Is there an in depth guide to application configuration for .NET?

Question

Does anyone have or has anyone come across an in depth guide to the .net app.config? I'm having significant issues trying to find a definitive guide to this area of .net.

I can already handle custom configuration sections, from basic key/value pair settings right through to complete custom configuration handlers which I struggled to find information on, but I cannot find any documentation regarding basic native .NET functionality of the configuration file...for instance, with regards to BCL configuration.

I've gone through the machine.config.comments and the config.xsd files and it has provided a little insight but not enough to fully grasp the full potential of the config file. I've also trawled through everything I can find on Safari and only managed to come up with a couple of useful tidbits that I wasn't previously aware of but it seems this area of .NET is extremely poorly documented and unless you have a very specific purpose in mind, it's useless trying to find information on it.

If anyone can point me to some in depth, definitive information on this, I would be extremely grateful.

Answer 1

You might want to check out this three part series by Jon Rista on .NET Configuration on Codeproject:

• Unravelling the mysteries of .NET 2.0 configuration
• Decoding the mysteries of .NET 2.0 configuration
• Cracking the mysteries of .NET 2.0 configuration

Really really helpful and very well written indeed ! Helped me a whole lot.