In C#, what and how to pass IServiceProvider in ErrorListProvider(IServiceProvider isp)?

Question

I am creating a vsix project where I need to add some custom errors in Error List window. Now I am stuck in IServiceProvider. What it contains and why I need this and how I can get this? In my code, I need to initialize with a service provider. How can I do this? Following is code :

internal class ErrorListManager
{
    public static ErrorListProvider errorListProvider;

    public static void Initialize(IServiceProvider serviceProvider) 
    {
        errorListProvider = new ErrorListProvider(serviceProvider);

    }

    public static void AddError(string errorMsg) {
        AddTask(errorMsg, TaskErrorCategory.Error);
    }

    private static void AddTask(string errorMsg, TaskErrorCategory category)
    {
        errorListProvider.Tasks.Add(new ErrorTask
        {
            Category = TaskCategory.User,
            ErrorCategory = category,
            Text = errorMsg
        });
    }
}

Please help. I am a beginner for C# and VSIX. Thanks!

Answer 1

To write something in VS Error List you need to use ErrorListProvider. In my implementation, I inherit from ErrorListProvider and implement my own behavior for "ErrorWindowController". The code looks like this (read the code comments for more information):

public class ErrorWindowController : ErrorListProvider
{

#region Constructor

/// <summary>
/// Instance Constructor
/// </summary>
/// <param name="aServiceProvider"></param>
public ErrorWindowController(IServiceProvider aIServiceProvider) : base(aIServiceProvider)
{
}

#endregion


#region Public Methods

// Use this to add a collection of custom errors in VS Error List
public void AddErrors(IEnumerable<ErrorModel> aErrors)
{
    SuspendRefresh();

    foreach (ErrorModel error in aErrors)
    {
      ErrorTask errorTask = new ErrorTask
      {
        ErrorCategory = error.Category,
        Document = error.FilePath,
        Text = error.Description,
        Line = error.Line - 1,
        Column = error.Column,
        Category = TaskCategory.BuildCompile,
        Priority = TaskPriority.High,
        HierarchyItem = error.HierarchyItem
      };
      errorTask.Navigate += ErrorTaskNavigate;
      Tasks.Add(errorTask);
    }

    BringToFront();
    ResumeRefresh();
}

// Remove all the errors from Error List which are depending of a project and this specific project is closed
// Or remove all the errors from Error List when the VS solution is closed
public void RemoveErrors(IVsHierarchy aHierarchy)
{
    SuspendRefresh();

    for (int i = Tasks.Count - 1; i >= 0; --i)
    {
      var errorTask = Tasks[i] as ErrorTask;
      aHierarchy.GetCanonicalName(Microsoft.VisualStudio.VSConstants.VSITEMID_ROOT, out string nameInHierarchy);
      errorTask.HierarchyItem.GetCanonicalName(Microsoft.VisualStudio.VSConstants.VSITEMID_ROOT, out string nameErrorTaskHierarchy);
      if (nameInHierarchy == nameErrorTaskHierarchy)
      {
        errorTask.Navigate -= ErrorTaskNavigate;
        Tasks.Remove(errorTask);
      }
    }

    ResumeRefresh();
}

// Remove all the errors from the Error List
public void Clear()
{
    Tasks.Clear();
}


#endregion


#region Private Methods

// This is optional
// Add navigation for your errors. 
private void ErrorTaskNavigate(object sender, EventArgs e)
{
  ErrorTask objErrorTask = (ErrorTask)sender;
  objErrorTask.Line += 1;
  bool bResult = Navigate(objErrorTask, new Guid(EnvDTE.Constants.vsViewKindCode));
  objErrorTask.Line -= 1;
}


#endregion
}

The ErrorModel is very simple:

public class ErrorModel
{
  #region Properties

  public string FilePath { get; set; }

  public int Line { get; set; }

  public int Column { get; set; }

  public TaskErrorCategory Category { get; set; }

  public string Description { get; set; }

  public IVsHierarchy HierarchyItem { get; set; }

  #endregion

}

Happy Codding!