Categorization of XAML Activity Properties

Question

Using code activity (i.e. activity created from C #), we can add category attributes to our properties and display them well in the properties grid of the workflow designer, for example.

[RequiredArgument] [Category("Input")] public InArgument<Guid> TermbaseId { get; set; } 

Is the same functionality possible in XAML activity?

Edit: An included XAML example: I would like to add [Category ("Input")] in In and [Category ("Output")] in Out in the next Xaml

 <Activity mc:Ignorable="sap" x:Class="ActivityLibrary1.Activity1" xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/netfx/2009/xaml/activities" xmlns:mc="http://schemas.openxmlformats.org/markup-compatibility/2006" xmlns:mv="clr-namespace:Microsoft.VisualBasic;assembly=System" xmlns:mva="clr-namespace:Microsoft.VisualBasic.Activities;assembly=System.Activities" xmlns:s="clr-namespace:System;assembly=mscorlib" xmlns:s1="clr-namespace:System;assembly=System" xmlns:s2="clr-namespace:System;assembly=System.Xml" xmlns:s3="clr-namespace:System;assembly=System.Core" xmlns:sad="clr-namespace:System.Activities.Debugger;assembly=System.Activities" xmlns:sap="http://schemas.microsoft.com/netfx/2009/xaml/activities/presentation" xmlns:scg="clr-namespace:System.Collections.Generic;assembly=System" xmlns:scg1="clr-namespace:System.Collections.Generic;assembly=System.ServiceModel" xmlns:scg2="clr-namespace:System.Collections.Generic;assembly=System.Core" xmlns:scg3="clr-namespace:System.Collections.Generic;assembly=mscorlib" xmlns:sd="clr-namespace:System.Data;assembly=System.Data" xmlns:sl="clr-namespace:System.Linq;assembly=System.Core" xmlns:st="clr-namespace:System.Text;assembly=mscorlib" xmlns:x="http://schemas.microsoft.com/winfx/2006/xaml"> <x:Members> <x:Property Name="In" Type="InArgument(x:String)" /> <x:Property Name="Out" Type="OutArgument(x:String)" /> </x:Members> <sap:VirtualizedContainerService.HintSize>240,240</sap:VirtualizedContainerService.HintSize> <mva:VisualBasic.Settings>Assembly references and imported namespaces for internal implementation</mva:VisualBasic.Settings> </Activity> 

Answer 1

It should be something like:

 <x:Property.Attributes> <sc:CategoryAttribute xmlns:sc="clr-namespace:System.ComponentModel;assembly=System"> <x:Arguments><!-- x:Arguments is the Xaml way of constructing objects which require constructor arguments --> <x:String>Input</x:String> </x:Arguments> </sc:CategoryAttribute> </x:Property.Attributes> 

(x: For arguments see http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ee795382.aspx

I don't think CategoryAttribute has a TypeConverter for a more compact presentation, although I could be wrong ...)

Answer 2

You can add attributes to XAML using the syntax. See MSDN docs.

Answer 3

If this helps someone else, I ended up writing an autoprocessor classifier to give all actions a category:

 public class AutomaticPropertyCategorizer : IRegisterMetadata { public void Register() { AttributeTableBuilder builder = new AttributeTableBuilder(); foreach (Assembly assembly in AppDomain.CurrentDomain.GetAssemblies(). Where(a => !a.FullName.StartsWith("System"))) { var activityTypes = from t in assembly.GetTypes() where t.IsSubclassOf(typeof(Activity)) select t; foreach (Type t in activityTypes) { foreach (PropertyDescriptor pd in properties) { if (pd.PropertyType.IsSubclassOf(typeof(InArgument))) { tableBuilder.AddCustomAttributes(activityType, pd.Name, new CategoryAttribute("Input")); } else if (pd.PropertyType.IsSubclassOf(typeof(OutArgument))) { tableBuilder.AddCustomAttributes(activityType, pd.Name, new CategoryAttribute("Output")); } else if (pd.PropertyType.IsSubclassOf(typeof(InOutArgument))) { tableBuilder.AddCustomAttributes(activityType, pd.Name, new CategoryAttribute("Input / Output")); } } } } AttributeTable attributes = builder.CreateTable(); MetadataStore.AddAttributeTable(attributes); } }