'Read/write Database Connection string in xml file using c# Windows Form

I am developing an c# application in which I need to fetch data from oracle database server. In my application I do not want to make a hard coded connection string because sometimes we have to connect it with different DB (for testing purpose it has same schema).

For this I have a plan that I create an xml file and a new form(with admin rights) using this form I update/insert database credentials in xml file or use app.config, but the problem is i don't have any idea how to read and write xml file in predefined manner (in same manner as a connection string should be).

Can you please help me out for creating new xml file or have any batter idea?

how about this code?

public static string ClientName, DbType, ConnectionString;
        static DB()
        {
            try
            {
                DataTable Dt = new DataTable("Settings");
                DataColumn Client = new DataColumn("Client", typeof(string));
                DataColumn DataBaseType = new DataColumn("DataBaseType", typeof(string));

                DataColumn ConString = new DataColumn("ConnectionString", typeof(string));
                Dt.Columns.Add(Client);
                Dt.Columns.Add(DataBaseType);
                Dt.Columns.Add(ConString);
                Dt.ReadXml(System.IO.Path.GetDirectoryName(System.Reflection.Assembly.GetExecutingAssembly().Location) + "\\Settings.xml");
                DB.ClientName = Dt.Rows[0]["Client"].ToString();
                DB.DbType = Dt.Rows[0]["DataBaseType"].ToString();
                DB.Port = Dt.Rows[0]["Port"].ToString();
                DB.ConnectionString = Dt.Rows[0]["ConnectionString"].ToString();
            }
            catch(Exception ex)
             {
            // Exception message
             }

and xml file code is 

<?xml version="1.0" standalone="yes"?>
<DocumentElement>
    <Settings>
        <Client>DSCL</Client>
        <DataBaseType>ORACLE</DataBaseType>

            <ConnectionString>providerName=system.data.oracleclient;User ID=****;password=****;Data Source=*****;Persist Security Info=True;Provider=OraOLEDB.Oracle;</ConnectionString>

  </Settings>
</DocumentElement>
c++sharpxmlconfigurationdeserializationxml-deserialization


Solution 1:[1]

Create that class

[Serializable()]
public class Car
{
    [System.Xml.Serialization.XmlElement("StockNumber")]
    public string StockNumber { get; set; }

    [System.Xml.Serialization.XmlElement("Make")]
    public string Make { get; set; }

    [System.Xml.Serialization.XmlElement("Model")]
    public string Model { get; set; }
}


[Serializable()]
[System.Xml.Serialization.XmlRoot("CarCollection")]
public class CarCollection
{
    [XmlArray("Cars")]
    [XmlArrayItem("Car", typeof(Car))]
    public Car[] Car { get; set; }
}

The Deserialize function:

CarCollection cars = null;
string path = "cars.xml";

XmlSerializer serializer = new XmlSerializer(typeof(CarCollection));

StreamReader reader = new StreamReader(path);
cars = (CarCollection)serializer.Deserialize(reader);
reader.Close();

And the slightly tweaked xml (I needed to add a new element to wrap ...Net is picky about deserializing arrays):

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<CarCollection>
<Cars>
  <Car>
    <StockNumber>1020</StockNumber>
    <Make>Nissan</Make>
    <Model>Sentra</Model>
  </Car>
  <Car>
    <StockNumber>1010</StockNumber>
    <Make>Toyota</Make>
    <Model>Corolla</Model>
  </Car>
  <Car>
    <StockNumber>1111</StockNumber>
    <Make>Honda</Make>
    <Model>Accord</Model>
  </Car>
</Cars>
</CarCollection>

Also take a look at

Loading custom configuration files

http://www.codeproject.com/Articles/32490/Custom-Configuration-Sections-for-Lazy-Coders

Solution 2:[2]

use the app config for your connectionStrings:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8" ?>
 <configuration>
    <startup> 
        <supportedRuntime version="v4.0" sku=".NETFramework,Version=v4.5" />
    </startup>
 <connectionStrings>
    <add name="MyDatabase" connectionString="......"/>
 </connectionStrings>
</configuration>

add a reference to System.Configuration in your application and get the connection string via :

string connectionString = ConfigurationManager.ConnectionStrings["MyDatabase"].ConnectionString;

Solution 3:[3]

App.Config:

<configuration>     
  <connectionStrings>
    <add name="connstring1"
        connectionString="DataSource=123.123.123.123;UserID=XXX;Password=XXX;" />
  </connectionStrings>     
</configuration>

C# code:

var appConfig = ConfigurationManager.OpenExeConfiguration("your.exe");
string connectionstring = appConfig.ConnectionStrings.ConnectionStrings["connstring1"].ConnectionString;

Solution 4:[4]

You are trying to reinvent a wheel.

As people mentioned here, .config files are meant for application configuration. There is a dedicated section for connection strings in them, so you're advised to use it as it is standard and convenient.

Here is your config:

<configuration>
....
<connectionStrings>
    <add name="OracleConnectionString" connectionString="providerName=system.data.oracleclient;User ID=****;password=****;Data Source=*****;Persist Security Info=True;Provider=OraOLEDB.Oracle;" providerName="System.Data.OracleClient" />
</connectionStrings>
</configuration>

and here is the code snippet to modify it:

string user = "Me";
string pwd = "qwerty";

Configuration cfg = ConfigurationManager.OpenExeConfiguration(ConfigurationUserLevel.None);
ConnectionStringsSection section = (ConnectionStringsSection)cfg.GetSection("connectionStrings");

var currentConnectionString = section.ConnectionStrings["OracleConnectionString"];
currentConnectionString.ConnectionString = string.Format("providerName=system.data.oracleclient;User ID={0};password={1};Data Source=*****;Persist Security Info=True;Provider=OraOLEDB.Oracle;", user, pwd);

cfg.Save();
ConfigurationManager.RefreshSection("connectionStrings");

Notes: 1. Be aware that you are saving .config in the /bin, not in your project folder, so when you rerun/redeploy your application, the changes will be discarded. 2. When debugging you won't see the changes as VS creates HOST process and copies a fresh .config file to the /bin. To see the changes you should run without debugging. Cheers.

Solution 5:[5]

Create a datatable with your values. do Dt.WriteXml(fileName); It will generate xml file. maintain this xml in future. use Dt.ReadXml(filename) to get the values back in application.

Sources

This article follows the attribution requirements of Stack Overflow and is licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0.

Source: Stack Overflow

Solution Source
Solution 1 Community
Solution 2 Jonesopolis
Solution 3
Solution 4 d_z
Solution 5 Mohamed

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