We are writing a callout for a project and we would like to use the Microsoft Enterprise Library (MEL) for configuration, logging, and data access. It is our enterprise standard to utilize those blocks for those activities on all of our efforts. The problem is that I don't see a readily available app.config or web.config file for which I can add the configuration context necessary to utilize those features.
I also am very averse to modifying any core Microsoft Dynamics CRM 3.0 app.config or web.config file because it has the potential of being wiped out during any future upgrades. So far we have envisioned two options but would like some community feedback to help us define a best practice.
Option 1: Use the MEL ConfigurationManager to load context from a file and execute against that context
- PRO: It seems as if it may get us closer
- CON: Externally loaded context does not become the "current context". Existing in-house libraries hard-wired to execute against the "current context" may not be utilized.
Option 2: Add the configuration context to the machine.config
- PRO: We may utlize all existing in-house libraries
- CON: We have a standard to not use the machine.config for anything to avoid potential maintenance headaches.
We are leaning towards [Option 2] and changing our standard to allow authorized modifications to the machine.config only. This is because we enjoy leveraging the current context in our core libraries to avoid having to pass context and configuration information through every layer of our code.
