ProvideLanguageServiceAttribute Class

Definition

Namespace:

Microsoft.VisualStudio.Shell

Assembly:

Microsoft.VisualStudio.Shell.15.0.dll

Informs Visual Studio that a VSPackage provides a language service. Used with the managed package framework (MPF).

public ref class ProvideLanguageServiceAttribute sealed : Microsoft::VisualStudio::Shell::RegistrationAttribute

public ref class ProvideLanguageServiceAttribute sealed : Microsoft::VisualStudio::Shell::RegistrationAttribute

[System.AttributeUsage(System.AttributeTargets.Class, AllowMultiple=true, Inherited=true)]
public sealed class ProvideLanguageServiceAttribute : Microsoft.VisualStudio.Shell.RegistrationAttribute

[<System.AttributeUsage(System.AttributeTargets.Class, AllowMultiple=true, Inherited=true)>]
type ProvideLanguageServiceAttribute = class
    inherit RegistrationAttribute

Public NotInheritable Class ProvideLanguageServiceAttribute
Inherits RegistrationAttribute

Inheritance

Attribute

RegistrationAttribute

ProvideLanguageServiceAttribute

Attributes

AttributeUsageAttribute

Examples

This example shows how this user-defined attribute is used to register a language service that supports IntelliSense operations, brace matching, asynchronous (background) parsing, and custom colorable items.

Note

Visual C# allows for a shorthand form of a user-defined attribute by dropping the "Attribute" part of the name. This shorthand form is used in this and all other examples throughout this class.

using Microsoft.VisualStudio.Shell;  

namespace MyLanguagePackage  
{  
    internal class MyConstants  
    {  
        public const string languageName           = "MyLanguage";  
        public const int    languageNameResourceID = 106;  
    }  

    [ProvideLanguageService(typeof(MyLanguageService),  
                            MyConstants.languageName,  
                            MyConstants.languageNameResourceID,  
        // Optional language service properties  
        CodeSense             = true,  // General IntelliSense support  
        RequestStockColors    = false, // Custom colorable items  
        EnableASyncCompletion = true,  // supports background parsing  
        MatchBraces           = true,  // Match braces on command  
        MatchBracesAtCaret    = true   // Match braces while typing  
                           )]  

    class MyLanguagePackage  
    {  
    }  
}  

Remarks

This user-defined attribute (which is specific to Visual C#) is used to provide information necessary to register a language service with Visual Studio. The values specified by this attribute are stored as metadata in the assembly. This metadata is later used by a program such as regpkg.exe (part of the VSIP SDK) to create the corresponding registry keys and entries that tell Visual Studio about the language service.

The registry entries affected by the ProvideLanguageServiceAttribute are found under the following registry key:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\  
  SOFTWARE\  
    Microsoft\  
      VisualStudio\  
        [X.Y]\  
          Languages\  
            Language Services\  
              [language name]\  
                (Default) = reg_sz: [Language Service GUID]  
                Package   = reg_sz: [Package GUID]  
                LangResID = reg_dword: [language name resource ID]  

Where [X.Y] is the version of Visual Studio, for example, 8.0Exp, and [language name] is the name of the language (as specified in the second parameter to the ProvideLanguageServiceAttribute class constructor).

Note

Each property specifies the exact registry entry it affects so those entries are not shown in the above example. Those additional entries appear at the same level as the three entries shown.

The class constructor specifies the minimum required parameters. A user-defined attribute class also supports optional named parameters. These named parameters are specified in the constructor's parameter list after the required parameters. All of the properties on this class that support both get and set operators can be specified as a named parameter. The Example shows how named parameters are used.

Note

Some of the named parameters are specific to the managed package framework (MPF) and these are noted in each property description.

The following user-defined attributes are used for language services:

Attribute	Description
ProvideLanguageServiceAttribute	Registers the language service with Visual Studio and specifies what features are supported.
ProvideLanguageExtensionAttribute	Associates a file extension with the language service.
ProvideLanguageEditorOptionPageAttribute	Specifies a property node or page for the Options dialog box specific to the language service.
ProvideLanguageCodeExpansionAttribute	Specifies location information to support code snippets in the language service.
ProvideServiceAttribute	Registers a language service as a Visual Studio service. All services supplied in managed code use this attribute.

Notes to Inheritors

This attribute class cannot be inherited from so there is nothing to implement.

Notes to Callers

This attribute class is typically applied to your primary VSPackage class, although it can appear on any class. This class should appear only once for each language service your VSPackage supports.

Constructors

ProvideLanguageServiceAttribute(Object, String, Int32)

Initializes a new instance of the Shell.ProvideLanguageServiceAttribute class.

Properties

AutoOutlining	Determines if the language service supports automatic outlining.
CodeSense	Determines if the language service supports IntelliSense operations.
CodeSenseDelay	Determines the amount of time before a parse operation is started to support an IntelliSense operation.
DebuggerLanguageExpressionEvaluator	Determines the expression evaluator that is used for evaluating expressions.
DefaultToInsertSpaces	Determines the default setting for the Insert spaces option in the Options dialog box for a language service.
DefaultToNonHotURLs	Determines the initial setting of the Enable single-click URL navigation option in the Options dialog box.
EnableAdvancedMembersOption	Determines whether the Hide Advanced Members option is enabled in the Options dialog box.
EnableAsyncCompletion	Determines whether the language supports background parsing.
EnableCommenting	Determines whether the language service can comment and uncomment source code using a single command.
EnableFormatSelection	Determines if the language service supports automatic formatting of the source code.
EnableLineNumbers	Determines if the Line numbers option can be selected in the Options dialog box.
FontColorDefaults
HideAdvancedMembersByDefault	Determines the initial state of the Hide Advanced Members option in the Options dialog box.
LanguageName	Returns the name of the language.
LanguageResourceID	Returns the resource ID used to obtain the localized version of the language name.
LanguageServiceSid
MatchBraces	Determines if the language service supports matching language pairs.
MatchBracesAtCaret	Determines if a language service supports matching language pairs while typing.
MaxErrorMessages	Determines the maximum number of errors message that a language service can report for a parsing operation.
QuickInfo	Determines if the language service supports the IntelliSense Quick Info.
RequestStockColors	Determines if the language service is using the built-in colorable items as supplied by Visual Studio.
ShowCompletion	Determines if the Statement completion options are enabled in the Options dialog box.
ShowDropDownOptions	Determines if the Navigation bar option is enabled in the Options dialog box.
ShowHotURLs	Determines if URLs are displayed in such a way as to show they can be clicked. This option is not used.
ShowMatchingBrace	Determines if the matching language pair is shown in the status bar.
ShowSmartIndent	Determines if the Smart Indenting option is enabled in the Options dialog box.
SingleCodeWindowOnly	Determines if the Window -> New Window command is disabled for a language service.
SupportCopyPasteOfHTML	Determines if the language service supports the clipboard format HTML for copy and paste operations.
TypeId	Gets the current instance of this attribute. (Inherited from RegistrationAttribute)

Methods

GetPackageRegKeyPath(Guid)	Gets the registry path (relative to the registry root of the application) of the VSPackage. (Inherited from RegistrationAttribute)
Register(RegistrationAttribute+RegistrationContext)	Creates all of the registry keys and entries as specified by the class constructor.
Unregister(RegistrationAttribute+RegistrationContext)	Removes all of the registry keys and entries as specified by the class constructor.