Developing a User Interface for a Data Flow Component

Component developers can provide a custom user interface for a component, which is displayed in SQL Server Data Tools (SSDT) when the component is edited. Implementing a custom user interface provides you with notification when the component is added to or deleted from a data flow task, and when help is requested for the component.

If you do not provide a custom user interface for your component, users can still configure the component and its custom properties by using the Advanced Editor. You can ensure that the Advanced Editor allows users to edit custom property values appropriately by using the TypeConverter and UITypeEditor properties of the IDTSCustomProperty100 when appropriate. For more information, see "Creating Custom Properties" in Design-time Methods of a Data Flow Component.

Setting the UITypeName Property

To provide a custom user interface, the developer must set the UITypeName property of the DtsPipelineComponentAttribute to the name of a class that implements the IDtsComponentUI interface. When this property is set by the component, SQL Server Integration Services loads and calls the custom user interface when the component is edited in SSIS Designer.

The UITypeName property is a comma-delimited string that identifies the fully qualified name of the type. The following list shows, in order, the elements that identify the type:

• Type name

• Assembly name

• File version

• Culture

• Public key token

The following code example shows a class that derives from the PipelineComponent base class and specifies the UITypeName property.

[DtsPipelineComponent(
DisplayName="SampleComponent",
UITypeName="MyNamespace.MyComponentUIClassName,MyAssemblyName,Version=1.0.0.0,Culture=neutral,PublicKeyToken=abcd...",
ComponentType = ComponentType.Transform)]
public class SampleComponent : PipelineComponent
{
//TODO: Implement the component here.
}

<DtsPipelineComponent(DisplayName="SampleComponent", _
UITypeName="MyNamespace.MyComponentUIClassName,MyAssemblyName,Version=1.0.0.0,Culture=neutral,PublicKeyToken=abcd...", ComponentType=ComponentType.Transform)> _ 
Public Class SampleComponent 
 Inherits PipelineComponent 
End Class

Implementing the IDtsComponentUI Interface

The IDtsComponentUI interface contains methods that SSIS Designer calls when a component is added, deleted, and edited. Component developers can provide code in their implementation of these methods to interact with users of the component.

This class is typically implemented in an assembly separate from the component itself. Although use of a separate assembly is not required, this lets the developer build and deploy the component and the user interface independently of each other, and keeps the binary footprint of the component small.

Implementing a custom user interface gives the component developer more control over the component as it is edited in SSIS Designer. For example, a component can add code to the New method, which is called when a component is initially added to a data flow task, and display a wizard that guides the user through the initial configuration of the component.

After you have created a class that implements the IDtsComponentUI interface, you must add code to respond to user interaction with the component. The Initialize method provides the IDTSComponentMetaData100 interface of the component, and is called before the New and Edit methods. This reference should be stored in a private member variable and used to modify the component's metadata thereafter.

Modifying a Component and Persisting Changes

The IDTSComponentMetaData100 interface is provided as a parameter to the Initialize method. This reference should be cached in a member variable by the user interface code, and then used to modify the component in response to user interaction with the user interface.

Although you can modify the component directly through the IDTSComponentMetaData100 interface, it is better to create an instance of the CManagedComponentWrapper by using the Instantiate method. When you edit the component directly by using the interface, you bypass the component's validation safeguards. The advantage of using the design-time instance of the component through the CManagedComponentWrapper is that you ensure that the component has control over the changes made to it.

The return value of the Edit method determines whether changes made to a component are persisted or discarded. When this method returns false, all changes are discarded; true persists the changes to the component and marks the package as needing to be saved.

Using the Services of the SSIS Designer

The IServiceProvider parameter of the Initialize method provides access to the following services of SSIS Designer:

Service	Description
IDtsClipboardService	Used to determine whether the component was generated as part of a copy/paste or cut/paste operation.
IDtsConnectionService	Used to access existing connections or to create new connections in the package.
IErrorCollectionService	Used to capture events from data flow components when you need to capture all the errors and warnings raised by the component instead of receiving only the last error or warning.
IDtsVariableService	Used to access existing variables or to create new variables in the package.
IDtsPipelineEnvironmentService	Used by data flow components to access the parent Data Flow task and other components in the data flow. This feature could be used to develop a component like the Slowly Changing Dimension Wizard that creates and connects additional data flow components as needed.

These services provide component developers the ability to access and create objects in the package in which the component is loaded.

Sample

The following code example shows the integration of a custom user interface class that implements the IDtsComponentUI interface, and a Windows form that serves as the editor for a component.

Custom User Interface Class

The following code shows the class that implements the IDtsComponentUI interface. The Edit method creates the component editor and then displays the form. The return value of the form determines whether changes to the component are persisted.

using System;
using System.Windows.Forms;
using Microsoft.SqlServer.Dts.Runtime;
using Microsoft.SqlServer.Dts.Pipeline.Design;
using Microsoft.SqlServer.Dts.Pipeline.Wrapper;

namespace Microsoft.Samples.SqlServer.Dts
{
    public class SampleComponentUI : IDtsComponentUI
    {
        IDTSComponentMetaData100 md;
        IServiceProvider sp;

        public void Help(System.Windows.Forms.IWin32Window parentWindow)
        {
        }
        public void New(System.Windows.Forms.IWin32Window parentWindow)
        {
        }
        public void Delete(System.Windows.Forms.IWin32Window parentWindow)
        {
        }
        public bool Edit(System.Windows.Forms.IWin32Window parentWindow, Variables vars, Connections cons)
        {
            // Create and display the form for the user interface.
            SampleComponentUIForm componentEditor = new SampleComponentUIForm(cons, vars, md);

            DialogResult result  = componentEditor.ShowDialog(parentWindow);

            if (result == DialogResult.OK)
                return true;

            return false;
        }
        public void Initialize(IDTSComponentMetaData100 dtsComponentMetadata, IServiceProvider serviceProvider)
        {
            // Store the component metadata.
            this.md = dtsComponentMetadata;
        }
    }
}

Imports System 
Imports System.Windows.Forms 
Imports Microsoft.SqlServer.Dts.Runtime 
Imports Microsoft.SqlServer.Dts.Pipeline.Design 
Imports Microsoft.SqlServer.Dts.Pipeline.Wrapper 

Namespace Microsoft.Samples.SqlServer.Dts 

 Public Class SampleComponentUI 
 Implements IDtsComponentUI 
   Private md As IDTSComponentMetaData100 
   Private sp As IServiceProvider 

   Public Sub Help(ByVal parentWindow As System.Windows.Forms.IWin32Window) 
   End Sub 

   Public Sub New(ByVal parentWindow As System.Windows.Forms.IWin32Window) 
   End Sub 

   Public Sub Delete(ByVal parentWindow As System.Windows.Forms.IWin32Window) 
   End Sub 

   Public Function Edit(ByVal parentWindow As System.Windows.Forms.IWin32Window, ByVal vars As Variables, ByVal cons As Connections) As Boolean 
     ' Create and display the form for the user interface.
     Dim componentEditor As SampleComponentUIForm = New SampleComponentUIForm(cons, vars, md) 
     Dim result As DialogResult = componentEditor.ShowDialog(parentWindow) 
     If result = DialogResult.OK Then 
       Return True 
     End If 
     Return False 
   End Function 

   Public Sub Initialize(ByVal dtsComponentMetadata As IDTSComponentMetaData100, ByVal serviceProvider As IServiceProvider) 
     Me.md = dtsComponentMetadata 
   End Sub 
 End Class 

End Namespace

Custom Editor

The following code shows the implementation of the Windows form that is shown during the call to the Edit method.

using System;
using System.Drawing;
using System.Collections;
using System.ComponentModel;
using System.Windows.Forms;
using System.Data;

using Microsoft.SqlServer.Dts.Pipeline.Wrapper;
using Microsoft.SqlServer.Dts.Runtime;

namespace Microsoft.Samples.SqlServer.Dts
{
    public partial class SampleComponentUIForm : System.Windows.Forms.Form
    {
        private Connections connections;
        private Variables variables;
        private IDTSComponentMetaData100 metaData;
        private CManagedComponentWrapper designTimeInstance;
        private System.ComponentModel.IContainer components = null;

        public SampleComponentUIForm( Connections cons, Variables vars, IDTSComponentMetaData100 md)
        {
            variables = vars;
            connections = cons;
            metaData = md;
        }

        private void btnOk_Click(object sender, System.EventArgs e)
        {
            if (designTimeInstance == null)
                designTimeInstance = metaData.Instantiate();

            designTimeInstance.SetComponentProperty( "CustomProperty", txtCustomPropertyValue.Text);

            this.Close();
        }

        private void btnCancel_Click(object sender, System.EventArgs e)
        {
            this.Close();
        }
    }
}

Imports System 
Imports System.Drawing 
Imports System.Collections 
Imports System.ComponentModel 
Imports System.Windows.Forms 
Imports System.Data 
Imports Microsoft.SqlServer.Dts.Pipeline.Wrapper 
Imports Microsoft.SqlServer.Dts.Runtime 

Namespace Microsoft.Samples.SqlServer.Dts 

 Public Partial Class SampleComponentUIForm 
  Inherits System.Windows.Forms.Form 
   Private connections As Connections 
   Private variables As Variables 
   Private metaData As IDTSComponentMetaData100 
   Private designTimeInstance As CManagedComponentWrapper 
   Private components As System.ComponentModel.IContainer = Nothing 

   Public Sub New(ByVal cons As Connections, ByVal vars As Variables, ByVal md As IDTSComponentMetaData100) 
     variables = vars 
     connections = cons 
     metaData = md 
   End Sub 

   Private Sub btnOk_Click(ByVal sender As Object, ByVal e As System.EventArgs) 
     If designTimeInstance Is Nothing Then 
       designTimeInstance = metaData.Instantiate 
     End If 
     designTimeInstance.SetComponentProperty("CustomProperty", txtCustomPropertyValue.Text) 
     Me.Close 
   End Sub 

   Private Sub btnCancel_Click(ByVal sender As Object, ByVal e As System.EventArgs) 
     Me.Close 
   End Sub 
 End Class 

End Namespace

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See Also

Creating a Custom Data Flow Component