Configuration File Format

Configuration File Format
ASP.NET configuration files are XML-based text files--each named web.config--that can appear in any directory on an ASP.NET Web application server. Each web.config file applies configuration settings to the directory it is located in and to all virtual child directories beneath it. Settings in child directories can optionally override or modify settings specified in parent directories. The root configuration file--WinNT\Microsoft.NET\Framework\\config\machine.config--provides default configuration settings for the entire machine. ASP.NET configures IIS to prevent direct browser access to web.config files to ensure that their values cannot become public (attempts to access them will cause ASP.NET to return 403: Access Forbidden).


If a web.config file is present at the root directory for a site, for example "Inetpub\wwwroot", its configuration settings will apply to every application in that site. Note that the presence of a web.config file within a given directory or application root is completely optional. If a web.config file is not present, all configuration settings for the directory are automatically inherited from the parent directory.


Configuration Section Handlers and Sections
A web.config file is an XML-based text file that can contain standard XML document elements, including well-formed tags, comments, text, cdata, and so on. The file may be ANSI, UTF-8, or Unicode; the system automatically detects the encoding. The root element of a web.config file is always a tag. ASP.NET and end-user settings are then encapsulated within the tag, as follows:




The tag typically contains three different types of elements:
1) Configuration section handler declarations
2) Configuration section groups and
3) Configuration section settings