Configuration File Parser using C++

CppConfigFile is a configuration file parser built using C++. It enables the storage of C++ variables with different data types and their retrieval from human-readable configuration files.

The functionality of the implemented configuration file parser can be summarized as follows:

• Storing multiple setting variables with various data types.
• Saving setting variables to configuration files and loading them from these files.
• Supporting configuration files with comments.

Software Support

The module was created and tested using Visual Studio 2022 Community with the Default (ISO C++14 Standard) settings.

How to Use the Configuration File Parser

This code block provides a quick demonstration of how to utilize the configuration file parser:

#include "GenericEntry.hpp"
#include "GenericHashMap.hpp"
#include "GenericHashMapIOs.hpp"
#include "GenericHashMapHelpers.hpp"

GenHashMap test_genhashmap;
// add new entry
test_genhashmap["int_val"] = new IntEntry(1);
// set value of the entry
((IntEntry*)test_genhashmap["int_val"])->set(-1);
// get value from the entry
int tmp_int;
((IntEntry*)test_genhashmap["int_val"])->get(&tmp_int);

GenHashMapIOTxt test_io_txt;
// save settings to configuration file
test_io_txt.save_to_file(
	test_genhashmap,
	"test_config_file.txt",
	std::ios_base::out,
	"This is the test configuration file for Vision Tech Insights blog."
);
// load settings from configuration file
test_io_txt.update_from_file(
	test_genhashmap,
	"test_config_file.txt",
	std::ios_base::in
);

// release generic entries and clear gen hashmap
clear_genhashmap(test_genhashmap);

More comprehensive working examples of the configuration file parser are included in the "BlogDemoMain.cpp" and "DemoMain.cpp" files.

How to Add Entries with a Newly Defined Data Type

TThe base classes for the entries are defined in the "GenericEntry.hpp" header file.

For primitive types, simply create a subclass inheriting the PrimitiveTypeEntry class, define the constructor, and provide the type_name string as follows:

class IntEntry : public PrimitiveTypeEntry<int> {
public:
	IntEntry(int data = 0) {
		this->type_name = "int";
		this->data = data;
	}
};

For vectors with primitive types, simply create a subclass inheriting the VectorPrimitiveTypeEntry class, define the constructor, and provide the type_name string as follows:

// Entry with int vector
class VectorIntEntry : public VectorPrimitiveTypeEntry<int> {
public:
	VectorIntEntry(const std::vector<int>& data = { 0 }) {
		this->type_name = "vector_int";
		this->data = std::vector<int>(data);
	}
};

For a customized type, you will need to create a subclass inheriting either the TypedEntry or GenericEntry base class and implement the virtual methods.

Tutorial

A comprehensive tutorial for this module can be found in my blog post (URL: https://jianzhongdev.github.io/VisionTechInsights/posts/building_a_configuration_file_parser_with_cpp/)

License

Licensed under the GPL-3.0 license