With this example, we will create a plugin that displays a message on the program startup. To create the plugin, you need to write a plugin descriptor.


Step #1: Create your plugin folder in a plugins folder

Create a myplugin folder in the plugins folder in the installation directory of the modeling tool.


Step #2: Write a plugin code

The plugin must contain at least one class derived from the com.nomagic.magicdraw.plugins.Plugin class.

package myplugin;
import com.nomagic.magicdraw.plugins.Plugin;
import javax.swing.*;
public class MyPlugin extends Plugin
{
    @Override
    public void init()
    {
        JOptionPane.showMessageDialog(null, "My Plugin init");
    }
    @Override
    public boolean close()
    {
        JOptionPane.showMessageDialog( null, "My Plugin close"); 
        return true;
    }
    @Override
    public boolean isSupported()
    {
        //plugin can check here for specific conditions
        //if false is returned plugin is not loaded.
        return true;
    }
}

This plugin shows the one message when it is initialized, and another message when it is closed.

Step #3: Compile and pack the plugin to a .jar file 

For more information on the classpath specification details, see Classpath.

The compiled code must be packed to a .jar file.

To create a .jar file, use a jar command in the plugins directory:

 jar -cf myplugin.jar myplugin/*.class

Step #4: Write a plugin descriptor

The plugin descriptor is a file named plugin.xml. This file should be placed in the myplugin folder.

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<plugin id="my.first.plugin" name="My First Plugin" version="1.0" provider-name="Coder" class="myplugin.MyPlugin"> 
    <requires>
        <api version="1.0"/>
    </requires> 
    <runtime>
        <library name="myplugin.jar"/>
    </runtime>
</plugin>

For detailed information about the plugin descriptor, see Plugin descriptor.

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