External AppSettings File NOT merging with web.config

Question

In my app, I have a web.config file with an appSettings section. The appSettings section contains a number of keys that the app uses. The appSettings section also contains

Answer 1

I was able to confirm that the external app.config works with a simple project.

app.Config (in same directory as web.config)

web.config

...
  
    
    
  
...

Default.aspx

...


    web: 

    app: 

    override: 



... 

Inside the Default.aspx.cs

    protected void Page_Load(object sender, EventArgs e)
    {
        lblWeb.Text = ConfigurationManager.AppSettings["testWebConfigString"];
        lblApp.Text = ConfigurationManager.AppSettings["testAppConfigString"];
        lblOverride.Text = ConfigurationManager.AppSettings["testOverrideString"];
    }

The resulting page should have the following text:

web: web config string exists!
app: APP string exists!
override: !!OVERRIDE string exists in app.config!