X-Git-Url: http://git.vanrenterghem.biz/git.ikiwiki.info.git/blobdiff_plain/ca8852b434dae02b271ba2a1dddadfdf56ea3320..b39a76849d3c90ffc68627d1d6fe6cb5a821b215:/doc/plugins/write/external.mdwn?ds=sidebyside diff --git a/doc/plugins/write/external.mdwn b/doc/plugins/write/external.mdwn index bda34b771..e30bf2ff3 100644 --- a/doc/plugins/write/external.mdwn +++ b/doc/plugins/write/external.mdwn @@ -1,8 +1,10 @@ External plugins are standalone, executable programs, that can be written in any language. When ikiwiki starts up, it runs the program, and -communicates with it using XML RPC. If you want to [[write]] an external +communicates with it using [XML RPC][xmlrpc]. If you want to [[write]] an external plugin, read on.. +[xmlrpc]: http://www.xmlrpc.com/ + ikiwiki contains one sample external plugin, named `externaldemo`. This is written in perl, but is intended to be an example of how to write an external plugin in your favorite programming language. Wow us at how much @@ -11,7 +13,7 @@ easier you can do the same thing in your favorite language. ;-) There's now a second external plugin, the [[rst]] plugin, written in python. It uses a `proxy.py`, a helper library for ikiwiki python plugins. -[[toc ]] +[[!toc ]] ## How external plugins use XML RPC @@ -27,7 +29,7 @@ stdin, using XML RPC. Dispatch the command, and return its result to stdout, also using XML RPC. After reading a command, and before returning the result, the plugin can output XML RPC requests of its own, calling functions in ikiwiki. Note: *Never* make an XML RPC request at any other -time. Ikiwiki won't be listening for it, and you will deadlock. +time. IkiWiki won't be listening for it, and you will deadlock. When ikiwiki starts up an external plugin, the first RPC it will make is to call the plugin's `import()` function. That function typically makes @@ -42,7 +44,7 @@ supported in ikiwiki version 2.6. ## Accessing data structures -Ikiwiki has a few global data structures such as `%config`, which holds +IkiWiki has a few global data structures such as `%config`, which holds its configuration. External plugins can use the `getvar` and `setvar` RPCs to access any such global hash. To get the "url" configuration value, call `getvar("config", "url")`. To set it, call @@ -83,7 +85,7 @@ language as part of their XML RPC interface. XML RPC has a limitation that it does not have a way to pass undef/NULL/None. There is an extension to the protocol that supports this, -but it is not yet available in the [[cpan XML::RPC]] library used by +but it is not yet available in the [[!cpan XML::RPC]] library used by ikiwiki. Until the extension is available, ikiwiki allows undef to be communicated @@ -94,14 +96,13 @@ the sentinal. ## Function injection -Some parts of ikiwiki are extensible by adding functions. For example, the -RCS interface relies on plugins providing several IkiWiki::rcs_* functions. +Some parts of ikiwiki are extensible by adding or overriding functions. It's actually possible to do this from an external plugin too. -To make your external plugin provide an `IkiWiki::rcs_update` function, for +To make your external plugin override the `IkiWiki::formattime` function, for example, make an RPC call to `inject`. Pass it named parameters "name" and "call", where "name" is the name of the function to inject into perl (here -"Ikiwiki::rcs_update" and "call" is the RPC call ikiwiki will make whenever +"Ikiwiki::formattime" and "call" is the RPC call ikiwiki will make whenever that function is run. If the RPC call is memoizable, you can also pass a "memoize" parameter, set @@ -132,12 +133,12 @@ large quantity of data conversion going on. In contrast, `preprocess` hooks are called generally rarely, and pass around minimal data. External plugins should avoid making RPC calls unnecessarily (ie, in a loop). -Memoizing the results of appropriate RPC calls is one good way to minimise the +Memoizing the results of appropriate RPC calls is one good way to minimize the number of calls. Injecting a replacement for a commonly called ikiwiki function could result in a lot more RPC calls than expected and slow -eveything down. `pagetitle`, for instance, is called about 100 times +everything down. `pagetitle`, for instance, is called about 100 times per page build. Whenever possible, you should tell ikiwiki to memoize injected functions.