Okay I've got my app.config file that is containing my database settings.
All works well on my development machine. But when I install it on a test machine I'm getting a null reference on the following line:
ConnectionString = ConfigurationManager.ConnectionStrings["MyDBConn"].ToString();
Why is this happening? I guess that the app.config file isn't found. But isn't this included when you build the setup?
I'm using a very simple setup project in VS2008.
The file app.Config is your source, don't distribute it. When Visual Studio builds your project it copies the file to {AppName}.exe.config (in the same folder as {AppName}.exe ) and that is the file you need to include in your setup.
Select app.config in solution explorer and in the properties tab choose the copy action:
Copy to Output Directory -> Copy always
or
Copy to Output Directory -> Copy if newer
Remember to rename the app.config to the name of the exe.
ie.
myprogram.exe would have an app.config called myprogram.exe.config
Related
I have created a Windows Service that reads various paths from the app.config file and works correspondingly.
I also use the 'Visual Studio Installer' as a installer for my Service.
This is my project structure:
However, when I build the Installer, it does generate the .msi and .exe used to install my service, but it doesn't include the config file that it needs to use to fetch the paths it's using:
Normally, the only thing that I use is the .msi file to install and run the Windows Service (it works perfectly using hardcoded paths) but I can't seem to use it in combination with the config-file.
What I tried is to copy the config file from the service project, and paste it in the folder of the second screenshot, but the service doesn't work when I try to install and run it that way.
What am I doing wrong?
EDIT
I tried adding the .config file manually in the installer project:
Without success however
Nothing.
App.config is a part of the Service project and NOT of the installer.
It will be in the target installation folder of your Service assembly after installing.
Also App.config will be renamed according to the project's assembly name.
Example
Your assembly name is Watcher.Service, your .exe will be, after compiling Watcher.Service.exe and your app.config now will have the name Watcher.Service.exe.config.
I'm new about code developing with Visual Studio 2010 and I would like to ask you a simple question about something after build a project.
I have a C# project and when I build It in Release mode some file are created and some of them copied from another in to \output\bin\Release\ folder. My question is that How can I manage that which created dll or created file will be in \output\bin\Release\ folder.
I tried to take a look at build properties of project but I could not find any option about it.
Thank you.
Actually I do not need this dll in my project output folder because I
add this dlls as a reference to my project
And this is exactly why this file appear in output folder.
There are several ways to "put" file in output folder. For normal files in the project you can set property Copy to Output Directory.
If we talking about dll's, (as mentioned Hans), there is Copy Local property for each assembly in References.
By default VS set this according to our GAC, so if you are using 3rd part assembly or from another project VS will set this property to True and file will be copied to output folder.
If you don't want to put this file in output folder, just set this property to False. But remember, at run time this assembly should exist.
For more information: How to: Set the Copy Local Property of a Reference
Another explanation: you just messed up with Output path in the project properties and two project has the same output folder. :)
I suggest that you ignore the extra files that are created. One way to do this is to configure the destination of these to a different location.
I use this:
property pages->General
- Output Directory = $(SolutionDir)..\link\
- Intermediate Directory = c:\temp\vc10\$(SolutionName)\$(Configuration)\
Use the same settings for debug and release.
I have just created a WPF application and just been wondering where is my app.config file?
I looked in the bin/Debug and bin/Release directories and there is just one file "WpfApplication1.vshost.exe" and could not find any app.config file.
All I can do is Add->New Configuratin File and this too, doesn't come in debug or Release folder.
Can anyone guide me whether I should manually copy and paste it in the debug or Release Folder?
So finally: the ANSWER
If app.config does not exist, then try creating a new one by "Add->New Item->Application Configuration File" and create a file named "App.config". After this, try rebuilding your application, the .config file specific to your project should appear in bin/Debug & bin/Release folder.
It should be getting copied into the Debug/Release folders automatically. However, you could try explicitly setting the "Copy to output directory" in the properties to Copy always and see if it appears.
After creating simple WPF project my solution look like this. App.config lies there, which is the configuration file itself
When you build your solution, which in my case is named as WpfApplication1, config file lies at WpfApplication1.exe.config in \WpfApplication1\bin\Debug\ folder.
When you build your application,it automatically gets copies to debug/Release Folder.just look for *.config file in those folders.
If you build your project you should have a file named foo.bar.exe.config in you binary directory. The app.config file itself should be visible within your solution directory.
I'm a bit lost!
I have a dll that uses an xml config file for some db connection info. The dll looks for the xml config file in it's own directory and I can't change the dll at all.
Every time I build the project, I must manually copy the config file into a folder way down somewhere in the Temporary ASP.NET Files folder. (I don't understand this but I can live with this manual change)
The problem is that when I publish the project, I can't figure out where to copy the config file to?
Could someone please point me in the right direction? Or maybe show me a way that I can 'bind' the xml config file to the bin folder???
Vauneen
The .NET config file can be confusing to manage. The way it works in a webapp is that the Web.config will supersede any dependencies' app.config files (which is what I assume you're talking about when you say "DLL".)
Basically, in .NET all config info is pulled from the main app project.
See:
App.config seems to be ignored
and
Configuration from App.config isn't being pulled correctly
and finally:
Does a web.config substitute app.config?
will probably help you figure out what you need to know.
Update: Doing some further searching on your problem, it's possible that the code you're incorporating into the .Net Solution is using the "obsolete" ConfigurationSettings which will require you to add a reference to System.Configuration in your references folder (right-click on the project -> "Add References" and go to the .NET tab and select System.Configuration).
Set "Copy to Output Directory" to "Copy always" in properties of the configuration. Then Visual Studio will copy the configuration file automatically after each build and it will be properly published as well.
I have a Windows application developed using Visual Studio 2008 (C#).
It has a app.config file, where various configuration related information are kept. After creating an installer for the project and installing it, there are no app.config file being copied to the installed directory. However, the functionalities that rely on settings in this file seem to work.
Now one of these settings is a database connection string, which obviously needs changing when installed in a different PC. My question is, how to have the app.config file available with the Setup file so that it can be configured later?
The app.config is copied/renamed <assembly name>.config as part of the compilation process, and placed in the bin directory. If you're using a Visual Studio Installer project (blech!), then it should have picked it up also and included it in the installer, IIRC.
(In response to your comment to both answers)
You can't keep using it as "app.config". The .NET config system searches for the configuration file whose name is the same as the entry assembly. If you renamed the file back to "app.config", then the configuration classes would stop working.
Your app.config file gets renamed on compilation, with the name of the binary. I.e. if your binary is myapp.exe then your app.config will be renamed to either myapp.config or myapp.exe.config.
This is the file that you should add to the setup package in order to use it on deployment for configuration.