Plug-In Component Definition Roadmap

The following table summarizes the steps required to define each type of plug-in component. For more information about defining plug-in components, see Defining Plug-In Components.

Table A-1 Plug-In Component Definition Roadmap  

To define the following plug-in component . . .	Perform the following steps . . .
Action	1. Implement the PluginActionData interface to read and save the plug-in action data in XML format, as described in Implementing the PluginActionData Interface. 2. Define the PluginActionPanel class to display the plug-in action GUI component in the design client, as described in Defining the PluginActionPanel Class. 3. Define the plug-in action run-time component class, as described in Defining the Run-Time Component Class for an Action. 4. Define the ActionCategoryInfo, ActionInfo and/or CategoryInfo value objects, as described in Defining Plug-In Value Objects.
Done node	1. Implement the PluginData interface to read and save the plug-in data in XML format, as described in Implementing the PluginData Interface. 2. Define the PluginPanel class to display the plug-in GUI component in the design client, as described in Defining the PluginPanel Class. 3. Define the plug-in run-time component class, as described in Defining the Run-Time Component Class for a Done Node. 4. Define the DoneInfo value object, as described in Defining Plug-In Value Objects.
Event node	1. Implement the PluginData interface to read and save the plug-in data in XML format, as described in Implementing the PluginData Interface. 2. Define the PluginTriggerPanel class to display the plug-in GUI component in the design client, as described in Defining the PluginTriggerPanel Class. 3. Define the plug-in run-time component class, as described in Defining the Run-Time Component Class for an Event Node. 4. Define the plug-in fields to access plug-in data that is associated with an external event received by the Event node, as defined in Defining the Run-Time Component Class for a Message Type. For plug-in Event and Start nodes that have content types other than text/xml and want to support key values, you must ensure that a valid event key expression is defined. You can then provide a plug-in field implementation to evaluate that key value against incoming event data. 5. Define the EventInfo value object, as described in Defining Plug-In Value Objects.
Function	1. Define the plug-in run-time component class, as described in Defining the Run-Time Component Class for a Function. 2. Define the FunctionInfo value object, as described in Defining Plug-In Value Objects.
Message type (field)	1. Define the plug-in run-time component class, as described in Defining the Run-Time Component Class for a Message Type. 2. Define the FieldInfo value object, as described in Defining Plug-In Value Objects.
Start Node	1. Implement the PluginData interface to read and save the plug-in data in XML format, as described in Implementing the PluginData Interface. 2. Define the PluginTriggerPanel class to display the plug-in GUI component in the design client, as described in Defining the PluginTriggerPanel Class. 3. Define the plug-in run-time component class, as described in Defining the Run-Time Component Class for a Start Node. 4. Define the plug-in fields to access plug-in data that is associated with an external event received by the Start node, as defined in Defining the Run-Time Component Class for a Message Type. For plug-in Event and Start nodes that have content types other than text/xml and want to support key values, you must ensure that a valid event key expression is defined. You can then provide a plug-in field implementation to evaluate that key value against incoming event data. 5. Define the StartInfo value object, as described in Defining Plug-In Value Objects.
Workflow template definition properties	1. Implement the PluginData interface to read and save the plug-in data in XML format. 2. Define the PluginPanel class to display the plug-in GUI component in the design client, as described in Defining the PluginPanel Class. 3. Define the TemplateDefinitionPropertiesInfo value object, as described in Defining Plug-In Value Objects.
Workflow template properties	1. Implement the PluginData interface to read and save the plug-in data in XML format. 2. Define the PluginPanel class to display the plug-in GUI component in the design client, as described in Defining the PluginPanel Class. 3. Define the TemplatePropertiesInfo value object, as described in Defining Plug-In Value Objects.
Variable types	1. Define the PluginVariablePanel class to display the plug-in GUI component that enables users to edit the plug-in variable type, as described in Defining the PluginVariablePanel Class. 2. Define the PluginVariableRenderer class to display the value of a plugin-defined variable type in the cell of a javax.swing.JTable, as described in Defining the PluginVariableRenderer Class. 3. Define the VariableTypeInfo value object, as described in Defining Plug-In Value Objects.