ProvideLoadKeyAttribute Class

Visual Studio 2008

This attribute provides a package load key for your package.

Namespace: Microsoft.VisualStudio.Shell
Assembly: Microsoft.VisualStudio.Shell (in Microsoft.VisualStudio.Shell.dll)

Syntax

C++

JScript

[AttributeUsageAttribute(AttributeTargets::Class, Inherited = false, AllowMultiple = false)]
public ref class ProvideLoadKeyAttribute sealed : public RegistrationAttribute

Remarks

Visual Studio requires a Package Load Key in order to validate and load VSPackages provided by third parties regardless of whether the hosting version of Visual Studio has a VSIP license.

Developers can load their own VSPackages without PLK's if they have a valid VSIP developer license.

This attribute class is only used to provide data for external registration tools like regpkg.exe. It does not have any effect on the runtime behavior of the VSPackage. For more information, see Registering VSPackages (C#).

Note:
Visual C# automatically appends the word, Attribute, to the name of any attribute class. In Visual C# code, refer to this attribute as ProvideLoadKey.

When to Call

Apply this attribute to your Package-derived class or class that implements IVsPackage to define its package load key. A package load key is used by Visual Studio to validate that a package can be loaded.

Samples

You can find implementations of the ProvideLoadKeyAttribute class in the managed samples. The standard location for this and all other attributes used for automatic registration is adjacent to the implementation of the Package class in VsPkg.cs, VsPkg.vb, or VsPkg.cpp, depending on the language used in the sample.

Inheritance Hierarchy

System::Object
  System::Attribute
    Microsoft.VisualStudio.Shell::RegistrationAttribute
      Microsoft.VisualStudio.Shell::ProvideLoadKeyAttribute

Thread Safety

Any public static (Shared in Visual Basic) members of this type are thread safe. Any instance members are not guaranteed to be thread safe.