Loading and Saving the Settings

In this chapter you will learn how to implement the class that is actually responsible for physically the settings and for loading the plug-in settings into the plug-in UI. The physical storing occurs in an *.sdlproj or in an *.sdltpl file, which are both XML compliant.

*.sdlproj files are automatically created for each document that is opened for translation/editing in Trados Studio or for each project that is created in the application. These files contain project-specific information such as the translation memories/termbases used for a project and any project-specific settings, which can also include plug-in settings. An *.sdltpl file is a project template, which users can create to streamline project creation.

The settings bundle used by our implementation would look, for example, as shown below:

<SettingsGroup Id="Simple Text Filter 1.0.0.0">
  <Setting Id="LockPrdCodes">True</Setting>
</SettingsGroup>

Each Setting element contains an Id attribute that denotes the setting (property) name. The Setting element encloses the property value, which is changed when the user changes the settings in the UI.

Add the UserSettings Class

Start by adding a new class to your project called UserSettings.cs to the project Sdl.Sdk.FileTypeSupport.Samples.SimpleText. Make sure that your class uses the following namespaces:

Sdl.Core.Settings
Sdl.FileTypeSupport.Framework.Core.Settings Moreover, the class needs to implement the FileTypeSettingsBase class, which provides the methods required for storing and saving settings to the bundle.

Implement the Setting Property

In this step, add the property that represents our plug-in setting, in this case the boolean property LockPrdCodes. It determines whether the verification functionality should be active or not.

private const string SettingsLockPrdCodes = "LockPrdCodes";
private const bool DefaultLockPrdCodes = true;
private bool _lockPrdCodes;

public bool LockPrdCodes
{
    get { return _lockPrdCodes;  }
    set
    {
        _lockPrdCodes = value;
        OnPropertyChanged("LockPrdCodes");
    }
}

Implement the Constructor Method

The ResetToDefaults method is provided by the base class. In our implementation, it is just overridden to set the LockPrdCodes property to our default value, True:

public override sealed void ResetToDefaults()
{
    LockPrdCodes = DefaultLockPrdCodes;
}

Reset to Defaults

Next, implement the constructor method. In this implementation, the constructor just calls on the ResetToDefaults of the class to set the LockPrdCodes property to its default value, which is True:

public UserSettings()
{
    ResetToDefaults();
}

Set the LockPrdCodes Property to the Value from the Settings Bundle

The base class provides the PopulateFromSettingsBundle method to retrieve the current setting from the bundle in the *.sdlproj file and set the LockPrdCodes property of our implementation accordingly.

In the *.sdlproj or *.sdltpl file, a settings bundle can look as shown below:

<SettingsBundle Guid="63403813-d91c-446e-8994-83ea138754e8">

       <SettingsGroup Id="Length Check XML v 1.0.0.0">
        <Setting Id="Enable">True</Setting>
      </SettingsGroup>

      <SettingsGroup Id="Simple Text Filter 1.0.0.0">
        <Setting Id="LockPrdCodes">True</Setting>
      </SettingsGroup>

  </SettingsBundle>

A SettingsBundle element can enclose a number of SettingsGroup nodes. Each settings bundle has a unique id (guid) that is stored in an attribute. The settings bundles are identified by the id of the plug-in that they refer to. A settings group can enclose, for example, file type settings, verification plug-in settings, etc. In the above example the settings bundle encloses one settings group for another File Type Component Builder and another settings group for simple text plug-in. This id is retrieved from the File Type Component Builder (see Adding the File Type Component Builder).

This XML structure is also reflected in the API. Within the SaveToSettingsBundle method we create a settings group object based on ISettingsGroup by applying the GetSettingsGroup method to the settings bundle. This method takes the settings bundle id (e.g. Simple Text Filter 1.0.0.0) as string parameter. We then use the GetSettingFromSettingsGroup method to set the LockPrdCodes property. This method requires the settings group object, the name of the setting (e.g. LockPrdCodes), and the default value as parameters (e.g. True).

public override void PopulateFromSettingsBundle(ISettingsBundle settingsBundle, string filterDefinitionId)
{
    ISettingsGroup settingsGroup = settingsBundle.GetSettingsGroup(filterDefinitionId);
    LockPrdCodes = GetSettingFromSettingsGroup(settingsGroup, SettingsLockPrdCodes, DefaultLockPrdCodes);
}

Set the Property to the Values from the Settings Bundle

The base class also provides the SaveToSettingsBundle method, which is required to physically store the value of the properties in the bundle of the *.sdlproj file.

Here too, we create a settings group object based on ISettingsGroup by applying the GetSettingsGroup method to the settings bundle.

Then we use the UpdateSettingInSettingsGroup method to save the settings into the physical representation. This method takes the settings group object, the setting name (string), the setting value, and the default value as parameters.

public override void SaveToSettingsBundle(ISettingsBundle settingsBundle, string filterDefinitionId)
{
    ISettingsGroup settingsGroup = settingsBundle.GetSettingsGroup(filterDefinitionId);
    UpdateSettingInSettingsGroup(settingsGroup, SettingsLockPrdCodes, LockPrdCodes, DefaultLockPrdCodes);
}

Putting it All Together

The complete class should now look as shown below:

using Sdl.FileTypeSupport.Framework.Core.Settings;
using Sdl.Core.Settings;

namespace Sdk.FileTypeSupport.Samples.SimpleText
{
    /// <summary>
    /// This class is used to actually store the settings to the settings bundle, which
    /// is physically saved in an *.sdlproj or in an *.sdltpl file.
    /// </summary>
    public class UserSettings: FileTypeSettingsBase
    {
        #region "Properties"
        private const string SettingsLockPrdCodes = "LockPrdCodes";
        private const bool DefaultLockPrdCodes = true;
        private bool _lockPrdCodes;

        public bool LockPrdCodes
        {
            get { return _lockPrdCodes;  }
            set
            {
                _lockPrdCodes = value;
                OnPropertyChanged("LockPrdCodes");
            }
        }
        #endregion

        #region "Constructor"
        public UserSettings()
        {
            ResetToDefaults();
        }
        #endregion

        /// <summary>
        /// Define the default value, which is Enabled, as the product code strings should
        /// not be exposed to translation by default.
        /// </summary>
        #region "ResetToDefaults"
        public override sealed void ResetToDefaults()
        {
            LockPrdCodes = DefaultLockPrdCodes;
        }
        #endregion

        /// <summary>
        /// This method is used to load the setting from the settings bundle,
        /// which is physically stored in an XML-compliant *.sdlproj or *.sdltpl file.
        /// </summary>
        /// <param name="settingsBundle"></param>
        /// <param name="configurationId"></param>
        #region "PopulateFromSettingsBundle"
        public override void PopulateFromSettingsBundle(ISettingsBundle settingsBundle, string filterDefinitionId)
        {
            ISettingsGroup settingsGroup = settingsBundle.GetSettingsGroup(filterDefinitionId);
            LockPrdCodes = GetSettingFromSettingsGroup(settingsGroup, SettingsLockPrdCodes, DefaultLockPrdCodes);
        }
        #endregion

        /// <summary>
        /// This method is used to store the settings as configured in the plug-in UI
        /// in the settings bundle, which means that the settings are physically written
        /// into the XML-compliant *.sdlproj or *.sdltpl file.
        /// </summary>
        /// <param name="settingsBundle"></param>
        /// <param name="configurationId"></param>
        #region "SaveToSettingsBundle"
        public override void SaveToSettingsBundle(ISettingsBundle settingsBundle, string filterDefinitionId)
        {
            ISettingsGroup settingsGroup = settingsBundle.GetSettingsGroup(filterDefinitionId);
            UpdateSettingInSettingsGroup(settingsGroup, SettingsLockPrdCodes, LockPrdCodes, DefaultLockPrdCodes);
        }
        #endregion
    }
}