c# - How to load appsetting.json section into Dictionary in .NET Core?

Question

I am familiar w/ loading an appsettings.json section into a strongly typed object in .NET Core startup.cs. For example:

public class CustomSection 
{
   public int A {get;set;}
   public int B {get;set;}
}

//In Startup.cs
services.Configure<CustomSection>(Configuration.GetSection("CustomSection"));

//Inject an IOptions instance
public HomeController(IOptions<CustomSection> options) 
{
    var settings = options.Value;
}

I have an appsettings.json section who's key/value pairs will vary in number and name over time. Therefore, it's not practical to hard code property names in a class since new key/value pairs would require a code change in the class. A small sample of some key/value pairs:

"MobileConfigInfo": {
    "appointment-confirmed": "We've booked your appointment. See you soon!",
    "appointments-book": "New Appointment",
    "appointments-null": "We could not locate any upcoming appointments for you.",
    "availability-null": "Sorry, there are no available times on this date. Please try another."
}

Is there a way to load this data into a MobileConfigInfo Dictionary object and then use the IOptions pattern to inject MobileConfigInfo into a controller?

Answer 1

Go with this structure format:

"MobileConfigInfo": {
    "Values": {
       "appointment-confirmed": "We've booked your appointment. See you soon!",
       "appointments-book": "New Appointment",
       "appointments-null": "We could not locate any upcoming appointments for you.",
       "availability-null": "Sorry, there are no available times on this date. Please try another."
 }
}

Make your setting class look like this:

public class CustomSection 
{
   public Dictionary<string, string> Values {get;set;}
}

then do this

services.Configure<CustomSection>((settings) =>
{
     Configuration.GetSection("MobileConfigInfo").Bind(settings);
});