Equivalent to UserSettings / ApplicationSettings in WPF dotnet core

Question

What is the prefered way for persisting user settings for WPF applications with .Net Core >=3.0?

Created WPF .Net Core 3.0 Project (VS2019 V16.3.1) Now I have seen t

Answer 1

Based on Funk's answer here's an abstract generic singleton-style variation that removes some of the administration around SettingsManager and makes creating additional settings classes and using them as simple as possible:

Typed Settings class:

//Use System.Text.Json attributes to control serialization and defaults
public class MySettings : SettingsManager
{
    public bool SomeBoolean { get; set; }
    public string MyText { get; set; }
}

Usage:

//Loading and reading values
MySettings.Load();
var theText = MySettings.Instance.MyText;
var theBool = MySettings.Instance.SomeBoolean;

//Updating values
MySettings.Instance.MyText = "SomeNewText"
MySettings.Save();

As you can see the number of lines to create and use your settings are just as minimal, and a bit more rigid as there are no parameters.

The base class defines where settings are stored and allows only for one settings file per MySettings subclass - assembly and class names determine its location. For the purpose of replacing a properties file that is enough.

using System;
using System.IO;
using System.Linq;
using System.Reflection;

public abstract class SettingsManager where T : SettingsManager, new()
{
    private static readonly string filePath = GetLocalFilePath($"{typeof(T).Name}.json");

    public static T Instance { get; private set; }

    private static string GetLocalFilePath(string fileName)
    {
        string appData = Environment.GetFolderPath(Environment.SpecialFolder.LocalApplicationData); 
        var companyName = Assembly.GetEntryAssembly().GetCustomAttributes().FirstOrDefault();
        return Path.Combine(appData, companyName?.Company ?? Assembly.GetEntryAssembly().GetName().Name, fileName);
    }

    public static void Load()
    {
        if (File.Exists(filePath))
            Instance = System.Text.Json.JsonSerializer.Deserialize(File.ReadAllText(filePath));
        else
            Instance = new T(); 
    }

    public static void Save()
    {
        string json = System.Text.Json.JsonSerializer.Serialize(Instance);
        Directory.CreateDirectory(Path.GetDirectoryName(filePath));
        File.WriteAllText(filePath, json);
    }
}

Some improvements might be made in disabling the constructor of the settings subclass and creation of SettingsManager.Instance without Load()ing it; that depends on your own use cases.