Best way to replace tokens in a large text template

Question

I have a large text template which needs tokenized sections replaced by other text. The tokens look something like this: ##USERNAME##. My first instinct is just to use Stri

Answer 1

The only situation in which I've had to do this is sending a templated e-mail. In .NET this is provided out of the box by the MailDefinition class. So this is how you create a templated message:

MailDefinition md = new MailDefinition();
md.BodyFileName = pathToTemplate;
md.From = "test@somedomain.com";

ListDictionary replacements = new ListDictionary();
replacements.Add("<%To%>", someValue);
// continue adding replacements

MailMessage msg = md.CreateMailMessage("test@someotherdomain.com", replacements, this);

After this, msg.Body would be created by substituting the values in the template. I guess you can take a look at MailDefinition.CreateMailMessage() with Reflector :). Sorry for being a little off-topic, but if this is your scenario I think it's the easiest way.