Development ≫ vb.NET | 2009-12-26 10:59:47

Reading and Writing INI-Files

Ini files are old. But sometimes you want to store one upto five values, without creating a ৺database connection. Then, ini-files are good enough.

Heres the code (i always put it into a new module called ini)

 
Module ini
    Private Declare Ansi Function WritePrivateProfileString Lib "kernel32" Alias "WritePrivateProfileStringA" ( _
        ByVal lpApplicationName As String, _
        ByVal lpKeyName As String, _
        ByVal lpString As String, _
        ByVal lpFileName As String) _
    As Integer
 
    Private Declare Ansi Function WritePrivateProfileStringI Lib "kernel32" Alias "WritePrivateProfileStringA" ( _
        ByVal lpApplicationName As String, _
        ByVal lpKeyName As String, _
        ByVal lpString As Integer, _
        ByVal lpFileName As String) _
    As Integer
 
    Private Declare Ansi Function GetPrivateProfileString Lib "kernel32" Alias "GetPrivateProfileStringA" ( _
    ByVal lpApplicationName As String, _
    ByVal lpKeyName As String, _
    ByVal lpDefault As String, _
    ByVal lpReturnedString As String, _
    ByVal nSize As Integer, _
    ByVal lpFileName As String) _
    As Integer
 
    Private Declare Ansi Function GetPrivateProfileStringI Lib "kernel32" Alias "GetPrivateProfileStringA" ( _
    ByVal lpApplicationName As String, _
    ByVal lpKeyName As String, _
    ByVal lpDefault As String, _
    ByVal lpReturnedString As Integer, _
    ByVal nSize As Integer, _
    ByVal lpFileName As String) _
    As Integer
 
    ''' <summary>
    ''' Gets an integer Value from a specified Ini-File
    ''' </summary>
    ''' <param name="INIFile">The File to read from. Full path</param>
    ''' <param name="Section">The Section name</param>
    ''' <param name="Key">Name of the Key to read</param>
    ''' <param name="DefaultValue">This value is returned, if Section or Key is not found</param>
    ''' <param name="BufferSize">Size of the Buffer, 1024 by default</param>
    ''' <returns>The integer Value stored in the ini file, or the default value</returns>
    ''' <remarks></remarks>
    Public Function GetINIInt(ByVal INIFile As String, ByVal Section As String, ByVal Key As String, Optional ByVal DefaultValue As Integer = 0, Optional ByVal BufferSize As Integer = 1024) As String
        Dim sTemp As String = Space(BufferSize)
        Dim Length As Integer = GetPrivateProfileString(Section, Key, DefaultValue, sTemp, BufferSize, INIFile)
        Return Left(sTemp, Length)
    End Function
 
    ''' <summary>
    ''' Gets a String Value from a specified Ini-File
    ''' </summary>
    ''' <param name="INIFile">The File to read from. Full path</param>
    ''' <param name="Section">The Section name</param>
    ''' <param name="Key">Name of the Key to read</param>
    ''' <param name="DefaultValue">This value is returned, if Section or Key is not found</param>
    ''' <param name="BufferSize">Size of the Buffer, 1024 by default</param>
    ''' <returns>The String Value stored in the ini file, or the default value</returns>
    ''' <remarks></remarks>
    Public Function GetINIString(ByVal INIFile As String, ByVal Section As String, ByVal Key As String, Optional ByVal DefaultValue As String = "", Optional ByVal BufferSize As Integer = 1024) As String
        Dim sTemp As String = Space(BufferSize)
        Dim Length As Integer = GetPrivateProfileString(Section, Key, DefaultValue, sTemp, BufferSize, INIFile)
        Return Left(sTemp, Length)
    End Function
 
    ''' <summary>
    ''' Sets an ini Key to specified value
    ''' </summary>
    ''' <param name="INIFile">The File to write to. Full path</param>
    ''' <param name="Section">The Section name</param>
    ''' <param name="Key">Name of the Key to update</param>
    ''' <param name="Value">The Value to set</param>
    ''' <remarks></remarks>
    Public Sub SetINIString(ByVal INIFile As String, ByVal Section As String, ByVal Key As String, ByVal Value As String)
        WritePrivateProfileString(Section, Key, Value, INIFile)
    End Sub
 
    ''' <summary>
    ''' Sets an ini Key to specified value
    ''' </summary>
    ''' <param name="INIFile">The File to write to. Full path</param>
    ''' <param name="Section">The Section name</param>
    ''' <param name="Key">Name of the Key to update</param>
    ''' <param name="Value">The Value to set</param>
    ''' <remarks></remarks>
    Public Sub SetINIInt(ByVal INIFile As String, ByVal Section As String, ByVal Key As String, ByVal Value As Integer)
        WritePrivateProfileStringI(Section, Key, Value, INIFile)
    End Sub
End Module
 

The Usage is Very simple:

 
ini.SetINIString("test.ini", "config", "FirstKey", "aValue")
ini.SetINIString("test.ini", "config", "Key2", "test")
ini.SetINIInt("test.ini", "config", "Key3", 5)
ini.SetINIString("test.ini", "AnotherConfig", "SomeKey", "SomeValue")
 

will result in a ini file , that looks like that:

----
[config]
FirstKey=aValue
Key2=test
Key3=5

[AnotherConfig]
SomeKey=SomeValue
----

To read values, simple use the Get-Functions:

 
Dim myString as String = ini.GetINIString("test.ini","Config","FirstKey","not found")
' myString is now "aValue"
Dim myString2 as string = ini.GetINIString("test.ini","Config","AKeyThatIsntValid","not found")
' myString2 is now "not found"
 