How do I turn a c# attribute into a text content?

Question

I have a solution with several C# class libraries that are plugins in a larger system. This system registers its plugins in Windows' registry. What I would like to do is describe the registry keys in a way that can be extracted from the compiled DLLS and then put into a text (.reg) file, preferably as part of the build process.

Is there a predefined attribute for this type of metadata? And is there a command line tool or MSBuild task that can extract them?

Answer 1

Imagine this attribute

[System.AttributeUsage(System.AttributeTargets.Class,
                   AllowMultiple = true)  // Multiuse attribute.]
public class RegistryKey : System.Attribute
{
    public string Name {get; private set;}
    public string Type {get; private set;}
    public string Data {get; private set;}

    public RegistryKey(string name, string type, string data)
    {
        Name = name;
        Type = type;
        Data = data;
    }
}

Consume it with reflection like this

var attrs = System.Attribute.GetCustomAttributes(typeof(MahClass));
foreach (var attr in attrs)
{
    if (attr is RegistryKey)
    {
        var name = attr.Name;
        ...
    }
}