org.pentaho.di.core.plugins
Interface PluginInterface

All Known Implementing Classes:
Plugin

public interface PluginInterface

This interface describes the plugin itself, the IDs it listens too, what libraries (jar files) it uses, the names, the i18n detailes, etc.

Author:
matt

Method Summary
 String getCategory()
           
 Map<Class<?>,String> getClassMap()
           
 String getDescription()
           
 String getErrorHelpFile()
           
 String[] getIds()
           
 String getImageFile()
           
 List<String> getLibraries()
           
 Class<?> getMainType()
           
 String getName()
           
 URL getPluginDirectory()
           
 Class<? extends PluginTypeInterface> getPluginType()
           
 boolean isNativePlugin()
           
 boolean isSeparateClassLoaderNeeded()
           
 boolean matches(String id)
           
 

Method Detail

getIds

String[] getIds()
Returns:
All the possible IDs that this plugin corresponds with.
Multiple IDs are typically used when you migrate 2 different plugins into a single one with the same functionality.
It can also happen if you deprecate an older plugin and you want to have a new one provide compatibility for it.

getPluginType

Class<? extends PluginTypeInterface> getPluginType()
Returns:
The type of plugin

getMainType

Class<?> getMainType()
Returns:
The main class assigned to this Plugin.

getLibraries

List<String> getLibraries()
Returns:
The libraries (jar file names) that are used by this plugin

getName

String getName()
Returns:
The name of the plugin

getDescription

String getDescription()
Returns:
The description of the plugin

getImageFile

String getImageFile()
Returns:
The location of the image (icon) file for this plugin

getCategory

String getCategory()
Returns:
The category of this plugin or null if this is not applicable

isSeparateClassLoaderNeeded

boolean isSeparateClassLoaderNeeded()
Returns:
True if a separate class loader is needed every time this class is instantiated

isNativePlugin

boolean isNativePlugin()
Returns:
true if this is considered to be a standard native plugin.

getClassMap

Map<Class<?>,String> getClassMap()
Returns:
All the possible class names that can be loaded with this plugin, split up by type.

matches

boolean matches(String id)
Parameters:
id - the plugin id to match
Returns:
true if one of the ids matches the given argument. Return false if it doesn't.

getErrorHelpFile

String getErrorHelpFile()
Returns:
An optional location to a help file that the plugin can refer to in case there is a loading problem. This usually happens if a jar file is not installed correctly (class not found exceptions) etc.

getPluginDirectory

URL getPluginDirectory()