single app.config multi-project c#

Question

I want to use a single app.config by 3 different projects.

How to access the configurations?

ConfigurationManager.AppSettings[\"config1\"]


        

Answer 1

I understand this is a old question but there is a much easier way of achieving this. If you are using Visual Studio 2008 or higher there is a Project type called "Shared Project".

A Shared Project can have pretty much anything that another types of Projects can contain. This is not only for C# but for all languages that VS2015 supports. When something is included in the Shared Project it is available to other projects after you add a reference to it (see below).

The major difference with Classes in a Shared Project VS a Shared Library is when you compile the program everything that is in the Shared Project will be Compiled directly into your project not as a separate file (.dll, .exe). Think of it like everything that is in the Shared Project is inserted into the other projects. Here is a small tutorial on setting this up and using it:

Visual Studio 2015 - Shared Project Tutorial:

Create the New Shared Project by selecting File->New->Project or Right Click on the Solution in the Solution Explorer and select Add->New Project. When the Dialog shows up select "Shared Project", give the Project a name TestShared in this example.

After the New Project is added you can add anything you need to be available to other projects. In this case we will add the app.config. Right Click on the Shared Project and select Add->New Item. Select Visual C#->Data->XML File naming it obviously to app.config.

Finally add a reference to the Shared Project by Right Clicking the Project that you need to share the project with and select Add->Reference. In the Reference Manager Dialog select your Shared Project, it will be listed under the "Shared Projects" item on the Left.

Now everything that is in the Shared Project is available in the other project, there is no need to do any using imports or anything like that. It simply works. This pattern is quite handy when you are developing a program and need to have several different GUI's (Windows, iOS, Android etc). For example you could have one shared project for the "Core" functionality and then have a separate GUI Project for each of the different Operating Systems you want to support in your program.

I realize that this is a older question but since this showed up in Google I thought I would answer this so when others are looking for the same thing they know about this very powerful VS feature.