MEF or a Provider Model?

Question

I'm working on a project that is currently using MEF to import extensions for a console application. I'm looking at the ability to provide more than just console-based output for the application that can be configured to the needs of the user.

I am wondering which way to go in order to provide the extensibility to the output functionality at this point. In the past, I would use a custom provider model to allow the extensions to be configured via the App.config file.

Is there an easy way to selectively manage parts in MEF in a similar way or should I just resort to 2 different extensibility patterns for my project (i.e. MEF importing for the core extensions, and a .net custom provider model for the output management aspects)?

Answer 1

James, from what I remember of MEF in addition to using the attribute import/export model, you can write your own 'provider' model.

You probably should look into the MEF contrib project, which has extensions to the default attributed provider model. IIRC it has an inbuilt configuration based provider model and a fluent programming model.

Check it out:

MEF Contrib project