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ExportAttribute Class

Specifies that a type, property, field, or method provides a particular export.

System.Object
  System.Attribute
    System.ComponentModel.Composition.ExportAttribute
      System.ComponentModel.Composition.InheritedExportAttribute

Namespace:  System.ComponentModel.Composition
Assembly:  System.ComponentModel.Composition (in System.ComponentModel.Composition.dll)
[AttributeUsageAttribute(AttributeTargets.Class|AttributeTargets.Method|AttributeTargets.Property|AttributeTargets.Field, AllowMultiple = true, 
	Inherited = false)]
public class ExportAttribute : Attribute

The ExportAttribute type exposes the following members.

  Name Description
Public method Supported by Portable Class Library ExportAttribute() Initializes a new instance of the ExportAttribute class, exporting the type or member marked with this attribute under the default contract name.
Public method Supported by Portable Class Library ExportAttribute(String) Initializes a new instance of the ExportAttribute class, exporting the type or member marked with this attribute under the specified contract name.
Public method Supported by Portable Class Library ExportAttribute(Type) Initializes a new instance of the ExportAttribute class, exporting the type or member marked with this attribute under a contract name derived from the specified type.
Public method Supported by Portable Class Library ExportAttribute(String, Type) Initializes a new instance of the ExportAttribute class, exporting the specified type under the specified contract name.
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  Name Description
Public property Supported by Portable Class Library ContractName Gets the contract name that is used to export the type or member marked with this attribute.
Public property Supported by Portable Class Library ContractType Gets the contract type that is exported by the member that this attribute is attached to.
Public property TypeId When implemented in a derived class, gets a unique identifier for this Attribute. (Inherited from Attribute.)
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  Name Description
Public method Supported by Portable Class Library Equals Infrastructure. Returns a value that indicates whether this instance is equal to a specified object. (Inherited from Attribute.)
Protected method Supported by Portable Class Library Finalize Allows an object to try to free resources and perform other cleanup operations before it is reclaimed by garbage collection. (Inherited from Object.)
Public method Supported by Portable Class Library GetHashCode Returns the hash code for this instance. (Inherited from Attribute.)
Public method Supported by Portable Class Library GetType Gets the Type of the current instance. (Inherited from Object.)
Public method IsDefaultAttribute When overridden in a derived class, indicates whether the value of this instance is the default value for the derived class. (Inherited from Attribute.)
Public method Match When overridden in a derived class, returns a value that indicates whether this instance equals a specified object. (Inherited from Attribute.)
Protected method Supported by Portable Class Library MemberwiseClone Creates a shallow copy of the current Object. (Inherited from Object.)
Public method Supported by Portable Class Library ToString Returns a string that represents the current object. (Inherited from Object.)
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  Name Description
Explicit interface implemetation Private method _Attribute.GetIDsOfNames Maps a set of names to a corresponding set of dispatch identifiers. (Inherited from Attribute.)
Explicit interface implemetation Private method _Attribute.GetTypeInfo Retrieves the type information for an object, which can be used to get the type information for an interface. (Inherited from Attribute.)
Explicit interface implemetation Private method _Attribute.GetTypeInfoCount Retrieves the number of type information interfaces that an object provides (either 0 or 1). (Inherited from Attribute.)
Explicit interface implemetation Private method _Attribute.Invoke Provides access to properties and methods exposed by an object. (Inherited from Attribute.)
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In the Attributed Programming Model, the ExportAttribute declares that a part exports, or provides to the composition container, an object that fulfills a particular contract. During composition, parts with imports that have matching contracts will have those dependencies filled by the exported object.

The ExportAttribute can decorate either an entire class, or a property, field, or method of a class. If the entire class is decorated, an instance of the class is the exported object. If a member of a class is decorated, the exported object will be the value of the decorated member.

Whether or not a contract matches is determined primarily by the contract name and the contract type. For more information, see ImportAttribute.

The following example shows three classes decorated with the ExportAttribute, and three imports that match them.


//Default export infers type and contract name from the
//exported type.  This is the preferred method.
[Export]
public class MyExport1
{
    public String data = "Test Data 1.";
}

public class MyImporter1
{
    [Import]
    public MyExport1 importedMember { get; set; }
}

public interface MyInterface
{

}

//Specifying the contract type may be important if
//you want to export a type other then the base type,
//such as an interface.
[Export(typeof(MyInterface))]
public class MyExport2 : MyInterface
{
    public String data = "Test Data 2.";
}

public class MyImporter2
{
    //The import must match the contract type!
    [Import(typeof(MyInterface))]
    public MyExport2 importedMember { get; set; }
}

//Specifying a contract name should only be 
//needed in rare caes. Usually, using metadata
//is a better approach.
[Export("MyContractName", typeof(MyInterface))]
public class MyExport3 : MyInterface
{
    public String data = "Test Data 3.";
}

public class MyImporter3
{
    //Both contract name and type must match!
    [Import("MyContractName", typeof(MyInterface))]
    public MyExport3 importedMember { get; set; }
}

class Program
{      

    static void Main(string[] args)
    {
        AggregateCatalog catalog = new AggregateCatalog();
        catalog.Catalogs.Add(new AssemblyCatalog(typeof(MyExport1).Assembly));
        CompositionContainer _container = new CompositionContainer(catalog);
        MyImporter1 test1 = new MyImporter1();
        MyImporter2 test2 = new MyImporter2();
        MyImporter3 test3 = new MyImporter3();
        _container.SatisfyImportsOnce(test1);
        _container.SatisfyImportsOnce(test2);
        _container.SatisfyImportsOnce(test3);
        Console.WriteLine(test1.importedMember.data);
        Console.WriteLine(test2.importedMember.data);
        Console.WriteLine(test3.importedMember.data);
        Console.ReadLine();

    }
}


.NET Framework

Supported in: 4

.NET Framework Client Profile

Supported in: 4

Portable Class Library

Supported in: Portable Class Library

Windows 7, Windows Vista SP1 or later, Windows XP SP3, Windows Server 2008 (Server Core not supported), Windows Server 2008 R2 (Server Core supported with SP1 or later), Windows Server 2003 SP2

The .NET Framework does not support all versions of every platform. For a list of the supported versions, see .NET Framework System Requirements.
Any public static (Shared in Visual Basic) members of this type are thread safe. Any instance members are not guaranteed to be thread safe.
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I have copied and pasted given C# code but it does not compile. Error is about test1,2 and 3 are not being a ComposablePart. And there seems no appropriate method taking ad-hoc types for import satisfaction