Settings Base Class

SettingsBase.cs

public abstract class SettingsBase<T> where T : SettingsBase<T>, new()
{
    protected virtual string SavePath
    {
        get
        {
            return BuildDefaultSavePath();
        }
    }

    private static T _instance;
    public static T Instance
    {
        get
        {
            if (_instance == null)
            {
                _instance = new T();
                _instance = _instance.LoadSettings();
            }
            return _instance;
        }
    }

    public void Save()
    {
        Directory.CreateDirectory(Path.GetDirectoryName(SavePath));

        using (var fileStream = new FileStream(SavePath, FileMode.Create))
        {
            var serializer = new XmlSerializer(typeof(T));
            serializer.Serialize(fileStream, this);
        }
    }

    private T LoadSettings()
    {
        if (File.Exists(SavePath) == false)
            return ResolveDefaultSettings();

        try
        {
            using (var fileStream = new FileStream(SavePath, FileMode.Open))
            {
                var serializer = new XmlSerializer(typeof(T));
                var settings = (T)serializer.Deserialize(fileStream);
                return settings;
            }
        }
        catch (Exception)
        {
            return ResolveDefaultSettings();
        }
    }

    protected abstract T ResolveDefaultSettings();

    private static string BuildDefaultSavePath()
    {
        var applicationDataPath = Environment.GetFolderPath(Environment.SpecialFolder.ApplicationData);
        var applicationName = Assembly.GetExecutingAssembly().GetName().Name;

        return Path.Combine(Path.Combine(applicationDataPath, applicationName), "Settings.xml");
    }
}