* Categories are used in the user interface to collect plugins into groups that * are meaningful to users. You can use your own category to put all of your * product's plugins into one category. Or, you can place your plugins into * several categories. It's up to you. * *
Packageing Plugins *
To package your plugin, create an uncompressed zip file with the file name * cpXXX.zip, where XXX can be anything you want. (It has to be unique, so use * your company name, or the plugin name, or something like that.) * Put all your classes into that .zip file. At the top level of the .zip archive, * add a file called "netscape_plugin_composer.ini". *
Format of the "netscape_plugin_composer.ini" file. *
It is in standard java "Properties" file format. * The following properties are 'well known', and are used by the composer plugin * framework: *
* netscape.plugin.composer.factory - a single classname of a Factory class. * netscape.plugin.composer.classes - a colon-separated list of the classnames of * the plugins in this archive. * netscape.plugin.composer.eventHandlers - a colon-separated list of the classnames * of the plugins in this archive to execute when an event happens. See Document * for a list of the standard events. **
Your plugin's class name should be listed as the value of the netscape.plugin.composer.classes * property. You can place several plugins in the same plugin file. All the plugin names should be * listed in the netscape.plugin.composer.classes property. *
Alternatively, you can use a factory class to create your plugins at runtime. *
Installing the Plugin *
Put that .zip file in the Netscape Plugins directory (or a subdirectory.) Then restart the * Composer application. * @see netscape.plugin.composer.Factory * @see netscape.plugin.composer.Document * */ public class Plugin { /** The default constructor for a Plugin. If you have a default constructor, it must be public. * so that your plugin can be instantiated by name. (Also, your plugin class must be a public * class so that it can be instantiated by name.) */ public Plugin() {} /** Get the human readable name of the plugin. Defaults to the name of the plugin class. This * text will show up as the text of a menu item. * @return the human readable name of the plugin. */ public String getName() { return getClass().getName(); } /** Get the human readable category text of the plugin. Defaults to the name of the plugin class. This * text will show up as the title of a menu that contains the plugin. If several plugins use the * same category, they will all show up in the same menu. * @return the human readable category of the plugin. */ public String getCategory() { return getClass().getName(); } /** Get the human readable hint text for the plugin. This is a one-sentence description of * what the plugin does. Defaults to the name of the plugin class. This text will * show up in the status line as the user moves the mouse over the plug-in's menu item. * @return the human readable hint for the plugin. */ public String getHint() { return getClass().getName(); } /** Execute the plugin. * Override this method to perform the bulk of your work. * This is where your plugin gets the text out of the document, analyzes it, interacts * with the user, and modifies the text of the document. *
* The rest of the composer user interface is held in a modal state while your plugin * is executing. So either finish quickly, or display a progress dialog, or otherwise * let the user know what's going on. *
* By default this method returns false. * @param document the current document. * @return true if the changes to the document should be permenent. False if the * changes should be cancled. (Return false if the user Cancels the operation.) */ public boolean perform(Document document) throws IOException { return false; } }