How to read the value of a particular key in array of objects from appsettings file without using a for loop

Question

My appsettings json file

    {
          "AppSettings": {
             "contractInfo": [
                    { "contract1": "01/11/2020"},
                    { "contract2": "29/07/2021"},
                    { "contract3": "15/10/2021"},
                    { "contract4": "15/02/2021"}
                ]
            }
}

I have a seperate config class.

public ConfigHelper(IConfiguration configuration)
{
    _configuration = configuration;
}
public string GetConfigValue(string key)
{
    var value = _configuration["AppSettings:" + key];
    return !string.IsNullOrEmpty(value) ? Convert.ToString(value) : string.Empty;
}

Contract Info is as key value pair,where the key is the contarct name and the value is the contract end date.

How can I read the end date of the particular contract without using a for loop from the appsettings.json file.(That is, if we get the contract name as "contract 3" from the database,I want to read the contract end date of contract 3 from the appsettingsjson without using a for loop)

Any help is appreciated. Thankyou.

This json is a little strange, you have an array of objects all with different property names, yes you can likely do this with some funky converter or binder, or provider, which would all be more hassle than its worth. It seems you should just change your json to an actual dictionary if at all possible — TheGeneral
– TheGeneral, Commented Sep 27, 2021 at 5:44
I think it's worth noting that, unless you know the exact index in the array that you're intetested in, you can't really access a specific value in an array without some kind of looping mechanism, either directly or within .NET Core itself. If you change contractInfo to an object instead of an array, the keys can be accessed in a more performant way. — ProgrammingLlama
– ProgrammingLlama, Commented Sep 27, 2021 at 5:50
@Llama I want to keep my appsettings in this format itself and complete the task(as it is just a one part of already implemented project).is there a way that i can read the value of the particular key only without hardcoding as contract1 because depending on the name we get from the db.(it may differ from one user to another) ,i have to get the date — rissa
– rissa, Commented Sep 27, 2021 at 6:02

Den · Accepted Answer · 2021-09-27 08:16:17Z

1

You can load this values into a dictionary (see that link)

Then you can load any option with the key name.

EDIT

You must change your appconfig.json into this:

"contractInfo": {
     "contract1": "01/11/2020",
     "contract2": "29/07/2021",
     "contract3": "15/10/2021",
     "contract4": "15/02/2021"
  }

then you create a custom class:

public class ApplicationSettings
{
    public Dictionary<string, string> contractInfo { get; set; }
}

And in sturtup.cs

public void ConfigureServices(IServiceCollection services)
{
    services.Configure<ApplicationSettings>(Configuration);
}

Then you can use this value like a Dictionary:

var appSettings = services.BuildServiceProvider().GetRequiredService<IOptions<ApplicationSettings>>().Value;

var dValue = appSettings.contractInfo["contract1"];

edited Sep 27, 2021 at 8:16

answered Sep 27, 2021 at 5:26

Den

7867 silver badges17 bronze badges

Sign up to request clarification or add additional context in comments.

8 Comments

ProgrammingLlama Over a year ago

Could you provide some sample code to go with this answer, as the question you've linked to doesn't seem to answer it.

Den Over a year ago

It's difficult without a pc create an example... :) Next time I'm doing it...

ProgrammingLlama Over a year ago

I'm hoping it's not something like this?

Den Over a year ago

Thegeneral answare this question with the same method and he add some pice of example...

ProgrammingLlama Over a year ago

OK that definitely makes sense now with the advice to change the JSON. :)

|

Collectives™ on Stack Overflow

How to read the value of a particular key in array of objects from appsettings file without using a for loop

1 Answer 1

8 Comments

Your Answer

Linked

Hot Network Questions

Collectives™ on Stack Overflow

1 Answer 1

8 Comments

Your Answer

Sign up or log in

Post as a guest

Linked

Related