Getting resource custom attributes/fields should be as easy as setting them

[rickatnight11]

Is your feature request related to a problem? Please describe. I'm developing an app to manage VMs (i.e. stop, start, reboot) in a hybrid environment based on custom attributes (to match similar behavior on AWS and Azure hosts using tags). Setting VM tags on a VirtualMachine object is as easy as:

vm.SetCustomValue(ctx, "some-custom-attribute", "some-value")

....whereas getting the current values requires a complicated lookup from the ManagedObjectReference via a CustomFieldManager like:

m, err := object.GetCustomFieldsManager(client.Client)
paths := make(map[types.ManagedObjectReference]string)
var refs []types.ManagedObjectReference
for _, vm := range vms {
	refs = append(refs, vm.Reference())
	paths[vm.Reference()] = vm.InventoryPath
}
var entities []mo.ManagedEntity
err = property.DefaultCollector(client.Client).Retrieve(ctx, refs, []string{"name", "customValue"}, &entities)
matches := func(key int32) bool {
	return true
}
field, err := m.Field(ctx)
vmtagmap := map[string]map[string]string{}
for _, entity := range entities {
	vmtagmap[entity.Name] = map[string]string{}
	for i := range entity.CustomValue {
		val := entity.CustomValue[i].(*types.CustomFieldStringValue)
		if !matches(val.Key) {
			continue
		}
		vmtagmap[entity.Name][field.ByKey(val.Key).Name] = val.Value
	}
}

Describe the solution you'd like It would be amazingly convenient for the VirtualMachine object (and other similar resource objects), itself, to have a function that returns a list of key-value custom attributes/fields, like so:

vm.CustomValues // returns map[string]string of key/values
vm.GetCustomValue(keyname) // returns string of value

In this way custom attributes would actually behave like attributes of the resource they're supposed to be attached to, rather than a lookup for a totally separate resource.

Describe alternatives you've considered A clear and concise description of any alternative solutions or features you've considered.

Additional context My use-case only needs this for VMs, but I imagine all resources (or perhaps generically just Common) would greatly benefit.

[github-actions[bot]]

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[github-actions[bot]]

This issue is stale because it has been open for 90 days with no activity. It will automatically close after 30 more days of inactivity. Mark as fresh by adding the comment /remove-lifecycle stale.

[rickatnight11]

/remove-lifecycle stale

[rickatnight11]

/remove-lifecycle stale

[github-actions[bot]]

This issue is stale because it has been open for 90 days with no activity. It will automatically close after 30 more days of inactivity. Mark as fresh by adding the comment /remove-lifecycle stale.

[rickatnight11]

Not stale.

[rickatnight11]

/remove-lifecycle stale

[rickatnight11]

/remove-lifecycle stale

[github-actions[bot]]

This issue is stale because it has been open for 90 days with no activity. It will automatically close after 30 more days of inactivity. Mark as fresh by adding the comment /remove-lifecycle stale.

[rickatnight11]

/remove-lifecycle stale

[github-actions[bot]]

This issue is stale because it has been open for 90 days with no activity. It will automatically close after 30 more days of inactivity. Mark as fresh by adding the comment /remove-lifecycle stale.

[rickatnight11]

/remove-lifecycle stale

/remove-lifecycle stale