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?
Best Answer
I tried several solutions and here is the simplest I personally found.
Dan pointed out in the comments that the original post belongs to Oleg Sych—thanks, Oleg!
Here are the instructions:
1. Add an XML file for each configuration to the project.
Typically you will have
Debug
andRelease
configurations so name your filesApp.Debug.config
andApp.Release.config
. In my project, I created a configuration for each kind of environment, so you might want to experiment with that.2. Unload project and open .csproj file for editing
Visual Studio allows you to edit .csproj files right in the editor—you just need to unload the project first. Then right-click on it and select Edit <ProjectName>.csproj.
3. Bind App.*.config files to main App.config
Find the project file section that contains all
App.config
andApp.*.config
references. You'll notice their build actions are set toNone
and that's okay:Next, make all configuration-specific files dependant on the main
App.config
so Visual Studio groups them like it does designer and code-behind files.Replace XML above with the one below:
4. Activate transformations magic (still necessary for Visual Studio versions such as VS2019)
In the end of file after
and before final
insert the following XML -- please note there are two steps for the proper transformation to occur:
Now you can reload the project, build it and enjoy
App.config
transformations!FYI
Make sure that your
App.*.config
files have the right setup like this: