c# - How to create Application.exe.config in application directory

Question

So I recently updated my application to support a new feature. In the past if the configuration file was deleted by the user it wasn't a big deal. This new feature requires it to exist, and one of the requirements is that, the file exists in the application's installation directory.

I have notice when the file is deleted ( depending on variables I have not figured out ) I get a .NET notification that the configuration file is missing or corrupt. Currently my program then crashes ( I still have to figure out how to duplicate this behavior ) which is the reason for this question.

I am familar with ConfigurationManager. I am having trouble writting the file once the default values are loaded. Forcing a Save for some reason does not seem to recreate the file, at least not in the installation directory, which is a requirement.

I am looking for guidence on how to handle this corner case in an elegant manner. I would post code, honestly its just all failed attempts, which while my attempts do generate a file the contents are not the settings I am looking for.

I am willing to post anything that might be able to help.

Answer 1

Stop using the built-in config support and just use write/read to a file called something.exe.config using the standard XML classes and if that gets deleted, just re-create it from values hard-coded in the executable.

The config file support is supposed to make things easier, if you need to do stuff where it makes things difficult, don't use it.