How to: Add a custom SharePoint node to Server Explorer

Article
02/02/2017

Applies to: Visual Studio Visual Studio for Mac

Note

This article applies to Visual Studio 2017. 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

You can add custom nodes under the SharePoint Connections node in Server Explorer. This is useful when you want to display additional SharePoint components that are not displayed in Server Explorer by default. For more information, see Extend the SharePoint connections node in Server Explorer.

To add a custom node, first create a class that defines the new node. Then create an extension that adds the node as a child of an existing node.

To define the new node

Create a class library project.
Add references to the following assemblies:
- Microsoft.VisualStudio.SharePoint
- Microsoft.VisualStudio.SharePoint.Explorer.Extensions
- System.ComponentModel.Composition
- System.Drawing
Create a class that implements the IExplorerNodeTypeProvider interface.
Add the following attributes to the class:
- ExportAttribute. This attribute enables Visual Studio to discover and load your IExplorerNodeTypeProvider implementation. Pass the IExplorerNodeTypeProvider type to the attribute constructor.
- ExplorerNodeTypeAttribute. In a node definition, this attribute specifies the string identifier for the new node. We recommend that you use the format company name.node name to make sure that all nodes have a unique identifier.

In your implementation of the InitializeType method, use members of the typeDefinition parameter to configure the behavior of the new node. This parameter is an IExplorerNodeTypeDefinition object that provides access to the events defined in the IExplorerNodeEvents interface.

The following code example demonstrates how to define a new node. This example assumes that your project contains an icon named CustomChildNodeIcon as an embedded resource.

<Export(GetType(IExplorerNodeTypeProvider))> _
<ExplorerNodeType(ExampleNodeTypeProvider.NodeTypeId)> _
Friend Class ExampleNodeTypeProvider
    Implements IExplorerNodeTypeProvider
    Friend Const NodeTypeId As String = "Contoso.ServerExplorerNodeExample"

    Private Sub InitializeType(ByVal typeDefinition As IExplorerNodeTypeDefinition) _
        Implements IExplorerNodeTypeProvider.InitializeType
        typeDefinition.DefaultIcon = _
            My.Resources.CustomChildNodeIcon.ToBitmap()
        typeDefinition.IsAlwaysLeaf = True
    End Sub
End Class

[Export(typeof(IExplorerNodeTypeProvider))]
[ExplorerNodeType(ExampleNodeTypeProvider.NodeTypeId)]
internal class ExampleNodeTypeProvider : IExplorerNodeTypeProvider
{
    internal const string NodeTypeId = "Contoso.ServerExplorerNodeExample";

    public void InitializeType(IExplorerNodeTypeDefinition typeDefinition)
    {
        typeDefinition.DefaultIcon =
            Properties.Resources.CustomChildNodeIcon.ToBitmap();
        typeDefinition.IsAlwaysLeaf = true;
    }
}

To add the new node as a child of an existing node

In the same project as your node definition, create a class that implements the IExplorerNodeTypeExtension interface.
Add the ExportAttribute attribute to the class. This attribute enables Visual Studio to discover and load your IExplorerNodeTypeExtension implementation. Pass the IExplorerNodeTypeExtension type to the attribute constructor.
Add the ExplorerNodeTypeAttribute attribute to the class. In a node extension, this attribute specifies the string identifier for the type of node that you want to extend.

To specify built-in node types provided by Visual Studio, pass one of the following enumeration values to the attribute constructor:
- ExplorerNodeTypes: Use these values to specify site connection nodes (the nodes that display site URLs), site nodes, or all other parent nodes in Server Explorer.
- ExtensionNodeTypes: Use these values to specify one of the built-in nodes that represent an individual component on a SharePoint site, such as a node that represents a list, field, or content type.
In your implementation of the Initialize method, handle the NodeChildrenRequested event of the IExplorerNodeType parameter.

In the NodeChildrenRequested event handler, add the new node to the child nodes collection of the Node object that is exposed by the event arguments parameter.

The following code example demonstrates how to add the new node as a child of the SharePoint site node in Server Explorer.

<Export(GetType(IExplorerNodeTypeExtension))> _
<ExplorerNodeType(ExplorerNodeTypes.SiteNode)> _
Friend Class SiteNodeExtension
    Implements IExplorerNodeTypeExtension

    Private Sub Initialize(ByVal nodeType As IExplorerNodeType) _
        Implements IExplorerNodeTypeExtension.Initialize
        AddHandler nodeType.NodeChildrenRequested, AddressOf NodeChildrenRequested
    End Sub

    Private Sub NodeChildrenRequested(ByVal Sender As Object, ByVal e As ExplorerNodeEventArgs)
        e.Node.ChildNodes.Add(ExampleNodeTypeProvider.NodeTypeId, _
            "Custom Node", Nothing)
    End Sub
End Class

[Export(typeof(IExplorerNodeTypeExtension))]
[ExplorerNodeType(ExplorerNodeTypes.SiteNode)]
internal class SiteNodeExtension : IExplorerNodeTypeExtension
{
    public void Initialize(IExplorerNodeType nodeType)
    {
        nodeType.NodeChildrenRequested += NodeChildrenRequested;
    }

    private void NodeChildrenRequested(object sender, ExplorerNodeEventArgs e)
    {
        e.Node.ChildNodes.Add(ExampleNodeTypeProvider.NodeTypeId,
            "Custom Node", null);
    }
}

Complete example

The following code example provides the complete code to define a simple node and add it as a child of the SharePoint site node in Server Explorer.

Imports System.ComponentModel.Composition
Imports Microsoft.VisualStudio.SharePoint
Imports Microsoft.VisualStudio.SharePoint.Explorer

Namespace Contoso.ServerExplorerExtension

    <Export(GetType(IExplorerNodeTypeProvider))> _
    <ExplorerNodeType(ExampleNodeTypeProvider.NodeTypeId)> _
    Friend Class ExampleNodeTypeProvider
        Implements IExplorerNodeTypeProvider
        Friend Const NodeTypeId As String = "Contoso.ServerExplorerNodeExample"

        Private Sub InitializeType(ByVal typeDefinition As IExplorerNodeTypeDefinition) _
            Implements IExplorerNodeTypeProvider.InitializeType
            typeDefinition.DefaultIcon = _
                My.Resources.CustomChildNodeIcon.ToBitmap()
            typeDefinition.IsAlwaysLeaf = True
        End Sub
    End Class

    <Export(GetType(IExplorerNodeTypeExtension))> _
    <ExplorerNodeType(ExplorerNodeTypes.SiteNode)> _
    Friend Class SiteNodeExtension
        Implements IExplorerNodeTypeExtension

        Private Sub Initialize(ByVal nodeType As IExplorerNodeType) _
            Implements IExplorerNodeTypeExtension.Initialize
            AddHandler nodeType.NodeChildrenRequested, AddressOf NodeChildrenRequested
        End Sub

        Private Sub NodeChildrenRequested(ByVal Sender As Object, ByVal e As ExplorerNodeEventArgs)
            e.Node.ChildNodes.Add(ExampleNodeTypeProvider.NodeTypeId, _
                "Custom Node", Nothing)
        End Sub
    End Class
End Namespace

using System.ComponentModel.Composition;
using Microsoft.VisualStudio.SharePoint;
using Microsoft.VisualStudio.SharePoint.Explorer;

namespace Contoso.ServerExplorerExtension
{
    [Export(typeof(IExplorerNodeTypeProvider))]
    [ExplorerNodeType(ExampleNodeTypeProvider.NodeTypeId)]
    internal class ExampleNodeTypeProvider : IExplorerNodeTypeProvider
    {
        internal const string NodeTypeId = "Contoso.ServerExplorerNodeExample";

        public void InitializeType(IExplorerNodeTypeDefinition typeDefinition)
        {
            typeDefinition.DefaultIcon =
                Properties.Resources.CustomChildNodeIcon.ToBitmap();
            typeDefinition.IsAlwaysLeaf = true;
        }
    }

    [Export(typeof(IExplorerNodeTypeExtension))]
    [ExplorerNodeType(ExplorerNodeTypes.SiteNode)]
    internal class SiteNodeExtension : IExplorerNodeTypeExtension
    {
        public void Initialize(IExplorerNodeType nodeType)
        {
            nodeType.NodeChildrenRequested += NodeChildrenRequested;
        }

        private void NodeChildrenRequested(object sender, ExplorerNodeEventArgs e)
        {
            e.Node.ChildNodes.Add(ExampleNodeTypeProvider.NodeTypeId,
                "Custom Node", null);
        }
    }
}

Compiling the code

This example assumes that your project contains an icon named CustomChildNodeIcon as an embedded resource. This example also requires references to the following assemblies:

Microsoft.VisualStudio.SharePoint
System.ComponentModel.Composition
System.Drawing

Deploy the extension

To deploy the Server Explorer extension, create a Visual Studio extension (VSIX) package for the assembly and any other files that you want to distribute with the extension. For more information, see Deploy extensions for the SharePoint Tools in Visual Studio.

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