Using Types in Configuration File

Many configuration elements reference C# types.

Either the full type name of the element should be specified using a type attribute (the attribute name might be different depending on element), or type alias should be specified, to reference a type declared in element under element /iocConfiguration/typeDefinitions/typeDefinitions (see below for more details).

Some examples are:

• <service type=”DynamicallyLoadedAssembly1.Interfaces.IInterface1”>
• <service type=”DynamicallyLoadedAssembly1.Interfaces.IInterface2 assembly=”shared_services”>
• <service typeRef=”IInterface1”>

If the element uses the full type name, an optional attribute assembly can be used to specify the assembly, where the type is.

Note

Refer to Assemblies and Probing Paths for more details on assemblies in configuration file.

IoC.Configuration looks up the type in all the assemblies under element /iocConfiguration/assemblies.

Note

Refer to IoCConfiguration_GenericTypesAndTypeReUse.xml for more examples of using types in configuration file.

Generic Types in Configuration File

To reference generic types, list the comma separated generic type parameters within opening and closing square brackets (i.e., []) after the type name.

Some examples are:

<!--This type is similar to C# type
SharedServices.Implementations.Generic.Generic1_1<SharedServices.Implementations.Interface1_Impl1> -->
<implementation
    type="SharedServices.Implementations.Generic.Generic1_1[SharedServices.Implementations.Interface1_Impl1]"
    scope="singleton" />

<!--This type is similar to C# type
SharedServices.Interfaces.Generic.IGeneric2_1<SharedServices.Implementations.Generic.Generic3_1<System.Int32> -->
<service
    type="SharedServices.Interfaces.Generic.IGeneric2_1[SharedServices.Implementations.Generic.Generic3_1[System.Int32]]" >

Array Types in Configuration File

Array types can be specified by appending character # after the array item type name.

Example is:

<!--The type definition below is similar to C# type SharedServices.Interfaces.IInterface1[]-->
<service type="SharedServices.Interfaces.IInterface1#" >
    <!--Some implementation for service SharedServices.Interfaces.IInterface1[] goes here.-->
</service>

Re-Using Types

To avoid specifying the full type name in multiple elements in configuration file, we can define the type in /iocConfiguration/typeDefinitions/typeDefinition element, and reference the type using tye type alias in other elements.

Here is an example of declaring a type System.Collections.Generic.IEnumerable<SharedServices.Interfaces.IInterface1> with alias IEnumerableOf_IInterface1 in typeDefinition element:

<typeDefinitions>
    <typeDefinition
        alias="IEnumerableOf_IInterface1"
        type="System.Collections.Generic.IEnumerable[SharedServices.Interfaces.IInterface1]" />
</typeDefinitions>

Here is an example of referencing the type with alias IEnumerableOf_IInterface1 declared in typeDefinition element:

<service typeRef="IEnumerableOf_IInterface1">
    <!--Some implementation for service
    System.Collections.Generic.IEnumerable<SharedServices.Interfaces.IInterface1> goes here.-->
</service>