Simple JSON config handler

A simple library to add a key-value pair based configuration manager to any .NET project.

Table of contents

1. Quick start guide
2. Manage multiple value sets
3. Public methods
4. Safety functions
5. Method call order

Quick start guide

1. Add Config.dll or Config.cs to your project
2. Load (or create a new) key and value set with Config.Set(filePath)
3. Get values from existing keys with Config.GetValue()
4. Set values for new or existing keys with Config.SetValue()
5. Save your keys and values for the next session with Config.Save()

Values are stored as a string. An appropriate parsing procedure must be used to convert it to and from other types.

For a code example, see ConfigExample/Program.cs

The above code example will create test_config.json in the user documents folder with the following content:

{
  "name": "John Doe",
  "ip_address": "127.0.0.1",
  "port": "1234"
}

Manage multiple value sets

Create and use multiple value sets by subsequent calls to Set

string set1 = "first.json";
string set2 = "second.json";

// Create a value set
Config.Set(set1);
Config.SetValue("name", "Jane Doe");
Config.Save();

// Create another value set
Config.Set(set2);
Config.SetValue("height", "1080");
Config.SetValue("width", "1920");
Config.Save();

// Load and use the first value set
Config.Set(set1);
Console.WriteLine($"name:\t{Config.GetValue("name", "Failsafe Frank")}");

// Load and use the second value set
Config.Set(set2);
Console.WriteLine($"height:\t{Config.GetValue("height", "999")}");
Console.WriteLine($"width:\t{Config.GetValue("width", "999")}");

Public methods

Method	Description	Parameters	Returns
string FilePath	Get the current value set file path		The current value set file path
void Set(string filePath)	Set (and load) the value set file to use	filePath: Value set file to use
bool KeyExists(string key)	Check if a key exists	key: Unique key	True, if the key exists
string GetValue(string key)	Get the current value for a key	key: Unique key	Current value for the key or null
string GetValue(string key, string defaultValue)	Get the current value or a default value for a key	key: Unique key defaultValue: Value to return if the key does not exist	Current value for the key or defaultValue
Dictionary<string, string> GetAllValues()	Get the entire value set		Current value set
void SetValue(string key, string value)	Set a new value for a key or create a new key with a value	key: Unique key value: New value
void SetAllValues(Dictionary<string, string> values)	Overwrite the entire value set	values: New value set
void Save()	Save the current value set

All the methods are static, no Config instance needs to be created.

Safety functions

• Keys and values are stored in a Dictionary, so no duplicate keys can exist.
• The file path can include or exclude the .json postfix. It will be appended to it if missed.
• Save must be called before subsequent Set calls if any values were added or changed by any of the Set* methods. If missed, an exception will be thrown with the message There are unsaved changes that would be lost. Call Save() first.
• If the config file does not exist when Set is called, the config manager will start creating the keys and values in memory. The next call to Save will create the file.
• If any exception is thrown during file loading inside the Set method, an exception will be thrown with the message Error loading config file. and the original exception as the innerException.
• The value set must be set with Set before calling KeyExists, Save or any of the Get or Set* methods. If any of these are called without the value set being set, an exception will be thrown with the message No current value set is set. Call Set() before making changes.
• The GetValue method with the defaultValue parameter is to provide a failsafe value retrieval.
• A call to GetAllValues will return a copy of the underlying Dictionary to protect it's values in the absence of a call to SetAllValues.
• If any exception is thrown during the Save method, an exception will be thrown with the message Error saving config file. and the original exception as the innerException.

Method call order

flowchart LR
	B[Set] --> C[KeyExists]
	B --> D[GetValue]
	B --> E[GetAllValues]
	B --> F[SetValue]
	B --> G[SetAllValues]
    B --Will create an empty file--> H[Save]
	C --> H
	D --> H
	E --> H
	F --> H
	G --> H
	H --Except the first time--> B

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