Open up MonoDevelop APIs so I can implement a Protobuild add-in

[hach-que]

This opens up a bunch of MonoDevelop APIs and adds various hooks that are required for me to implement a Protobuild add-in.

Protobuild is a cross-platform project generator; it works by generating MSBuild projects and solutions on disk when the Protobuild.exe executable is run. This allows a common project format like this: https://github.com/mono/MonoGame/blob/develop/Build/Projects/MonoGame.Framework.definition to produce the appropriate C# projects for any platform (Windows, Linux, Mac, iOS, Android, etc.).

I've been writing an add-in that will allow MonoDevelop to load Protobuild modules directly instead of requiring the user to generate projects via the command-line first. This requires additional APIs in MonoDevelop so that I can have an additional project layer on top of the MSBuild project, without losing functionality (there are a lot of places in MonoDevelop that check if the project inherits from an MSBuild project type to provide things like debugging).

Roughly:

• This adds a GetProjectForTypeSystem method so that the C# completion can get access to the real MSBuild project where types are defined.
• This adds Suspend and Resume methods to IViewContent. This allows hot-reload of editor projects as demonstrated in this video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TO7UxNKS5dQ
• Adds runtime registration and deregistration of file handlers in DisplayBindingService. This allows Protobuild projects that are loaded by the IDE to handle additional file types.
• Makes a bunch of methods public and virtual.

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[Therzok]

Heya! I have a few comments before anything else goes:

This adds Suspend and Resume methods to IViewContent. This allows hot-reload of editor projects as demonstrated in this video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TO7UxNKS5dQ

This is an API break and might have to be delayed for 6.0, which is going to happen after roslyn branch is merged to master.

Makes a bunch of methods public and virtual.

I'm not a big fan of those changes, but maybe we could work around having to do that?

Couldn't the add-in just regenerate the projects through Protobuild on solution opening (IdeApp.Workspace.FirstWorkspaceItemOpened)? There should be some sort of metadata that says - hey, your projects need to be generated.

I'm also not a big fan of Protobuild.exe being a special-case. While an extension point can be added to get a 'whitelist' of items, it's not something I'd do in the file selector dialog.

This PR needs a bit of fixing here and there and a bit of rethinking.

cc @slluis @mhutch @mkrueger

[Therzok]

Opening up the New Project Dialog, Node Builders and such shouldn't happen. You may copy the implementations inside your own add-in instead of changing the API here. It would limit what we can do without breaking compatibility and that's something we want to avoid.

[Therzok]

Also, if possible, this should go in in smaller batches which have atomic changes. The commit is too big and it would be easier to filter smaller changes and fix and merge them quickly locally rather than having to comment on everything.

i.e. I'd order commits such as some fix an issue you saw, some expose some API you need (one commit for one functionality), some extend existing code, etc.

[hach-que]

This is an API break and might have to be delayed for 6.0, which is going to happen after roslyn branch is merged to master.

For a bit of background on this, the reason I need Suspend / Resume is that switching tabs destroys the control holding the window handle that the embedded GL context is using. I spent ages trying to find a way that works on Linux where this wasn't necessary, but unfortunately there isn't any solution other than destroying and re-creating a GL context when the window holding it disappears.

This could become an ISuspendableViewContent, which would be casted using as for the suspend/resume calls.

This will work for me.

Also, if possible, this should go in in smaller batches which have atomic changes. The commit is too big and it would be easier to filter smaller changes and fix and merge them quickly locally rather than having to comment on everything.

i.e. I'd order commits such as some fix an issue you saw, some expose some API you need (one commit for one functionality), some extend existing code, etc.

The reason for the large commit is that for a long time I was developing the Protobuild add-in inline in the IDE code, and only recently separated it out into it's own add-in. The reason for this is that I was expected to have to make far more major changes to MonoDevelop than I had to.

Opening up the New Project Dialog, Node Builders and such shouldn't happen. You may copy the implementations inside your own add-in instead of changing the API here. It would limit what we can do without breaking compatibility and that's something we want to avoid.

I'm not sure this will work because the MonoDevelop code looks for specific implementations of classes. If I can't derive solution / project I'm pretty sure debugging stops work among other things. In particular, if I copied the folder and project file node builders, then they wouldn't get all of the behaviour and contextual menu items that are currently associated with those types.

The alternative to opening these up is to have Protobuild support in the upstream code (like MSBuild project support itself is), but I'm pretty sure you won't want to do this given that none of the upstream contributors are using it.

[slluis]

This adds a GetProjectForTypeSystem method so that the C# completion can get access to the real MSBuild project where types are defined.

You should be aware that we are working on a new project model and type system (based on Roslyn), which will be ready in the next months, and will be included in MD 6.0. At this point, we won't accept big changes on those systems. This needs to be reviewed by @mkrueger.

This adds Suspend and Resume methods to IViewContent

We could add something like that, using the interface proposed above to avoid breaking the api.

Adds runtime registration and deregistration of file handlers in DisplayBindingService. This allows Protobuild projects that are loaded by the IDE to handle additional file types

Looks good.

Makes a bunch of methods public and virtual

I can't accept none of those changes without an explanation. We want to avoid making api public unless really necessary. Also, we try to avoid public virtual members in the api.

[hach-que]

I've added inline comments on the public / virtual changes on why they're needed and where they're used. Some of them I couldn't find references to so when I get a chance I'll try reverting them in the commit and see if everything still builds.

[hach-que]

You should be aware that we are working on a new project model and type system (based on Roslyn), which will be ready in the next months, and will be included in MD 6.0. At this point, we won't accept big changes on those systems. This needs to be reviewed by @mkrueger.

I don't really need to make changes to those systems; I just need a hook point to say "the project that you see in the solution explorer may not be the one you need to use to evaluate the type system". A level of indirection where I can hand back a different project than the one in the solution explorer is all I need to make this work (since in terms of the build and type systems I still want MonoDevelop to be using the actual C# projects and solutions, while being able to present the user with a solution view that's more useful for working with cross-platform projects).

[hach-que]

I'm going to start breaking out this PR into smaller PRs. I'll base those PRs on the roslyn branch so that this stuff will be available in 6.0 (and to allow for those API breaks like IViewContent).

[Therzok]

Sounds good, thanks!