Reference Interface

Definition

public interface class Reference

public interface class Reference

__interface Reference

[System.Runtime.InteropServices.Guid("35D6FB50-35B6-4C81-B91C-3930B0D95386")]
[System.Runtime.InteropServices.TypeLibType(4160)]
public interface Reference

[<System.Runtime.InteropServices.Guid("35D6FB50-35B6-4C81-B91C-3930B0D95386")>]
[<System.Runtime.InteropServices.TypeLibType(4160)>]
type Reference = interface

Public Interface Reference

Derived

VSLangProj110.Reference4

VSLangProj110.Reference5

VSLangProj150.Reference6

VSLangProj2.Reference2

VSLangProj80.Reference3

Attributes

GuidAttribute TypeLibTypeAttribute

Examples

The following example creates a new project from a template, adds two references, and displays their types.

'Macro Editor  
Imports VSLangProj  
Sub NewProject()  
   Dim newName As String = InputBox("New project name:")  
   ' Create a new project in the solution based on an existing  
   ' project.  
   Dim newProject As Project = DTE.Solution.AddFromTemplate( _  
      "C:\TemplatePath\Template.vbproj", _  
      "C:\ProjectPath\" & newName, newName)  

   ' Add a COM reference and display its type.  
   Dim vsProject As VSProject = CType(newProject.Object, VSProject)  
   Dim newRef As Reference  
   newRef = vsProject.References.Add("C:\WINNT\System32\msmask32.ocx")  
   MsgBox(GetRefTypeName(newRef))  

   ' Add an Assembly reference and display its type, "Assembly".  
   newRef = vsProject.References.Add("C:\SomeProject\bin\SomeProject.dll")  
   MsgBox(GetRefTypeName(newRef))  
End Sub  

Private Function GetRefTypeName(ByVal ref As Reference) _  
   As String  
   Dim type As String  
   Select Case ref.Type  
      Case prjReferenceType.prjReferenceTypeActiveX  
         type = "COM"  
      Case prjReferenceType.prjReferenceTypeAssembly  
         type = "Assembly"  
   End Select  
   Return type  
End Function  

The following example creates a short report of a reference's properties.

' Macro Editor  
' Create a small report about a reference.  
Imports VSLangProj  
Function ReportReferences(ByVal aRef As Reference) As String  
   Dim report As String = ""  
   Dim type As String  
   ' Each entry in the ArrayList will contain a label and a value.  
   Dim ht As System.Collections.ArrayList = _  
      New System.Collections.ArrayList()  
   With aRef  
      ht.Add(New String() {"Name", .Name})  
      ht.Add(New String() {"Description", .Description})  
      ht.Add(New String() {"Version", String.Format("{0}.{1}.{2}.{3}", _  
         .MajorVersion, .MinorVersion, .BuildNumber, .RevisionNumber)})  
      ht.Add(New String() {"Location", .ContainingProject.FullName})  
      Select Case .Type  
         Case prjReferenceType.prjReferenceTypeActiveX  
            type = "COM"  
         Case prjReferenceType.prjReferenceTypeAssembly  
            type = "Assembly"  
      End Select  
      ht.Add(New String() {"Type", type})  
      ht.Add(New String() {"Culture", .Culture})  
   End With  

   Dim datas() As String  
   For Each datas In ht  
      report &= datas(0) & ControlChars.Tab & datas(1) & ControlChars.CrLf  
   Next  
   Return report  
End Function  

Remarks

Reference objects are contained in the VSProject object's References collection. There are two types of Reference objects: assemblies (including Visual Studio projects) and COM objects. When a reference is another project, this is called a project-to-project reference and is still considered an assembly reference.

Properties

Methods

Applies to