AbYzzX.Extensions.Settings 0.0.7.1

Abyzz.Extensions.Settings

A flexible and extensible settings management library for .NET applications, providing a provider-based architecture for managing configuration data from multiple sources.

Overview

Abyzz.Extensions.Settings is a lightweight library that offers a unified interface for reading and writing configuration settings. It follows a provider pattern, allowing you to implement custom providers for different configuration sources (INI files, JSON, XML, databases, etc.).

Features

• Provider-based architecture for flexible configuration sources
• Section-based settings organization
• Case-insensitive key lookups
• Type-safe value retrieval with default values
• Support for multiple data types (string, int, long, bool, double, decimal, DateTime, enum)
• Built-in INI file provider (via separate package)
• Simple and intuitive API

Installation

Install the core package:

dotnet add package AbYzzX.Extensions.Settings

For INI file support, also install:

dotnet add package AbYzzX.Extensions.Settings.Ini

Getting Started

Basic Usage

using AbYzzX.Extensions.Settings;

// Create a settings builder
var builder = new SettingsBuilder();

// Add providers (e.g., INI file provider)
builder.AddProvider(new IniSettingsProvider("config.ini"));

// Build and load settings
var settings = builder.Build();

// Read settings
var value = settings.GetSetting("Database", "ConnectionString");

Using Extension Methods for Type-Safe Access

// Get strongly-typed values with defaults
var port = settings.GetInt32("Server", "Port", 8080);
var isEnabled = settings.GetBool("Features", "EnableLogging", false);
var timeout = settings.GetDouble("Connection", "Timeout", 30.0);

Working with Sections

// Get a specific section
var dbSection = settings.GetSection("Database");
if (dbSection != null)
{
    var host = dbSection.GetString("Host", "localhost");
    var port = dbSection.GetInt32("Port", 5432);
}

// Add a new section
var section = settings.AddSection("NewSection");
section.SetValue("Key", "Value");

// Check if section exists
if (settings.ContainsSection("Database"))
{
    // Section exists
}

// Get all section names
var sectionNames = settings.GetSectionNames();

Modifying and Saving Settings

// Add or modify values
var section = settings.GetSection("Database") ?? settings.AddSection("Database");
section.SetValue("ConnectionString", "Server=localhost;Database=mydb");

// Save changes to all providers
settings.Save();

Architecture

Core Interfaces

• ISettings: Main interface for settings management
• ISettingsSection: Represents a section containing key-value pairs
• ISettingsProvider: Interface for implementing custom configuration providers

Extension Methods

The library provides extension methods for both ISettings and ISettingsSection to retrieve typed values:

• GetString()
• GetInt16(), GetInt32(), GetInt64()
• GetBool()
• GetDouble(), GetDecimal()
• GetDateTime()
• GetEnum<T>()

All methods support optional default values.

Boolean Values

By default, the following values are considered as true (case-insensitive):

• "true"
• "1"
• "yes"

You can customize this by modifying:

SettingsExtensions.BoolTrueValues = new[] { "true", "1", "yes", "on" };

INI File Provider

The INI provider supports standard INI file format:

[Database]
Host = localhost
Port = 5432
ConnectionString = Server=localhost;Database=mydb

[Features]
EnableLogging = true
MaxRetries = 3

Using the INI Provider

var builder = new SettingsBuilder();

// Required file (throws exception if not found)
builder.AddProvider(new IniSettingsProvider("config.ini"));

// Optional file (no error if missing)
builder.AddProvider(new IniSettingsProvider("optional.ini", isRequired: false));

var settings = builder.Build();

Comments in INI files start with # and are ignored during parsing.

Creating Custom Providers

Implement the ISettingsProvider interface:

public class CustomProvider : ISettingsProvider
{
    public void Load(ISettings settings)
    {
        // Load configuration from your source
        var section = settings.AddSection("MySection");
        section.SetValue("Key", "Value");
    }

    public void Save(ISettings settings)
    {
        // Save configuration to your source
        foreach (var sectionName in settings.GetSectionNames())
        {
            var section = settings.GetSection(sectionName);
            // Write section data to your storage
        }
    }
}

Requirements

• .NET 10.0 or later