How to: Register a library with the object manager
Applies to: Visual Studio Visual Studio for Mac
Note
This article applies to Visual Studio 2017. If you're looking for the latest Visual Studio documentation, see Visual Studio documentation. We recommend upgrading to the latest version of Visual Studio. Download it here
Symbols-browsing tools, such as Class View, Object Browser, Call Browser and Find Symbol Results, enable you to view symbols in your project or in external components. The symbols include namespaces, classes, interfaces, methods, and other language elements. The libraries track these symbols and expose them to the Visual Studio object manager that populates the tools with the data.
The object manager keeps track of all available libraries. Each library must register with the object manager before providing symbols for the symbol-browsing tools.
Typically, you register a library when a VSPackage loads. However, it can be done at another time as needed. You unregister the library when the VSPackage shuts down.
To register a library, use the RegisterLibrary method. For a managed code library, use the RegisterSimpleLibrary method.
To unregister a library, use the UnregisterLibrary method.
To obtain a reference to the object manager, IVsObjectManager2, pass the SVsObjectManager service ID to GetService
method.
Register and unregister a library with the object manager
To register a library with the object manager
Create a library.
Private m_CallBrowserLibrary As CallBrowser.Library = Nothing Private m_nLibraryCookie As UInteger = 0 ' Create Library. m_CallBrowserLibrary = New CallBrowser.Library()
private CallBrowser.Library m_CallBrowserLibrary = null; private uint m_nLibraryCookie = 0; // Create Library. m_CallBrowserLibrary = new CallBrowser.Library();
Obtain a reference to an object of the IVsObjectManager2 type and call the RegisterSimpleLibrary method.
Private Sub RegisterLibrary() If m_nLibraryCookie <> 0 Then Throw New Exception("Library already registered with Object Manager") End If ' Obtain a reference to IVsObjectManager2 type object. Dim objManager As IVsObjectManager2 = TryCast(GetService(GetType(SVsObjectManager)), IVsObjectManager2) If objManager Is Nothing Then Throw New NullReferenceException("GetService failed for SVsObjectManager") End If Try Dim hr As Integer = objManager.RegisterSimpleLibrary(m_CallBrowserLibrary, m_nLibraryCookie) Microsoft.VisualStudio.ErrorHandler.ThrowOnFailure(hr) Catch e As Exception ' Code to handle any CLS-compliant exception. Trace.WriteLine(e.Message) Throw End Try End Sub
private void RegisterLibrary() { if (m_nLibraryCookie != 0) throw new Exception("Library already registered with Object Manager"); // Obtain a reference to IVsObjectManager2 type object. IVsObjectManager2 objManager = GetService(typeof(SVsObjectManager)) as IVsObjectManager2; if (objManager == null) throw new NullReferenceException("GetService failed for SVsObjectManager"); try { int hr = objManager.RegisterSimpleLibrary(m_CallBrowserLibrary, out m_nLibraryCookie); Microsoft.VisualStudio.ErrorHandler.ThrowOnFailure(hr); } catch (Exception e) { // Code to handle any CLS-compliant exception. Trace.WriteLine(e.Message); throw; } }
To unregister a library with the object manager
Obtain a reference to an object of the IVsObjectManager2 type and call the UnregisterLibrary method.
Private Sub UnregisterLibrary() If m_nLibraryCookie <> 0 Then ' Obtain a reference to IVsObjectManager2 type object. Dim objManager As IVsObjectManager2 = TryCast(GetService(GetType(SVsObjectManager)), IVsObjectManager2) If objManager Is Nothing Then Throw New NullReferenceException("GetService failed for SVsObjectManager") End If Try objManager.UnregisterLibrary(m_nLibraryCookie) Catch e As Exception ' Code to handle any CLS-compliant exception. Trace.WriteLine(e.Message) Throw Finally m_nLibraryCookie = 0 End Try End If End Sub
private void UnregisterLibrary() { if (m_nLibraryCookie != 0) { // Obtain a reference to IVsObjectManager2 type object. IVsObjectManager2 objManager = GetService(typeof(SVsObjectManager)) as IVsObjectManager2; if (objManager == null) throw new NullReferenceException("GetService failed for SVsObjectManager"); try { objManager.UnregisterLibrary(m_nLibraryCookie); } catch (Exception e) { // Code to handle any CLS-compliant exception. Trace.WriteLine(e.Message); throw; } finally { m_nLibraryCookie = 0; } } }