How to load appsetting.json section into Dictionar

Question

I am familiar w/ loading an appsettings.json section into a strongly typed object in .NET Core startup.cs. For example:

public class CustomSection 
{
   public int A {get;set;}
   public int B {get;set;}
}

//In Startup.cs
services.Configure<CustomSection>(Configuration.GetSection("CustomSection"));

//Inject an IOptions instance
public HomeController(IOptions<CustomSection> options) 
{
    var settings = options.Value;
}

I have an appsettings.json section who's key/value pairs will vary in number and name over time. Therefore, it's not practical to hard code property names in a class since new key/value pairs would require a code change in the class. A small sample of some key/value pairs:

"MobileConfigInfo": {
    "appointment-confirmed": "We've booked your appointment. See you soon!",
    "appointments-book": "New Appointment",
    "appointments-null": "We could not locate any upcoming appointments for you.",
    "availability-null": "Sorry, there are no available times on this date. Please try another."
}

Is there a way to load this data into a MobileConfigInfo Dictionary object and then use the IOptions pattern to inject MobileConfigInfo into a controller?

Answer 1

You can use Configuration.Bind(settings); in startup.cs class

And your settings class will be like

public class AppSettings
{
    public Dictionary<string, string> MobileConfigInfo
    {
        get;
        set;
    }
}

Hope it helps!

Answer 2

For others who want to convert it to a Dictionary,

sample section inside appsettings.json

"MailSettings": {
    "Server": "http://mail.mydomain.com"        
    "Port": "25",
    "From": "[e-mail]"
 }

Following code should be put inside the Startup file > ConfigureServices method:

public static Dictionary<string, object> MailSettings { get; private set; }

public void ConfigureServices(IServiceCollection services)
{
    //ConfigureServices code......

    MailSettings = Configuration.GetSection("MailSettings").GetChildren()
                  .ToDictionary(x => x.Key, x => x.Value);
}

Now you can access the dictionary from anywhere like:

string mailServer = Startup.MailSettings["Server"];

One downside is that all values will be retrieved as strings, if you try any other type the value will be null.

Answer 3

I believe you can use the following code:

var config =  Configuration.GetSection("MobileConfigInfo").Get<Dictionary<string, string>>();