ConfigurationManager.GetSection Gives Error "Could not load type....from assembly..."

Question

My app.config file is as follows:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8" ?> <configuration>     <configSections>         <section name="ProcessConfiguration" type="Configuration.ProcessConfigurationSection, Configuration" />     </configSections>     <ProcessConfiguration>         <processes>             <process name="Process1" />         </processes>     </ProcessConfiguration> </configuration> 

I have the following (separate) classes to get the configuration:

namespace Configuration {     using System.Configuration;      public class ProcessesConfigurationSection : ConfigurationSection     {         [ConfigurationProperty("processes", IsDefaultCollection = false)]         [ConfigurationCollection(typeof(ProcessCollection))]         public ProcessCollection Processes         {             get             {                 return (ProcessCollection)base["processes"];             }         }     } }  namespace Configuration {     using System.Configuration;      public class ProcessCollection : ConfigurationElementCollection     {         public ProcessConfig this[int index]         {             get             {                 return (ProcessConfig)BaseGet(index);             }              set             {                 BaseAdd(index, value);             }         }          protected override object GetElementKey(ConfigurationElement element)         {             return ((ProcessConfig)element).Name;         }          protected override ConfigurationElement CreateNewElement()         {             return new ProcessConfig();         }     } }  namespace Configuration {     using System.Configuration;      public class ProcessConfig : ConfigurationElement     {         [ConfigurationProperty("name", IsRequired = true, IsKey = true)]         public string Name          {             get             {                 return (string)this["name"];             }             set             {                 this["name"] = value;             }         }     } } 

However when I hit this line of code:

var processConfigurationSection = ConfigurationManager.GetSection("ProcessConfiguration") as ProcessesConfigurationSection; 

I get the error which states:

An error occurred creating the configuration section handler for ProcessConfiguration: Could not load type 'Configuration.ProcessConfigurationSection' from assembly 'Configuration'.

I'm completely stumped, if anyone can help me out I'd really appreciate it.

Answer 1

In the line:

<section name="ProcessConfiguration" type="Configuration.ProcessConfigurationSection, Configuration" /> 

The name 'Configuration' should refer to the DLL that you re building, please try checking this and correct if needed.

Also I think you may have a typo, in your code the type name is:

ProcessesConfigurationSection 

(Note the Processes vs Process)

Answer 2

This error has been raised because the invoking assembly couldn't load the class type in the specified assembly. This error can be caused by a space after the type name (which has happened to me), for example the following config section

type="Configuration.ProcessConfigurationSection , Configuration" 

will generate this error too.