this is my custom class
using System.Configuration;
namespace myNameSpace
{
//This class reads the defined config section (if available) and stores it locally in the static _Config variable.
public class BDKConfigs
{
public static BDKConfigsSection _Config = ConfigurationManager.GetSection("BDKConfigs") as BDKConfigsSection;
public static BDKElementCollection GetBDKGroups()
{
return _Config.BDKConfigs;
}
}
public class BDKConfigsSection : ConfigurationSection
{
//Decorate the property with the tag for your collection.
[ConfigurationProperty("BDK")]
public BDKElementCollection BDKConfigs
{
get { return (BDKElementCollection)this["BDK"]; }
}
}
//Extend the ConfigurationElementCollection class.
//Decorate the class with the class that represents a single element in the collection.
[ConfigurationCollection(typeof(BDKElement))]
public class BDKElementCollection : ConfigurationElementCollection
{
public BDKElement this[int index]
{
get { return (BDKElement)BaseGet(index); }
set
{
if (BaseGet(index) != null)
BaseRemoveAt(index);
BaseAdd(index, value);
}
}
protected override ConfigurationElement CreateNewElement()
{
return new BDKElement();
}
protected override object GetElementKey(ConfigurationElement element)
{
return ((BDKElement)element).Name;
}
}
//Extend the ConfigurationElement class. This class represents a single element in the collection.
//Create a property for each xml attribute in your element.
//Decorate each property with the ConfigurationProperty decorator. See MSDN for all available options.
public class BDKElement : ConfigurationElement
{
[ConfigurationProperty("name", IsRequired = true)]
public string Name
{
get { return (string)this["name"]; }
set { this["name"] = value; }
}
[ConfigurationProperty("queryString", IsRequired = false)]
public string Value
{
get { return (string)this["Value"]; }
set { this["Value"] = value; }
}
}
}

The issue was that I had the wrong type specified in the web.config. When I changed my web.config to
type="SPS.CardDecryption.Services.BDKConfigsSection , worked like a charm.

I have updated answer:
public class BDKConfigsSection : ConfigurationSection
{
[ConfigurationProperty("BDK")]
public BDKElementCollection BDKConfigs
{
get { return (BDKElementCollection) base["BDK"]; }
}
}
[ConfigurationCollection(typeof(BDKElement))]
public class BDKElementCollection : ConfigurationElementCollection
{
public BDKElement this[int index]
{
get { return (BDKElement)BaseGet(index); }
set
{
if (BaseGet(index) != null)
BaseRemoveAt(index);
BaseAdd(index, value);
}
}
protected override ConfigurationElement CreateNewElement()
{
return new BDKElement();
}
protected override object GetElementKey(ConfigurationElement element)
{
return ((BDKElement)element).Name;
}
public override ConfigurationElementCollectionType CollectionType
{
get { return ConfigurationElementCollectionType.BasicMapAlternate; }
}
protected override string ElementName => "BDKItem";
}
public class BDKElement : ConfigurationElement
{
[ConfigurationProperty("name", IsRequired = true)]
public string Name
{
get { return (string)this["name"]; }
set { this["name"] = value; }
}
[ConfigurationProperty("queryString", IsRequired = false)]
public string Value
{
get { return (string)this["queryString"]; }
set { this["queryString"] = value; }
}
}
that one working fine :
<BDKConfigsSection>
<BDK>
<BDKItem name="IDTechPublicBDK" queryString="0123456789ABCDEFFEDCBA9876543210"/>
<BDKItem name="IDTechProdBDK" queryString=""/>
</BDK> </BDKConfigsSection>

Custom app.config section error "Unrecognized element add"

I have a small app that searches my SQL Server database for the given value in all of the fields where it could be used. Part of that is a custom app.config section to hold all of these fields. However I'm getting an error on this line in the app:
var section = (DatabaseFieldSection)ConfigurationManager.GetSection("DatabaseFields");
app.config:
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8" ?>
<configuration>
<configSections>
<section name="DatabaseFields" type="PartyFinder.DataAccess.DatabaseFieldSection, DataAccess"/>
</configSections>
<connectionStrings>
<!-- Data removed for security purposes -->
</connectionStrings>
<DatabaseFields>
<add Key="Person.FirstName (SV)" TableName="dbo.Person" ColumnName="FirstName" FieldType="SV" />
</DatabaseFields>
<startup>
<supportedRuntime version="v4.0" sku=".NETFramework,Version=v4.5.2" />
</startup>
</configuration>
Classes:
using System;
using System.Configuration;
namespace PartyFinder.DataAccess
{
public class DatabaseFieldElement : ConfigurationElement
{
[ConfigurationProperty("Key", IsKey = true, IsRequired = true)]
public string Key
{
get { return (string)base["Key"]; }
}
[ConfigurationProperty("TableName", IsKey = false, IsRequired = true)]
public string TableName
{
get { return (string)base["TableName"]; }
}
[ConfigurationProperty("ColumnName", IsKey = false, IsRequired = true)]
public string ColumnName
{
get { return (string)base["ColumnName"]; }
}
[ConfigurationProperty("FieldType", IsKey = false, IsRequired = true)]
public string FieldType
{
get { return (string)base["FieldType"]; }
}
}
public class DatabaseFieldSection : ConfigurationSection
{
[ConfigurationProperty("DatabaseFields", IsDefaultCollection = true)]
[ConfigurationCollection(typeof(DatabaseFieldCollection), AddItemName = "add", ClearItemsName = "clear", RemoveItemName = "remove")]
public DatabaseFieldCollection DatabaseFields
{
get { return ((DatabaseFieldCollection)base["DatabaseFields"]); }
}
}
public class DatabaseFieldCollection : ConfigurationElementCollection
{
internal const string PropertyName = "Fields";
public override ConfigurationElementCollectionType CollectionType
{
get
{
return ConfigurationElementCollectionType.AddRemoveClearMap;
}
}
protected override string ElementName
{
get
{
return PropertyName;
}
}
protected override bool IsElementName(string elementName)
{
return elementName.Equals(PropertyName, StringComparison.InvariantCultureIgnoreCase);
}
public override bool IsReadOnly()
{
return false;
}
protected override ConfigurationElement CreateNewElement()
{
return new DatabaseFieldElement();
}
protected override object GetElementKey(ConfigurationElement element)
{
return ((DatabaseFieldElement)(element)).Key;
}
public DatabaseFieldElement this[int id]
{
get
{
return (DatabaseFieldElement)BaseGet(id);
}
}
}
}
I have done a ton of searches and nothing has worked so far. Any advice is much appreciated!

I managed to get the following to work in a console app by adding a parent DatabaseConfig node:
The DatabaseFieldSection class:
public class DatabaseFieldSection : ConfigurationSection
{
public static DatabaseFieldSection GetConfig()
{
return (DatabaseFieldSection)System.Configuration.ConfigurationManager.GetSection("DatabaseConfig") ?? new DatabaseFieldSection();
}
[System.Configuration.ConfigurationProperty("DatabaseFields")]
[ConfigurationCollection(typeof(DatabaseFieldCollection), AddItemName = "add")]
public DatabaseFieldCollection DatabaseFields
{
get
{
object o = this["DatabaseFields"];
return o as DatabaseFieldCollection;
}
}
}
And the App.config:
<configSections>
<section name="DatabaseConfig" type="TestEnvironment.DBConfig.DatabaseFieldSection, TestEnvironment"/>
</configSections>
<DatabaseConfig>
<DatabaseFields>
<add Key="Person.FirstName (SV)" TableName="dbo.Person" ColumnName="FirstName" FieldType="SV" />
</DatabaseFields>
</DatabaseConfig>
Usage:
var config = DatabaseFieldSection.GetConfig();
It seems as though the config <section /> cannot be the same as the config element collection name. e.g DatabaseFields, it needs to be:
Section > Collection > Items
Or:
DatabaseConfig > DatabaseFields > add

Custom App.Config Section - Unrecognized element Exception

I'm trying to create a Custom Section in the app.config and run into the following exception:
ConfigurationErrorsException
Unrecognized element 'EncryptedUserCredential'. (C:\My Documents\Hachette.CRM\test_app_appsettings\bin\Debug\test_app_appsettings.vshost.exe.Config line 11)
Now I'm at a complete loss. I have stepped into the RegisterEncryptedUserCredentialsConfig.GetConfig(), and found the Section is null from the propery RegisterEncryptedUserCredentialsConfig.EncryptedUserCredentials. I have also checked all the usual suspects I when investigating online, like:
Making sure the type includes the assembly name in the app.config configSection when declaring the custom section.
is at the beginning of in the app.config.
The custom section is written in:
Class Library
C#/.NET 4.0.
I'm at a loss and think I have been staring at it too long the weekend gone and need some fresh eyes!
For ease I have added all the code from the C# class library here.
Here is the app.config:
<?xml version="1.0"?>
<configuration>
<configSections>
<section name="EncryptedUserCredentials"
type="Hachette.Common.CustomConfigSections.RegisterEncryptedUserCredentialsConfig, Hachette.Common"/>
</configSections>
<startup>
<supportedRuntime version="v4.0" sku=".NETFramework,Version=v4.0"/>
</startup>
<EncryptedUserCredentials>
<EncryptedUserCredential userName="garethB" password="1235#"/>
<EncryptedUserCredential userName="webService" password="123ffff5#"/>
</EncryptedUserCredentials>
</configuration>
Here is the EncryptedUserCredential ConfigurationElement:
public class EncryptedUserCredential : ConfigurationElement
{
[ConfigurationProperty("userName", IsRequired = true)]
public string UserName
{
get
{
return this["userName"] as string;
}
}
[ConfigurationProperty("password", IsRequired = true)]
public string Password
{
get
{
return this["password"] as string;
}
}
}
Here is the EncryptedCredentials ConfigurationElementCollection:
public class EncryptedUserCredentials : ConfigurationElementCollection
{
public EncryptedUserCredential this[int index]
{
get
{
return base.BaseGet(index) as EncryptedUserCredential;
}
set
{
if (base.BaseGet(index) != null)
{
base.BaseRemoveAt(index);
}
this.BaseAdd(index, value);
}
}
public new EncryptedUserCredential this[string responseString]
{
get
{
return (EncryptedUserCredential)BaseGet(responseString);
}
set
{
if (BaseGet(responseString) != null)
{
BaseRemoveAt(BaseIndexOf(BaseGet(responseString)));
}
BaseAdd(value);
}
}
protected override ConfigurationElement CreateNewElement()
{
return new EncryptedUserCredential();
}
protected override object GetElementKey(ConfigurationElement element)
{
return ((EncryptedUserCredential)element).UserName;
}
}
Here is the RegisterEncryptedUserCredentialsConfig ConfigurationSection:
public class RegisterEncryptedUserCredentialsConfig : ConfigurationSection
{
public static RegisterEncryptedUserCredentialsConfig GetConfig()
{
//var config = ConfigurationManager.OpenExeConfiguration(ConfigurationUserLevel.None);
return (RegisterEncryptedUserCredentialsConfig)System.Configuration.ConfigurationManager.GetSection("EncryptedUserCredentials") ?? new RegisterEncryptedUserCredentialsConfig();
}
[System.Configuration.ConfigurationProperty("EncryptedUserCredentials", IsDefaultCollection=true,IsRequired=true)]
[ConfigurationCollection(typeof(EncryptedUserCredentials), AddItemName="EncryptedUserCredential")]
public EncryptedUserCredentials EncryptedUserCredentials
{
get
{
object o = this["EncryptedUserCredentials"];
return o as EncryptedUserCredentials;
}
}
}
All of the above live in namespace:
namespace Hachette.Common.CustomConfigSections
And in the following Assembly:

It's not possible for the root element to be the collection holder. So you should code up your configuration to match this structure (note I've picked a name for the root element to match your namespace, but feel free to choose anything you like):
<hachette>
<EncryptedUserCredentials>
<EncryptedUserCredential userName="garethB" password="1235#"/>
<EncryptedUserCredential userName="webService" password="123ffff5#"/>
</EncryptedUserCredentials>
</hachette>
This means your configuration hierarchy will have a root ConfigSection which in turn contains a ConfigurationElementCollection that contains all of the ConfigurationElement objects.
Here is an example article on how you can write it: http://www.abhisheksur.com/2011/09/writing-custom-configurationsection-to.html

Unrecognized element "Item" in config file with custom config section

I have a custom config which is based on some classes. My problem is that I get an error saying that a config element is unrecognized. The class is as follows:
[ConfigurationCollection(typeof(SectionItem), AddItemName = "Item", CollectionType = ConfigurationElementCollectionType.BasicMap)]
public class Sections : ConfigurationElementCollection
{
public SectionItem this[int index]
{
get { return BaseGet(index) as SectionItem; }
set
{
if (BaseGet(index) != null)
{
BaseRemoveAt(index);
}
BaseAdd(index, value);
}
}
public new SectionItem this[string response]
{
get { return (SectionItem)BaseGet(response); }
set
{
if (BaseGet(response) != null)
{
BaseRemoveAt(BaseIndexOf(BaseGet(response)));
}
BaseAdd(value);
}
}
protected override ConfigurationElement CreateNewElement()
{
return new SectionItem();
}
protected override object GetElementKey(ConfigurationElement element)
{
return ((SectionItem)element).Key;
}
}
And the SectionItem class:
public class SectionItem : ConfigurationElement
{
[ConfigurationProperty("key", IsRequired = true, IsKey = true)]
public string Key
{
get { return this["key"] as string; }
}
}
If I add a configuration property of type SectionItems in the Sections class that won't work for me, because I want to have multiple SectonItems inside the Section tag in the config file. I've searched for solutions but everything I've found didn't do the trick with this.
For a better understanding of what I'm trying to achieve this is how my config looks:
<configuration>
<configSections>
<section name="AdminConfig" type="XmlTest.AdminConfig, XmlTest"/>
</configSections>
<startup>
<supportedRuntime version="v4.0" sku=".NETFramework,Version=v4.5" />
</startup>
<AdminConfig>
<Field name="field1" key="12345" path="asd"/>
<Section>
<Item key="12345"/>
<Item key="54321"/>
</Section>
</AdminConfig>
</configuration>

OK so I've found the problem. Although the Sections class had this [ConfigurationCollection(typeof(SectionItem), AddItemName = "Item", CollectionType = ConfigurationElementCollectionType.BasicMap)] I had to annotate the property in the ConfigurationSection class, as follows:
[ConfigurationProperty("Section")]
[ConfigurationCollection(typeof(Sections), AddItemName = "Item")]
public Sections Sections
{
get
{
return (Sections)this["Section"];
}
}
Now the items are recognized and stuff is working properly.

Not able to save changes to config file

I've been following this Stackoverflow topic. Everything works on the read side. I get a collection which I transform into a dictionary of the section contents. I publish this to other projects. The problems occur when I try to save a modified section entry. One of the external projects send a key/Value pair and I need to save it to my section. Here is my App.Config
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8" ?>
<configuration>
<configSections>
<section name="fileEnvironmentSection" type="MyApp.Infrastructure.Configuration.FileEnvironmentSection, MyApp.Infrastructure"/>
</configSections>
<fileEnvironmentSection>
<fileEnvironment>
<add key="TestEntry1" value="A nice value"/>
<add key="TestEntry2" value="Another value"/>
</fileEnvironment>
</fileEnvironmentSection>
</configuration>
Here are the three layers of types needed to interact with the config section.
using System.Configuration;
namespace SlamDunk.Infrastructure.Configuration {
public class FileEnvironmentSection : ConfigurationSection {
[ConfigurationProperty("fileEnvironment", IsDefaultCollection = false)]
[ConfigurationCollection(typeof(FileEnvironmentCollection), AddItemName = "add", ClearItemsName = "clear", RemoveItemName = "remove")]
public FileEnvironmentCollection FileEnvironmentList {
get { return (FileEnvironmentCollection)base["fileEnvironment"]; }
}
}
}
using System.Configuration;
namespace SlamDunk.Infrastructure.Configuration {
public class FileEnvironmentCollection : ConfigurationElementCollection {
public FileEnvironmentElement this[int index] {
get { return (FileEnvironmentElement)BaseGet(index); }
set {
if(BaseGet(index) != null) BaseRemoveAt(index);
BaseAdd(index, value);
}
}
public void Add(FileEnvironmentElement fileEnvironmentElement) { BaseAdd(fileEnvironmentElement); }
public void Clear() { BaseClear(); }
protected override ConfigurationElement CreateNewElement() { return new FileEnvironmentElement(); }
protected override object GetElementKey(ConfigurationElement element) { return ((FileEnvironmentElement)element).Key; }
public void Remove(FileEnvironmentElement fileEnvironmentElement) { BaseRemove(fileEnvironmentElement.Key); }
public void Remove(string key) { BaseRemove(key); }
public void RemoveAt(int index) { BaseRemoveAt(index); }
}
}
using System.Configuration;
namespace SlamDunk.Infrastructure.Configuration {
public class FileEnvironmentElement : ConfigurationElement {
private const string appConfigDefaultString = "missing";
private const string _appConfigNameKey = "key";
private const string _appConfigNameValue = "value";
public FileEnvironmentElement() { }
public FileEnvironmentElement(string key, string value) {
Key = key;
Value = value;
}
[ConfigurationProperty(_appConfigNameKey, DefaultValue = appConfigDefaultString, IsRequired = true, IsKey = true)]
public string Key {
get { return (string)this[_appConfigNameKey]; }
set { this[_appConfigNameKey] = value; }
}
[ConfigurationProperty(_appConfigNameValue, DefaultValue = appConfigDefaultString, IsRequired = true, IsKey = false)]
public string Value {
get { return (string)this[_appConfigNameValue]; }
set { this[_appConfigNameValue] = value; }
}
}
}
Here is the code I'm using to save a key/value change.
var appConfiguration = ConfigurationManager.OpenExeConfiguration(ConfigurationUserLevel.None);
var fileEnvironmentSection = appConfiguration.GetSection("fileEnvironmentSection") as FileEnvironmentSection;
var fileEnvironmentList = fileEnvironmentSection.FileEnvironmentList;
fileEnvironmentList.Remove(key);
var element = new FileEnvironmentElement(key, value);
fileEnvironmentList.Add(element);
//appConfiguration.Save(ConfigurationSaveMode.Modified);
//fileEnvironmentSection.CurrentConfiguration.Save(ConfigurationSaveMode.Modified);
fileEnvironmentList.CurrentConfiguration.Save(ConfigurationSaveMode.Modified);
I've checked and the changes appear in the list as expected. I've tried the two commented save call plus the last one. I think I'm getting a new instance of FileEnvironmentSection to avoid ConfigurationManager caching issues. After each test run I look in MyApp.exe.config and do not find any changes. I'm missing something and could use some help figuring out what. Thanks.

appConfiguration.Save(ConfigurationSaveMode.Modified, true);
appConfiguration.Save(ConfigurationSaveMode.Full, true);
the latter should force a full save of the config file, i think the former will as well.
i noticed that you are re-adding the same key to you collect, possibly that's why it is not picked up as modified?