SimpleConfigs

A lightweight library for creating, loading, and saving application configuration files with support for multiple serialization formats via the ISerializationManager interface.

NuGet: https://www.nuget.org/packages/SimpleConfigs
Target framework: .NET 8

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Installation

Install the core package:

dotnet add package SimpleConfigs

For JSON support:

dotnet add package SimpleConfigs.JSON

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Project Structure

SimpleConfigs

Core library that provides functionality for creating, saving, and loading configs.
Has no external dependencies.
Does not include an implementation of the ISerializationManager interface.

SimpleConfigs.JSON

Provides a JSON implementation of ISerializationManager.
Dependencies: SimpleConfigs, Newtonsoft.Json.

SimpleConfigs.Examples

Contains usage examples.
Depends on all project assemblies except SimpleConfigs.Test.

SimpleConfigs.Test

Contains tests for all assemblies.
Depends on all assemblies except SimpleConfigs.Examples.

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Usage

Example configuration class:

public class MainConfig
{
	public string SomeUrl = "http://www.example.com/";
	public int SomeValue = 456;
}

To save this config to a file or populate the object from a file, use ConfigsService.
It requires an ISerializationManager as the first parameter.

You can implement the interface yourself or use an existing implementation, such as SimpleConfigs.JSON.

Config Registration

ConfigsService can register one or multiple config types (passed as Type arguments).

var configsService = new ConfigsService(
	new JsonSerializationManager(), // ISerializationManager
	new LocalFileSystem(),          // IFileSystem
	typeof(MainConfig),             // registered config type
	typeof(SomeOtherConfig)         // another registered config type
);

// Creates missing config files
// and loads data from existing files
await configsService.InitializeAllConfigsAsync();

Working with Configs

var mainConfigInstance = configsService.GetConfig<MainConfig>();
Console.WriteLine($"{mainConfigInstance.SomeValue}"); // 456

mainConfigInstance.SomeValue = 15;

await configsService.SaveConfigToFileAsync<MainConfig>();

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File Path and Name Configuration

Relative Path

If not specified, the default folder is the directory of the running assembly.

[RelativePath("Configs/Main")]
public class MainConfig
{
}

File path:
<application folder>/Configs/Main/MainConfig.cfg

If the attribute is not specified, the file will be created in the running assembly directory with the default name MainConfig.cfg.

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File Name

Default: TypeName.cfg

[RelativePath("Configs/Main"), ConfigName("MyConfigName.myFileExtension")]
public class MainConfig
{
}

File path:
<application folder>/Configs/Main/MyConfigName.myFileExtension

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Programmatic Path Override

configsService.SetPathOverrideSettings<MainConfig>(
	new PathSettings("Configs/Overrided", "MyConfigName.myFileExtension"));

// Reset to default
configsService.SetPathOverrideSettings<MainConfig>(
	new PathSettings(null, ""));

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Additional Features

Registering with Path Settings

You can register config types together with custom path settings using the second constructor:

var configsService = new ConfigsService(
    new JsonSerializationManager(),
    new LocalFileSystem(),
    (typeof(MainConfig), new PathSettings("Configs/Main", "main.cfg")),
    (typeof(SomeOtherConfig), null) // uses default settings
);

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Dynamic Registration and Removal

Configs can be registered or unregistered at runtime:

configsService.RegisterConfigType(typeof(MainConfig).FullName, typeof(MainConfig).Assembly);
configsService.UnregisterConfigType(typeof(MainConfig).FullName);

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Common Directory for All Configs

You can specify a common directory prefix for all config files:

configsService.CommonRelativeDirectoryPath = "AllConfigs";

Final path pattern:

<ApplicationDirectory>/AllConfigs/<ConfigRelativePath>

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Creating and Deleting Config Files

await configsService.CreateConfigFileAsync(typeof(MainConfig).FullName);
await configsService.DeleteConfigFileAsync(typeof(MainConfig).FullName);

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Data Correctness Validation

If a config implements IDataCorrectnessChecker, validation will be executed automatically during save/load operations.

public class MainConfig : IDataCorrectnessChecker
{
    public int Port = 8080;

    public Task CheckDataCorrectnessAsync()
    {
        if (Port <= 0)
            throw new Exception("Invalid port");
        return Task.CompletedTask;
    }
}

You can disable validation:

await configsService.SaveConfigToFileAsync(typeof(MainConfig).FullName, checkDataCorrectness: false);

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Serialization Lifecycle Hooks

Configs implementing ISerializationListner receive callbacks:

public class MainConfig : ISerializationListner
{
    public void OnBeforeSerialize()
    {
        // called before saving
    }

    public void OnAfterDeserialized()
    {
        // called after loading
    }
}

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Operation Timeouts

All operations have configurable timeouts:

configsService.SerializationTimeoutInMilliseconds = 10000;
configsService.DeserializationTimeoutInMilliseconds = 10000;
configsService.FileWriteTimeoutInMilliseconds = 10000;

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Accessing Registered Configs

bool exists = configsService.IsConfigExist(typeof(MainConfig).FullName);
var config = configsService.GetConfig(typeof(MainConfig).FullName);

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General Information

ISerializationManager

Responsible for converting a config object into a byte array to be written to a file.

The implementation is not included in SimpleConfigs to avoid unnecessary dependencies.
You can implement it yourself or use an existing one, such as SimpleConfigs.JSON.