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cp.plugins.md

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docs » cp.plugins

This is a simple plugin manager.

Functions

It has a few core functions:

plugins.init(...)

This function will load all enabled plugins in the specified 'parent' folders. For example:

local plugins = require("cp.plugins")
plugins.init("~/Library/Application Support/CommandPost/Plugins")

This will load all plugins in the current user's Library/Application Support/CommandPost/Plugins folder.

cp.plugins.getPluginModule(id)

Once the plugins have been loaded, the module can be accessed by their ID via the getPluginModule(id) function. It will return the module returned by the plugin's init function. This can also be done via the default function for the library. Eg:

plugins("my.plugin.id").doSomething()

Plugin Modules

Plugins typically have two parts:

  1. The plugin table, which defines details about the plugin, and
  2. The module, or result, which could be anything, which is returned from the init function.

A plugin file should return a plugin table that allows the plugin to be initialised. The table will look something like this:

local module = {}

local module.init(otherPlugin)
    -- do stuff with otherPlugin here
end

local plugin = {
    id = "my.plugin.id",
    group = "foo",
    dependencies = {
        ["some.other.plugin"] = "otherPlugin",
    },
}

function plugin.init(dependencies)
   -- do stuff to initialise the module here
   module.init(dependencies.otherPlugin)
   return module
}

function plugin.postInit(dependencies)
   -- do stuff that will happen after all plugins have been initialised.
end

As you can see above, plugin module can have a few simple functions and properties. The key ones are:

plugin.id

This is a unique ID for the plugin. It is used to load the plugin externally, as well as to define dependencies between plugins.

plugin.group

This is the group ID for the plugin. This is used to group plugins visually in the Properties panel for Plugins.

plugin.required

This optional property can be specified for plugins which should never be disabled. This should only be set for plugins which will break the application if disabled.

plugin.dependencies

This is a table with the list of other plugins that this plugin requires to be loaded prior to this plugin. Be careful of creating infinite loops of dependencies - we don't check for them currently!

It is defined like so:

plugin.dependencies = {
	"cp.plugins.myplugin",
	["cp.plugins.otherplugin"] = "otherPlugin"
}

As you can see, there are two ways of declaring a dependency. The first is with just the plugin ID, the second has an alias.

These can be accessed in the `init` and `postInit` functions like so:

```lua
function plugin.init(dependencies)
   local myPlugin = dependencies["cp.plugins.myplugin"]
   local otherPlugin = dependencies.otherPlugin -- or dependencies["cp.plugins.otherplugin"]
end

A plugin will only have its init function called after its dependencies have successfully had their init functions called. Additionally, if a plugin has a postInit, all declared postInits for dependencies will have been called prior to the plugin's postInit function.

function plugin.init(dependencies[, environment]) -> module

This function is basically required. It will be executed when the plugin is initialised. The dependencies parameter is a table containing the list of dependencies that the plugin defined via the dependencies property. The environment provides access to resources such as images, HTML files, or other lua modules that are bundled with the plugin. See Simple vs Complex Plugins below.


As you may have noted, there are two ways to specify a plugin is required. Either by simply specifying it as an 'array' item (the first example) or as a key/value (the second example). Doing the later allows you to specify an alias for the dependency, which can be used in the `init(...)` function, like so:

```lua
local plugin = {}

plugin.dependencies = {
	"cp.plugins.myplugin",
	["cp.plugins.otherplugin"] = "otherplugin"
}

function plugin.init(dependencies)
	local myplugin = dependencies["cp.plugins.myplugin"]
	local otherplugin = dependencies.otherplugin

	-- do other stuff with the dependencies

	return myinstance
end

return plugin

Simple vs Complex Plugins

There are two types of plugin structures supported. The Simple version is a single .lua file that matches the above format for plugin. The Complex version is a folder containing an init.lua file that matches the above format.

The key advantage of Complex Plugins is that the folder can contain other resources, such as images, HTML templates, or other .lua files - including 3rd-party libraries if desired. These can be accessed via two main mechanisms:

  1. The second environment parameter in the init function. This is a cp.plugins.env table, which provides access to files and templates inside the plugin folder. See the documentation for details.
  2. The standard require method will allow loading of *.lua files inside the plugin from the init.lua.

For example, if you have a file called foo.lua in your folder, it can be required like so:

local foo = require("foo")

You do not have to know anything about where the plugin folder is stored, or use the plugin ID. Just use the local file path within the plugin. If you have another file in a foo folder called bar.lua, it can be loaded via:

local fooBar = require("foo.bar")

These modules will not be accessible to other plugins or to the main application. They are only available to code inside the plugin.

Submodules

API Overview

API Documentation

Functions

addDependent

Signature cp.plugins.addDependent(id) -> nothing
Type Function
Description Adds the dependentPlugin as a dependent of the plugin with the specified id.
Parameters
  • id - The plugin package ID.
  • dependentPlugin - The plugin which is a dependent
Returns
  • nothing

disable

Signature cp.plugins.disable(id) -> nothing
Type Function
Description Disabled the plugin with the specified ID and reloads the application.
Parameters
  • id - The plugin package ID.
Returns
  • true if the plugin was disabled, or false if it could not be disabled.

enable

Signature cp.plugins.enable(id) -> nothing
Type Function
Description Enables the plugin with the specified ID, and reloads the application.
Parameters
  • id - The plugin package ID.
Returns
  • true if the plugin had been disabled and is now enabled.

getDependents

Signature cp.plugins.getDependents(pluginId)
Type Function
Description Retrieves the list of dependent plugins for the specified plugin id.
Parameters
  • * id - The plugin ID.
Returns
  • The table of dependents.

getPluginIds

Signature cp.plugins.getPluginIds() -> table
Type Function
Description Retrieves an array of the loaded plugin IDs.
Parameters
  • None
Returns
  • the list of plugin IDs.

getPluginModule

Signature cp.plugins.getPluginModule(id) -> value
Type Function
Description Returns an initialised plugin result with the specified id.
Parameters
  • id - The plugin package ID.
Returns
  • the result of the plugin's init(...) function call.

getPlugins

Signature cp.plugins.getPlugins() -> table
Type Function
Description Retrieves an array of details about the set of loaded plugins.
Parameters
  • None
Returns
  • the list of plugins.

init

Signature cp.plugins.init(paths) -> cp.plugins
Type Function
Description Initialises the plugin loader to look in the specified file paths for plugins.
Parameters
  • paths - An array of paths to search for plugins in.
Returns
  • cp.plugins - The module.

initPlugin

Signature cp.plugins.initPlugin(id) -> module
Type Function
Description Initialises a specific plugin with the specified path.
Parameters
  • id - The LUA package to look in
Returns
  • the result of the plugin's init(...) function call.

initPlugins

Signature cp.plugins.initPlugins() -> nothing
Type Function
Description Initialises all registered plugins.
Parameters
  • None
Returns
  • Nothing

isDisabled

Signature cp.plugins.isDisabled(id) -> boolean
Type Function
Description Checks if the specified plugin ID is disabled.
Parameters
  • id - The plugin package ID.
Returns
  • true if the plugin is disabled.

loadComplexPlugin

Signature cp.plugins.loadComplexPlugin(path) -> plugin
Type Function
Description Loads a 'complex' plugin, which is a folder containing an init.lua file.
Parameters
  • path - The plugin package ID.
Returns
  • true if the plugin ias successfully post-initialised.

loadDependencies

Signature cp.plugins.loadDependencies(plugin) -> table
Type Function
Description Loads the list of dependencies for the provided plugin.
Parameters
  • plugin - The plugin object
Returns
  • an array of the dependencies required by the plugin, or nil if any could not be loaded.

loadSimplePlugin

Signature cp.plugins.loadSimplePlugin(id) -> plugin
Type Function
Description Loads a 'simple' plugin, where it is defined by a single LUA script.
Parameters
  • path - The plugin package ID.
Returns
  • true if the plugin ias successfully post-initialised.

postInitPlugin

Signature cp.plugins.postInitPlugin(id) -> boolean
Type Function
Description Runs any post-initialisation functions declared for the specified plugin ID.
Parameters
  • id - The plugin package ID.
Returns
  • true if the plugin ias successfully post-initialised.

postInitPlugins

Signature cp.plugins.postInitPlugins() -> nothing
Type Function
Description Performs any post-initialisation required for plugins.
Parameters
  • None
Returns
  • Nothing

scanDirectory

Signature cp.plugins.scanDirectory(directoryPath) -> cp.plugins
Type Function
Description Scans the specified directory and loads any plugins in the directory,
Parameters
  • directoryPath - The path to the directory to scan.
Returns
  • boolean - true if the path was loaded successfully, false if there were any issues.

watchPluginPaths

Signature cp.plugins.watchPluginPaths() -> nothing
Type Function
Description Watches the plugin paths for changes and reloads the application if any change.
Parameters
  • None
Returns
  • Nothing