Better Method To Handle Global Settings? 1

[Auguy]

I have a Global table that contains various values such as Default Insurance Cost, Fax Time Minimum, Fax Time Maximum, Email Invoice Delay Days, etc., which are used throughout my program.
The two main columns of the table are VariableName and VariableValue.
I have a global class in the program where I define the variables as Public Shared. Sample Here

Public Shared InsuranceCost as decimal = cdec(0.0)

I load the class in a loop as follows:

 dsGlobals = SelectGlobalData()
' Process All Rows
For Counter1 = 0 To dsGlobals.Tables(0).Rows.Count - 1
	Select Case dsGlobals.Tables(0).Rows(Counter1).Item("VarName").ToString.Trim.ToUpper

        Case "InsuranceCost".ToUpper
          ' Insurance Cost
          Globals.InsuranceCost1 = CDec(dsGlobals.Tables(0).Rows(Counter1)("VarValue"))

        Case "FaxTimeMinValue".ToUpper
          ' Fax Allowance in Minutes (Before Reporting Problem, Stop Reporting Problem)
          Globals.FaxTimeMinValue = CInt(dsGlobals.Tables(0).Rows(Counter1)("VarValue"))

        Case "FaxTimeMaxValue".ToUpper
          Globals.FaxTimeMaxValue = CInt(dsGlobals.Tables(0).Rows(Counter1)("VarValue"))

        Case "BolDelayDays".ToUpper
          ' Delay this many days before looking for BOL files
          Globals.BolDelayDays = CInt(dsGlobals.Tables(0).Rows(Counter1)("VarValue"))

	Case ....(More Here)

	End Select
Next

When I need one of the global variables I use this code.

InsuranceCost = Globals.InsuranceCost

This works, but is there a better way to load and/or use the values of these global settings?
I thought about just having the table in the Globals Class and having a procedure in the class that would find the correct record and return the value needed. I don't think this would take too much time as there are less than 100 records in the table.

Auguy
Sylvania/Toledo Ohio

 

[jebenson]

If there are fewer than 100 records in the settings table, I would just load the table into memory (datatable) at program start and use that, so you wouldn't need to go back to the database all the time. You wouldn't even need to load the key/value pairs into variables, you could just filter a dataview of the datatable to get the record needed at any given time. For example, with the dataview named dvGlobals:

dvGlobals.RowFilter = "VariableName='InsuranceCost'

Then to use the value, reference dvGlobals.Item("VariableValue").

You could also turn this into a function.


Alternatively, you could use application settings to store all of your globals. Here's a link to a good article that covers the basics of how to use the application settings:

http://www.codeproject.com/Articles/12252/Application-settings-in-VB-NET-2-0-and-Visual-Stud

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[Auguy]

Thanks, I guess that was what I was trying to describe in the last few sentences. You're post confirmed it.
I will check out the application settings. Thanks Again!

Auguy
Sylvania/Toledo Ohio

 

[Andrzejek]

Just a guess here, but you may also want to investigate VB.NET's List and/or Dictionary - load it from the table, of course

Have fun.

---- Andy