Creating plug-ins to IBM Content Navigator
You can create custom plug-ins to add features such as menus and services to IBM Content Navigator.
Before you begin
- Java™
- JavaScript
In addition, you must understand web programming to implement the JavaScript functions for the actions that are defined by the plug-in.
You should also be familiar with the Dojo Toolkit, which is the toolkit that IBM Content Navigator uses.
About this task
- The web browser logic that enables users to call the plug-in
- The midtier server logic that enables the plug-in to load the plug-in components.
If administrators must provide additional information for the plug-in to function, you must also provide a configuration component. For example, the IBM Watson™ Watson Content Analytics plug-in requires administrators to provide a URL to the IBM Watson Content Analytics server. Administrators use the IBM Content Navigator administration tool to configure the plug-in.
- The web browser logic
- The web browser logic is a required component of the plug-in that
enables users to call the plug-in from the web client.
The web-browser logic component of your plug-in communicates with the IBM Content Navigator client. The web client is built by using the IBM Content Navigator visual widgets, which are based on the Dojo Toolkit. You should use the IBM Content NavigatorC visual widgets and the Dojo Toolkit to build your plug-in.
The web browser logic is implemented in JavaScript.
- The midtier server logic
- The midtier server logic is a required component of the plug-in.
This logic calls the APIs for the content servers to retrieve the
data that is used by the plug-in or that is displayed to users.
The midtier logic component of your plug-in communicates with the IBM Content Navigator services component on the web application server.
The midtier server logic is implemented in Java.
- The configuration component
- The configuration component is an optional component of the plug-in
that enables an instance of the plug-in to be configured with the IBM Content Navigator administration tool.
See step 2 in the following procedure for information
about creating a configuration component for your plug-in.
The configuration component is implemented in Java.
Procedure
To create a plug-in to IBM Content Navigator:
Sample plug-in definition and configuration files
The following files in the sample plug-in define the plug-in and the configuration:File | Description |
---|---|
SamplePlugin.java | This file extends the Plugin class to list the custom components that are provided by the sample plug-in. |
SamplePlugin.js | This file extends the Plugin class to list the custom components that are provided by the sample plug-in. |
ConfigurationPane.js | This file defines the configuration pane that is used for the sample plug-in. |
ConfigurationPane.html | This file provides the HTML form template that is used for the sample plug-in configuration pane. |