Its actually quite easy once you wrap your head around the problem. I've
just finished writing one in C#, but the concept is portable.
First thing you need to know is what goes in the plugin and what goes in the
framework.
1. The plugin should not know anything about the framework that it runs in
2. Every plugin needs to have a set of defined interfaces that the framework
expects to be there in order to work correctly
3. The framework only needs to load and unload the plugins and handle the
common ground between all the plugins
That may sound vague, but its actually quite simple. I would use OO to do
it, but you can change it.
// Common interfaces required by framework
// I've kept it simple because I dont know what you want the plugin to do
class IPlugin
{
var $Name = 'Plugin';
function Run ()
{
// Start the plugin running
}
}
// this is our plugin called Example
class Example extends IPlugin
{
// code to do all plugin stuff
}
// Main framework
class Framework
{
function Framework ()
{
// locate all plugins on the system (eg in a directory called
plugins with a common naming convention)
// psuedo code
foreach (plugin in plugindir)
{
echo plugin->Name;
plugin->Run();
}
}
}
It's not the greatest example, but you can email me for some more detail on
the topic. Some additions to the code would be to check that the plugin
actually extends the IPlugin class so that you know it is a valid plugin.
And normally you would only run the plugin when someone clicks on a
particular link for example.
Think of the framework as an empty shell that has the sole purpose of
activating and deactivating the plugins. The plugins just do their thing
independant of the framework/shell, but are executed inside of it. For
example, a user or security plugin inside an admin framework for a cms
application. The hardest part is defining a plugin interface generic enough
to suit all plugins. The framework/shell should not know anything in
particular about the individual plugins other than what is defined in the
IPlugin class.
I hope this helps you get started. Email me if you need more help on it.
Tim
"Justin French" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote in message
news:[EMAIL PROTECTED]
Hi all,
I'm struggling to find any tutorials or 'thought starters' on how I can
incorporate script-level plug-ins into a PHP application.
Another way, can I see some examples of how my application framework
can provide an API for modular, add-on code?
I understand that there would definitely not be just one solution... in
fact, it may be the case that each solution needs to be tailored to a
specific problem, but I'd like some 'inspiration' to develop my own
code base.
Any help / ideas / links would be great.
Justin French
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