Quinterox

In order to change configuration settings within an application without restarting and to harness the power of a more intricate ability to manage user permissions, it is ideal to store connection strings and other data in an external file. Below I demonstrate how to make the web.config file call to an external file for a connection string. This can also be done for connection strings stored as keys in the appSettings tag.

<configuration>
<appSettings/>
<connectionStrings configSource=”conns.config”></connectionStrings>
<system.web>
</system.web>
</configuration>

The conns.config file will then only contain a single section element and nothing else. Yes it is that simple.

<connectionStrings>
<add name=”myConnectionString”
connectionString=”Provider=Microsoft.Jet.OLEDB.4.0;
Data Source=C:My Database Foldermydatabase.mdb;
Jet OLEDB:Database Password=mypassword” providerName=”SQLOLEDB”/>
</connectionStrings>