Get started with IDE Extensions

This section describes how to create an IDE extension. The IDE supports two types of extensions, extensions without user interface called command extensions and ones with user interface called view extensions. They are generically referred to as IDE extensions in this document.

A command extension introduces new command(s) into the global IDE command pool, which will be available to the IDE itself and all other IDE extensions. It can also modify behavior of commands defined by the IDE or other extensions, and add new command vectors like, menu item, toolbar button etc. A command extension is usually a service and does not have user interface, but can bring up a dialog box when a command is invoked and is handled by it.

A view extension has user interface and when displayed inside the Galaxy Explorer can be docked just like native IDE views. A view extension can also implement command extension: a view extension can also introduce new commands into global pool of IDE commands, which will be available to the IDE itself and any other IDE extensions. In short, a view extension is a specialized command extension with user interface. A single IDE extension assembly can have multiple extensions with mix of command and view extensions.

In order to extend IDE by developing a command or view extension, and to achieve this to have galaxy database access, a typical developer would need the following three .Net assembly references added to their .Net project:

• ArchestrA.IDE.Extensibility.dll

• ArchestrA.Configuration.dll

• ArchestrA.Core.dll