How to store .NET Project Options as XML in the Project's settings

1. Right click on your project link, then click on "Properties"
2. Navigate into "Settings" tab, then add a string parameter. i.e. "ProjectOptions"
3. The idea is to store multiple Key/Value properties in a single variable using XML format.
4. Use the function SetProjectOption to store options
   

       Public Sub SetProjectOption(ByRef ProjectOptions As String, ByVal Key As String, ByVal Value As String)
           Dim Options As Dictionary(Of String, String)
           Options = Me.GetDictoinary(ProjectOptions)
           If Options.ContainsKey(Key.ToLower) Then
               Options(Key) = Value
           Else
               Options.Add(Key.ToLower, Value)
           End If
    
           Me.storeDictionaryInString(Options, ProjectOptions)
    
       End Sub

5.  Use the function GetProjectOption to get options values
   

       Public Function GetProjectOption(ByRef ProjectOptions As String, ByVal Key As String) As String
           Try
               Dim Options As Dictionary(Of String, String)
               Options = Me.GetDictoinary(ProjectOptions)
               Return Options(Key.ToLower)
           Catch ex As Exception
               Return Nothing
           End Try
       End Function

6. Helper Function:
   

     Private Function storeDictionaryInString(ByRef dic As Dictionary(Of String, String), ByRef ProjectOption As String) As String
           Dim doc As New XmlDocument()
           doc.CreateXmlDeclaration("1.0", "utf-8", Nothing)
           doc.AppendChild(doc.CreateElement("AllSettings"))
           Dim root As XmlNode = doc.GetElementsByTagName("AllSettings")(0)
           For Each key As String In dic.Keys
               Dim e As XmlElement = doc.CreateElement(key)
               e.InnerText = dic(key)
               root.AppendChild(e)
           Next
           ProjectOption = doc.OuterXml
           Return doc.OuterXml
       End Function
    
       Private Function GetDictoinary(ByRef ProjectOption As String) As Dictionary(Of String, String)
           Try
               Dim doc As New XmlDocument()
               doc.LoadXml(ProjectOption)
               Dim dic As New Dictionary(Of String, String)
               Dim root As XmlNode = doc.GetElementsByTagName("AllSettings")(0)
               For Each n As XmlNode In root.ChildNodes
                   dic.Add(n.Name.ToLower, n.InnerText)
               Next
    
               Return dic
           Catch ex As Exception
               Return New Dictionary(Of String, String)
           End Try
        
       End Function

Example:
1. Store Options

        Me.SetProjectOption(My.Settings.ProjectOptions, "General.CompanyName", "ABC Company Inc")
        Me.SetProjectOption(My.Settings.ProjectOptions, "General.PurchasedDate", "27 Dec 2017")
        Me.SetProjectOption(My.Settings.ProjectOptions, "General.OFlAG", "True")

2. Read Options

        MsgBox(Me.GetProjectOption(My.Settings.ProjectOptions, "General.OFlAG"))

3. How options stored in the variable:
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?> <AllSettings> <general.companyname>ABC Company Inc</general.companyname> <general.purchaseddate>27 Dec 2017</general.purchaseddate> <general.oflag>True</general.oflag> </AllSettings>