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Client plugins are java Java classes contained in jar files stored under /{servoyInstall}/application_server/plugins/ folder, and by which you can add new features can be added to Servoy Developer.

Plugins can be developed in any Java development environment, like Eclipse for example.

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• Create a new Java Project.
• Add a set of needed Servoy libraries.
  

  The minimal set of libraries may be found in /{servoyInstall}/application_server/lib/ folder, and is the following:
  - j2db.jar
  - j2dbdev.jar
  - js.jar
  - wicket.jar

  Info
  You can define a A 'User Library' can be defined in Window > Preferences which will be available for all future relevant projects. You can name Name it 'Servoy', for example.

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A package is a neat way in Java to organize libraries coming from arbitrary sources and make them work together without problems of "'Name collision"'.

You The developer can name the package whatever you they want, but, by convention, the package hierarchy should reflect your the domain name (if you have there is any) in reverse (from domain to sub-domains). This will avoid name collision with any other libraries, and will spare you the developer from having to type the "'fully qualified name" ' in your their code; Eclipse will automatically do that for you.

Example

This is an example of naming a package: com.servoy.plugins.whois  whois  - where 'com.servoy' is a prefix which follows the rule listed above, and 'whois' is the plugin name.

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In order to implement a client plugin, you need to create a class that implements one or more of the three interfaces: IServerPlugin, ISmartClientPlugin, and IClientPlugin.

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Implement the Script Object

The method method getStriptObject inherited by IClientPlugin from IScriptableProvider interface, returns the object that will provide the plugin with scripting properties and methods. So, by convention, it is called a Provider.

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In order to specify which methods are what, you need to use the JavaDoc annotations system which identifies getter/setter methods for plugin properties, as well as function methods for the plugin functions. The JavaDoc annotation system is also used for documenting the plugin.

For a proper understanding of how to use JavaDoc and how to build the documentation of your a plugin, see Documenting your plugin the Plugin Api.

Example

This example shows the implementation of the WhoisPluginProvider - the scriptable object which provides the behavior for the "'whois" ' plugin.

The plugin will expose an overloaded guery overloaded query method, as well as three other properties: port, server, and and timeout.

The main main query method contains JavaDoc which provides a description of the function and a sample. The other overloaded methods will display the same description and sample, having them copied via via @clonedesc and and @sampleas annotations from the main method.

@ServoyDocumented(publicName = WhoisPlugin.PLUGIN_NAME, scriptingName = "plugins." + WhoisPlugin.PLUGIN_NAME)
public class WhoisPluginProvider implements IScriptable, IReturnedTypesProvider {

    @Override
    public Class<?>[] getAllReturnedTypes() {
        return null;
    }
    
    private String server = "whois.networksolutions.com";
    private int port = 43;
    private int timeout = 30 * 1000; // unit is milliseconds
    
    @JSGetter
    public String getServer() {
        return server;
    }

    @JSSetter
    public void setServer(String server) {
        this.server = server;
    }

    @JSGetter
    public int getPort() {
        return port;
    }

    @JSSetter
    public void setPort(int port) {
        this.port = port;
    }

    @JSGetter
    public int getTimeout() {
        return timeout;
    }

    @JSSetter
    public void setTimeout(int timeout) {
        this.timeout = timeout;
    }

    /**
     * @clonedesc query(String, String, int, int)
     * @sampleas query(String, String, int, int)
     * @param domainName
     */
    @JSFunction
    public String query(String domainName) {
        return query(domainName, this.server, this.port, this.timeout);
    }
    
    /**
     * @clonedesc query(String, String, int, int)
     * @sampleas query(String, String, int, int)
     * @param domainName
     * @param server
     */
    @JSFunction
    public String query(String domainName, String server) {
        return query(domainName, server, this.port, this.timeout);
    }
    
    /**
     * @clonedesc query(String, String, int, int)
     * @sampleas query(String, String, int, int)
     * @param domaninName
     * @param server
     * @param port
     */
    @JSFunction
    public String query(String domainName, String server, int port) {
        return query(domainName, server, port, this.timeout);
    }
    
    /**
     * Calls a whois server to retrieve information about the provided domain name you provide
     * 
     * @sample
     * // you call a whois server by providing a domain name and get info in return
     * var result = plugins.whois.query('servoy.com');
     * // alternatively you can, provide an alternate server (default is networksolutions.com)
     * var result = plugins.whois.query('servoy.com', 'whois.internic.net');
     * // you can also provide a port, if not standard (43 by deafault)
     * var result = plugins.whois.query('servoy.com', 'whois.internic.net', 43);
     * // and you can also provide a timeout length (unit is milliseconds, default is 30 seconds)
     * var result = plugins.whois.query('servoy.com', 'whois.internic.net', 43, 50000);
     * 
     * @param domainName
     * @param server
     * @param port
     * @param timeout
     * @return
     */
    @JSFunction
    public String query(String domainName, String server, int port, int timeout) {
        try {
            // create the socket
            Socket socket = new Socket(server, port);
            socket.setSoTimeout(timeout);
            // create a reader to get the response from the server
            BufferedReader in = new BufferedReader(new InputStreamReader(socket.getInputStream()));
            // create an output stream to send our query to the server
            DataOutputStream out = new DataOutputStream(socket.getOutputStream());
            // call the service with the domainName supplied
            // and terminate with carriage return)
            out.writeBytes(domainName + " \r\n");
            // read the response from the server
            String str1 = null;
            StringBuffer buffer = new StringBuffer();
            while ((str1 = in.readLine()) != null) {
                buffer.append(str1);
                buffer.append("\r\n");
            }
            // close our stream and reader
            out.close();
            in.close();
            // close the socket
            socket.close();
            // return the result as String
            return buffer.toString();
        } catch (IOException ioEx) {
            return ioEx.getLocalizedMessage();
        } catch (Exception ex) {
            return ex.getLocalizedMessage();
        }
    }
}

Entry Points

Since the class which implements the IServerPlugin, ISmartClientPlugin or IClientPlugin is one file among many inside your the jar, you should it's advised indicate which file is the plugin entry point.

The plugin jar can use Java Service Provider to expose Servoy Plugin classes. There should be a file inside the plugin jar at the path: META-INF/services/com.servoy.j2db.plugins.IPlugin which contains a line for each class in the jar that  implements IPlugin). The plugin should also have a default constructor (with no parameters). If file file com.servoy.j2db.plugins.IPlugin is missing or contains invalid entries Servoy will automatically scan the jar for all classes that implement interface IPlugin. An example of file content content (for whois plugin) is:

com.servoy.plugins.whois.WhoisPlugin

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• Right click on the project and choose Export > Java > JAR file.

• Click Next

  Note
  You can Optionally, deselect the the .classpath and and .project files to avoid polluting your the jar with unwanted files only used by Eclipse.

  Select the export destination. You One may choose to export the jar directly into your the /{servoyInstall}/application_server/plugins directory.

• Click Next
  

  Leave the 2 'Export class files…' checked, and check the 'Save the description of this JAR in the workspace'. Use the browse button to navigate to your the project, and give a name to your the definition. Eclipse automatically adds the 'jardesc' extension.

  Info

  What is nice about this option is that the next time you will want the developer wants to deploy your the jar (with modified sources for example), all you they will have need to do is right-click on the file 'file xxx.jardesc' in the Package explorer and choose 'Create JAR' in the menu, with no need to go through all the Export dialogs each time you a change something occurs in your the plugin that's being developed.

• Click Next once more. You may leave Leave it as is, or choose other options.

• Finish.

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When opening the Servoy Developer, you should see the plugin it should be visible under Plugins node in Solution Explorer.

Example #1 This example shows how the 'whois' plugin is displayed in the Solution Explorer. Notice the overloaded function function query and the three properties.

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Example #2 This example shows a small sample solution 'WhoisTest' which tests the 'whois' plugin.

We have The solution has a simple test form with two fields based on two form variables domainName and and result, and a button button Query whois whose action will call the query function.

The Form Editor

The Script Editor

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