Class ExtensionAttribute

Base class extension attributes, defining extension points.

Inheritance

System.Object

ExtensionAttribute

ExtensionBuilderAttribute

SortableExtensionAttribute

Namespace: Sdl.Core.PluginFramework

Assembly: Sdl.Core.PluginFramework.dll

Syntax

public class ExtensionAttribute : Attribute

Remarks

To define a new extension point, create a new attribute class, extending ExtensionAttribute. The class must be annotated with the ExtensionPointInfoAttribute attribute, which indicates that the class defines an extension point.

Users can now create new extension classes annotated with the new extension attribute, and implementing a specified interface.

To get access to all the extensions registered with your extension point, use GetExtensionPoint<T>(), specifying the type of your extension attribute. For more information, see IExtensionPoint.

When the plug-in manifest is generated, instances of the extension attribute are saved in the plug-in manifest using XML serialization. For that reason, make sure your extension attribute supports this (e.g. add a default constructor).

The framework also provides support for getting property values from the PluginResources.resx resource file, which is deployed together with the plug-in manifest. To specify that the value of a certain string property needs to be retrieved from the resource file, annotate the property definition with the PluginResourceAttribute attribute. Users should now specify the name of the resource key, instead of the actual value, as the property value. When no resource string with the specified key can be found, the framework keeps the specified string as the property value. To define non-string properties whose value is stored in the PluginResources.resx resource file, create a string property, which value should be set to a resource key. When consuming the extension, use GetPluginResource<T>(String) tio retriece the resource from the plug-in resource file.

Constructors

ExtensionAttribute()

Default constructor for XML serialization.

Declaration

public ExtensionAttribute()

ExtensionAttribute(String, String, String)

Constructor with required attributes.

Declaration

public ExtensionAttribute(string id, string name, string description)

Parameters

Type	Name	Description
System.String	id	The unique id for the extension.
System.String	name	The name for the extension. Should typically be a key of a resource string in PluginResources.resx.
System.String	description	The description for the extension. Should typically be a key of a resource string in PluginResources.resx.

Properties

Description

Gets or sets the description of the extension.

Declaration

[PluginResource]
public string Description { get; set; }

Property Value

Type	Description
System.String

Remarks

Should typically be a key of a resource string in PluginResources.resx.

Icon

Gets or sets the resource key for an the icon representing this extension. Can be null.

Declaration

public string Icon { get; set; }

Property Value

Type	Description
System.String

Id

Gets or sets the unique id of the extension.

Declaration

public string Id { get; set; }

Property Value

Type	Description
System.String

Name

Gets or sets the name of the extension.

Declaration

[PluginResource]
public string Name { get; set; }

Property Value

Type	Description
System.String

Remarks

Should typically be a key of a resource string in PluginResources.resx.

Methods

Validate(IExtensionAttributeInfo, IExtensionValidationContext)

Validates an extension targeting this extension point. This method is called by the framework while generating the plug-in manifest.

Declaration

public virtual void Validate(IExtensionAttributeInfo info, IExtensionValidationContext context)

Parameters

Type	Name	Description
IExtensionAttributeInfo	info	Information about the extension.
IExtensionValidationContext	context	Provides functionality to validate extensions targeting the extension point and report warning or error messages

ValidateId(IExtensionAttributeInfo, IExtensionValidationContext)

Validates the extension Id. Checks whether this is not null or empty.

Declaration

protected virtual void ValidateId(IExtensionAttributeInfo info, IExtensionValidationContext context)

Parameters

Type	Name	Description
IExtensionAttributeInfo	info	Information about the extension.
IExtensionValidationContext	context	Provides functionality to validate extensions targeting the extension point and report warning or error messages

ValidateName(IExtensionAttributeInfo, IExtensionValidationContext)

Validates the extension Name. Checks whether this is not null or empty.

Declaration

protected virtual void ValidateName(IExtensionAttributeInfo info, IExtensionValidationContext context)

Parameters

Type	Name	Description
IExtensionAttributeInfo	info	Information about the extension.
IExtensionValidationContext	context	Provides functionality to validate extensions targeting the extension point and report warning or error messages