保存用户输入以供以后使用C＃

Question

Howdee All,

I have a C# VSTO Excel add-in that my organization uses to make various selections to pull data into Excel. User interface is a windows form. There is a drop down box, which feeds a combo box with available parameters and the users select inputs there that define the parameters for the query. I display the parameters in a list box so the user can she what he/she selected. I've had a request to be able to save parameter inputs so users can quickly recall without having to put in same information over and over but not sure of the best way to do this.

Basically need to store the first drop down box and the parameters associated with it from the list box upon user request. Is creating a text file to save to the users PC the best way to go about this? I thought of creating a hidden tab to store them in Excel but then it's limited to that file. I'm relatively new to C# so wasn't sure if there's a better way I'm not aware of.

Cheers, Ryan

Answer 1

As you're saying you don't want to limit them to their associated file, my approach would probably be to save this to the user's AppData folder, and use XML serialization. You can see an example below.

The data will be in C:\\Users\\$user$\\AppData\\Roaming or ...\\Local depending on the AppData folder you pick. See this for more info on that.

Serializing:

// this is just an example object, can do whatever you'd like here
var myObject = new MyObject()
{
    MyValue = "some data"
};

string path = Path.Combine(
    Environment.GetFolderPath(Environment.SpecialFolder.ApplicationData), 
    "MyExcelAddIn\\data.xml");

Directory.CreateDirectory(Path.GetDirectoryName(path));

var serializer = new XmlSerializer(typeof(MyObject));
using (var fileStream = new FileStream(path, FileMode.Create))
{
    serializer.Serialize(fileStream, myobject);
}

Deserializing:

string path = Path.Combine(
    Environment.GetFolderPath(Environment.SpecialFolder.ApplicationData), 
    "MyExcelAddIn\\data.xml");

MyObject myObject;
var serializer = new XmlSerializer(typeof(MyObject));
using (var fileStream = new FileStream(path, FileMode.Open))
{
    myObject = (MyObject)serializer.Deserialize(fileStream);
}
MessageBox.Show(myObject.MyValue);