FeatureManager Class

Article
02/23/2011

Manages feature providers and feature connectors.

Inheritance Hierarchy

System.Object
Microsoft.Windows.Design.Features.FeatureManager

Namespace: Microsoft.Windows.Design.Features
Assembly: Microsoft.Windows.Design.Extensibility (in Microsoft.Windows.Design.Extensibility.dll)

Syntax

'Declaration
Public Class FeatureManager _
    Implements IDisposable

public class FeatureManager : IDisposable

public ref class FeatureManager : IDisposable

type FeatureManager =  
    class
        interface IDisposable
    end

public class FeatureManager implements IDisposable

The FeatureManager type exposes the following members.

Constructors

	Name	Description
	FeatureManager	Initializes a new instance of the FeatureManager class.

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Properties

	Name	Description
	Context	Gets the editing context for this feature manager.
	MetadataProvider	Gets or sets a custom metadata provider that can provide type metadata for this feature manager.
	PendingConnectors	Gets an enumeration of all connectors that have not been activated yet because they are waiting on context items or services.
	RunningConnectors	Gets an enumeration of all connectors that are currently running.

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Methods

	Name	Description
	CreateFeatureProviders(Type)	Creates and returns a set of feature providers for the specified type.
	CreateFeatureProviders(Type, Predicate<Type>)	Creates and returns a set of feature providers for the specified type.
	CreateFeatureProviders(Type, Type)	Creates and returns a set of feature providers that exist for the specified type.
	CreateFeatureProviders(Type, Type, Predicate<Type>)	Creates and returns a set of feature providers that exist for the specified type.
	Dispose()	Releases all resources used by the FeatureManager.
	Dispose(Boolean)	Disposes all running feature connectors.
	Equals	Determines whether the specified Object is equal to the current Object. (Inherited from Object.)
	Finalize	Finalizer that calls Dispose. (Overrides Object.Finalize().)
	GetCustomAttributes	Enumerates attributes on the specified type.
	GetHashCode	Serves as a hash function for a particular type. (Inherited from Object.)
	GetType	Gets the Type of the current instance. (Inherited from Object.)
	InitializeFeatures	Initializes any feature connectors for the feature providers defined on the specified type.
	MemberwiseClone	Creates a shallow copy of the current Object. (Inherited from Object.)
	OnFeatureAvailable	Raises the FeatureAvailable event.
	ToString	Returns a string that represents the current object. (Inherited from Object.)

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Events

	Name	Description
	FeatureAvailable	Occurs when a new type of feature is available.

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Extension Methods

	Name	Description
	CreateFeatureProviders(Type, ModelItem)	Overloaded. Creates feature providers of the specified type and model item. (Defined by FeatureExtensions.)
	CreateFeatureProviders(Type, ModelItem, Predicate<Type>)	Overloaded. Creates feature providers of the specified type and model item. (Defined by FeatureExtensions.)

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Remarks

Use the FeatureManager class to create feature providers and to query for running and pending feature connectors.

If a feature connector needs to be instantiated, but it subscribes either to services or to context items that do not yet exist, the connector type is put on a pending list and subscriptions are added to the editing context. When the correct services and items become available, the feature connector is instantiated.

When an object is added to an editing model, the editing model should call the InitializeFeatures method on the feature manager, which inspects the object for feature attributes. It follows these attributes to FeatureConnector<TFeatureProviderType> attributes and makes sure that all unique connectors have been instantiated.

Examples

The following sample code shows how to use the FeatureManager class to access the running and pending connectors. For a complete code listing, see How to: Create a Custom Feature Connector.

Public Sub Initialize(ByVal manager As FeatureManager)
    featManager = manager
    Bind()
End Sub


...


' Binds the activatedFeatures and pendingFeatures controls
' the FeatureManager's RunningConnectors and PendingConnectors\
' properties.
Private Sub Bind()
    activatedFeatures.Items.Clear()
    pendingFeatures.Items.Clear()

    Dim info As FeatureConnectorInformation
    For Each info In featManager.RunningConnectors
        activatedFeatures.Items.Add(info)
    Next info

    For Each info In featManager.PendingConnectors
        pendingFeatures.Items.Add(info)
    Next info

End Sub

public void Initialize(FeatureManager manager) 
{
    featManager = manager;
    Bind();
}


...


// Binds the activatedFeatures and pendingFeatures controls
// the FeatureManager's RunningConnectors and PendingConnectors\
// properties.
private void Bind() 
{
    activatedFeatures.Items.Clear();
    pendingFeatures.Items.Clear();

    foreach (FeatureConnectorInformation info in 
        featManager.RunningConnectors) 
    {
        activatedFeatures.Items.Add(info);
    }

    foreach (FeatureConnectorInformation info in 
        featManager.PendingConnectors) 
    {
        pendingFeatures.Items.Add(info);
    }
}

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.

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