How to use ConfigurationManager

Question

I want to use App.config for storing some setting. I tried to use the next code for getting a parameter from a config file.

private string GetSettingValue(string paramName)
{
    return String.Format(ConfigurationManager.AppSettings[paramName]);
}

I also added System.Configuration for it (I used a separate class), and in App.config file I have:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8" ?>
<configuration>
  <startup> 
    <supportedRuntime version="v4.0" sku=".NETFramework,Version=v4.5" />
  </startup>
  <appSettings>
    <add key ="key1" value ="Sample" />
  </appSettings>
</configuration>

But I got an error while trying to use ConfigurationManager - ConfigurationManager can't exist in such context, but I already added System.Configuration. Or did I miss something?

EDIT:

class with config (full view)

using System;
using System.Collections.Generic;
using System.Linq;
using System.Text;
using System.Threading.Tasks;
using System.Configuration;

namespace browser
{
    class ConfigFile
    {
        private string GetSettingValue(string paramName)
        {
            return String.Format(ConfigurationManager.AppSettings[paramName]);
        }
    }
}

EDIT2

Add how it looks

This means the problem is not during using ConfigurationManger but before - the program "says" that it "doesn't know such element" as I understand the error - the "Element ConfigurationManager" doesn't exist in such context"

EDIT3

EDIT 4

Solution 1

Okay, it took me a while to see this, but there's no way this compiles:

return String.(ConfigurationManager.AppSettings[paramName]);

You're not even calling a method on the String type. Just do this:

return ConfigurationManager.AppSettings[paramName];

The AppSettings KeyValuePair already returns a string. If the name doesn't exist, it will return null.

---

Based on your edit you have not yet added a Reference to the System.Configuration assembly for the project you're working in.

Solution 2

Go to tools >> nuget >> console and type:

Install-Package System.Configuration.ConfigurationManager 

If you want a specific version:

Install-Package System.Configuration.ConfigurationManager -Version 4.5.0

Your ConfigurationManager dll will now be imported and the code will begin to work.

Comments

[Nick_F]

Two users left negative ratings. It would be constructive to provide an indication why they consider the code is not good enough. I found out that if my application is located in C:\Program Files (x86)\MyApp, the code causes a crash, because the application does not have rights to save data in there.

[Giulio Caccin]

The original user problem is not about creating a method to save a missing configuration, it's about being unable to retrieve it because of a missing import. That's why this question is probably being downvoted: it's misleading.

[tonyb]

This method works great, but there is a problem. It saves the setting in a '.config' file in XML format alongside the compiled executable. If you build an installer MSI and a local administrator installs the application, the config file ends in a sub-folder the c:\program files... folder. The end user has no access to write to this folder, so an error occurs on any attempt to modify the config in this situation.