MSDN Magazine - April 2008 - (Page 25)

My Namespace Extensions with My Extensibility MATTHEW DEVORE he My namespace feature was introduced in need to type Module names in order to refer Visual Basic® 2005 to provide shortcut methto their members, showing the Module would ods and APIs for common coding tasks. Since only clutter up IntelliSense (see Figure 1). then, users have been able to write My namespace If you would like to add these members diextensions to make it easy to access their own Figure 1 Sub Namespace in rectly to My without putting them in a sub code libraries. My Extensibility, new in Visual IntelliSense namespace (see Figure 2), change Namespace Basic 2008, makes extending the My namespace even easier. My.HandyStuffForMy to just Namespace My, like the following: Namespace My With the new My Extensibility feature, My namespace exten _ sions can be activated or deactivated through the Project ProperFriend Module HandyStuffForMyModule Sub Foo() ties Designer, or when an associated reference is added or removed from a project. This capability makes extending the Visual Basic End Sub development environment simple through deploying APIs for Property Bar() common coding tasks. End Property In this installment, I will focus on how to integrate your extenEnd Module sion with the My Extensibility feature. If you find yourself wanting End Namespace more information on how to write the actual code exAdditionally, if you use a namespace that already tensions to the My namespace, please read “Simplify exists in My, such as Resources, these members will Common Tasks by Customizing the My Namespace” be added to that namespace. This gives you a lot of in the July 2005 issue of MSDN® Magazine (msdn.miflexibility for how your extensions are accessed. The crosoft.com/msdnmag/issues/05/07/My). second thing to be aware of is the access modifier on the module. The Friend access modifier will prevent Ways to Expand the My Namespace other assemblies from accessing these members. If There are a few code models you can use to exyou use Public access, the elements may conflict pand My. Let’s start with the easiest one, the one with symbols declared in these other project’s My you already know how to use. In fact, adding anynamespace. thing to the My namespace is very much like add- Figure 2 No Sub Namespace I’ll set up the sample My Extension in a moment ing something to any other namespace. Here is the using the strategy I just outlined. However, not evsimplest example: erything in My is a namespace. There are also Properties that return Namespace My.HandyStuffForMy global instances of certain classes, also known as singletons. _ Friend Module HandyStuffForMyModule Sub Foo() End Sub T Expanding My with a Singleton Property Bar() End Property End Module End Namespace This will cause a sub called Foo and a property called Bar to appear in a namespace called HandyStuffForMy within the My namespace. There are a couple of things here that you should notice: the HideModuleName attribute and the Friend access modifier on the Module. The HideModuleName attribute will prevent the Module name from showing up in IntelliSense®. Because you don’t My.Computer, My.Settings, and My.Application are singleton instances of classes called My.MyComputer, My.MySettings, and My.MyApplication, respectively. We can easily add members to these classes using the partial class feature. For instance, the following code adds a sub called Shutdown to the My.Computer object: Namespace My Partial Class MyComputer Sub Shutdown() End Sub End Class End Namespace This code can be used for expanding My.Application and april2008 25 http://msdn.microsoft.com/msdnmag/issues/05/07/My http://msdn.microsoft.com/msdnmag/issues/05/07/My

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of MSDN Magazine - April 2008

MSDN Magazine - April 2008 Contents Toolbox CLR Inside Out Basic Instincts Cutting Edge Foundations Test Run Service Station Windows with C++ Going Places { End Bracket }

MSDN Magazine - April 2008

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