I'm trying to write some code that will detect changes in a Windows Service app's .config file and reflect the modified appSetting entry in my code.

We have a windows Service we've written and every once in a while we need to modify a setting in its .config file. Right now we restart the service whenever the config entry changes.

We'd like to have the .config update be recognized automatically.

It's easy enough to hang a FileSystemWatcher off the application's .config file to detect a change. In the event handler I am executing:

    ConfigurationManager.RefreshSection("appSettings")

but this seems to have no effect. The value returned by subsequently referencing ConfigurationManager.AppSettings(<somekey>) is the original value, not the one just changed.

The help for RefreshSection claims: "Refreshes the named section so the next time it is retrieved it will be re-read from disk." but this doesn't appear to work.

What am I doing wrong?

Thanks for any help.



Jeff Mason
[email protected]

__________________
-- Jeff

To what extent have you debugged the FileWatcher behavior? If I recall correctly you set a file watcher to watch a directory and it will give you info about what files system entries (both dirs and files) changed. Have you analyzed this output to see if it is actually detecting the right change(s)?

-Peter
compiledthoughts.com

I have verified that the FileSystemWatcher is doing what I want it to do. The Changed event is in fact firing when I, for example, modify the .config file via notepad.

In the Changed event handler, I execute:

      ConfigurationManager.RefreshSection("appSettings")

but subsequent access to an appSettings key gives me the original (presumably cached) value. I was expecting that RefreshSection would invalidate or otherwise clear the cache so the new modified value gets picked up, but that doesn't seem to be happening. After the event fires, subsequent access via:

      ConfigurationManager.AppSettings(<somekey>)

returns the original value, before the update.

FileSystemWatcher isn't my problem, I think. ConfigurationManager apparently is...

Jeff Mason
[email protected]