.NET: Which Exception to Throw When a Required Configuration Setting is Missing?

Question

Here\'s a standard scenario:

if(string.IsNullOrEmpty(Configuration.AppSettings[\"foobar\"]))
   throw new SomeStandardException(\"Application not configured          


        

Answer 1

ConfigurationErrorsException is the correct exception to throw in the situation you describe. An earlier version of the MSDN documentation for ConfigurationErrorsException makes more sense.

http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/system.configuration.configurationerrorsexception(VS.80).aspx

The earlier MSDN summary and remarks are:

• The exception that is thrown when a configuration-system error has occurred.
• The ConfigurationErrorsException exception is thrown when any error occurs while configuration information is being read or written.