Using Custom section in app.config for Visual Studio 2010

Sample app.config:

<configuration>

<configSections>

<sectionGroup name="machineSettings">

<section name="apple" type="System.Configuration.NameValueSectionHandler"/>

</sectionGroup>

</configSections>

<appSettings>

<add key="TestMode" value="false" />

<add key="sdpBatPath" value="e:\sdpack\sdp.bat" />

</appSettings>

<machineSettings>

<apple>

<add key="myKeyA" value="AAA"/>

<add key="myKeyB" value="BBB"/>

</apple>

</machineSettings>

Code:

// NOTE: this is a case sensitive lookup

NameValueCollection userConfig = ConfigurationManager.GetSection("machineSettings/" + System.Environment.MachineName.ToLower()) as NameValueCollection;

Trouble Shooting:

Could not find schema information for the attribute 'key'

This message can be resolved by changing the schema for the app.config:

• Open Properties window
• Open app.config in Visual Studio
• Goto Properties window
• Select Schemas
• Edit the Schemas
• Choose /add a new schema
• In my chase adding DotNetConfig20.xsd worked.