Question

In my web.config file, I have a connection string to connect my development database.

 <connectionStrings>
<add name="MembershipDB" connectionString="Data Source=DebugSQL;Initial Catalog=PortalAccess;Integrated Security=True;Application" providerName="System.Data.SqlClient"/>

When I publish the web site to my production server, I just change the Data Source name.
When I test it, then I switch it again, is it stupid?

Answer 1

This is quite a common approach and can work well.

Obviously you can run into problems if you get the details wrong while maintaining it by hand this way.

You could also have a look into web.config transformations: This is a way of writing a main web.config file and then writing separate files that change the original depending on the build configuration you run.

Some resources:

• Related question on StackOverflow;
• Asp.Net tutorial;
• MSDN Video for VS 2010.