TinyParser

Program.cs

using System;
using System.Collections.Generic;
using System.Linq;
using System.Net;
using System.Text;

namespace WooCode.Tools.Test
{
    public class SettingsForMyApp
    {
        public string StoragePath { get; set; }
        public int NumberOfChildren { get; set; }
        public TimeSpan TimeUntilLunch { get; set; }
        public long BigNumber { get; set; }
        public DateTime Date { get; set; }
        public int[] Ints { get; set; }
        public IPAddress Ip { get; set; }
    }

    class Program
    {
        static void Main(string[] args)
        {
            string propertiesMeta = "StoragePath=C:\\mystuff\\;" +
                                    "numberofchildren=45;" +
                                    "timeuntilLunch=00:01:00;" +
                                    "bigNumber=3215345667576;" +
                                    "date=2011/08/01 10:30:20;" +
                                    "ints=32,33,17;" +
                                    "IP=127.0.0.1;";
            var settings = new SettingsForMyApp();
            
            // Populate the properties on the settings class with data from the string.
            TinyParser.PopulateProperties(settings, propertiesMeta);

            Console.WriteLine(settings.StoragePath);
            Console.WriteLine(settings.NumberOfChildren);
            Console.WriteLine(settings.TimeUntilLunch);
            Console.WriteLine(settings.BigNumber);
            Console.WriteLine(settings.Date.Year);
            Console.WriteLine(settings.Date);
            Console.WriteLine(settings.Ints.Length);
            Console.WriteLine(settings.Ints[0]);
            Console.WriteLine(settings.Ints[1]);
            Console.WriteLine(settings.Ints[2]);
            Console.WriteLine(settings.Ip);
            Console.ReadLine();

            /* Ouput
            C:\mystuff\
            45
            00:01:00
            3215345667576
            2011
            2011-08-01 10:30:20
            3
            32
            33
            17
            127.0.0.1
             * */
        }
    }
}

TinyParser.cs

using System;
using System.Collections.Generic;
using System.ComponentModel;
using System.Linq;
using System.Net;

namespace WooCode.Tools
{
    public static class TinyParser
    {
        static TinyParser()
        {
            KeyValueDelimiter = '=';
            KeyValuePairDelimiter = ';';

            Converters = new Dictionary<string, Func<string, object>>();
            // Add supported types. (Extend with more later)
            Converters["String"] = x => x;
            Converters["Double"] = x => Double.Parse(x);
            Converters["Int32"] = x => Int32.Parse(x);
            Converters["Int64"] = x => Int64.Parse(x);
            Converters["Double[]"] = SetArrayAndValues<Double>;
            Converters["Int32[]"] = SetArrayAndValues<Int32>;
            Converters["Int64[]"] = SetArrayAndValues<Int64>;
            Converters["String[]"] = SetArrayAndValues<String>;
            Converters["IPAddress"] = IPAddress.Parse;
            Converters["TimeSpan"] = new TimeSpanConverter().ConvertFrom;
            Converters["DateTime"] = new DateTimeConverter().ConvertFrom;
        }

        public static char KeyValueDelimiter { get; set; }
        public static char KeyValuePairDelimiter { get; set; }

        public static Dictionary<string, Func<string, object>> Converters { get; private set; }

        public static void PopulateProperties(object @object, string inputString)
        {
            var keyvaluepairs = inputString.Split(KeyValuePairDelimiter).Where(x=> !string.IsNullOrEmpty(x));
            var properties = @object.GetType().GetProperties();

            foreach (var parameter in keyvaluepairs)
            {
                var keyvalue = parameter.Split(KeyValueDelimiter);
                var objectKeyValuePair = new KeyValuePair<string, string>(keyvalue[0].Trim().ToLower(), keyvalue[1].Trim());
                // Get all Properties.
                var property = properties.SingleOrDefault(x => x.Name.ToLower() == objectKeyValuePair.Key);
                if (property == null) continue;
                // Convert Value to match property type.
                var propertyValue = CreateTypeWithValue(property.PropertyType.Name, objectKeyValuePair.Value);
                // Set the property.
                property.SetValue(@object, propertyValue, null);
            }
        }

        private static T[] SetArrayAndValues<T>(string arrayData)
        {
            var arrayType = typeof(T);
            var arrayitems = arrayData.Split(',');
            T[] items = arrayitems.Select(x => (T)CreateTypeWithValue(arrayType.Name, x)).ToArray();
            return items;
        }

        private static object CreateTypeWithValue(string propertyType, string data)
        {
            return !Converters.ContainsKey(propertyType) ? null : Converters[propertyType](data);
        }
    }
}