App.Config Transformation for projects which are n

Question

For Visual Studio 2010 Web based application we have Config Transformation features by which we can maintain multiple configuration files for different environments. But the same feature is not available for App.Config files for Windows Services/WinForms or Console Application.

There is a workaround available as suggested here: Applying XDT magic to App.Config.

However it is not straightforward and requires a number of steps. Is there an easier way to achieve the same for app.config files?

Answer 1

Another solution I've found is NOT to use the transformations but just have a separate config file, e.g. app.Release.config. Then add this line to your csproj file.

  <PropertyGroup Condition=" '$(Configuration)|$(Platform)' == 'Release|x86' ">
    <AppConfig>App.Release.config</AppConfig>
  </PropertyGroup>

This will not only generate the right myprogram.exe.config file but if you're using Setup and Deployment Project in Visual Studio to generate MSI, it'll force the deployment project to use the correct config file when packaging.

Answer 2

I have created another alternative to the one posted by Vishal Joshi where the requirement to change the build action to Content is removed and also implemented basic support for ClickOnce deployment. I say basic, because I didn't test it thoroughly but it should work in the typical ClickOnce deployment scenario.

The solution consists of a single MSBuild project that once imported to an existent windows application project (*.csproj) extends the build process to contemplate app.config transformation.

You can read a more detailed explanation at Visual Studio App.config XML Transformation and the MSBuild project file can be downloaded from GitHub.