Like people are saying here the whole point of a config file is for modifying some settings outside the application. You can hard-code or use constants but you can also use the registry in windows if you want. That way you can make changes to the application and still only have a single exe file.
The code project has some good info about reading, writing and deleting from the registry.
http://www.codeproject.com/KB/system/modifyregistry.aspx
But be careful when editing the registry. Alot of applications are depending on it so you could destroy some settings if you do something wrong. I recommend reading and then doing.
public string Read(string KeyName) {
RegistryKey rk = baseRegistryKey;
// Open a subKey as read-only
RegistryKey sk1 = rk.OpenSubKey(subKey);
// If the RegistrySubKey doesn't exist -> (null)
if ( sk1 == null )
{
return null;
}
else
{
try
{
// If the RegistryKey exists I get its value
// or null is returned.
return (string)sk1.GetValue(KeyName.ToUpper());
}
catch (Exception e)
{
// AAAAAAAAAAARGH, an error!
ShowErrorMessage(e, "Reading registry " + KeyName.ToUpper());
return null;
}
}
}
public bool Write(string KeyName, object Value) {
try
{
// Setting
RegistryKey rk = baseRegistryKey ;
// I have to use CreateSubKey
// (create or open it if already exits),
// 'cause OpenSubKey open a subKey as read-only
RegistryKey sk1 = rk.CreateSubKey(subKey);
// Save the value
sk1.SetValue(KeyName.ToUpper(), Value);
return true;
}
catch (Exception e) {
// AAAAAAAAAAARGH, an error!
ShowErrorMessage(e, "Writing registry " + KeyName.ToUpper());
return false;
}
}
public bool DeleteKey(string KeyName) {
try
{
// Setting
RegistryKey rk = baseRegistryKey ;
RegistryKey sk1 = rk.CreateSubKey(subKey);
// If the RegistrySubKey doesn't exists -> (true)
if ( sk1 == null )
return true;
else
sk1.DeleteValue(KeyName);
return true;
}
catch (Exception e)
{
// AAAAAAAAAAARGH, an error!
ShowErrorMessage(e, "Deleting SubKey " + subKey);
return false;
}
}
Of course this would only work on Windows. I assume that you are using Visual Studio so you are probably using Windows.
Happy coding and good luck!
