ConfigStringParser is a tiny library which lets you read and write any configuration values into a connection config string, and convert freely between string and object representations:

config string	↔	C# class
HostName=example.com; Port=587; EnableSsl=true	↔	public class EmailConfig { public string HostName { get; set;} public int Port { get; set; } public bool EnableSSL { get; set;} }

Usage

Creating a config string

You can create a new config string from scratch:

var parser = new ConfigStringParser();
parser.Add({ hostName = "example.com", port = 587, enableSSL = true });

...or start from one you have:

var parser = new ConfigStringParser("HostName=example.com; Port=587; EnableSsl=true");

You can freely add, remove, and overwrite values (keys aren't case sensitive):

parser.Add("UserName", "johnny");
parser["username"] = "billy";
parser.Remove("username");

Mapping to an object

You can freely map the config string into an object:

EmailConfig config = parser.MapTo<EmailConfig>();

...or fill an existing object:

EmailConfig config = new EmailConfig();
parser.MapTo(config);

You can optionally add data annotations to your class:

• [Required] means the value must be defined. If you try to map a config string without it, you'll get an informative KeyNotFoundException.
• [DisplayName("Other Name")] provides an alternative name that can appear in the config string. For example, this lets you map a config string like Host Name=example.com to a property named HostName.

The parser will automatically map most primitive types (including bool, string, Guid, double, int, long, short, and enums), but doesn't handle dates.

Comparing strings

You can check whether a string is equivalent to another one (regardless of order or formatting):

var parser = new ConfigStringParser("HostName=example.com; Port=587; EnableSsl=true");
bool isEqual = parser.IsEquivalentTo("EnableSSL=true; Port=587; HOSTNAME=example.com"); // true