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Microsoft Dynamics AX (Archived)

AX 7 Visual Studio Extension, add method to selected class

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Posted on by Community Member Microsoft Employee

Hello community,

I am trying to write a VS extension using the AX developer tools add-in project template.  The goal of the add-in is to add method(s) to the selected class.

Does anyone have example code, documentation or guidance on how to achieve this?

I have followed along with Peter's example from the tech conf recordings and am using the automation interfaces to understand members/methods of the selected class, but I do not understand how to create or modify metadata using those objects.

Best Regards,

*This post is locked for comments

  • Diego Mancassola Profile Picture
    Diego Mancassola 227 on at
    RE: AX 7 Visual Studio Extension, add method to selected class

    Thanks Martin, precious as always.

    That's works!

  • Martin Dráb Profile Picture
    Martin Dráb 230,354 Most Valuable Professional on at
    RE: AX 7 Visual Studio Extension, add method to selected class

    Try using DesignMetaModelService.Instance.CurrentMetaModelService instead (DesignMetaModelService class is defined in Microsoft.Dynamics.Framework.Tools.MetaModel.Core assembly).

  • Diego Mancassola Profile Picture
    Diego Mancassola 227 on at
    RE: AX 7 Visual Studio Extension, add method to selected class

    Hello, i'm trying to develop a new addin but i cannot reference to ServiceLocator

    Already try to add some references but without find the right reference.

    Thanks

  • Community Member Profile Picture
    Community Member Microsoft Employee on at
    RE: AX 7 Visual Studio Extension, add method to selected class

    Martin,

    I found it at C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Visual Studio 14.0\Common7\IDE\Extensions\4xwsot0h.pp4 on my AX VM

    Thanks

  • Martin Dráb Profile Picture
    Martin Dráb 230,354 Most Valuable Professional on at
    RE: AX 7 Visual Studio Extension, add method to selected class

    It's a installed as a part of the VS extension for AX (at c:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Visual Studio 14.0\Common7\IDE\Extensions\buffodo3.ljy\ on my AX VM).

    Alternatively, it can be found in the bin subfolder of the packages folder (e.g. c:\AOSService\PackagesLocalDirectory\Bin\).

  • Community Member Profile Picture
    Community Member Microsoft Employee on at
    RE: AX 7 Visual Studio Extension, add method to selected class

    Hi.  How to install Microsoft.Dynamics.AX.Metadata.dll ? Because I can't find Microsoft.Dynamics.AX.Metadata in my Reference Manager.

    Thanks

  • Martin Dráb Profile Picture
    Martin Dráb 230,354 Most Valuable Professional on at
    RE: AX 7 Visual Studio Extension, add method to selected class

    Yes, you need a reference to Microsoft.Dynamics.AX.Metadata. In general, you will probably need a plenty of references when developing add-ins, but which ones depends on what exactly you'll do.

  • Community Member Profile Picture
    Community Member Microsoft Employee on at
    RE: AX 7 Visual Studio Extension, add method to selected class

    Martin,

    Sorry for the delayed response.

    I needed to add a reference to Microsoft.Dynamics.AX.Metadata.dll in order to make use of AxMethod/AxReturnType class.

    Can you confirm the addition of this reference to the project was needed?

    Thanks again for your help.

  • Verified answer
    Martin Dráb Profile Picture
    Martin Dráb 230,354 Most Valuable Professional on at
    RE: AX 7 Visual Studio Extension, add method to selected class

    This solution isn't ideal, but I think it's a good start. It's a bit challenging without any documentation.

    /// <summary>
/// Adds a new method (with a hard-coded name and empty body) to the selected class.
/// </summary>
/// <param name="c">The class to which the method will be added.</param>
/// <remarks>
/// The method is added to the underlying file, but not to the designer.
/// Visual Studio will detect the change and asks the user if the file should be reloaded.
/// Another approach is needed to update the designer directly.
/// </remarks>
public override void OnClick(AddinDesignerEventArgs e)
{
    try
    {
        ClassItem c = e.SelectedElement as ClassItem;

        if (c != null)
        {
            AddMethodToFile(c);
        }
    }
    catch (Exception ex)
    {
        CoreUtility.HandleExceptionWithErrorMessage(ex);
    }
}

void AddMethodToFile(ClassItem c)
{
    AxClass axClass = (AxClass)c.GetMetadataType();

    // Add the method to the class
    axClass.AddMethod(BuildMethod());

    // Prepare objects needed for saving
    var metaModelProviders = ServiceLocator.GetService(typeof(IMetaModelProviders)) as IMetaModelProviders;
    var metaModelService = metaModelProviders.CurrentMetaModelService;
    // Getting the model will likely have to be more sophisticated, such as getting the model of the project and checking
    // if the object has the same model.
    // But this should do for demonstration.
    
    ModelInfo model = DesignMetaModelService.Instance.CurrentMetadataProvider.Classes.GetModelInfo(axClass.Name).FirstOrDefault<ModelInfo>();

    // Update the file
    metaModelService.UpdateClass(axClass, new ModelSaveInfo(model));
}

// Create a new method with empty body
private AxMethod BuildMethod()
{
    AxMethod axMethod = new AxMethod()
    {
        Name = "myNewMethod",
        ReturnType = new AxMethodReturnType()
    };
    
    axMethod.Source = axMethod.GetDefaultMethodSource(4);

    return axMethod;
}

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