Can you use Generics for this?

oSettingsManager.GetSettingByName(<T> ParameterName) ?

>Hi all,
>
>I am trying to hide some complexity from the application within a settings Manager class. I want to have a method to return a value based on a setting name. The problem is the value may be an integer, string, logical, decimal, double, or datetime. What is the best way to do this so I can use a single method available to the app for obtaining these? A call might look like this:
>
>

>
>serialPort.Name = oSettingsManager.GetSettingByName("RfidPort");
>
>Or do I have only the option of returning everything as an object?
>serialPort.Name = oSettingsManager.GetSettingByName("RfidPort").ToString();
>
>

>
>Thanks for any thoughts
>Tim