Creating an External Executable Approximation Plug-in

You can use the Isight SDK Generator to create an external executable approximation plug-in.

Before you begin: You must have created and compiled an external executable approximation program.

  1. From the Design Gateway Tools menu, select SDK Generator.

    The Isight SDK Generator appears.

  2. From the Isight SDK Generator File menu, select New and select Plug-in.

    The Select a Plug-in Category dialog box appears.

  3. Select Approximation Technique, and click OK.

    The Isight SDK Generator appears showing the Approximation Technique options.

  4. Select Name on the left side of the Isight SDK Generator, and do the following:
    1. In the Full Name text box, enter the path to the new plug-in in the Isight library. You can also click Library to browse the Isight library and select the location of the new plug-in.
    2. In the Display Name text box, enter a name that will appear in the Approximation Wizard.
    3. In the Version text box, enter the version number of the plug-in.
    4. In the Description (Short) text box, enter a short description for the plug-in.
    5. In the (Full) area, enter any content that describes the plug-in using HTML tags to format the text. This HTML formatted text is displayed on the Approximation Wizard when the new plug-in is selected.
  5. Click Technique Options on the left side of the Isight SDK Generator, and configure the appropriate options as follows:
    1. Select Use default sampling options and functions provided by the approximation framework. This option must be selected when you create an external executable approximation plug-in.
    2. Select New to create new technique options. You can use the arrows to change the order of the options.
    3. The default timeout for execution of external executable is 60 seconds, and it cannot be changed by the user of the plug-in, unless the plug-in developer configures it explicitly. To allow the plug-in user to change the timeout, you must create a technique option of type Integer, having name External Executable Timeout (seconds). You can also specify a default value for the technique option. A negative or zero value implies that there will be no timeout for execution of the external executable.
  6. Select Java Wrapper on the left of the Isight SDK Generator.
    1. Select Call external executable directly without a Java wrapper.
    2. Click Add Program to JAR.
    3. Verify that the full name of your new plug-in is correct.
    4. In the Program text box, enter the location of the executable program created previously. You can click Browse to navigate to the file.
    5. From the OS Platform list, select the operating system where you compiled the executable program.
    6. Click Add to JAR file.

      The Isight SDK Generator adds the executable program to your JAR file plug-in.

      Note: The external executable program is published immediately even though the new plug-in may not have been created or published to the library yet.

  7. If desired, save the plug-in as a JAR file in a local directory on disk:
    1. From the Isight SDK Generator File menu, select Save.
    2. Browse to the desired location, enter a name for the JAR file, and click Save.
  8. Publish your new plug-in directly to the Isight library by doing the following:
    1. From the Isight SDK Generator File menu, select Publish.

      The Publish dialog box appears.

    2. Verify that the information is correct.
    3. In the Version text box, enter the version of the plug-in, if needed.
    4. Click Publish.

      The Isight SDK Generator creates a JAR file for the plug-in and publishes it to the Isight library without saving it to the disk.