Where and how to install addins?

[dariok]

WDM-Toolbox is the first addin that’s under development and serves as a playground for developing the concept of addins for wdb+. The big questions are is how to install them and where to put them?

How to install

Basically, there are 2 options: 1. some kind of special package that wdb+ recognizes, or 2. a standard eXist application package.

Option 1 avoids and kind of confusion with stand alone applications but needs extra development for wdb+ to recongise and install these packages; parts of eXist’s funcions could be recycled, though.
Option 2 could cause confusion with stand alone applications; development is necessary for interfaces to announce an addins to wdb+. eXist’s package installation routines could be used without any need for adaptations, though.

Where to install

Here, too, there are 2 options: 1. into edoc/addins/{$name} or 2. into /db/apps/{$name}.

Option 1 makes sure that the addin is securely tucked away in the bowels of wdb+ and there’s no confusion with stand alone applications. If an index definition is necessary, the install must make sure it’s copied to the right spot and applied.

Option 2 means the the addin is cleanly separated from wdb+. Index definitions can be included in the standard way if an eXist package is used and all data will be safely kept away from the texts in wdb+. Extra code is needed to make an addin known to wdb+ and to remove it.

An eXist package installed into its own collection under /db/apps/ is easiest for installing but is likely to need more code on the wdb+ end.