How to load appsetting.json section into Dictionary in .NET Core?

Question

I am familiar w/ loading an appsettings.json section into a strongly typed object in .NET Core startup.cs. For example:

public class CustomSection  {    public int A {get;set;}    public int B {get;set;} }  //In Startup.cs services.Configure<CustomSection>(Configuration.GetSection("CustomSection"));  //Inject an IOptions instance public HomeController(IOptions<CustomSection> options)  {     var settings = options.Value; } 

I have an appsettings.json section who's key/value pairs will vary in number and name over time. Therefore, it's not practical to hard code property names in a class since new key/value pairs would require a code change in the class. A small sample of some key/value pairs:

"MobileConfigInfo": {     "appointment-confirmed": "We've booked your appointment. See you soon!",     "appointments-book": "New Appointment",     "appointments-null": "We could not locate any upcoming appointments for you.",     "availability-null": "Sorry, there are no available times on this date. Please try another." } 

Is there a way to load this data into a MobileConfigInfo Dictionary object and then use the IOptions pattern to inject MobileConfigInfo into a controller?

Answer 1

Go with this structure format:

"MobileConfigInfo": {     "Values": {        "appointment-confirmed": "We've booked your appointment. See you soon!",        "appointments-book": "New Appointment",        "appointments-null": "We could not locate any upcoming appointments for you.",        "availability-null": "Sorry, there are no available times on this date. Please try another."  } } 

Make your setting class look like this:

public class CustomSection  {    public Dictionary<string, string> Values {get;set;} } 

then do this

services.Configure<CustomSection>((settings) => {      Configuration.GetSection("MobileConfigInfo").Bind(settings); });