Loading and Saving the Settings

In this chapter, you will learn how to implement the class that is actually responsible for physically storing the plug-in settings and for loading them. The settings are physically stored in an *.sdlproj or in an *.sdltpl file, which are both XML compliant.

*.sdlproj files are automatically created for each document that is opened for translation/editing in SDL Trados Studio 2017 or for each project that is created in the application. These files contain project-specific information such as the translation memories/termbases used for a project as well as any other project-specific settings, which can also include plug-in settings. An *.sdltpl file is a project template, which users can create to streamline project creation.

Within an *.sdlproj or *.sdltpl file the settings bundle node used by our implementation would look, for example, as shown below:

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<SettingsGroup Id="Length Check XML v 1.0.0.0">
  <Setting Id="Enable">True</Setting>
</SettingsGroup>

Each Setting element contains an Id attribute that denotes the setting (property) name. The Setting element encloses the property value, which is updated whenever the user changes the settings in the UI.

Add the VerifierSettings Class

Start by adding a new class to your project called VerifierSettings. Make sure that your class uses the following namespaces:

Sdl.Core.Settings
Sdl.FileTypeSupport.Framework.Core.Settings

Moreover, the class needs to implement the FileTypeSettingsBase class, which provides the methods required for storing and saving values to the settings bundle.

Implement the Setting Property

In this step, add the property that represents our plug-in setting, in this case the boolean property Enabled. It determines whether the verification functionality should be active or not.

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bool _enable;


public bool Enable
{
    get { return _enable; }
    set
    {
        _enable = value;
        OnPropertyChanged("Enable");
    }
}

Implement the Constructor Method

The ResetToDefaults method is provided by the base class. In our implementation, it is just overridden to set the Enabled property to our default value, True:

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public override void ResetToDefaults()
{
    Enable = true;
}

Reset to Defaults

Next, implement the constructor method. In this implementation, the constructor just calls on the ResetToDefaults of the class to set the Enabled property to its default value, which is True:

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public VerifierSettings()
{
    ResetToDefaults();
}

Set the Enabled Property to the Value from the Settings Bundle

The base class provides the PopulateFromSettingsBundle method to retrieve the current setting from the bundle in the *.sdlproj file and to set the Enabled property of our implementation accordingly.

In the *.sdlproj or *.sdltpl file, a settings bundle can look as shown below:

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<SettingsBundle Guid="63403813-d91c-446e-8994-83ea138754e8">

    <SettingsGroup Id="TermVerifierSettings">
        <Setting Id="Enabled">True</Setting>

      <SettingsGroup Id="Length Check XML v 1.0.0.0">
        <Setting Id="Enable">False</Setting>

  </SettingsBundle>

A SettingsBundle element can enclose a number of SettingsGroup nodes. Each settings bundle has a unique id (guid) that is stored in an attribute. The settings bundles are identified by the id of the plug-in that they refer to. A settings group can enclose, for example, file type settings, verification plug-in settings, etc. In the above example the settings bundle encloses one settings group for the term verifier plug-in and another settings group that is used by our sample length verifier plug-in. This id is retrieved from the File Type Component Builder (see Extending existing File Type Component Builder).

This XML structure is also reflected in the API. Within the SaveToSettingsBundle method we create a settings group object based on ISettingsGroup by applying the GetSettingsGroup method to the settings bundle. This method takes the settings bundle id (e.g. Length Check XML v 1.0.0.0) as string parameter. We then use the GetSettingFromSettingsGroup method to set the Enabled property. This method requires the settings group object, the name of the setting (e.g. Enabled), and the default value as parameters (e.g. True).

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public override void PopulateFromSettingsBundle(ISettingsBundle settingsBundle, string configurationId)
{
    ISettingsGroup settingsGroup = settingsBundle.GetSettingsGroup(configurationId);
    ResetToDefaults();
    Enable = GetSettingFromSettingsGroup(settingsGroup, "Enable", Enable);
}

Set the Property to the Values from the Settings Bundle

The base class also provides the SaveToSettingsBundle method, which is required to physically store the value of the properties in the bundle of the *.sdlproj file.

Here too, we create a settings group object based on ISettingsGroup by applying the GetSettingsGroup method to the settings bundle.

Then we invoke the UpdateSettingInSettingsGroup method to save the settings into the physical representation. This method takes the settings group object, the setting name (string), the setting value, and the default value as parameters.

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public override void SaveToSettingsBundle(ISettingsBundle settingsBundle, string configurationId)
{
    ISettingsGroup settingsGroup = settingsBundle.GetSettingsGroup(configurationId);
    var defaults = new VerifierSettings();
    UpdateSettingInSettingsGroup(settingsGroup, "Enable", Enable, defaults.Enable);
}

Putting it All Together

The complete class should now look as shown below:

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using System;
using System.Collections.Generic;
using System.Linq;
using System.Text;
using Sdl.Core.Settings;
using Sdl.FileTypeSupport.Framework.Core.Settings;
using System.Windows.Forms;

namespace Sdl.Sdk.FileTypeSupport.Samples.XMLChecker
{
    /// <summary>
    /// This class is used to actually store the settings to the settings bundle, which
    /// is physically saved in an *.sdlproj or in an *.sdltpl file.
    /// </summary>
    public class VerifierSettings: FileTypeSettingsBase
    {
        #region "Properties"
        bool _enable;


        public bool Enable
        {
            get { return _enable; }
            set
            {
                _enable = value;
                OnPropertyChanged("Enable");
            }
        }
        #endregion "Properties"

        #region "Constructor"
        public VerifierSettings()
        {
            ResetToDefaults();
        }
        #endregion "Constructor"



        #region "OverrideMethods"

        /// <summary>
        /// Define the default value, which is Enabled, as the verification function should
        /// be active by default.
        /// </summary>
        #region "ResetToDefaults"
        public override void ResetToDefaults()
        {
            Enable = true;
        }
        #endregion

        /// <summary>
        /// This method is used to load the setting from the settings bundle,
        /// which is physically stored in an XML-compliant *.sdlproj or *.sdltpl file.
        /// </summary>
        /// <param name="settingsBundle"></param>
        /// <param name="configurationId"></param>
        #region "PopulateFromSettingsBundle"
        public override void PopulateFromSettingsBundle(ISettingsBundle settingsBundle, string configurationId)
        {
            ISettingsGroup settingsGroup = settingsBundle.GetSettingsGroup(configurationId);
            ResetToDefaults();
            Enable = GetSettingFromSettingsGroup(settingsGroup, "Enable", Enable);
        }
        #endregion

        /// <summary>
        /// This method is used to store the settings as configured in the plug-in UI
        /// in the settings bundle, which means that the settings are physically written
        /// into the XML-compliant *.sdlproj or *.sdltpl file.
        /// </summary>
        /// <param name="settingsBundle"></param>
        /// <param name="configurationId"></param>
        #region "SaveToSettingsBundle"
        public override void SaveToSettingsBundle(ISettingsBundle settingsBundle, string configurationId)
        {
            ISettingsGroup settingsGroup = settingsBundle.GetSettingsGroup(configurationId);
            var defaults = new VerifierSettings();
            UpdateSettingInSettingsGroup(settingsGroup, "Enable", Enable, defaults.Enable);
        }
        #endregion

        #endregion "OverrideMethods"
    }
}

Other Resources

Implement the User Interface

Implement the UI Controller Class

Implement the Verification Logic

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