ProvideLanguageServiceAttribute Class
Informs Visual Studio that a VSPackage provides a language service. Used with the managed package framework (MPF).
Assembly: Microsoft.VisualStudio.Shell.14.0 (in Microsoft.VisualStudio.Shell.14.0.dll)
System.Attribute
Microsoft.VisualStudio.Shell.RegistrationAttribute
Microsoft.VisualStudio.Shell.ProvideLanguageServiceAttribute
| Name | Description | |
|---|---|---|
![]() | ProvideLanguageServiceAttribute(Object, String, Int32) | Initializes a new instance of the Shell.ProvideLanguageServiceAttribute class. |
| Name | Description | |
|---|---|---|
![]() | 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. |
![]() | HideAdvancedMembersByDefault | Determines the initial state of the Hide Advanced Members option in the Options dialog box. |
![]() | LanguageName | This API supports the product infrastructure and is not intended to be used directly from your code. Returns the name of the language. |
![]() | LanguageResourceID | This API supports the product infrastructure and is not intended to be used directly from your code. 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.) |
| Name | Description | |
|---|---|---|
![]() | Equals(Object) | (Inherited from Attribute.) |
![]() | GetHashCode() | (Inherited from Attribute.) |
![]() | GetType() | (Inherited from Object.) |
![]() | IsDefaultAttribute() | (Inherited from Attribute.) |
![]() | Match(Object) | (Inherited from Attribute.) |
![]() | Register(RegistrationAttribute.RegistrationContext) | This API supports the product infrastructure and is not intended to be used directly from your code. Creates all of the registry keys and entries as specified by the class constructor.(Overrides RegistrationAttribute.Register(RegistrationAttribute.RegistrationContext).) |
![]() | ToString() | (Inherited from Object.) |
![]() | Unregister(RegistrationAttribute.RegistrationContext) | Removes all of the registry keys and entries as specified by the class constructor.(Overrides RegistrationAttribute.Unregister(RegistrationAttribute.RegistrationContext).) |
| Name | Description | |
|---|---|---|
![]() ![]() | _Attribute.GetIDsOfNames(Guid, IntPtr, UInt32, UInt32, IntPtr) | (Inherited from Attribute.) |
![]() ![]() | _Attribute.GetTypeInfo(UInt32, UInt32, IntPtr) | (Inherited from Attribute.) |
![]() ![]() | _Attribute.GetTypeInfoCount(UInt32) | (Inherited from Attribute.) |
![]() ![]() | _Attribute.Invoke(UInt32, Guid, UInt32, Int16, IntPtr, IntPtr, IntPtr, IntPtr) | (Inherited from Attribute.) |
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. |
Associates a file extension with the language service. | |
Specifies a property node or page for the Options dialog box specific to the language service. | |
Specifies location information to support code snippets in the language service. | |
Registers a language service as a Visual Studio service. All services supplied in managed code use this attribute. |
Notes to Implementers:
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.
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 { } }
Any public static (Shared in Visual Basic) members of this type are thread safe. Any instance members are not guaranteed to be thread safe.




