Question

I want to read a xml file from a WCF service.
The xml file, settings.xml is in the same folder as the service exe and the service is hosted as a Windows service.

when the service is accessed by the client the service exe is looking at system32 folder and throws file not found exception

C:\Windows\system32\Settings.xml

Here’s the code which is in a try catch block and a FaultException is thrown which the client catches.

XmlSerializer serializer = new XmlSerializer(_appSettings.GetType());
            StreamReader sr = new StreamReader("Settings.xml", Encoding.UTF8);
            _appSettings = (SpecialityFinishingSettings)serializer.Deserialize(sr);
            sr.Close();

Basically I am trying to read the xml and deserialize it into an object that can be used withing the service.

What do I do to read this file from within the service?

The serivce is installed using InstallUtil.exe

Answer 1

The problem is that “Settings.xml” isn’t found as a file. You need to specify a full path. You can either:

• Use an absolute path
• Store a path in a config file. This path will be a folder that you will open files from, this can then be appended to the file name.
• Get the path the app is running from as suggested by Anand (System.AppDomain.CurrentDomain.BaseDirectory + “Settings.xml”;)