CODEWITHSUNDEEP
c#visual-studio-2010
Devator
Devator

Reputation: 3904

Different application settings per executable

I'm creating an application and I make use of Properties.Settings to store the settings.

However, let's say my application is on the desktop of the user and is called Program.exe, now, when the user copies this executable and places it somewhere else or even renames it, all settings are gone.

Why is C# doing this? Is there any way this can be turned off while pertaining the user scope? I don't wish to use the application scope since multiple users can be sharing the same computer.

Upvotes: 1

Views: 321

Answers (3)

Rafael
Rafael

Reputation: 2817

Settings are stored in the user profile (under C:\Users[UserName]\AppData\Local), these settings are under folders that have the application name and also have an identifier of the location of the exe file they refer to, for example: MyApp.exe_Url_hpvvra0rj4y03ebpz3cfmzsrcpczat11, refers to the executable under Program Files, if i move or copy the exe and run it, it will create another folder with another URL (MyApp.exe_Url_vqzsq0spwewydv3wrnebtqji24nwuboe, for example), i haven't find a way to avoid this but a good workaround is to copy the settings from another config file, just note that this method is not foolproof as you have to choose the right file to copy the setting to and if you expect your exe to be copied or moved constantly this will be a hard task.

Another workaround is to simply create your custom settings class and put the file anywhere your application can find it and don't realy on the built in settings on .NET.

Upvotes: 0

Kevin
Kevin

Reputation: 704

See http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/aa730869(v=vs.80).aspx for details.

The settings (and their location) when using Properties.Settings is determined by the Scope setting of the particular setting.

Settings that are Application scoped are in the app.config file (renamed at compile time to .exe.config - these settings are read only at run time), and settings that are User scoped are saved in a user.config that is tied to the user's profile on the machine (these settings are read/write at run time). By properly scoping your settings you should be able to avoid this type of problem.

Upvotes: 0

D Stanley
D Stanley

Reputation: 152491

The settings are likely stored in {appname}.exe.config which apparently is not being copied/renamed with the executable. Either copy the executable with the file, hard-code them in the application, or find another mechanism to get/set app settings (like the registry).

The application will look for these settings in a file titled {appname}.exe.config. If the executable is renamed (without renaming the .config file) or copied to another location without copying the .config file along with it, the application won't know where to look for their settings so they will be blank (unless you set a default value in the app).

You can "hard-code" default settings by putting a value in the Settings.settings "file" in Visual studio (which effectively adds the default value as an attribute to the setting).

Another option would be to hard-code the values directly in the source code. I'm NOT recommending this approach as it hinders the ability to change that value, but if you want to be able to deploy the app by just copying the EXE (and nothing else) then it is an option.

Upvotes: 2

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