Plugins manifest and configuration¶

Every plugin needs a XML manifest file to describe its configuration. As multiple plugins can be in the same package (the one you download from the marketplace) then more than one manifest file can be in the root folder of a plugin package.

The binding is made in the class constructor with

public MyPlugin() {
  super("Hello World Sensor" ,"/firstsensor/first-sensor-manifest.xml");
}

In this example the manifest file is first-sensor-manifest.xml located into firstsensor folder.

The path is case sensitive so /firstsensor/first-sensor-manifest.xml is not the same as /FirstSensor/First-Sensor-Manifest.xml”.

What’s inside the manifest¶

This is an example of the most simple manifest file you can have:

<config>
    <properties>
       <property name="name" value="Hello World"/>
       <property name="description" value="A basic plugin that prints 'Hello World' on standard output"/>
       <property name="category" value="examples"/>
       <property name="short-name" value="hello-world"/>
   </properties>
</config>

Note

The manifest file is the ONLY place where you should add configuration parameters for your plugin. You should not use external files if not strictly needed (e.g. by third party libraries).

You can add custom properties to this list. The properties can be retrieved programmatically this way:

int ServerPort = configuration.getIntProperty("udp-server-port", 7331); //defaults to 7331 if the property is not found in the manifest
String Delimiter = configuration.getStringProperty("delimiter", ":"); //defaults to ':' if the property in not found in the manifest

Add configuration blocks to your plugin¶

If you have to configure multiple the same set of properties for different things (eg: URL and port of a set of hardware boards) you can use tuples.

You can add as many <tuple></tuple> blocks as you need. The <tuples></tuples> block may be added after <properties></properties> on the same hierarchical level.

Tuples are useful to have configuration data specific for you plugin to be loaded in Freedomotic at startup.

<tuples>
   <tuple>
     <property name="Name" value="TemperatureZone1"/>
     <property name="SlaveId" value="1"/>
     <property name="RegisterRange" value="HOLDING_REGISTER"/>
     <property name="DataType" value="TWO_BYTE_INT_UNSIGNED"/>
     <property name="Offset" value="266"/>
     <property name="NumberOfRegisters" value="1"/>
     <property name="Multiplier" value="0.1d"/>
     <property name="Additive" value="0.0d"/>
     <property name="EventName" value="TemperatureZone1"/>
  </tuple>
  <tuple>
     <property name="Name" value="TemperatureZone2"/>
     <property name="SlaveId" value="1"/>
     <property name="RegisterRange" value="HOLDING_REGISTER"/>
     <property name="DataType" value="TWO_BYTE_INT_UNSIGNED"/>
     <property name="Offset" value="522"/>
     <property name="NumberOfRegisters" value="1"/>
     <property name="Multiplier" value="0.1d"/>
     <property name="Additive" value="0.0d"/>
     <property name="EventName" value="TemperatureZone2"/>
  </tuple>
</tuples>

You can use free custom strings for the attribute name and the value.

Messaging channel¶

Every plugin has an unique input messaging channel used for message exchange. It is addressed using the info you put in the manifest file.

For plugins the channel name has the following format app.actuators.CATEGORY.SHORT-NAME.in.