A long time ago I wrote a little FTP utility for a client, and it has been working just fine for over a year. The other day, they tell me that they “updated” their machines (including the server where this was installed). Suddenly, my tiny little desktop app started erroring out. Here is the error message:
The configuration section ‘connectionStrings’ has an unexpected declaration
Which is interesting because my app doesn’t even HAVE a connectionStrings entry in the config file.
I do use a 3rd party dll, but from the stacktrace, it appears that it is blowing up when trying to access a property that I made in my own Settings.settings file — the property is called FTPserver, and not anything to do with my 3rd party dll, PowerTCP.
Anyone have any ideas where I can start diagnosing the real issue?
EDIT (added a screenshot, then removed it because it didn’t help anything)
![alt text][1]
EDIT2: Damn Image Shack. Here it is typed out:
System.Configuration.ConfigurationErrorsException: The configuration section 'connectionStrings' has an unexpected declaration.
at System.Configuration.ConfigurationManger.get_ConnectionStrings()
at System.Configuration.PrivilegedConfigurationManager.get_ConnectionStrings()
at System.Configuration.LocatFileSettingsProvider.GetPropertyValues(SettingsContext contect, SettingsPropertyCollection properties)
at System.Configuration.SettingsBase.GetPropertiesFromProvider(SettingsProvider provider)
at System.Configuration.SettingsBase.GetPropertyValueByName(String propertyName)
at System.Configuration.SettingsBase.get_Item(String propertyName)
at System.Configuration.ApplicationSettingsBase.GetPropertyValue(String propertyName)
at System.Configuration.ApplicationSettingsBase.get_Item(String propertyName)
at FTPAndArchive.Properties.Settings.get_FTPserver() in
<a path to my local machine...which it isn't even running on?>.Settings.Designer.cs: line 43
at FTPAndArchive.FtpAndArchive..ctor() in <my path again>FtpAndAchive.cs: line 25
at FTPAndArchive.Program.Main() in <again>.Program.cs: line 21
Well, I told my client to try something as a complete stab in the dark, and they said that all is fine now.
They went into the permissions on the folder in question, and added ASPNET as a user, and propagated those permissions down. Now they say that it works.
I don’t really like that solution. But they are happy because it is up and running now.
If anyone has any concrete solution and evidence that it would work, too, I’ll accept their answer instead of my own.
Thanks MrMarco and MusiGenesis for your time. I hope you don’t feel that I’ve wasted it.