ConfigurationManager.ConnectionStrings / App.Config problem

[Dan777]

I'm trying to use an App.Config file and class to retireve a database server connection string at runtime in my n-tier app. The code in the App.Config is:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8" ?>
<configuration>
  <connectionStrings>
    <add name="MyConnName" connectionString="Server=MyServerName;Database=MyDBName;UID=MyUid;PWD=MyPwd;Integrated Security=SSPI" />
  </connectionStrings>
</configuration>

And the code in the class to retireve it is:

Imports System.Configuration

Public Class AppConfig
    Public Shared ReadOnly Property ConnectString() As String
        Get
            Return ConfigurationManager.ConnectionStrings("MyConnName").ConnectionString
        End Get
    End Property
End Class

When testing the UI layer I get the error: Object reference not set to an instance of an object. Note that

In the class to retrieve the conn string I tried hard coding it in as follows:

Public Class AppConfig
    Public Shared ReadOnly Property ConnectString() As String
        Get
            Return "Server=MyServerName;Database=MyDB;UID=MyUID;PWD=MyPwd;Integrated Security=SSPI"
        End Get
    End Property
End Class

And that worked fine. But when I try to return "ConfigurationManager.ConnectionStrings("MyConnName").ConnectionString" I get that error.

It gets really confusing when I tested retrieving the conn string in the data layer using Return ConfigurationManager.ConnectionStrings("MyConnName").ConnectionString
. That worked! But when I try it from the UI, I get that error.

Can someone please shed some light here. Any help or suggestions is greatly appreciated!
Dan

 

[CassidyHunt]

I had a similar issue a while back. I had to set a reference to System.Configuration. After I did that everything worked fine.

Let me know if that does the trick.

Cassidy

 

[Dan777]

Thanks for the reply. I already have the System.Configuration reference established. Unfortunately, that's not the answer.

 

[TipGiver]

Have a look at the next - if you want

1.

http://cs193n.stanford.edu/handouts/pdf/24 Using an App.config File.pdf

2.

http://www.codeproject.com/useritems/SystemConfiguration.asp

TG

 

[Dan777]

Thanks TG for the links. Unfortunately they've just showed me stuff I've already seen. In my app, it works fine when I try to read it and use it from within the same project, which in my app happens to be the data layer, which is compiled as a dll. But when I try to read it and use it in a different project, the business layer, well that's when it doesn't work.