You can use Microsoft Visual Basic to create a Forefront Identity Manager Synchronization Service (FIM Synchronization Service) database (metaverse) rules extension for FIM Synchronization Service. There are two ways to create the project files for rules extensions:

Using Synchronization Service Manager is the easiest way to create the project. The Synchronization Service Manager creates the necessary files and automatically makes the reference to the Microsoft.MetadirectoryServices assembly. However, using the Synchronization Service Manager to create your project files limits you to creating your rules extension on the same system where FIM Synchronization Service is installed. For more information about using Synchonization Service Manager to create the project files, see How to: Create Metaverse Rules Extensions.

If you want to create your rules extension on a different system, you can use Visual Studio 2008 to create the project files. You must copy the Microsoft.MetadirectoryServices.dll assembly to your development system and manually create a reference to the assembly. You can find the assembly in the bin\assemblies folder of the FIM Synchronization Service program folder. The default folder for FIM Synchronization Service is %ProgramFiles%\Microsoft Forefront Identity Manager\2010\Synchronization Service\bin\assemblies\.

To create the rules extension using Visual Studio 2008, you must follow these steps in the order in which they appear.

To create a new Visual Basic class library project

  1. Click Start, point to All Programs, and then click Microsoft Visual Studio 2008.

    The Visual Studio 2008 development environment appears.

  2. On the File menu, point to New, and then click Project.

  3. In the New Project dialog box, under Project Types, click Visual Basic.

  4. On the Template menu, click Class Library.

  5. In the Name box, type the name of your rules extension, and then click Browse.

  6. Browse to the location where you want to store the project files, click Open, and then click OK. Your project name now appears in Solution Explorer.

Note:
We recommend that you store the project on your local computer instead of a network location.

To add a reference to the Microsoft.MetadirectoryServices assembly

  1. On the Project menu in Visual Studio 2008, click Add Reference.

  2. In the Add Reference dialog box, on the .NET tab, click Microsoft.MetadirectoryServices, and then click OK. If the file does not appear in the Component Name list, click the Browse tab. Browse to the folder that contains the assembly file, click Microsoft.MetadirectoryServices, and then click Open.

  3. Click OK to close the Add Reference dialog box.

    In Solution Explorer, Microsoft.MetadirectoryServices now appears as one of the references.

To copy the code to the code pane and make changes to the code

  1. Delete the existing code in the code pane, and then copy and paste the following code example in the code pane.

    Visual Basic  Copy Code
    Imports Microsoft.MetadirectoryServices
    
    ' Replace <sample extension object name> with the name of your rules extension
    ' class. If you do not replace <sample extension object name> with the name of 
    ' your rules extension class, you will not be able to compile this file.
    
    Public Class <sample extension object name>
    	Implements IMVSynchronization
    
    	Public Sub Initialize() Implements IMvSynchronization.Initialize
    
    		' TODO: Add initialization code here.
    	End Sub
    
    	Public Sub Terminate() Implements IMvSynchronization.Terminate
    
    		' TODO: Add termination code here.
    	End Sub
    
    	Public Sub Provision(ByVal mventry As MVEntry) _
    						Implements IMVSynchronization.Provision
    
    		' TODO: Remove this throw statement if you implement this method.
    		Throw New EntryPointNotImplementedException()
    	End Sub
    
    	Public Function ShouldDeleteFromMV(ByVal csentry As CSEntry, _
    									 ByVal mventry As MVEntry) _
    									 As Boolean Implements IMVSynchronization.ShouldDeleteFromMV
    
    		' TODO: Add MV deletion code here.
    		Throw New EntryPointNotImplementedException()
    	End Function
    End Class
    
  2. In the code, replace all instances of <sample extension object name> with the name of your rules extension class. Be sure to remove the angle brackets (< >).

To build the class library

  1. On the Build menu, click Build Solution.

    If the following message appears, the rules extension was successfully built:

      Copy Code
    ------ Build started: Project: Management Agent Rules Extension, Configuration: Debug .NET ------
    
    Preparing resources...
    Updating references...
    Performing main compilation...
    Building satellite assemblies...
    
    
    
    ---------------------- Done ----------------------
    
    	Build: 1 succeeded, 0 failed, 0 skipped
    

    The rules extension file, which has a .dll extension, is in the bin\Debug folder of your project folder.

    Before you use the rules extension, install it in the FIM Synchronization Service rules extensions folder. The default folder for rules extensions is %ProgramFiles%\Microsoft Forefront Identity Manager\2010\Synchronization Service\Extensions.

The following procedure is optional. You can set Visual Studio 2008 to install the rules extension automatically in the extensions folder as part of the build process.

To install the rules extension in the rules extensions folder

  1. In Solution Explorer, click your class library project.

  2. On the View menu, click Property Pages.

    There are two folders in the Property Pages dialog box: Common Properties and Configuration Properties.

  3. Open the Configuration Properties folder. In the Configuration drop-down list, click All Configurations.

  4. In the left pane of the Property Pages dialog box, click Build.

  5. In the Output Path box, type the name of the rules extensions folder, or browse to the location of the rules extensions folder. The default folder for rules extensions is %ProgramFiles%\Microsoft Forefront Identity Manager\2010\Synchronization Service\Extensions.

See Also