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.NET Framework 3.5
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Microsoft Visual Studio 2008/.NET Framework 3.5

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.NET Framework Class Library
System.Configuration Namespace

Updated: November 2007

The System.Configuration namespace contains the types that provide the programming model for handling configuration data.

  ClassDescription
ApplicationScopedSettingAttribute Specifies that an application settings property has a common value for all users of an application. This class cannot be inherited.
ApplicationSettingsBase Acts as a base class for deriving concrete wrapper classes to implement the application settings feature in Window Forms applications.
ApplicationSettingsGroup Represents a grouping of related application settings sections within a configuration file. This class cannot be inherited.
AppSettingsReader Provides a method for reading values of a particular type from the configuration.
AppSettingsSection Provides configuration system support for the appSettings configuration section. This class cannot be inherited.
CallbackValidator Provides dynamic validation of an object.
CallbackValidatorAttribute Specifies a CallbackValidator object to use for code validation. This class cannot be inherited.
ClientSettingsSection Represents a group of user-scoped application settings in a configuration file.
CommaDelimitedStringCollection Represents a collection of string elements separated by commas. This class cannot be inherited.
CommaDelimitedStringCollectionConverter Converts a comma-delimited string value to and from a CommaDelimitedStringCollection object. This class cannot be inherited.
Configuration Represents a configuration file applicable to a particular computer, application, or resource. This class cannot be inherited.
ConfigurationCollectionAttribute Declaratively instructs the .NET Framework to create an instance of a configuration element collection. This class cannot be inherited.
ConfigurationConverterBase The base class for the configuration converter types.
ConfigurationElement Represents a configuration element within a configuration file.
ConfigurationElementCollection Represents a configuration element containing a collection of child elements.
ConfigurationElementProperty Specifies the property of a configuration element. This class cannot be inherited.
ConfigurationErrorsException The current value is not one of the EnableSessionState values.
ConfigurationException The exception that is thrown when a configuration system error has occurred.
ConfigurationFileMap Defines the configuration file mapping for the machine configuration file.
ConfigurationLocation Represents a location element within a configuration file.
ConfigurationLocationCollection Contains a collection of ConfigurationLocationCollection objects.
ConfigurationLockCollection Contains a collection of locked configuration objects. This class cannot be inherited.
ConfigurationManager Provides access to configuration files for client applications. This class cannot be inherited.
ConfigurationPermission Provides a permission structure that allows methods or classes to access configuration files.
ConfigurationPermissionAttribute Creates a ConfigurationPermission object that either grants or denies the marked target permission to access sections of configuration files.
ConfigurationPropertyInfrastructure. Represents an attribute or a child of a configuration element. This class cannot be inherited.
ConfigurationPropertyAttribute Declaratively instructs the .NET Framework to instantiate a configuration property. This class cannot be inherited.
ConfigurationPropertyCollection Represents a collection of configuration-element properties.
ConfigurationSection Represents a section within a configuration file.
ConfigurationSectionCollection Represents a collection of related sections within a configuration file.
ConfigurationSectionGroup Represents a group of related sections within a configuration file.
ConfigurationSectionGroupCollection Represents a collection of ConfigurationSectionGroup objects.
ConfigurationSettings Provides runtime versions 1.0 and 1.1 support for reading configuration sections and common configuration settings.
ConfigurationValidatorAttribute Serves as the base class for the System.Configuration validator attribute types.
ConfigurationValidatorBase Acts as a base class for deriving a validation class so that a value of an object can be verified.
ConfigXmlDocumentInfrastructure. Wraps the corresponding XmlDocument type and also carries the necessary information for reporting file-name and line numbers.
ConnectionStringSettings Represents a single, named connection string in the connection strings configuration file section.
ConnectionStringSettingsCollection Contains a collection of ConnectionStringSettings objects.
ConnectionStringsSection Provides programmatic access to the connection strings configuration-file section.
ContextInformation Encapsulates the context information that is associated with a ConfigurationElement object. This class cannot be inherited.
DefaultSection Represents a basic configuration-section handler that exposes the configuration section's XML for both read and write access.
DefaultSettingValueAttribute Specifies the default value for an application settings property.
DefaultValidator Provides validation of an object. This class cannot be inherited.
DictionarySectionHandler Provides key/value pair configuration information from a configuration section.
DpapiProtectedConfigurationProvider Provides a ProtectedConfigurationProvider object that uses the Windows data protection API (DPAPI) to encrypt and decrypt configuration data.
ElementInformation Contains meta-information about an individual element within the configuration. This class cannot be inherited.
ExeConfigurationFileMap Defines the configuration file mapping for an Exe.config file. This class cannot be inherited.
ExeContext Manages the path context for the current application. This class cannot be inherited.
GenericEnumConverter Converts between a string and an enumeration type.
IgnoreSection Provides a wrapper type definition for configuration sections that are not handled by the System.Configuration types.
IgnoreSectionHandler Provides a legacy section-handler definition for configuration sections that are not handled by the System.Configuration types.
InfiniteIntConverter Converts between a string and the standard infinite or integer value.
InfiniteTimeSpanConverter Converts between a string and the standard infinite TimeSpan value.
IntegerValidator Provides validation of an Int32 value.
IntegerValidatorAttribute Declaratively instructs the .NET Framework to perform integer validation on a configuration property. This class cannot be inherited.
KeyValueConfigurationCollection Contains a collection of KeyValueConfigurationElement objects.
KeyValueConfigurationElement Represents a configuration element that contains a key/value pair.
LocalFileSettingsProvider Provides persistence for application settings classes.
LongValidator Provides validation of an Int64 value.
LongValidatorAttribute Declaratively instructs the .NET Framework to perform long-integer validation on a configuration property. This class cannot be inherited.
NameValueConfigurationCollection Contains a collection of NameValueConfigurationElement objects. This class cannot be inherited.
NameValueConfigurationElement A configuration element that contains a String name and String value. This class cannot be inherited.
NameValueFileSectionHandler Provides access to a configuration file. This type supports the .NET Framework configuration infrastructure and is not intended to be used directly from your code.
NameValueSectionHandler Provides name/value-pair configuration information from a configuration section.
NoSettingsVersionUpgradeAttribute Specifies that a settings provider should disable any logic that gets invoked when an application upgrade is detected. This class cannot be inherited.
PositiveTimeSpanValidator Provides validation of a TimeSpan object. This class cannot be inherited.
PositiveTimeSpanValidatorAttribute Declaratively instructs the .NET Framework to perform time validation on a configuration property. This class cannot be inherited.
PropertyInformation Contains meta-information on an individual property within the configuration. This type cannot be inherited.
PropertyInformationCollection Contains a collection of PropertyInformation objects. This class cannot be inherited.
ProtectedConfiguration Provides access to the protected-configuration providers for the current application's configuration file.
ProtectedConfigurationProvider Is the base class to create providers for encrypting and decrypting protected-configuration data.
ProtectedConfigurationProviderCollection Provides a collection of ProtectedConfigurationProvider objects.
ProtectedConfigurationSection Provides programmatic access to the configProtectedData configuration section. This class cannot be inherited.
ProtectedProviderSettings Represents a group of configuration elements that configure the providers for the <configProtectedData> configuration section.
ProviderSettings Represents the configuration elements associated with a provider.
ProviderSettingsCollection Represents a collection of ProviderSettings objects.
RegexStringValidator Provides validation of a string based on the rules provided by a regular expression.
RegexStringValidatorAttribute Declaratively instructs the .NET Framework to perform string validation on a configuration property using a regular expression. This class cannot be inherited.
RsaProtectedConfigurationProvider Provides a ProtectedConfigurationProvider instance that uses RSA encryption to encrypt and decrypt configuration data.
SectionInformation Contains metadata about an individual section within the configuration hierarchy. This class cannot be inherited.
SettingAttribute Represents a custom settings attribute used to associate settings information with a settings property.
SettingChangingEventArgs Provides data for the SettingChanging event.
SettingElement Represents a simplified configuration element used for updating elements in the configuration. This class cannot be inherited.
SettingElementCollection Contains a collection of SettingElement objects. This class cannot be inherited.
SettingsAttributeDictionary Represents a collection of key/value pairs used to describe a configuration object as well as a SettingsProperty object.
SettingsBase Provides the base class used to support user property settings.
SettingsContext Provides contextual information that the provider can use when persisting settings.
SettingsDescriptionAttribute Provides a string that describes an individual configuration property. This class cannot be inherited.
SettingsGroupDescriptionAttribute Provides a string that describes an application settings property group. This class cannot be inherited.
SettingsGroupNameAttribute Specifies a name for application settings property group. This class cannot be inherited.
SettingsLoadedEventArgs Provides data for the SettingsLoaded event.
SettingsManageabilityAttribute Specifies special services for application settings properties. This class cannot be inherited.
SettingsProperty Used internally as the class that represents metadata about an individual configuration property.
SettingsPropertyCollection Contains a collection of SettingsProperty objects.
SettingsPropertyIsReadOnlyException Provides an exception for read-only SettingsProperty objects.
SettingsPropertyNotFoundException Provides an exception for SettingsProperty objects that are not found.
SettingsPropertyValue Contains the value of a settings property that can be loaded and stored by an instance of SettingsBase.
SettingsPropertyValueCollection Contains a collection of settings property values that map SettingsProperty objects to SettingsPropertyValue objects.
SettingsPropertyWrongTypeException Provides an exception that is thrown when an invalid type is used with a SettingsProperty object.
SettingsProvider Acts as a base class for deriving custom settings providers in the application settings architecture.
SettingsProviderAttribute Specifies the settings provider used to provide storage for the current application settings class or property. This class cannot be inherited.
SettingsProviderCollection Represents a collection of application settings providers.
SettingsSerializeAsAttribute Specifies the serialization mechanism that the settings provider should use. This class cannot be inherited.
SettingValueElement Contains the XML representing the serialized value of the setting. This class cannot be inherited.
SingleTagSectionHandlerInfrastructure. Handles configuration sections that are represented by a single XML tag in the .config file.
SpecialSettingAttribute Indicates that an application settings property has a special significance. This class cannot be inherited.
StringValidator Provides validation of a string.
StringValidatorAttribute Declaratively instructs the .NET Framework to perform string validation on a configuration property. This class cannot be inherited.
SubclassTypeValidator Validates that an object is a derived class of a specified type.
SubclassTypeValidatorAttribute Declaratively instructs the .NET Framework to perform validation on a configuration property. This class cannot be inherited.
TimeSpanMinutesConverter Converts a time span expressed in minutes.
TimeSpanMinutesOrInfiniteConverter Converts a TimeSpan expressed in minutes or as a standard infinite time span.
TimeSpanSecondsConverter Converts a time span expressed in seconds.
TimeSpanSecondsOrInfiniteConverter Converts a TimeSpan expressed in seconds or as a standard infinite time span.
TimeSpanValidator Provides validation of a TimeSpan object.
TimeSpanValidatorAttribute Declaratively instructs the .NET Framework to perform time validation on a configuration property. This class cannot be inherited.
TypeNameConverter Converts between type and string values. This class cannot be inherited.
UserScopedSettingAttribute Specifies that an application settings group or property contains distinct values for each user of an application. This class cannot be inherited.
UserSettingsGroup Represents a grouping of related user settings sections within a configuration file. This class cannot be inherited.
WhiteSpaceTrimStringConverter Converts a string to its canonical format.
  InterfaceDescription
IApplicationSettingsProvider Defines extended capabilities for client-based application settings providers.
IConfigurationSectionHandler Handles the access to certain configuration sections.
IConfigurationSystemInfrastructure. Provides standard configuration methods.
IPersistComponentSettings Defines standard functionality for controls or libraries that store and retrieve application settings.
ISettingsProviderService Provides an interface for defining an alternate application settings provider.
  DelegateDescription
SettingChangingEventHandler Represents the method that will handle the SettingChanging event.
SettingsLoadedEventHandler Represents the method that will handle the SettingsLoaded event.
SettingsSavingEventHandler Represents the method that will handle the SettingsSaving event.
ValidatorCallback Represents a method to be called after the validation of an object.
  EnumerationDescription
ConfigurationAllowDefinition Specifies the locations within the configuration-file hierarchy that can set or override the properties contained within a ConfigurationSection object.
ConfigurationAllowExeDefinition Specifies the locations within the configuration-file hierarchy that can set or override the properties contained within a ConfigurationS