changeset 20808:e96daf6bc511

I basically copied most of http://developer.pidgin.im/wiki/CHowTo/ChoosingPluginIds into plugin-ids.dox.
author Will Thompson <will.thompson@collabora.co.uk>
date Sun, 07 Oct 2007 19:07:06 +0000
parents e0613cf8c493
children de042c768169
files doc/plugin-ids.dox
diffstat 1 files changed, 74 insertions(+), 22 deletions(-) [+]
line wrap: on
line diff
--- a/doc/plugin-ids.dox	Sun Oct 07 18:49:50 2007 +0000
+++ b/doc/plugin-ids.dox	Sun Oct 07 19:07:06 2007 +0000
@@ -2,10 +2,10 @@
 
  @section Introduction
   Every plugin contains a unique identifier to prevent duplicate plugin
-  loading and conflicts. This, which will be called a plugin ID from here
-  on, must follow a specific format. This format categorizes a plugin and
-  makes duplicate IDs unlikely.
-
+  loading and conflicts. Third-party plugins (that is, plugins written by
+  anyone who is not a libpurple, Pidgin, or Finch developer) are expected
+  to use a plugin ID that follows a specific format. This format
+  categorizes plugins and makes duplicate IDs highly unlikely.
 
  @section Format
   The basic format of a plugin ID is as follows:
@@ -15,27 +15,79 @@
   The @em type indicator specifies the type of plugin. This must be one
   of the following:
 
-    - core      - Core plugin, capable of being loaded in any program using
-                  libpurple. It must not use any UI-specific code.
-    - prpl      - Protocol plugin, providing additional protocols to
-                  connect to.
-    - lopl      - Loader plugin, which loads scripts as plugins (like Perl
-                  or TCL).
-    - gtk       - GTK+ 2.x plugin. It may use GTK+ code, but cannot use any
-                  window toolkit code (such as X11 or Win32).
-    - gtk-x11   - GTK+ 2.x plugin using X11 code.
-    - gtk-win32 - GTK+ 2.x plugin using Win32 code.
-    - qpe       - Gaim for Qtopia plugin.
+    - core      - A core libpurple plugin, capable of being loaded in any
+                  program using libpurple. Core plugins may not contain any
+                  UI-specific code.
+    - prpl      - A protocol plugin. This is a special type of core plugin,
+                  which provides libpurple the ability to connect to
+                  another IM or chat network.
+    - lopl      - A loader plugin, which loads scripts as plugins. Perl and
+                  Tcl plugins are made possible by loader plugins.
+    - gtk       - A GTK+ 2.x (a.k.a. Pidgin) plugin. These plugins may use
+                  GTK+ code, but may not use window toolkit code, such as
+                  X11, Win32, Cocoa, or Carbon.
+    - gtk-x11   - A GTK+ 2.x plugin that uses X11 code. These plugins may
+                  use both GTK+ code and X11 code, allowing to hook into
+                  features specific to X11.
+    - gtk-win32 - A GTK+ plugin that uses Win32 code. These plugins may use
+                  both GTK+ code and Win32 code, allowing to hook into
+                  features available on Windows.
+    - gnt       - A GNT (a.k.a. Finch) plugin. These plugins may use GNT code.
+    - qpe       - A plugin for the (now-abandoned) Qutopia user interface.
+
+  The @em username must be a unique identifier for you. It
+  @em should be your http://developer.pidgin.im Trac user ID. Failing that, you
+  could use your SourceForge user ID or your Freenode IRC nickname, if you
+  have either. The http://developer.pidgin.im Trac user ID is preferred.
+  Do @em not leave this field blank!
+
+  The @em pluginname is the name of your plugin. It is usually all
+  lowercase letters and matches the static plugin ID (the first argument to
+  the PURPLE_INIT_PLUGIN() macro call), although it can be anything you
+  like. Do @em not include version information in the plugin ID--the
+  #PurplePluginInfo structure already has a field for this.
+
+ @section nospaces One Last Rule for Plugin IDs
+
+  The last rule of plugin IDs is the most important of all. Plugin IDs may
+  @em NOT contain spaces. If you need a space, use another hyphen (-).
 
-  The @em username must be a unique identifier for that person. It
-  @em should be your SourceForge ID. Do @em not leave this field
-  blank.
+ @section exceptions Exceptions to the Rule
+
+  As with any rule there are exceptions. If you browse through the source
+  tree you will see that the plugins we distribute with the Pidgin source
+  do not contain a username field. This is because while one developer may
+  have written each specific plugin, the plugins are maintained
+  collectively by the entire development team. This lack of a username
+  field is also an indicator that the plugin is one of our plugins and not
+  a third-party plugin.
+
+  Another exception to the rule is the <a
+  href="http://plugins.guifications.org/trac/wiki/PluginPack">Purple Plugin
+  Pack</a>. All plugins whose lives started in the Purple Plugin Pack use
+  <tt>"plugin_pack"</tt> for the username field to indicate origination in
+  the Purple Plugin Pack.
 
-  The @em pluginname is the name of your plugin. It can be whatever you like,
-  though it's common to keep it all lowercase. Do not use spaces! If you
-  want a space, use a '-'. Please do not put a version indicator in the ID.
-  The PurplePlugin structure already has a field for this.
+  These two exceptions are mentioned here for completeness. We don't
+  encourage breaking the conventions set forth by the rules outlined above.
+
+ @section examples Examples of Well-Chosen Plugin IDs
+
+  The following is a list of well-chosen Plugin IDs listing a few good examples.
 
+    - <tt>"gtk-amc_grim-guifications"</tt> - This is the plugin ID for the
+                                             Guifications 2.x plugin.
+    - <tt>"gtk-rlaager-album"</tt> - This is the plugin ID for the Album
+                                     plugin, which is now part of the
+                                     Purple Plugin Pack. Its ID follows the
+                                     rules because its life started prior
+                                     to its inclusion in the Plugin Pack.
+    - <tt>"core-rlaager-irchelper"</tt> - This is the plugin ID for the IRC
+                                          Helper plugin, which is now part
+                                          of the Purple Plugin Pack. Its ID
+                                          follows the rules because its
+                                          life started prior to its
+                                          inclusion in the Plugin Pack.
 
  @section plugin-db Plugin Database
   Although it doesn't exist yet, in time there will be a plugin database