This project provides a framework and tools that enable .NET applications to be configured in a centralized remote server. The settings are implemented using normal code and no synchronization code is necessary.
Main features:
- Write your settings in plain code using normal classes:
- you are not limited to use value types;
- there's no need to add Settings.settings files;
- Synchronze your settings with a remote repository (check the project Settings4all.UI):
- new settings are added to the remote server;
- settings deleted from code are deleted from the remote server;
- setting values from the server are updated in the code on boot;
- When the remote settings API is offline the settings4net will boot using the last version that came from the server;
- Settings' documentation is sent to the remote server and may be browsed in the web management portal;
- Manage all the settings in a centralized web portal (check the project settings4all.API);
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Install the nuget package settings4net in your project and initialize the settings4net ensuring that it is initialized when the settings start to be used.
In a console app:
class Program { static Program() { // the withremote parameter is only to use if you want send // all the application settings to a remote API for centralized // management. Without remote the settings are still overridable // using a JSON file. SettingsManager.InitializeSettings4net(withRemote: true); } static void Main(string[] args) { ... } }
In a ASP.NET Web project:
public class WebApiApplication : System.Web.HttpApplication { static WebApiApplication() { SettingsManager.InitializeSettings4net(withRemote: true); } protected void Application_Start() { ... } }
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Add to the App/Web.config the settings that specify what is the current environment of the app (typically DEV while you are developing it) and, optionally, the remote settings repository API endpoint (this is necessary if you are initializing the settings4net with the remote option active):
<appSettings> <add key="log4net.config" value="Log.config" /> <add key="Settings4netCurrentEnvironment" value="dev" /> <add key="Settings4netRemoteURI" value="http://HOST/settings4net.API/" /> </appSettings>
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Start coding your settings. For that aim, the unique requirement is to mark all your setting classes with the interface ISettingsClass:
class XPTOSettings : ISettingsClass { public enum MenuType { Internal = 1, External = 2 } public class MenuOption { public int Id { get; set; } public string Name { get; set; } public string Path { get; set; } public MenuType Type { get; set; } = MenuType.Internal; public IEnumerable<MenuOption> SubMenus { get; set; } } /// <b> /// Setting with the Remote API endpoint. Configure it to match the environment's instance. /// </b> /// <p> /// This API is used to get video content metadata from <i>freebase</i> ... /// </p> public static string ServiceUrl = "http://www.sapo.pt/"; /// <b> /// Setting to configure the allowed video types. /// </b> /// <p> /// The following video formats are currently supported by the app: /// <br/> /// <ul> /// <li>mov</li> /// <li>wmv</li> /// <li>ogg</li> /// <li>avi</li> /// <li>flv</li> /// <li>ogg</li> /// <li>mp4</li> /// <li>mpeg</li> /// </ul> /// However, this setting may be used to select the ones that are currently allowed. /// </p> public static string[] AllowedVideoFormats = new string[] { "mp4", "mkv" }; /// <b> /// Setting to configure the app's not found error message per lang/locale. /// </b> /// <p> /// Add more pairs locale, message as needed. /// </p> public static Dictionary<string, string> NotFoundErrorMenssages = new Dictionary<string, string>() { { "en-US", "Page not found." }, { "pt-PT", "Página não encontrada." } }; /// <b> /// Setting to configure the main menu options available in the app. /// </b> /// <p> /// The menus may have SubMenus and each menu may have an executable path. /// The executable path may be a direct link to an external site or a internal /// path, to execute within the app's context. /// <br/> /// The Menu Types supported /// <ol> /// <li>Internal (default)</li> /// <li>External</li> /// </ol> /// Config sample: /// <br/> /// <pre> /// ... /// </pre> /// </p> public static List<MenuOption> MainMenuOptions = new List<MenuOption>() { new MenuOption() { Id = 1, Name = "Menu 1", Path = null, SubMenus = new List<MenuOption>() { new MenuOption() { Id = 11, Name = "Submenu 1", Path = "app/select/11", SubMenus = null }, new MenuOption() { Id = 12, Name = "Submenu 2", Path = "app/select/12", SubMenus = null } } }, new MenuOption() { Id = 2, Name = "Menu 2", SubMenus = new List<MenuOption>() { new MenuOption() { Id = 21, Name = "Submenu 1", Path = "app/select/21", SubMenus = null }, new MenuOption() { Id = 22, Name = "Submenu 2", Type = MenuType.External, Path = "http://www.google.com", SubMenus = null } } }, }; }
Note: all your application settings must be well documented so that the operations team may be autonomous managing the setting values. The comments were writtten using plain to html to improve readability in the web portal, because in this first version the setting documentation is presented as is. It is only possible for the settings4net to extract the setttings' documentation if the MSBuild outputs the XML files as part of the build, for that go to Project->Settings->Build and check the XML Documentation File.
The settings4net implements a settings repositories chain that currently supports coded settings, local configuration file in JSON and remote repository (Settings4all API):
When the InitializeSettings4net is called the following operations are performed:
- All the settings are loaded from Code, Local JSON file and Remote Repository (Settings4all) for the current environment (dev, qa, pre-prod, prod, ...);
- The settings are processed considering the priority of the repositories chain, the settings' values that come from high priority repositories override the ones that come from others;
- The new settings state is then propagated from code to all repositories, ensuring that:
- the new values are propagated to the local JSON configuration file what ensures that the application has always a local backup of the last valid state. This is specially important because the application will be able to boot and work properly when the remote reository is offline due to lack of connectivety or other reason;
- the new settings that where added to the code and are not present in the other repositories are propagated;
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