Packaging and Publishing the Plug-in

Each Calculation plug-in needs an XML MetaModel descriptor.

The following shows the descriptor from the calculator plug-in example (slightly simplified):

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<MetaModel 
name="examples.development.plugins.calculation.StringFunc"
   version="2.0.0"
   supername="com.engineous.system.extension.Extension"
   superversion="2.*.*">
   <Requires>
      <SystemRelease>4.5.0+</SystemRelease>
   </Requires>
   <DisplayName>Example String Functions</DisplayName>
   <Description>Functions for manipulating Strings.</Description>
   <Runtime type="com.engineous.sdk.calc.CalculationPlugin">
      examples.development.plugins.calculation.StringFunc
   </Runtime>
   <PluginTypeName>Calculation</PluginTypeName>
</MetaModel>

Only the three parts that are underlined need to be changed for a new Calculation plug-in. The first is the name the plug-in will have in the Isight Library. The second is a readable name of the plug-in that is displayed in the Import dialog box of the Calculator editor. The third is the fully qualified name of the CalculationPlugin class that provides the list of definedfFunctions and operators. The description is useful but not required.

Once you have an XML Descriptor, CalculationPlugin class, and one or more Function classes, everything needs to be combined into a metamodel jar file.

The jar file requires a manifest file that specifies summary information of the contents of the jar file. The manifest file should be named Manifest.mf and contain the following:

Manifest-Version: 1.0

Name: example/StringFunc.xml
Meta-Model: true

Replace example/StringFunc.xml with the path to the metamodel XML descriptor file within the jar file. It is important to leave one blank line between the Manifest Version and the Name: line.

Build the jar file by running a command similar to the following from the directory containing the manifest file (setting the name of the file, manifest, and the directory containing the XML Descriptor and class files):

jar -cvfm StringFunc.jar Manifest.mf -C classDir

Publish the jar file to the Isight library by doing one of the following:

  • Enter the following at the command line: fipercmd publish file:StringFunc.jar

  • Click Publish in the Isight library.