Cannot parse any Value from XML Configuration Files using ConfigurationBuilder

Question

i'm trying to load Configuration Values from XML Files using the IConfiguration/ConfigurationBuilder (Microsoft.Extensions.Configuration). But everytime i want to get a Value, i just get null

This is one of the XML Configuration File

<Application>
    <Configuration>
        <Modules>
            <SampleModule>
                <Detection>
                    <ScaleFactor>1.3</ScaleFactor>
                    <MinNeighbors>1</MinNeighbors>
                    <MinSize></MinSize>
                    <MaxSize></MaxSize>
                </Detection>
                <Overlay>
                    <Draw>true</Draw>
                    <Text>Face</Text>
                    <TextColor>
                        <A>0</A>
                        <R>255</R>
                        <G>0</G>
                        <B>0</B>
                    </TextColor>
                    <BoxColor>
                        <A>0</A>
                        <R>255</R>
                        <G>0</G>
                        <B>0</B>
                    </BoxColor>
                    <BoxBorderSize>1.5</BoxBorderSize>
                </Overlay>
                <UseEvents>true</UseEvents>
            </SampleModule>
        </Modules>
    </Configuration>
</Application>

This is a Simple NUnit Test i wrote to debug the issue

    [Test]
    public void TestConfigurationParsing() {

        ConfigurationBuilder builder = new();
        
        String configPath = Path.Join(Directory.GetCurrentDirectory(), "Configuration", "EyeDetection.xml");
        String xmlPath = "Application:Configuration:Modules:SampleModule:Overlay:Text";
        // /Application/Configuration/Modules/SampleModule/Overlay/Text
        
        if (!File.Exists(configPath)) {
            throw new FileNotFoundException($"Could not find {configPath}");
        }

        builder.AddXmlFile(configPath);

        IConfigurationRoot config = builder.Build();
        
        Assert.IsNotNull(config[xmlPath]);
        Assert.That(config[xmlPath], Is.EqualTo("Face"));
        // Assert.IsNotNull(config.GetValue<String>(xmlPath));
        // Assert.That(config.GetValue<String>(xmlPath), Is.EqualTo("Face"));
    }

This Failes. I Just get null with every value. Regardless of Type (Boolean, Int32, String etc. )

Regarding the Paths: My Application is in . All the Configuration Files are in ./Configuration/*.xml

Is there something i'm doing wrong? I can't seem to figure it out...

Answer 1

The configuration system ignores the < root > element. So your xml path

var xmlPath = "Configuration:Modules:SampleModule:Overlay:Text";

and value (Microsoft.Extensions.Configuration.Binder should be installed)

var text = config.GetValue<string>(xmlPath); // "Face"

//or a full syntax
text = config.GetSection(xmlPath).Get<string>();  // "Face"