Reading INI file with Visual Basic - vb.net

Question

I'm using Visual Basic to read a file which has frequently-used information. Specifically, my file contains information like this:
[Smith]
Name=Sam Smith
Email=sam.smith#yahoo.com
Project=Smith's Treehouse Project
Greeting=Hi Sam,
[Jones]
Name=Josh Jones
Email=josh.jones#gmail.com
Project=Jone's Second-Story Remodel
Greeting=Hi Josh,
I'm then trying to read the info into a simple VB command (actually using Dragon Naturally Speaking, but that shouldn't matter) to send an email in Microsoft Outlook. I don't need to write to the file, or change the values. I just need to read the info, so I can send the email address to the address field, the project name to the subject field, etc. through the use of List Variables.
How do I write a function to read from the file?
I've spent about 4 hours looking for answers here and on other sites, but am confused. (I'm obviously brand new to VB.) It seems like every time I find code that looks kind of close, it uses unique coding functions, so I don't know what the right one is.
Any help appreciated!

Answer 1

Perhaps not the most elegant solution, but here's a class that utilizes Regular Expressions to parse the INI:
Imports System.IO
Imports System.Text.RegularExpressions
Public NotInheritable Class IniParser
Private Shared SectionRegex As New Regex("\[(?<section>[^\n\[\]]+)\]\n*(?<valuelist>(.(?!\[[^\n\[\]]+\]))*)", RegexOptions.Singleline Or RegexOptions.CultureInvariant Or RegexOptions.Compiled)
Private Shared ValueRegex As New Regex("(?<valuename>[^=\n]+)=(?<value>[^\n]*)", RegexOptions.CultureInvariant Or RegexOptions.Compiled)
''' <summary>
''' Parses an .ini-file.
''' </summary>
''' <param name="FileName">The path to the file to parse.</param>
''' <remarks></remarks>
Public Shared Function ParseFile(ByVal FileName As String) As Dictionary(Of String, Dictionary(Of String, String))
Return IniParser.Parse(File.ReadAllText(FileName))
End Function
''' <summary>
''' Parses a text of .ini-format.
''' </summary>
''' <param name="Data">The text to parse.</param>
''' <remarks></remarks>
Public Shared Function Parse(ByVal Data As String) As Dictionary(Of String, Dictionary(Of String, String))
Dim Result As New Dictionary(Of String, Dictionary(Of String, String)) '(Section, (Value name, Value))
Dim Sections As MatchCollection = SectionRegex.Matches(Data)
'Iterate each section.
For Each SectionMatch As Match In Sections
Dim Section As New Dictionary(Of String, String)
Dim SectionName As String = SectionMatch.Groups("section").Value
Dim Values As MatchCollection = ValueRegex.Matches(SectionMatch.Groups("valuelist").Value)
If Result.ContainsKey(SectionName) = True Then
'A section by this name already exists.
Dim i As Integer = 1
'Append a number to the section name until a unique name is found.
While Result.ContainsKey(SectionName & i)
i += 1
End While
Result.Add(SectionName & i, Section)
Else
'A section by this name does not exist.
Result.Add(SectionName, Section)
End If
'Iterate each value of this section.
For Each ValueMatch As Match In Values
Dim ValueName As String = ValueMatch.Groups("valuename").Value
Dim Value As String = ValueMatch.Groups("value").Value
If Section.ContainsKey(ValueName) = True Then
'A value by this name already exists.
Dim i As Integer = 1
'Append a number to the value name until a unique name is found.
While Section.ContainsKey(ValueName & i)
i += 1
End While
Section.Add(ValueName & i, Value)
Else
'A value by this name does not exist.
Section.Add(ValueName, Value)
End If
Next
Next
Return Result
End Function
End Class
Example usage
Reading values in general:
Dim IniContents As Dictionary(Of String, Dictionary(Of String, String)) = IniParser.ParseFile("C:\path\to\your\file\here.ini")
For Each SectionName As String In IniContents.Keys
For Each ValueName As String In IniContents(SectionName).Keys
Dim Value As String = IniContents(SectionName)(ValueName)
'[SectionName]
'ValueName=Value
'ValueName=Value
'
'SectionName: The name of the current section (ex: Jones).
'ValueName : The name of the current value (ex: Email).
'Value : The value of [ValueName] (ex: josh.jones#gmail.com).
Console.WriteLine(SectionName & ": " & ValueName & " = " & Value)
Next
Next
Adding everything to a TreeView, where the node's Tag property is the value:
Dim IniContents As Dictionary(Of String, Dictionary(Of String, String)) = IniParser.ParseFile("C:\path\to\your\file\here.ini")
For Each SectionName As String In IniContents.Keys
Dim TopNode As TreeNode = TreeView1.Nodes.Add(SectionName)
Dim Section As Dictionary(Of String, String) = IniContents(SectionName)
For Each ValueName As String In Section.Keys
TopNode.Nodes.Add(New TreeNode(ValueName) With {.Tag = Section(ValueName)})
Next
Next
Screenshot of the TreeView example
Regex pattern explanation
SectionRegex:
\[(?<section>[^\n\[\]]+)\]\n*(?<valuelist>(.(?!\[[^\n\[\]]+\]))*)
\[ => Match '['.
(?<section> => Start of match group "section".
[^ => Match any character...
\n\[\] => ...that is not '[', ']' or a new line...
]+ => ...and match this one or more times.
) => End of match group "section".
\] => Match ']'.
\n* => Match zero or more new lines
(?<valuelist> => Start of match group "valuelist".
( => Start of unnamed match group.
. => Match any character...
(?! => ...that is not followed by...
\[[^\n\[\]]+\] => ...a section...
)
)* => ...and match this zero or more times.
) => End of match group "valuelist".
ValueRegex:
(?<valuename>[^=\n]+)=(?<value>[^\n]*)
(?<valuename> => Start of match group "valuename".
[^=\n]+ => Match one or more characters that are not '=' or a new line.
) => End of match group "valuename".
= => Match '='.
(?<value> => Start of match group "value".
[^\n]* => Match zero or more characters that are not a new line.
) => End of match group "value".

Answer 2

Private Sub Button1_Click(ByVal sender As System.Object, ByVal e As System.EventArgs) Handles Button1.Click
Dim a() As String = IO.File.ReadAllLines(iniPath)
Dim user As String = "Jones"
Dim data As String = "Project"
For i = 0 To UBound(a)
If a(i) = "[" + user + "]" Then
For j = i To 1000
If a(j).Contains(data) Then TextBox1.Text = a(j).Replace(data + "=", "") : Exit For
Next
Exit for
End If
Next
End Sub