Settings in VB.NET/WinForms

  • Thread starter Thread starter Andy
  • Start date Start date
A

Andy

I need to write a VB.NET WinForms app. For this purpose I need to keep some
settings of the application, like many other Windows applications do.

The most obvious solution is to store settings in the XML file or registry.
If it's an XML file, then I need the following:

1. Create XSD schema, and be able to validate XML file with the settings
against that schema (How would I store the schema, if it's a class library,
for example? Would the VB.NET compiler store XSD file in a DLL?)

2. Manually create a structure that would keep all settings internally.

3. Write a routine that would parse XML file first into an XML document
object, and then into the internal structure (see step 2).

4. Bind Win Form (settings screen) to the internal structure populated with
the settings.

And likewise (to write settings)

1. Update internal settings structure with the settings from the Win Form

2. Write a routine that would store settings in the XML document, and then
flush them into a file.

Are there any other ways of storing/editing settings in VB.NET?

Thanks in advance.
 
You can save them to My.Settings.

Open the project properties (double-click on My Project)
and click on the Settings tab. You can enter settings here,
and then read/write them in code.

The Type should be what it really is. For example, for
form location, it should be System.Drawing.Point. The scope
is usually User.

You can set them by name:
My.Settings.DBVersion = "1.0"

To save the current values:
My.Settings.Save

You can read them and use them like this:
If my.Settings.DBVersion <> "1.0" Then
'oh no! there's a problem!
call BurnDownTheHouse
End If

Application-wide settings are stored in app.config.
User settings are stored in user.config under their profile.

You can also attach settings to properties in forms and have
them be saved automatically -- look at the property
ApplicationSettings. Just be sure to put a My.Settings.Save
in your form_closing event.

I use settings to store the form size and location of all
of my forms -- the code is imbedded in my base form from
which I inherit all my other forms. If you are doing
something like this, re-post and I'll post that code;
it's about 80 lines.

Robin S.
-------------------------------
 
Robin,

I'm definitely interested in your source code. Another question - what if
the settings could be better saved as a "tree", not as a flat
<setting><value> elements:

Normally, you would configure settings like this:

<configSections>
<sectionGroup name="userSettings"
type="System.Configuration.UserSettingsGroup, System, Version=2.0.0.0,
Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=b77a5c561934e089" >
<section name="ClientSettings.Settings"
type="System.Configuration.ClientSettingsSection, System, Version=2.0.0.0,
Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=b77a5c561934e089"
allowExeDefinition="MachineToLocalUser" />
</sectionGroup>
</configSections>

....

<userSettings>
<ClientSettings.Settings>
<setting name="setting1" serializeAs="String">
<value>True</value>
</setting>
<setting name="setting2" serializeAs="String">
<value>True</value>
</setting>
</ClientSettings.Settings>
</userSettings>

And then refer to the settings as:

ClientSettings.Settings.setting1 and ClientSettings.Settings.setting2

Whereas I need more sophisticated representation of the settings, for
example:

<userSettings>
<ClientSettings.Settings>
<Categories>
<Category Name="category1" />
<Category Name="category2" />
<Category Name="category3" />
</Categories>
<TOCEntries>
<TOCEntry Name="TOCEntry1">
<TOCEntry Name="Subentry1" />
</TOCEntry>
<TOCEntry Name="TOCEntry2" />
</TOCEntries>
</ClientSettings.Settings>
</userSettings>

Something like this. Should I write my own IConfigurationSectionHandler
class to process this?

Thanks in advance, Andy.
 
That's the general idea. The following example saves the
settings by formname, then under that is the FormLocation
and FormSize.

This is all in my base form (BaseWin):
-----------------------------------------
Private _settings As My.MySettings
Private ReadOnly Property Settings() As _
System.Configuration.ApplicationSettingsBase
Get
If _settings Is Nothing Then
_settings = New My.MySettings
End If
Return _settings
End Get
End Property

'When form closes, save the settings
Private Sub BaseWin_FormClosing(ByVal sender As Object, _
ByVal e As System.Windows.Forms.FormClosingEventArgs) _
Handles Me.FormClosing
SetSettings()
End Sub

'When form loads, apply any saved settings
Private Sub BaseWin_Load(ByVal sender As Object, _
ByVal e As System.EventArgs) Handles Me.Load
ApplySettings()
End Sub

Private Sub ApplySettings()
'Use the form name as the key for the settings
Settings.SettingsKey = Me.Name
Dim theSettings As My.MySettings
theSettings = DirectCast(Settings, My.MySettings)
If theSettings.FormSize <> Drawing.Size.Empty Then
Me.Size = theSettings.FormSize
End If
If theSettings.FormLocation <> Drawing.Point.Empty Then
Me.Location = theSettings.FormLocation
End If
End Sub

Private Sub SetSettings()
'Use the form name as the key for the settings
Settings.SettingsKey = Me.Name
Dim theSettings As My.MySettings
theSettings = DirectCast(Settings, My.MySettings)
If Me.WindowState = FormWindowState.Normal Then
theSettings.FormSize = Me.Size
Else
'if the form was maximized or minimized, return to the restore
state
theSettings.FormSize = Me.RestoreBounds.Size
End If
theSettings.FormLocation = Me.Location
Settings.Save()
End Sub
-----------------------------------------

Here's an example of the results:

<userSettings>
<Project1.My.MySettings.Form1>
<setting name="FormLocation" serializeAs="String">
<value>189, 2</value>
</setting>
<setting name="FormSize" serializeAs="String">
<value>434, 359</value>
</setting>
</Project1.My.MySettings.Form1>
<Project1.My.MySettings.Form2>
<setting name="FormLocation" serializeAs="String">
<value>50, 140</value>
</setting>
<setting name="FormSize" serializeAs="String">
<value>184, 190</value>
</setting>
</Project1.My.MySettings.Form2>
</userSettings>

Hopefully that will help, at least give you a starting point.
Robin S.
-------------------------------
 
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