Understanding Diagnostic Plug-In Development

A diagnostic plug-in is an application package developed while adhering to the diagnostic plug-in standard. Developers use the application packages editor in Application Designer to create the application packages that are treated as diagnostic plug-ins by the framework.

PeopleTools delivers Diagnostics Framework base classes in an application package called PT_DIAGNOSTICS. To create your own diagnostic plug-in, a new application package needs to be created and extended from the application package PT_DIAGNOSTICS. The new application package can have multiple numbers of application classes which should be extended from the base classes in PTDiagnostics, delivered in the PT_DIAGNOSTICS application package.

The sub classes can call the base class methods to collect the diagnostic information and return the same information to the Diagnostics Framework. Each of the application classes within the diagnostic plug-in focuses one diagnostic area and can return different information, depending on the state of the application and the nature of the 'question'.

The application class also can contain an optional public method, called GetDynamicPrompt, to prompt users for additional information.

The following types of data can be retrieved and displayed in the Diagnostics Framework:

• String

• Date

• Number

• Boolean

• Rowset

You define diagnostic plug-ins using application classes, but you don't use them in the same way that other PeopleCode application classes are used. Diagnostic plug-in classes:

• must be instantiated only by Diagnostics Framework. They can't be called from any other location, including other PeopleCode programs.

• must contain three mandatory methods that are recognized and used by Diagnostics Framework.