Question

I couldn’t find a question that would fit this purpose, so I’m asking it.

We have deployed an ASP.NET website that has two Connection Strings, one of them can be configured by the user, in runtime. The problem is, since I’m using .NET Framework to do this, it creates a temporary file by the time the web.config is altered, which forces my customer to grant full rights to the entire website folder, not just the web.config file. He’s not happy about it, and manager’s are questioning storing the other connection string in the same config file.

So I have the options of creating a separate config file, in a separate folder, so that they should only grant full rights to that folder, or store it on the database. The first option is about the same as it is now, so the question is:

What about storing the ConnectionString on the database?

Note that I’m not talking the application ConnectionString, but an alternative, since this application is going to integrate like three applications.

So guys, give me advantages and disadvantages, good and bad points of storing it on the database.

Answer 1

I wouldn’t store Connection Strings in the database.

I would use a Settings File instead (Settings files can be modified at runtime without causing recompilation of the application like web.config).

You can also give different settings different scopes (User, Application, etc.) so each user can store their own configuration if you’d like without stepping on anybody else’s toes.