Property Managers
Property Managers allow an extension to add custom properties (generally as XSD annotations) to elements and attributes in the XSD representation of the schema, as well as extending the Properties window to include the custom properties associated with the extension.
A Property Manager is an object that implements the IPropertyManager interface, a reference to which is obtained by calling IExtension.GetPropertyManager, and passing an ITreeNode object as the input parameter. Typically the extension provides one IPropertyManager object for each ITreeNode object. The Property Manager is responsible for the collection of custom properties for that ITreeNode object.
A custom property is represented by a System.ComponentModel.PropertyDescriptor object, which can be obtained from the collection returned by the IPropertyManager.GetProperties method.
Using PropertyDescriptor objects to represent the custom properties associated with the extension facilitates integration with the Microsoft Visual Studio Properties window. When PropertyDescriptor objects are used, it is easy for BizTalk Editor to integrate the custom properties of the extension into the set of standard node properties already being integrated into the Properties window. Custom property information such as the display name, the display value, the type of property control, the property description, and the property category is obtained from the PropertyDescriptor object.
Custom properties are stored in the XSD representation of the schema as attributes of an element within the annotation element within the element corresponding to the relevant node in the schema tree. Each custom property of a schema tree node can be an attribute of a common element, or alternatively, each can have its own associated element.