App.Config vs Custom XML file

Question

I have read a lot of statements like "you shouldn't clog your app.config file with custom settings". However, I was under the impression that this was exactly the purpose of the file?

Is it just indeed a preference thing? Or are there any real benefits (other than separation of settings) by using a custom XML file, as apposed to the app.config file? If you need to explicitly separate settings would it better to use a custom ConfigurationSection rather than opting for a custom XML file?

I would like to here other peoples thoughts on this.

Answer 1

Some people tend to go a bit overboard on custom config section handlers, in my humble opinion.

I tend to use them only when I need something that is very structed; and that is used/written by 3rd parties (i.e. I want to do some extravagent validation on it).

I think you can quite happily use app.config/web.config for all relevant settings, and use separate XML files when it is very clear that is a separate component of the app.

Answer 2

Have a look at the Application Settings Architecture, the app.config is for Configration regarding the Application, thats quite a general term though.. So I would suggest you look into the Application Settings Files.

I would not store settings like "load database on startup or not" in the app.config. I would rather use an Alternative Storage like Application Settings for this, don't confuse Application Configuration with Settings, even though you might want to do that, Don't. app.config is supposed to have configration regarding lower level things like Database connection, Membership Provider or any other Application Critic information.