Provided by: tcllib_1.21+dfsg-1_all bug

NAME

       pluginmgr - Manage a plugin

SYNOPSIS

       package require Tcl  8.4

       package require pluginmgr  ?0.3?

       ::pluginmgr objectName ?option value...?

       ::pluginmgr::paths objectName name...

       objectName method ?arg arg ...?

       objectName clone

       objectName configure

       objectName configure option

       objectName configure -option value...

       objectName cget -option

       objectName destroy

       objectName do arg...

       objectName interpreter

       objectName plugin

       objectName load string

       objectName unload

       objectName list

       objectName path path

       objectName paths

_________________________________________________________________________________________________

DESCRIPTION

       This package provides commands and objects for the generic management of plugins which can
       be loaded into an application.

       To avoid the implementation of yet another system to locate Tcl code the  system  provides
       by  this  package is built on top of the regular package management system. Each plugin is
       considered as a package and a simple invokation of package require is enough to locate and
       load  it,  if  it  exists.  The  only  time we will need additional paths is when a plugin
       manager is part of a wrapped application and has to be able to search for plugins existing
       outside of that application. For this situation the package provides a command to create a
       general set of such paths based on names for the  plugin  manager  and/or  application  in
       question.

       The  main  contribution  of  this  package  is  a  generic framework which allows the easy
       declaration of

       [1]    How to translate a plugin name to the name of the package implementing it, and vice
              versa.

       [2]    The  list  of  commands  a  plugin  has to provide as API, and also of more complex
              checks as code.

       [3]    The list of commands expected by the plugin from the environment.

       This then allows the easy generation of plugin managers customized to particular types  of
       plugins for an application.

       It  should  be  noted  that  all  plugin  code  is considered untrusted and will always be
       executed within a safe interpreter. The interpreter is enabled enough to allow plugins the
       loading of all additional packages they may need.

PUBLIC API

   PACKAGE COMMANDS
       ::pluginmgr objectName ?option value...?
              This  command  creates  a  new plugin manager object with an associated Tcl command
              whose name is objectName. This object command is explained in full  detail  in  the
              sections  OBJECT  COMMAND  and  OBJECT  METHODS. The object command will be created
              under the current namespace if the objectName is not fully qualified,  and  in  the
              specified namespace otherwise.

              The  options  and  their values coming after the name of the object are used to set
              the initial configuration of the mamager object, specifying the applicable  plugins
              and their API.

       ::pluginmgr::paths objectName name...
              This  utility  command  adds  a  set of paths to the specified object, based on the
              given names.  It will search for:

              [1]    The environment variable name_PLUGINS. Its contents will be interpreted as a
                     list  of  package paths. The entries have to be separated by either : (unix)
                     or ; (windows).

                     The name will be converted to upper-case letters.

              [2]    The registry entry "HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\name\PLUGINS".  Its contents
                     will  be  interpreted  as  a  list  of package paths. The entries have to be
                     separated by ;. This item is considered only when on Windows (tm).

                     The casing of letters is not changed.

              [3]    The registry entry "HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\name\PLUGINS".  Its  contents
                     will  be  interpreted  as  a  list  of package paths. The entries have to be
                     separated by ;. This item is considered only when on Windows (tm).

                     The casing of letters is not changed.

              [4]    The directory "~/.name/plugin".

              [5]    The directory "~/.name/plugins".

                     The casing of letters is not changed.

       and add all the paths found that way to the  list  of  package  paths  maintained  by  the
       object.

       If  name  is  namespaced  each  item in the list will be repeated per prefix of name, with
       conversion of :-sequences into the proper separator (underscore for environment variables,
       backslash for registry entries, and / for directories).

       Examples:

                  ::pluginmgr::paths ::obj docidx

                  => env  DOCIDX_PLUGINS
                     reg  HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\docidx\PLUGINS
                     reg  HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\docidx\PLUGINS
                     path ~/.docidx/plugins

                  ::pluginmgr::paths ::obj doctools::idx

                  => env  DOCTOOLS_PLUGINS
                     env  DOCTOOLS_IDX_PLUGINS
                     reg  HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\doctools\PLUGINS
                     reg  HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\doctools\idx\PLUGINS
                     reg  HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\doctools\PLUGINS
                     reg  HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\doctools\idx\PLUGINS
                     path ~/.doctools/plugin
                     path ~/.doctools/idx/plugin

   OBJECT COMMAND
       All  commands  created  by the command ::pluginmgr (See section PACKAGE COMMANDS) have the
       following general form and may be used  to  invoke  various  operations  on  their  plugin
       manager object.

       objectName method ?arg arg ...?
              The  method  method and its arg'uments determine the exact behavior of the command.
              See section OBJECT METHODS for the detailed specifications.

   OBJECT METHODS
       objectName clone
              This method creates a new plugin  management  object  and  returns  the  associated
              object  command.  The  generated  object  is  a  clone of the object the method was
              invoked on. I.e. the new object will have the same  configuration  as  the  current
              object.  With  regard to state, if the current object has a plugin loaded then this
              plugin and all associated state is moved to the generated  clone  and  the  current
              object is reset into the base state (no plugin loaded). In this manner a configured
              plugin manager is also a factory for loaded plugins.

       objectName configure
              The method returns a list of all known options and their current values when called
              without any arguments.

       objectName configure option
              The  method  behaves  like  the  method cget when called with a single argument and
              returns the value of the option specified by said argument.

       objectName configure -option value...
              The method reconfigures the specified options of the object, setting  them  to  the
              associated values, when called with an even number of arguments, at least two.

              The legal options are described in the section OBJECT CONFIGURATION.

       objectName cget -option
              This  method  expects  a legal configuration option as argument and will return the
              current value of that option for the object the method was invoked for.

              The legal configuration options are described in section OBJECT CONFIGURATION.

       objectName destroy
              This method destroys the object it is invoked for.

       objectName do arg...
              This method interprets its list of arguments as the words of a command and  invokes
              this  command  in  the  execution context of the plugin.  The result of the invoked
              command is made the result of the method.  The call will fail with an error  if  no
              valid plugin has been loaded into the manager object.

       objectName interpreter
              This method returns the handle of the safe interpreter the current plugin is loaded
              into. An empty string as return value signals that the  manager  currently  has  no
              valid plugin loaded.

       objectName plugin
              This  method  returns  the  name of the plugin currently loaded. An empty string as
              return value signals that the manager currently has no valid plugin loaded.

       objectName load string
              This method loads, validates, and initializes  a  named  plugin  into  the  manager
              object.

              The algorithm to locate and load the plugin employed is:

              [1]    If  the string contains the path to an existing file then this file is taken
                     as the implementation of the plugin.

              [2]    Otherwise the plugin name is translated into a package name via the value of
                     the option -pattern and then loaded through the regular package management.

              [3]    The load fails.

       The algorithm to validate and initialize the loaded code is:

              [1]    If the option -api is non-empty introspection commands are used to ascertain
                     that the plugin provides the listed commands.

              [2]    If the option -check is non-empty the specified command prefix is called.

              [3]    If either of the above fails the candidate plugin is unloaded again

              [4]    Otherwise all the commands specified via the option -cmds are  installed  in
                     the plugin.

       A  previously  loaded  plugin  is  discarded,  but  only  if  the new plugin was found and
       sucessfully validated and initialized. Note that there will be  no  intereference  between
       old and new plugin as both will be put into separate safe interpreters.

       objectName unload
              This  method  unloads the currently loaded plugin. It returns the empty string. The
              call will be silently ignored if no plugin is loaded at all.

       objectName list
              This method uses the contents of the option -pattern to find all packages which can
              be plugins under the purview of this manager object. It translates their names into
              plugin names and returns a list containing them.

       objectName path path
              This methods adds the specified path to the list of  additional  package  paths  to
              look  at  when searching for a plugin. It returns the empty string. Duplicate paths
              are ignored, i.e. each path is added only once. Paths are made  absolute,  but  are
              not normalized.

       objectName paths
              This method returns a list containing all additional paths which have been added to
              the plugin manager object since its creation.

   OBJECT CONFIGURATION
       All plugin manager objects understand the following configuration options:

       -pattern string
              The value of this option is a  glob  pattern  which  has  to  contain  exactly  one
              '*'-operator.  All  packages  whose  names  match  this  pattern  are  the  plugins
              recognized  by  the  manager  object.  And  vice  versa,  the  replacement  of  the
              '*'-operator  with  a  plugin  name will yield the name of the package implementing
              that plugin.

              This option has no default, except if option -name was  set.   It  has  to  be  set
              before attempting to load a plugin, either directly, or through option -name.

       -api list
              The  value  of this option is a list of command names, and any plugin loaded has to
              provide these commands. Names which are not fully qualified are  considered  to  be
              rooted  in  the global namespace.  If empty no expectations are made on the plugin.
              The default value is the empty list.

       -check cmdprefix
              The value of this option is interpreted as a command prefix.   Its  purpose  is  to
              perform complex checks on a loaded plugin package to validate it, which go beyond a
              simple list of provided commands.

              It is called with the manager object command as the only argument and has to return
              a  boolean  value.  A  value of true will be interpreted to mean that the candidate
              plugin passed the test.  The call will happen if and only if the  candidate  plugin
              already passed the basic API check specified through the option -api.

              The  default  value  is the empty list, which causes the manager object to suppress
              the call and to assume the candidate plugin passes.

       -cmds dict
              The value of this option is a dictionary.  It specifies the commands which will  be
              made available to the plugin (as keys), and the trusted commands in the environment
              which implement them (as values).  The trusted commands will  be  executed  in  the
              interpreter  specified  by  the  option  -cmdip.   The  default  value is the empty
              dictionary.

       -cmdip ipspec
              The value of this option is the path of the interpreter where the trusted  commands
              given  to  the  plugin  will  be  executed  in.   The  default is the empty string,
              referring to the current interpreter.

       -setup cmdprefix
              The value of this option is interpreted as a command prefix.

              It is called whenever a new safe interpreter for a plugin  has  been  created,  but
              before  a  plugin is loaded. It is provided with the manager object command and the
              interpreter handle as its only arguments. Any return value will be ignored.

              Its purpose is give a user of the plugin management the ability to define commands,
              packages, etc. a chosen plugin may need while being loaded.

BUGS, IDEAS, FEEDBACK

       This  document,  and  the  package  it  describes, will undoubtedly contain bugs and other
       problems.   Please  report  such  in  the  category  pluginmgr  of  the  Tcllib   Trackers
       [http://core.tcl.tk/tcllib/reportlist].  Please also report any ideas for enhancements you
       may have for either package and/or documentation.

       When proposing code changes, please provide unified diffs, i.e the output of diff -u.

       Note further that attachments are strongly preferred over inlined patches. Attachments can
       be  made  by going to the Edit form of the ticket immediately after its creation, and then
       using the left-most button in the secondary navigation bar.

KEYWORDS

       plugin management, plugin search

CATEGORY

       Programming tools

COPYRIGHT

       Copyright (c) 2005 Andreas Kupries <andreas_kupries@users.sourceforge.net>