Plugin builder

[Bitmonster]

This is just an idea that came to my mind recently and I post it here to remind myself of it and to collect additional ideas and opinions.

The idea is to create plugins that are build by normal macros but look like plugins from the user perspective.

So the developer can build a EventGhost folder full of macros consisting of already defined actions like StartApplication, FindWindow, SendMessage, SendKeys, PythonScript and so on. The macros will get additional properties for the description, icon and such and the same for the root folder and possible sub-folders (that act as subgroups later). After he has finished it so far, the developer can press a magical button and this whole folder is stuffed inside a file that a user can load as a plugin.

Thus the root folder will get a plugin, sub-folders will get sub-groups for actions, macros will get actions and the end-user will not see the actual actions inside, because they are only implementation details.

This might also replace the need for an import/export function and actually supersedes it, because this way the "plugin" can be changed (for example because the target program has changed its window names) without the need that the end-user has to change its configuration.

And this way people without programming skills, but a deeper knowledge of automation tasks can create full featured plugins.

[CollinR]

And this way people without programming skills, but a deeper knowledge of automation tasks can create full featured plugins.

Well thank you for thinking of me.

I think this is a great idea! The only thing not mentioned that I feel would add to it is the ability to include/extend existing plugins.

In the SageTV plugin...

If the user has the web interface installed they can multiply the current plugin by the number of clients on the system using wget or most likely native EventGhost web requests. Specifically they can issue a command that will put any client to sleep, thus freeing up it's tuner slot. This is very valueable to SageTV as often the guests/kids/wife fall asleep in one room while watching live TV taking up an encoder all night. You get the all tuners busy error.

So the SageTV plugin would need to ask local/remote, server address and port, user/PW and context (MAC address), the rest stays the same. If local is chosen the action configures as normal. If remote is chosen the command will use the web interface instead.

Obviously this would allow for an easy x10 plugin too, x10 command line interface is about as easy as it comes.

[krambriw]

Wonderful idea!

Would this also cover scripts?

If so I could see need for a feature where you "tag" script variables and they will then be displayed and "editable" in the gui.

Best regards, Walter

[Pako]

The idea is to create plugins that are build by normal macros but look like plugins from the user perspective.

Good idea, but to me personally more is absent something else :

In the future EG will get an object that can be configured to the keys the user wants, but currently some scripting is needed.

Source: http://www.eventghost.org/forum/viewtop ... cript#p263
Pako