---
title: "App.Config Magic"
url: "https://osherove.com/blog/2003/2/22/appconfig-magic.md"
canonical: "https://osherove.com/blog/2003/2/22/appconfig-magic.html"
published: "2003-02-22T18:55:00"
updated: "2003-02-22T18:55:00"
tags: [".Net Original", "Tips & Tricks"]
author: "Roy Osherove"
description: "Here's another tidbit i found: If i want my application to have a config file, i need to create a file named .config in the output directory. but here's a nice touch you can do with VS.NET: click \" Add Item \" button,…"
usage: "Licensed under CC BY 4.0 — reuse, quote and adapt with attribution (Roy Osherove, link to the original page)."
license: "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/"
---

# App.Config Magic

By Roy Osherove February 22, 2003 In [.Net Original](https://osherove.com/blog/category/net-original), [Tips & Tricks](https://osherove.com/blog/category/tips-tricks)

**Historical article** · Originally published February 22, 2003; technical details may be outdated.

Here's another tidbit i found:

If i want my application to have a **config** file, i need to create a file named **.config** in the output directory. but here's a nice touch you can do with VS.NET:

click "**Add Item**" button, and select "**XML File**". Make you sure you name the new file "**App.Config**". The item will be placed in your project directory. But now, when you **build** the application, VS.NET will automatically **copy the file with the appropriate name** to where it's supposed to be (your debug or release directory) without you having to worry about it anymore.

grand.

## More in .Net Original

[All posts in .Net Original](https://osherove.com/blog/category/net-original)

- Mar 13, 2003

    ### [Free GUI component for VS .NET users](https://osherove.com/blog/2003/3/13/free-gui-component-for-vs-net-users.html)

- Mar 5, 2003

    ### [Explorer Tips and tricks for the keyboard junkie](https://osherove.com/blog/2003/3/5/explorer-tips-and-tricks-for-the-keyboard-junkie.html)

- Feb 22, 2003

    ### [Cool IDE Shortcut](https://osherove.com/blog/2003/2/22/cool-ide-shortcut.html)

- Feb 10, 2003

    ### [Killer IDE macro](https://osherove.com/blog/2003/2/10/killer-ide-macro.html)


---

## About the author

**Roy Osherove**: Senior Solutions Architect at AWS working on AI for production and AI-driven development; author of The Art of Unit Testing and Elastic Leadership, with about 20 years of consulting and training on unit testing, TDD, team leadership and continuous delivery.

### Sites

- [RobotPaper](https://robotpaper.ai/): This blog: AI patterns and anti-patterns, AI and coding agents, and engineering leadership.
- [osherove.com](https://osherove.com): Roy's personal site. Author of The Art of Unit Testing and Elastic Leadership; consulting and training on unit testing, TDD, team leadership and continuous delivery, plus about 20 years of blog posts.
- [The Art of Unit Testing](https://www.artofunittesting.com): The Art of Unit Testing, 3rd Edition (Manning): readable, maintainable, trustworthy unit tests, plus TDD workshops in C#, JavaScript, Java and Kotlin.
- [5whys.com](https://www.5whys.com): Roy's writing on software team leadership: self-organizing teams, surviving chaos, learning mode and the Elastic Leadership model.
- [Pipeline Driven](https://pipelinedriven.org): Continuous delivery and DevOps practices: build patterns, pipeline-friendly testing, DevOps metrics and enterprise DevOps.
- [Elastic Leadership](https://www.elasticleadership.com): Elastic Leadership, Roy's framework for software team leaders (survival, learning and self-organizing modes).

### Social

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### Contact

- Contact form: https://forms.gle/jQSx5KoXvrVA1JCK7

### License

Licensed under CC BY 4.0 — reuse, quote and adapt with attribution (Roy Osherove, link to the original page). License: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/