Settings specific to a class

Question

I have a class where I retrieve certain settings from a database (usernames and passwords). This database is sitting on a network, and it means that if the passwords are changed, I can simply change it in the database, and all the applications that use this class will still work.

I am fully aware of the pros and cons of storing usernames and passwords in a database and in a separate location. I don't want to discuss those, please.

The class has a hard-coded static string that is the path to the database. It is a fully qualified network name (not just the drive letter). I did this because we had an issue where our network DNS got screwed up, and drive letter mappings stopped working, and some people have different drive mappings anyway.

We recently had our server moved, so I now need to go through and change these hard-coded strings.

I was thinking that I should store the path in a settings / configuration file instead. I considered "application.settings", but it is not an application setting; its specific to the class. Is there a preferred way of doing this in the existing .Net framework (this is a C# issue)?

I could simply have a small text or XML file that sits in the application directory, which is probably fine... is there an existing framework namespace or open-source code snippet that someone knows of that I can use?

Answer 1

I think, if you want class specific configuration, you should try to have those class instances, configuration driven. Another way of thinking but; Defining a something in a configuration file, will create an instance of the defined classname.

For example: Create a section, and call it, <Modules> and create items in like: <module type="<namespace>.DBConvertor" param="username=root;passwd=whatever"> This type will be created at startup (you need some coding here). And it's even possible to create more than one instance simultaneously with it's specific configurations.

This kind of configuration is already implemented: You might take a look at this: "How to: Create Custom Configuration Sections Using ConfigurationSection" https://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/2tw134k3.aspx

And creating instances from typenames, use the Activator class.

Besides that, there are many module/plugin libraries, (like Managed Extensibility Framework (MEF) https://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/dd460648(v=vs.110).aspx but could be a little over the top in this case).