System and method for associating properties with objects

A computer-readable medium having computer-executable components, comprising:

• a base class including a plurality of properties;
• and
• an attached class including a plurality of attached properties, each of the attached properties capable of being associated with an instance of an object derived from the base class, the attached class further including a static method for associating one of the plurality of attached properties with the instance of the object.

A computer system that uses objects, comprising:

• a first object derived from a first class, the first object including a first set of properties;
• a second class providing a second set of properties to the first object, the second class including a static method operative to attach one of the second set of properties to the first object in response to an operation associated with the first object.

A computer-implemented method for setting a state for a property, comprising:

• declaring a first object having a first set of properties;
• registering one or more dynamic properties that are associated with the first object, the dynamic properties providing a second set of properties to the first object, wherein storage for the second set of properties is not within the first object.

A computer-readable medium having at least one computer executable instruction, comprising:

• an instruction means associating an attached property with an instance of an object derived from another class through a static method in an attached property class.

A computer-readable medium having at least one computer-encoded instruction, the instruction comprising:

• a tag representing a target object;
• an attached property identifier having a provider designator identifying an attached property class and a property identifier identifying a name for the attached property within the attached property class.

A computer-readable medium having at least one computer-encoded instruction, the instruction comprising:

• a XML schema for defining a target object, an attached property class, and an attached property within the attached property class, in such a manner that the attached property becomes associated with the target object without an explicit reference to the attached property in the target object.