How to: Register a Library with the Object Manager

Note

This article applies to Visual Studio 2015. If you're looking for the latest Visual Studio documentation, see Visual Studio documentation. We recommend upgrading to the latest version of Visual Studio. Download it here

Symbols-browsing tools, such as Class View, Object Browser, Call Browser and Find Symbol Results, enable you to view symbols in your project or in external components. The symbols include namespaces, classes, interfaces, methods, and other language elements. The libraries track these symbols and expose them to the Visual Studio object manager that populates the tools with the data.

The object manager keeps track of all available libraries. Each library must register with the object manager before providing symbols for the symbol-browsing tools.

Typically, you register a library when a VSPackage loads. However, it can be done at another time as needed. You unregister the library when the VSPackage shuts down.

To register a library, use the RegisterLibrary method. In the case of managed code library, use the RegisterSimpleLibrary method.

To unregister a library, use the UnregisterLibrary method.

To obtain a reference to the object manager, IVsObjectManager2, pass the SVsObjectManager service ID to GetService method.

Registering and unregistering a Library with the Object Manager

To register a library with the object manager

1. Create a library.

   Private m_CallBrowserLibrary As CallBrowser.Library = Nothing  
   Private m_nLibraryCookie As UInteger = 0  
   ' Create Library.  
   m_CallBrowserLibrary = New CallBrowser.Library()  
   

   private CallBrowser.Library m_CallBrowserLibrary = null;  
   private uint m_nLibraryCookie = 0;  
   // Create Library.  
   m_CallBrowserLibrary = new CallBrowser.Library();  
   
   

2. Obtain a reference to an object of the IVsObjectManager2 type and call the RegisterSimpleLibrary method.

   Private Sub RegisterLibrary()  
       If m_nLibraryCookie <> 0 Then  
           Throw New Exception("Library already registered with Object Manager")  
       End If  
   
       ' Obtain a reference to IVsObjectManager2 type object.  
       Dim objManager As IVsObjectManager2 = TryCast(GetService(GetType(SVsObjectManager)), IVsObjectManager2)  
       If objManager Is Nothing Then  
           Throw New NullReferenceException("GetService failed for SVsObjectManager")  
       End If  
   
       Try  
           Dim hr As Integer = objManager.RegisterSimpleLibrary(m_CallBrowserLibrary, m_nLibraryCookie)  
           Microsoft.VisualStudio.ErrorHandler.ThrowOnFailure(hr)  
       Catch e As Exception  
           ' Code to handle any CLS-compliant exception.  
           Trace.WriteLine(e.Message)  
           Throw  
       End Try  
   End Sub  
   

   private void RegisterLibrary()  
   {  
       if (m_nLibraryCookie != 0)  
           throw new Exception("Library already registered with Object Manager");  
   
       // Obtain a reference to IVsObjectManager2 type object.  
       IVsObjectManager2 objManager =   
                         GetService(typeof(SVsObjectManager)) as IVsObjectManager2;  
       if (objManager == null)  
           throw new NullReferenceException("GetService failed for SVsObjectManager");  
   
       try  
       {  
           int hr =   
               objManager.RegisterSimpleLibrary(m_CallBrowserLibrary,   
                                                out m_nLibraryCookie);  
               Microsoft.VisualStudio.ErrorHandler.ThrowOnFailure(hr);  
       }  
       catch (Exception e)  
       {  
           // Code to handle any CLS-compliant exception.  
           Trace.WriteLine(e.Message);  
           throw;  
       }  
   }  
   
   

To unregister a library with the object manager

1. Obtain a reference to an object of the IVsObjectManager2 type and call the UnregisterLibrary method.

   Private Sub UnregisterLibrary()  
       If m_nLibraryCookie <> 0 Then  
           ' Obtain a reference to IVsObjectManager2 type object.  
           Dim objManager As IVsObjectManager2 = TryCast(GetService(GetType(SVsObjectManager)), IVsObjectManager2)  
           If objManager Is Nothing Then  
               Throw New NullReferenceException("GetService failed for SVsObjectManager")  
           End If  
   
           Try  
               objManager.UnregisterLibrary(m_nLibraryCookie)  
           Catch e As Exception  
               ' Code to handle any CLS-compliant exception.  
               Trace.WriteLine(e.Message)  
               Throw  
           Finally  
               m_nLibraryCookie = 0  
           End Try  
       End If  
   End Sub  
   

   private void UnregisterLibrary()  
   {  
       if (m_nLibraryCookie != 0)  
       {  
           // Obtain a reference to IVsObjectManager2 type object.  
           IVsObjectManager2 objManager = GetService(typeof(SVsObjectManager)) as IVsObjectManager2;  
           if (objManager == null)  
               throw new NullReferenceException("GetService failed for SVsObjectManager");  
   
           try  
           {  
               objManager.UnregisterLibrary(m_nLibraryCookie);  
           }  
           catch (Exception e)  
           {  
               // Code to handle any CLS-compliant exception.  
               Trace.WriteLine(e.Message);  
               throw;  
           }  
           finally  
           {  
               m_nLibraryCookie = 0;  
           }  
       }  
   }  
   
   

See Also

Legacy Language Service Extensibility
Supporting Symbol-Browsing Tools
How to: Expose Lists of Symbols Provided by the Library to the Object Manager