a simple xml.

66.5 My application requires a simple ini file. Is there a easy way to implement this without using any parsing

Yes. This may not be the most efficient way to read from a ini file but it is a pretty good solution that is easy to maintain. You can use a XML file to store your settings. Use a DataSet to read from it. Consider a simple sample file, config.ini. It has three parameters base_path, update_path and output_file. These will map to columns in the settings datatable. view config.ini

// add error handling

DataSet ds = new DataSet();

ds.ReadXml("config.ini", XmlReadMode.Auto);

DataTable table = ds.Tables["settings"];

DataRow row = table.Rows[0];

string baseFolder = (string)row["base_path"];

string updateFolder = (string)row["update_path"];

string outputFileName = (string)row["output_file"];

You can of course use XmlReader, XmlDocument etc to create and maintain more complex ini files. But this is a quick way to maintain a simple property set.