Configuration File Schema Reference

The basic format of a PostSharp configuration file is as follows:

<Project xmlns="http://schemas.postsharp.org/1.0/configuration" xmlns:x="http://schemas.postsharp.org/1.0/configuration">

  <!-- The following elements must appear in the proper order. -->  

  <License Value="[<license-key>|<url>](;[<license-key>|<url>])*"/>

  <Property Name="<string>" Value="<expression:string>" Overwrite="[true|false]" Sealed="[true|false]" Deferred="[true|false]" Condition="<expression:bool>" />
  
  <SearchPath Path="<expression:string>(;<expression:string>)*" ReferenceDirectory="<expression:string>" PathKind="[File|Directory]" Condition="<expression:bool>" />
  
  <Using File="<expression:string>" ProjectName="<expression:string>" Condition="<expression:bool>" />

  <SectionType LocalName="<string>" Namespace="<string>" />

  <Service TypeName="<string>" AssemblyFile="<string>" Condition="<expression:bool>" />

  <!-- The rest of the file contains extension elements defined using <SectionType /> elements. 
       PostSharp itself defines the following extension elements: -->

  <Multicast>
    <MyMulticastAspect MyAttributeName="<value>" xmlns="clr-namespace:<namespace>;assembly:<assembly>" x:Condition="<expression:bool>" />
  </Multicast>

  <LoggingProfiles xmlns="clr-namespace:PostSharp.Patterns.Diagnostics;assembly:PostSharp.Patterns.Diagnostics" x:Condition="<expression:bool>">
    <LoggingProfile
                Name="<string>"
                OnEntryLevel="<LogLevel>"
                OnSuccessLevel="<LogLevel>"
                OnExceptionLevel="<LogLevel>"
                OnEntryOptions="<LogOptions>"
                OnSuccessOptions="<LogOptions>"
                OnSuccessOptions="<LogOptions>"/>
  </LoggingProfiles>

</Project>

Schema elements

The configuration file includes these elements, described in detail in subsequent sections in this topic:

Project

This element is the root of the configuration file.

License

This element allows loading one or more license keys.

Attribute	Type	Description
Value	string	Required. A semicolon-separated list of license keys, or an URL to the license server.

SearchPath

This element adds a file or a directory to the list of paths in which PostSharp searches for assemblies and plug-ins.

Attribute	Type	Description
Path	string expression	Required. A semicolon-separated list of files or directories that must be added to the path.
PathKind	File or Directory	Optional. Specifies the kind of items contained in the Path property. If this property is not specified, the item kind is automatically determined for each individual item of the Path property.
ReferenceDirectory	string expression	Optional. The directory from which relative paths in the Path property.
Condition	boolean expression	Optional. `true` if the element is considered, `false` if it must be ignored.

Using

This element imports another configuration file into the current project.

Attribute	Type	Description
File	string expression	Required. Name of the file to be imported. Unless the name is qualified by a relative or absolute path, the file will be searched for using the search path. In this case, a file with extension psplugin or dll will be searched.
ProjectName	string	Optional. In case that a single dll includes several configurations, specifies which configuration should be loaded.
Condition	boolean expression	Optional. `true` if the element is considered, `false` if it must be ignored.

SectionType

This element defines custom sections for the current project. Custom sections can appear under the Project element under all system-defined elements.

Attribute	Type	Description
LocalName	string	Required. The local name of the XML element representing the custom section.
Namespace	string	Required. The namespace of the XML element representing the custom section.

Property

This element defines a property for the current project.

Attribute	Type	Description
Name	string	Required. The property name.
Value	string expression	Required. The value that is assigned to the property.
Overwrite	boolean	Optional. `true` if the element will overwrite any previously-defined property of the same name, otherwise `false`. The default value is `true`.
Sealed	boolean	Optional. `true` if an attempt to overwrite this property should result in an error, otherwise `false`. The default value is `false`.
Deferred	boolean	Optional. `true` if the expression in the Value attribute should be dynamically evaluated every time the property value is requested, or `false` if the expression should be set at the time the property is defined. The default value is `false`.
Condition	boolean expression	Optional. `true` if the element is considered, `false` if it must be ignored.

Service

This element registers a service to the service locator for the current project.

Attribute	Type	Description
TypeName	string	Required. The full type name implementing the service. This class must have a public parameterless constructor and implement the IService interface.
AssemblyFile	string expression	Optional. The path of the assembly defining the service class. If the attribute is not provided, the type will be searched for in the assembly being currently processed by PostSharp.
Condition	boolean expression	Optional. `true` if the element is considered, `false` if it must be ignored.

Multicast

This element can be used to add aspects, policies or constraints to a project without adding the C# project as custom attributes. Adding elements to this section is equivalent to adding them to source code at assembly level.

The Multicast section is convenient to add aspect to several projects from a single file.

For details regarding this section, see Including CLR Objects in Configuration.

Order of processing of configuration files

Elements of configuration files are processed in the following order:

License elements are loaded.
Property elements are loaded. Properties are evaluated at this moment unless they are marked for deferred evaluation.
SearchPath elements are loaded.
Using elements are loaded and referenced plug-ins and configuration files are immediately loaded.
SectionType elements are loaded.
Service elements are loaded, but they are not yet instantiated.
Extension elements are loaded, but they are not evaluated at this moment.
Finally, services and other tasks are instantiated and the project is executed.