An Easy INI File Class
Download the cIniFile Class (3kb)
Download the cIniFile Demo Application (27kb)
The cIniFile class is an easy, self-contained way to get complete access to INI files. Although use of INI
files is no longer recommended under Windows (you should use the registry instead - see my Registry class
for an easy migration from this method of using Ini files to using the registry) they are ultra simple to
use. They also make it simpler to ship your application.
The class allows you to create, enumerate and delete sections and keys within an INI file, without restriction.
Enumerating keys and sections in an INI file is quite a handy technique, as it means you can create INI files
with arbitrary sections and keys and interrogate them easily. See the cIniFile.cls code to see how you do it -
its just a simple (but little known) mod to the VB API declaration for GetPrivateProfileString (thanks to
Jonathan Hopkins for passing this information on).
Here is a brief summary of typical uses of the class:
To get Value from the Ini File
    With m_cIni
        .Path = App.Path & "\TEST.INI"
        .Section = "Options"
        .Key = "SavePath"
        .Default = App.Path
       
        sSavePath = .Value
        If Not (.Success) Then
            MsgBox "Failed to get value.", vbInformation
        End If
    End If
To Write a Value to the Ini file
    With m_cIni
        .Path = App.Path & "\TEST.INI"
        .Section = "Options"
        .Key = "SavePath"
        .Default = App.Path
       
        .Value = sSavePath
        If Not (.Success) Then
            MsgBox "Failed to save value.", vbInformation
        End If
    End If
To Get All the Sections within an Ini File
Dim sSections() As String
Dim iSectionCount As Long
    With m_cIni
        .EnumerateAllSections sSections(), iSectionCount
        For iSection = 1 To iSectionCount
            lstIni.AddItem "[" & sSections(iSection) & "]"
        Next iSection
    End With
To Get All the Keys within a section of an Ini File
Dim sKeys() As String
Dim iKeycount As Long
    .Section = "Options"
    .EnumerateCurrentSection sKeys(), iKeycount
    For iKey = 1 To iKeycount
        .Key = sKeys(iKey)
        Debug.Print .Key & "=" & .Value
    Next iKey
To Delete a Key from an INI file
    With m_cIni
        .Path = App.Path & "\TEST.INI"
        .Section = "Options"
        .Key = "SavePath"
        .DeleteKey
        If Not (.Success) Then
            MsgBox "Delete Key Failed.", vbInformation
        End If
    End With
To Delete a Section from an INI file
    With m_cIni
        .Path = App.Path & "\TEST.INI"
        .Section = "Options"
        .DeleteSection
        If Not (.Success) Then
            MsgBox "Delete Section Failed.", vbInformation
        End If
    End With
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