Predefined attributes (MIDL 3.0)
There are a number of pre-defined custom attributes that allow you to control the name and interface identifier (IID) for compiler-synthesized interfaces. These attributes allow you to control the versioning and binary API of your class at a fine-grained level.
If you're a component developer and/or a library author, then you may wish to use these attributes to ensure that your components remain binary-stable from one version to the next.
If you're an application developer, then in general you won't need to use these attributes because you'll recompile your application after revisioning your types.
The [allowforweb] attribute
For details on the use and purpose of the allowforweb attribute, see the AllowForWebAttribute class.
The [constructor_name] attribute
The constructor_name attribute specifies the name and IID of the
factory interface that contains the constructor members. See Synthesizing interfaces for more info about factory interfaces.
Note
A factory interface is only applicable to a sealed class with non-default constructors, or to an unsealed class with default and/or non-default constructors.
In the example below, the protected Block constructor is placed in the IBlockFactory interface, and that interface has the specified IID.
[constructor_name("Windows.UI.Xaml.Documents.IBlockFactory", 07110532-4f59-4f3b-9ce5-25784c430507)]
...
unsealed runtimeclass Block : Windows.UI.Xaml.Documents.TextElement
{
...
protected Block();
...
}
As a result, when your class description doesn't otherwise reference an interface, but when one is needed to implement the class, the MIDL 3.0 compiler synthesizes and adds interfaces, as necessary.
The [contentproperty] attribute
the contentproperty attribute represents the ContentPropertyAttribute class. Here's an example:
// BgLabelControl.idl
namespace BgLabelControlApp
{
[contentproperty("Content")]
runtimeclass BgLabelControl : Windows.UI.Xaml.Controls.Control
{
BgLabelControl();
static Windows.UI.Xaml.DependencyProperty LabelProperty{ get; };
String Label;
static Windows.UI.Xaml.DependencyProperty ContentProperty{ get; };
IInspectable Content;
}
}
The [contract] attribute
Do not use the contract attribute in your own APIs; it only has meaning for built-in Windows APIs.
The contract attribute specifies the name and version of the Windows 10 API contract (see Programming with extension SDKs) in which the attributed type and/or member was first introduced into Windows (hence it is not meaningful for APIs not delivered as part of Windows). The attribute takes the form [contract(ContractName, ContractVersion)], and it appears before the item to which it applies.
The [default] attribute
If you don't specify a default interface, then the MIDL 3.0 compiler chooses the first instance interface. To override this selection, insert The default attribute before the interface that you want to be the default interface.
// Declaring an external interface as the default
runtimeclass C : [default]I { ... }
// Declaring a specific exclusiveto interface as the default.
// This is very unusual.
runtimeclass C
{
...
[default][interface_name(...)]
{
...
}
}
The [default_interface] attribute
The default_interface attribute is used to force the generation of a default interface where one wouldn't otherwise be generated. In the example below, StateTriggerBase has no need for a default interface (because it has no public nonstatic members), so it's only the presence of the default_interface attribute that causes one (named IStateTriggerBase) to be generated.
[default_interface]
unsealed runtimeclass StateTriggerBase
{
protected void SetActive(Boolean IsActive);
};
The [default_overload] attribute
Note
This attribute is not supported for constructors. If you can't overload your constructors by arity, then you can define overloaded factory methods such as the CreateFromUri and CreateFromStream examples shown in the last code snippet in this section.
The default_overload attribute represents the DefaultOverloadAttribute class, which indicates that a method is the default overload method. This section walks you through the reason for, and usage guidelines for, the [default_overload] attribute.
You can freely overload Windows Runtime methods by arity. That is, you can define multiple methods with the same name, as long as each one takes a different number of arguments. For usability purposes, we recommend that you add new parameters to the end, and that the behavior of the shorter-parameter-list function be equivalent to calling the longer-parameter-list function with (scenario-specific) natural defaults for the missing parameters.
runtimeclass Widget
{
void Start();
void Start(StartMode mode);
void Start(StartMode mode, Widget parent);
}
In the example above, Start can be called with two parameters to specify a start mode and a parent widget. If you omit the parent widget, then it defaults to null. And if you omit the mode, then it starts in some scenario-specific default mode.
We use DeviceInformation.CreateWatcher in this next example.
runtimeclass DeviceInformation
{
static DeviceWatcher CreateWatcher();
static DeviceWatcher CreateWatcher(DeviceClass deviceClass);
static DeviceWatcher CreateWatcher(String aqsFilter);
static DeviceWatcher CreateWatcher(String aqsFilter,
IIterable<String> additionalProperties);
static DeviceWatcher CreateWatcher(String aqsFilter,
IIterable<String> additionalProperties,
DeviceInformationKind kind);
}
In that example there are five overloads, and most of them follow the recommended pattern of having each new overload be an extension of the previous overload.
If you decide to have multiple overloads of a method with the same number of parameters, then you get a compiler error:
The 1-parameter overloads of DeviceInformation.CreateWatcher must have exactly one method specified as the default overload by decorating it with Windows.Foundation.Metadata.DefaultOverloadAttribute.
The reason being that some programming languages are dynamically-typed. JavaScript and Python are two examples. For these languages, the selection of the overload considers only the number of parameters, and not their types. This means that a JavaScript call to DeviceInformation.createWatcher(v); is ambiguous—should v be coerced to a DeviceClass, or to a String?
To resolve the ambiguity, you need to apply the [default_overload] attribute to one of the methods. But how do you choose which one?
You should choose the default overload so that the functionality of the non-default overloads is still available by other means, typically by one of the other overloads.
In the DeviceInformation.CreateWatcher example, the functionality of the String overload can be obtained by calling the String, IIterable<String> overload, and passing an empty list of properties. On the other hand, the DeviceClass overload is the only way to create a DeviceWatcher that is filtered to a DeviceClass.
That makes the DeviceClass method the clear winner. So you indicate that by applying the [default_overload] attribute to that overload.
runtimeclass DeviceInformation
{
static DeviceWatcher CreateWatcher();
[default_overload]
static DeviceWatcher CreateWatcher(DeviceClass deviceClass);
static DeviceWatcher CreateWatcher(String aqsFilter);
static DeviceWatcher CreateWatcher(String aqsFilter,
IIterable<String> additionalProperties);
static DeviceWatcher CreateWatcher(String aqsFilter,
IIterable<String> additionalProperties,
DeviceInformationKind kind);
}
What if there's no winner because all of the conflicting overloads provide unique functionality not available from other overloads?
runtimeclass Widget
{
static Widget Create(Uri source);
static Widget Create(IInputStream source);
}
Our hypothetical Widget object can be created from a Uri, or created from an input stream. If we mark one as the default overload, then dynamically-typed programming languages completely lose access to the other one.
To solve this problem, give the two versions different names so that they aren't overloaded.
runtimeclass Widget
{
static Widget CreateFromUri(Uri source);
static Widget CreateFromStream(IInputStream source);
}
Now both creation patterns are available to all languages.
Also see Method overloading and Class-based projection.
The [interface_name] attribute
The interface_name attribute specifies the name and IID of the
interface that contains the instance members of the class. By default, the compiler assigns interface names using the same unique numbering algorithm that it uses for methods.
In the example below, the interface_name attribute applied to the
runtimeclass specifies the name and IID of the interface that contains
all instance members of the class that are not otherwise assigned to an
interface. So, LineHeight, LineStackingStrategy, Margin, and TextAlignment are members of the IBlock interface.
However, HorizontalTextAlignment is a member of the IBlock2 interface,
because of the interface_name attribute encompassing that member.
[interface_name("Windows.UI.Xaml.Documents.IBlock", 4bce0016-dd47-4350-8cb0-e171600ac896)]
...
unsealed runtimeclass Block : Windows.UI.Xaml.Documents.TextElement
{
...
Double LineHeight;
Windows.UI.Xaml.LineStackingStrategy LineStackingStrategy;
Windows.UI.Xaml.Thickness Margin;
Windows.UI.Xaml.TextAlignment TextAlignment;
[interface_name("Windows.UI.Xaml.Documents.IBlock2", 5ec7bdf3-1333-4a92-8318-6caedc12ef89)]
{
Windows.UI.Xaml.TextAlignment HorizontalTextAlignment;
}
...
}
You can also use the interface_name attribute to force the generation of an interface. In the example below, StateTriggerBase has no need for IStateTriggerBase, and it's only the presence of the interface_name attribute that causes it to be generated.
[interface_name("Windows.UI.Xaml.IStateTriggerBase", 48b20698-af06-466c-8052-93666dde0e49)]
unsealed runtimeclass StateTriggerBase
{
protected void SetActive(Boolean IsActive);
};
As a result, when your class description doesn't otherwise reference an interface, but when one is needed to implement the class, the MIDL 3.0 compiler synthesizes and adds interfaces, as necessary.
If you use the default_interface unnecessarily, then MIDL 3.0 generates an extra empty interface, and makes that the default.
The [method_name] attribute
Every Windows Runtime interface has an equivalent Application Binary Interface (ABI) interface. The ABI interface requires that all members have unique names. There are two cases in MIDL 3.0 where members either don't have a name, or don't have a unique name.
- constructors, and
- two or more overloaded methods.
In these cases, the MIDL 3.0 compiler synthesizes a unique member name, as necessary.
By default, the compiler assigns constructor methods the names <className>, <className>2, <className>3, and so on for the equivalent methods in the ABI interface. In other words, the smallest unused integer numeral suffix (increasing from 2) is added to make the constructor method name unique.
Similarly, for overloaded methods, for the first method in a series of overloads (in lexical order), the compiler uses the original method name for the equivalent ABI interface method. Subsequent overloads are made unique by adding to the original name the smallest unused integer numeral suffix (increasing from 2).
For example, the following IDL declares three overloads of DoWork, and two overloads of a different method named DoWork3.
void DoWork(Int32 x);
void DoWork3(Int32 x);
void DoWork(Int32 x, Int32 y);
void DoWork(Int32 x, Int32 y, Int32 z);
void DoWork3(Int32 x, Int32 y);
By default (since the name DoWork3 is already taken), the compiler gives to the three overloads of DoWork the names
- DoWork
- DoWork2
- DoWork4.
DoWork3 is not a DoWork overload. By default, the compiler gives to the two overloads of DoWork3 the names
- DoWork3
- DoWork32.
In vtable order, then, the functions will appear as
- DoWork
- DoWork3
- DoWork2
- DoWork4
- DoWork32
You can override the compiler's default name assignment using the
method_name attribute.
In this next example, we instruct the compiler to use the name CreateInstance for the Block default constructor member.
unsealed runtimeclass Block : Windows.UI.Xaml.Documents.TextElement
{
...
[method_name("CreateInstance")] protected Block();
...
}
The [static_name] attribute
The static_name attribute specifies the name and IID of the interface
that contains static members of the class.
In this next example, the static_name attribute applied to the runtimeclass
specifies the name and IID of the interface that contains all static
members of the class that are not otherwise assigned to an interface. So, LineHeightProperty, LineStackingStrategyProperty, MarginProperty, and TextAlignmentProperty are members of the
IBlockStatics interface.
However, HorizontalTextAlignmentProperty is a member of the
IBlockStatics2 interface, because of the static_name attribute
encompassing that member.
[static_name("Windows.UI.Xaml.Documents.IBlockStatics", f86a8c34-8d18-4c53-aebd-91e610a5e010)]
...
unsealed runtimeclass Block : Windows.UI.Xaml.Documents.TextElement
{
...
static Windows.UI.Xaml.DependencyProperty LineHeightProperty{ get; };
static Windows.UI.Xaml.DependencyProperty LineStackingStrategyProperty{ get; };
static Windows.UI.Xaml.DependencyProperty MarginProperty{ get; };
static Windows.UI.Xaml.DependencyProperty TextAlignmentProperty{ get; };
[static_name("Windows.UI.Xaml.Documents.IBlockStatics2", af01a4d6-03e3-4cee-9b02-2bfc308b27a9)]
{
static Windows.UI.Xaml.DependencyProperty HorizontalTextAlignmentProperty{ get; };
}
...
}
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