MSDN Magazine - April 2008 - (Page 28)

Figure 6 Test Code Excerpt Module Module1 Private testNumber As Integer Private testGroup As String Sub StartTestGroup(ByVal name As String) testGroup = name testNumber = 0 End Sub Sub Test(ByVal result As Boolean, ByVal expected As Boolean) testNumber += 1 If result expected Then Console.WriteLine(“Test #{0} of group {1} FAILED.”, _ testNumber, testGroup) End If End Sub Sub Main() StartTestGroup(“IsAlphaNumeric”) Test(My.Validation.IsAlphaNumeric(“123HH2”, True, True), True) StartTestGroup(“IsCanadianPostalCode”) Test(My.Validation.IsCanadianPostalCode(“H0H 0H0”), True) StartTestGroup(“IsCanadianProvince”) Test(My.Validation.IsCanadianProvince(“ON”), True) StartTestGroup(“IsEmail”) Test(My.Validation.IsEmail(“a@b.com”), True) Console.WriteLine _ (“Tests are finished. No FAILED messages indicates success.”) Console.WriteLine(“Press any key to continue.”) Console.ReadKey(True) End Sub End Module don’t see this option on the File menu, right-click on the toolbar and select Customize, then select the Commands tab, choose the File category, then drag the Export Template command onto the File menu. Once you export the template, the Export Template Wizard appears. Select Item template (see Figure 7). My Extensions are always item templates—never project templates. You can select the project from which the template will be created; in this solution there is only one project, so just click Next. In the Items to Export listbox, select just the MyValidation.vb file and click Next. On the next step, you can select which references you would like to include with this item. You have to select all the references required for the My Extension to operate once it has been added to a project. For this example, select System.Core, then click Next again. In the last step, fill in the Template description textbox; for instance, “Extends the My namespace with a set of string validation methods.” Finally, uncheck the checkbox “Automatically import the template into Visual Studio.” This setting ensures that the template won’t be imported right away. You’re going to need to modify a few things in the template before it’s ready to use as a My Extension, so just click Finish. My Extensions as Templates It’s always a good idea to thoroughly test your code before distributing it to others, and My extensions are no different. Let’s use the automatically created module (Module1.vb) to write a test for the My Extension. It becomes a hassle to re-export the extension when you find a bug, so it is best to make the extension as functional as possible and make sure it’s properly tested before you export it for the first time. Open Module1.vb by double-clicking it in the Solution Explorer and place the test code, which has been excerpted in Figure 6, into the file, replacing the code that was there before. For the full code, see the code download on the MSDN Magazine Web site. Now you are ready to test the My Extension, so press F5 to execute the project and attach the debugger. You should see the following output: Tests are finished. No FAILED messages indicates success. Press any key to continue. In a My Extension template, as in any Visual Studio template, all of the template parameters are available. These are special strings that can be inserted into the My Extension code automatically when it is added to a project. For instance, $clrversion$ will be replaced with the current version of the CLR. In the case of My Extension templates, $safeitemname$ will be replaced with the value of the element in the .vstemplate file, minus the file extension. This will be equal to the name of the .vb file containing the template code. Anything else that you can do with a regular template can also be done with a My Extension template. For instance, within the .vstemplate file, by setting the value of the element to false, you can include the template in the Add New Item Dialog when adding items to projects. You can also force the addition of assembly references with the section, and you can Now that the extension is written and properly tested, it’s time to package it up into a My Extension template. With the project open, click the File menu, then select Export template…. If you 28 msdnmagazine Basic Instincts Packaging the Extension into a Template Figure 7 Choose Template Type

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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