<section> Element

Article
11/17/2006

Contains a configuration section declaration.

<configuration>
<configSections>
<section>

<configuration>
   <configSections>
      <sectionGroup>
         <section>

<section
   name="section name"
   type="configuration section handler class, assembly"
   allowDefinition="Everywhere|MachineOnly|MachineToApplication" 
   allowLocation="true|false" />

Required Attributes

Attribute	Description
name	Specifies the name of the configuration section.
type	Specifies the name of the configuration section handler class that reads the section from the configuration file.

Optional Attributes

The following attributes are applicable only for ASP.NET applications. The configuration system ignores these attributes when other types of applications are running.

Attribute	Description
allowDefinition	Specifies which configuration file the section can be used in. Use one of the following values: Everywhere Allows the section to be used in any configuration file. This is the default. MachineOnly Allows the section to be used only in the machine configuration file (Machine.config). MachineToApplication Allows the section to be used in the machine configuration file or the application configuration file.
allowLocation	Determines whether the section can be used within the <location> element. Use one of the following values: true Allows the section to be used within the <location> element. This is the default. false Does not allow the section to be used within the <location> element.

allowDefinition

Specifies which configuration file the section can be used in. Use one of the following values:

Everywhere: Allows the section to be used in any configuration file. This is the default.
MachineOnly: Allows the section to be used only in the machine configuration file (Machine.config).
MachineToApplication: Allows the section to be used in the machine configuration file or the application configuration file.

allowLocation

Determines whether the section can be used within the <location> element. Use one of the following values:

true: Allows the section to be used within the <location> element. This is the default.
false: Does not allow the section to be used within the <location> element.

Remarks

Declaring a configuration section essentially defines a new element for the configuration file. The new element contains settings that a configuration section handler (that is, a class that implements the IConfigurationSectionHandler Interface) reads. The attributes and child elements of a section you define depend on the section handler you use to read your settings.

Declaring a configuration section handler in the Machine.config file enables you to use the configuration section in any application configuration file on that computer, unless the allowDefinition attribute specifies otherwise.

Example

The following example shows how to define a configuration section and define settings for that section.

<configuration>
   <configSections>
      <section name="sampleSection"
               type="System.Configuration.SingleTagSectionHandler" 
               allowLocation="false"/>
   </configSections>
   <sampleSection setting1="Value1" setting2="value two" 
                  setting3="third value" />
</configuration>

Configuration File

This element can be used in the application configuration file, machine configuration file (Machine.config), and Web.config files that are not at the application directory level.