Globals Interface
The Globals object is a cache for storing data for the duration of each session of the Visual Studio environment, as well as across sessions using the VariablePersists property.
Namespace: EnvDTE
Assembly: EnvDTE (in EnvDTE.dll)
Syntax
'Declaration
<GuidAttribute("E68A3E0E-B435-4DDE-86B7-F5ADEFC19DF2")> _
Public Interface Globals
'Usage
Dim instance As Globals
[GuidAttribute("E68A3E0E-B435-4DDE-86B7-F5ADEFC19DF2")]
public interface Globals
[GuidAttribute(L"E68A3E0E-B435-4DDE-86B7-F5ADEFC19DF2")]
public interface class Globals
public interface Globals
Remarks
The Globals object, for example, allows programs to have global variables whose values persist between executions. It can also be used to allow a command to implement a default value if it requires the user to enter information each time it executes. Furthermore, it can be used to change its behavior after it has been invoked a certain number of times.
Data is stored in the Globals object as name/variant-value pairs. These name/value pairs can optionally be stored on disk by using the VariablePersists property to maintain their state (as a string) between different sessions of Visual Studio.
Note
Variables containing objects or SafeArrays cannot be saved. If the value can be saved as a string, then it is saved in its native format.
Add-ins or macros can also use the Globals object to save user-defined data unique to each user between Visual Studio sessions. They can also use the Globals object to save data to and retrieve data from a solution (.sln) file.
Use the VariableValue property to save or read values saved with the Globals object.
Note
VariableValue name strings cannot contain space, colon (:), or period(.) characters. If a name has any of these characters, you get the error, "Value does not fall within expected range."
Examples
Sub OnAddinLoaded(ByVal dte As DTE)
' Count the number of times an add-in is loaded
' and store the value in the solution.
Dim globals As Globals
globals = dte.Solution.Globals
If globals.VariableExists("AddinLoadCounter") Then
' The counter has already been set, so increment it.
Dim int32 As System.Int32
int32 = System.Int32.Parse(CStr(globals("AddinLoadCounter")))
int32 += 1
globals("AddinLoadCounter") = int32.ToString()
Else
' Counter has never been set, so create and initialize it.
globals("AddinLoadCounter") = 1.ToString()
globals.VariablePersists("AddinLoadCounter") = True
End If
MsgBox("This add-in has been loaded: " & _
globals.VariableValue("AddinLoadCounter") & " times.")
End Sub
void OnAddinLoaded(_DTE applicationObject)
{
// Count the number of times an add-in is loaded
// and store the value in the solution.
Globals globals;
globals = applicationObject.Solution.Globals;
if(globals.get_VariableExists("AddinLoadCounter"))
{
// The counter has already been set, so increment it.
System.Int32 int32;
int32 = System.Int32.Parse((string)
globals["AddinLoadCounter"]);
int32++;
globals["AddinLoadCounter"] = int32.ToString();
}
else
{
// Counter has never been set, so create and initialize it.
globals["AddinLoadCounter"] = 1.ToString();
globals.set_VariablePersists("AddinLoadCounter", true);
}
System.Windows.Forms.MessageBox.Show("This add-in has been loaded:
" + globals.VariableValue["AddinLoadCounter"] + " times.");
}