web.config transform - delete comments from connectionstring section

Question

I store several different connection strings in my web.config for development and testing. All but one is commented out so I can change info as needed.

When I publish, I would like to replace everything (including comments) in the connectionStrings node with this:

<add name="myDb" connectionString="Data Source={SERVER};Initial Catalog=ManEx;User Id={USER};Password={PASSWORD};" providerName="System.Data.SqlClient"  />
<!--<add name="myDb" connectionString="Data Source={SERVER};Initial Catalog=ManEx;Integrated Security=True" providerName="System.Data.SqlClient" />-->

I know how to change the active string with this:

<add name="myDb"
     connectionString="Data Source={SERVER};Initial Catalog=ManEx;User Id={USER};Password={PASSWORD};"
     providerName="System.Data.SqlClient"
     xdt:Transform="Add" 
     xdt:Locator="Match(name)"/>

But I don't know how to clear out the comments I don't want and add the comment I do want.

Any ideas?

Answer 1

Instead of transforming the string, or using "Remove" and "Insert" clean the section try using "Replace".

For example:

<connectionStrings xdt:Transform="Replace">

    <add name="myDb"
         connectionString="Data Source={SERVER};Initial Catalog=ManEx;User Id={USER};Password={PASSWORD};"
         providerName="System.Data.SqlClient" />

</connectionStrings>

You can configure this section exactly how you want it, even if that means you add new comments.

Answer 2

What I did based on this answer was the following:

• Removed the existing connectStrings section in Web.config which contains commented out connection strings used during debug time;
• Re-added the connectionStrings section with the correct connection string to be used when the app is deployed.

So in your Web.config transform file you have something like this:

<!-- Removes the existing connectionStrings section which contains internal connection strings used for debugging -->
<connectionStrings xdt:Transform="Remove">    
</connectionStrings>

<!-- Re-adding the existing connectionStrings section -->
<connectionStrings xdt:Transform="Insert">

<add name="MyConnectionStringName" connectionString="Data Source=CLUSTERSQL;Initial Catalog=MyDatabase;Integrated Security=True;multipleactiveresultsets=True" providerName="System.Data.SqlClient"  xdt:Transform="SetAttributes" xdt:Locator="Match(name)"/>

</connectionStrings>

Answer 3

In Visual Studio 2013, you can have several Web.config files.

Also, when you create a new project, VS creates 2 for you : Web.Debug.config and Web.Release.config. That way, you can have a different Web.Config for your debug project and for your release project

Answer 4

If you need to Add/Insert/Setattributes inside a replaced connectionstring (for example if you use deployments) you can nest the transformations to remove the comments and replace the attributes:

<connectionStrings xdt:Transform="Replace">
    <add name="connectionDatabase" 
         connectionString="#{ConnectionString}" 
         xdt:Transform="SetAttributes"
         xdt:Locator="Match(name)" />
</connectionStrings>