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Developing Plugins

A plugin adds a component type that Profinity does not ship. It is compiled with the Profinity SDK, and an administrator installs it through Components & Plugins. Installing, enabling, and removing a plugin is covered on Components & Plugins.

A plugin is separate from a Custom Component, which is a bundle of files and scripts and needs no compiling. A plugin is the choice when the component needs compiled code. Custom Components compares the two.

What the framework provides

The plugin framework is the same one Prohelion uses for its own components. A component built on it can:

  • Show a settings screen, a status, and a status message.
  • Publish tags that a profile can graph, log, and use in rules and scripts.
  • Offer actions on the component.
  • Connect to a device, broker, or server, show an error when the other end is down, and connect again when it appears. Refer to Connections and reconnecting.

The kit Prohelion sends to approved developers includes examples of this framework, and documentation that goes further than this page. For a copy of the SDK, or for more information, contact Prohelion.

Uploading a plugin needs the Modify plugins permission, described in Roles and Permissions, and the Custom Plugins feature. That feature is available from the Desktop edition upwards, and not when unlicensed. Refer to Licensing.