SelectionContainer Class

Article
02/04/2013

Provides a unified interface for accessing a set of selected objects.

This API is not CLS-compliant.

Inheritance Hierarchy

System.Object
Microsoft.VisualStudio.Shell.SelectionContainer

Namespace: Microsoft.VisualStudio.Shell
Assembly: Microsoft.VisualStudio.Shell.10.0 (in Microsoft.VisualStudio.Shell.10.0.dll)

Syntax

'Declaration
<CLSCompliantAttribute(False)> _
Public Class SelectionContainer _
    Implements ISelectionContainer

[CLSCompliantAttribute(false)]
public class SelectionContainer : ISelectionContainer

[CLSCompliantAttribute(false)]
public ref class SelectionContainer : ISelectionContainer

[<CLSCompliantAttribute(false)>]
type SelectionContainer =  
    class
        interface ISelectionContainer
    end

public class SelectionContainer implements ISelectionContainer

The SelectionContainer type exposes the following members.

Constructors

	Name	Description
	SelectionContainer()	Initializes a new SelectionContainer object. The overload provides the ability to restrict user control over the SelectableObjects and SelectedObjects collections.
	SelectionContainer(Boolean, Boolean)	Creates a new SelectionContainer object with the ability to restrict user control over the SelectableObjects and SelectedObjects collections.

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Properties

	Name	Description
	SelectableObjects	Gets the collection of selectable objects.
	SelectedObjects	Gets or sets the collection of selected objects.

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Methods

	Name	Description
	ActivateObjects	Overriding this method enables an object to respond when selected.
	Equals	Determines whether the specified Object is equal to the current Object. (Inherited from Object.)
	Finalize	Allows an object to try to free resources and perform other cleanup operations before it is reclaimed by garbage collection. (Inherited from Object.)
	GetHashCode	Serves as a hash function for a particular type. (Inherited from Object.)
	GetType	Gets the Type of the current instance. (Inherited from Object.)
	MemberwiseClone	Creates a shallow copy of the current Object. (Inherited from Object.)
	ToString	Returns a string that represents the current object. (Inherited from Object.)

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Events

	Name	Description
	SelectedObjectsChanged	Raised when an external object calls the ISelectionContainer.SelectObjects method with the SELECTED flag set.

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Fields

	Name	Description
	ALL	Refers to all SelectableObjects.
	SELECTED	Refers to all SelectedObjects.

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Explicit Interface Implementations

	Name	Description
	ISelectionContainer.CountObjects	Determines the number of objects either those SELECTED or ALL items.
	ISelectionContainer.GetObjects	Sets cObjects with the number of items SELECTED or ALL items and populates array apUnkObjects with pointers to those objects.
	ISelectionContainer.SelectObjects	Sets the collection of selectable objects.

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Remarks

The SelectionContainer class provides a unified interface for accessing a set of selected objects. It implements all of the methods defined by the ISelectionContainer interface, and adds a new method, ActivateObjects, that enables an object to respond when selected.

Typically, the contents of the selection container are modified when an external object calls [SelectObjects], which triggers a SelectedObjectsChanged event (and can also call the ActivateObjects method, if it is implemented.) The contents of the selection container can also be examined or changed by accessing the SelectedObjects or SelectableObjects properties.

When changes occur that affect the Properties window, the VSPackage must alert the environment by calling the OnSelectChange method with the selection container that reflects the current selection context. The shell then makes calls to SelectionContainer methods to retrieve one or more IDispatch objects, which provide access to the data needed to update the Properties window.

This class also simplifies some interoperability issues with the ISelectionContainer interfaces. Different versions of Visual Studio implement different versions of ISelectionContainer, and SelectionContainer provides seamless interoperability with the different implementations.

Notes to Implementers

A selection container is the mechanism used by windows to push information to the Properties window. A VSPackage should include a SelectionContainer object for each object (typically a window) that contains selectable objects with related properties to be displayed in the Properties window.

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.