ASP.NET Core Get Json Array using IConfiguration

Question

You can install the following two NuGet packages:

using Microsoft.Extensions.Configuration; 
using Microsoft.Extensions.Configuration.Binder;

And then you'll have the possibility to use the following extension method:

var myArray = _config.GetSection("MyArray").Get<string[]>();

If you want to pick value of first item then you should do like this-

var item0 = _config.GetSection("MyArray:0");

If you want to pick value of entire array then you should do like this-

IConfigurationSection myArraySection = _config.GetSection("MyArray");
var itemArray = myArraySection.AsEnumerable();

Ideally, you should consider using options pattern suggested by official documentation. This will give you more benefits.

Add a level in your appsettings.json :

{
  "MySettings": {
    "MyArray": [
      "str1",
      "str2",
      "str3"
    ]
  }
}

Create a class representing your section :

public class MySettings
{
     public List<string> MyArray {get; set;}
}

In your application startup class, bind your model an inject it in the DI service :

services.Configure<MySettings>(options => Configuration.GetSection("MySettings").Bind(options));

And in your controller, get your configuration data from the DI service :

public class HomeController : Controller
{
    private readonly List<string> _myArray;

    public HomeController(IOptions<MySettings> mySettings)
    {
        _myArray = mySettings.Value.MyArray;
    }

    public IActionResult Index()
    {
        return Json(_myArray);
    }
}

You can also store your entire configuration model in a property in your controller, if you need all the data :

public class HomeController : Controller
{
    private readonly MySettings _mySettings;

    public HomeController(IOptions<MySettings> mySettings)
    {
        _mySettings = mySettings.Value;
    }

    public IActionResult Index()
    {
        return Json(_mySettings.MyArray);
    }
}

The ASP.NET Core's dependency injection service works just like a charm :)

If you have array of complex JSON objects like this:

{
  "MySettings": {
    "MyValues": [
      { "Key": "Key1", "Value":  "Value1" },
      { "Key": "Key2", "Value":  "Value2" }
    ]
  }
}

You can retrieve settings this way:

var valuesSection = configuration.GetSection("MySettings:MyValues");
foreach (IConfigurationSection section in valuesSection.GetChildren())
{
    var key = section.GetValue<string>("Key");
    var value = section.GetValue<string>("Value");
}

This worked for me to return an array of strings from my config:

var allowedMethods = Configuration.GetSection("AppSettings:CORS-Settings:Allow-Methods")
    .Get<string[]>();

My configuration section looks like this:

"AppSettings": {
    "CORS-Settings": {
        "Allow-Origins": [ "http://localhost:8000" ],
        "Allow-Methods": [ "OPTIONS","GET","HEAD","POST","PUT","DELETE" ]
    }
}