Create Menu Items Using Actions

Examples (?):

SampleAction.cs

If you want to expose your feature in a menu or a toolbar, you should use actions. Action is a unit of work (implemented as a special class) that is associated with a particular menu or toolbar item. Note that you can assign a Visual Studio shortcut to an action. Learn more about actions.

Let's create a simple action that shows a message box being triggered.

public abstract class SampleAction : IExecutableAction
{
    public bool Update(IDataContext context, ActionPresentation presentation, DelegateUpdate nextUpdate)
    {
        return true;    // function result indicates whether the menu item is enabled or disabled
    }

    public void Execute(IDataContext context, DelegateExecute nextExecute)
    {
        RunAction(context, nextExecute);
    }

    protected abstract void RunAction(IDataContext context, DelegateExecute nextExecute);        
}

[Action("ActionShowMessageBox", "Show message box", Id = 543210)]
public class ActionShowMessageBox : SampleAction, IInsertLast<MainMenuFeaturesGroup>
{
    protected override void RunAction(IDataContext context, DelegateExecute nextExecute)
    {
        var solution = context.GetData(JetBrains.ProjectModel.DataContext.ProjectModelDataConstants.SOLUTION);
        MessageBox.ShowInfo(solution?.SolutionFile != null
            ? $"{solution.SolutionFile?.Name} solution is opened"
            : "No solution is opened");
    }
}

Notes

Actions must implement IExecutableAction.
Update returns bool value that indicates whether the menu item is enabled or disabled.
Execute runs the action.
Actions are marked with the special Action attribute, which defines action name, text that is shown in a menu and action Id. Note that Id must be unique!
Use the IDataContext object passed to the action to obtain any context data, e.g. project model data.

Last modified: 04 July 2023