Class PreviewProvider

The one-stop shop for asynchronous Previews. This class takes a Preview hint and through the static GetPreview(String) method converts it into a Preview. The underlying Preview providers are dynamically loaded plugins.

Due to the possibility of fairly expensive operations behind the Preview, this system SHOULD NOT be used to mass-produce Previews in some tight loop. Call the Preview provider only when you know that the user actually needs a Preview here and now.

Inheritance
Object
PreviewProvider
Inherited Members
Namespace: SuperOffice.CRM.Previews
Assembly: SoDataBase.dll
Syntax
public static class PreviewProvider
Remarks

Preview plugin providers must implement the SuperOffice.CRM.Previews.IPreviewProviderPlugin interface, and are welcome to use the PreviewPluginBase base class as well.

A trivial Preview example: 

string myPreview = PreviewProvider.GetPreview("{contact_id=" + myContactId + "}");

Methods

GetPreview(String)

Process the incoming hint, and return a Preview. The Preview is either a parseable Preview hint, or a literal text.

Declaration
public static string GetPreview(string PreviewHint)
Parameters
Type Name Description
String PreviewHint

Preview hint, or literal text
Returns
Type Description
String

Formatted Preview, possibly including image tags or other metainformation
Remarks

If it is a literal, it may be formatted according to current Preview rules, and is then returned. A Preview hint has the syntax {<id>=<value>[<id>=<value>]...}, ie., curly braces around the whole string, and one or more id/value pairs. The delimiter within each pair is an equals sign, and the delimiter between pairs is an ampersand. A typical hint is {contact_id=5}. Another possible hint would be {contact_id=123&simple=true}.

Id's are case-insensitive, using the OrdinalIgnoreCase comparer provided by the .NET framework.

GetPreviewHintValue(String)

Get the inner value of a dynamic Preview hint - or nothing, if the Preview is not a dynamic hint. Dynamic hints are delimited by braces and contain at least one name value pair.

Declaration
public static string GetPreviewHintValue(string delimitedHint)
Parameters
Type Name Description
String delimitedHint

Preview hint, including the braces
Returns
Type Description
String

Preview hint minus the braces, or string.Empty if no braces were present (then this is not a dynamic hint at all)

MakeImageHint(String, Int32)

Utility method for creating an image hint with the correct syntax, from a key and id combination. If you are programming something that is derived from PreviewPluginBase, using the MakeImageHint(String, Int32) is somewhat simpler than using this method.

Declaration
public static string MakeImageHint(string key, int id)
Parameters
Type Name Description
String key

Key name, for instance person_id. This key must be something that is recognized by the image streaming service.
Int32 id

ID for the given key
Returns
Type Description
String

Image hint

MakePreviewHint(String)

Utility method for creating a Preview hint with the correct syntax, from a single key and single value

Declaration
public static string MakePreviewHint(string keyAndValue)
Parameters
Type Name Description
String keyAndValue

Key and value with an equals sign as the delimiter
Returns
Type Description
String

Preview hint

MakePreviewHint(String, Int32)

Utility method for creating a Preview hint with the correct syntax, from a single key and single value

Declaration
public static string MakePreviewHint(string key, int value)
Parameters
Type Name Description
String key

Key name
Int32 value

Key value
Returns
Type Description
String

Preview hint

ProcessHints(String)

Process hints by calling provider plugins as needed

Declaration
public static PreviewData ProcessHints(string nameValueHints)
Parameters
Type Name Description
String nameValueHints

Name/value hints without leading/trailing braces
Returns
Type Description
PreviewData

Hints from each Preview provider, separated by newline
Remarks

Preview plugins are called in parallel to improve snappiness