D.6 Ice Plug‑In Properties

Ice.Plugin.name.cpp

Synopsis

Ice.Plugin.name.cpp=basename[,version]:function [args]

Description

Defines a C++ plug‑in to be installed during communicator initialization. The basename and optional version components are used to construct the name of a DLL or shared library. If no version is supplied, the Ice version is used. The func­tion component is the name of a function with C linkage. For example, the entry point MyPlugin,34:create would imply a shared library name of libMy­Plugin.so.34 on Unix and MyPlugin34.dll on Windows. Furthermore, if Ice is built on Windows with debugging, a d is automatically appended to the version (for example, MyPlugin34d.dll).

The function must be declared with external linkage and have the following signature:

<Plugin>* function(const Ice::CommunicatorPtr& communicator,
                   const std::string& name,
                   const Ice::StringSeq& args);

Note that the function must return a pointer and not a smart pointer. The Ice core deallocates the object when it unloads the library.

Any arguments that follow the entry point are passed to the create method. For example:

Ice.Plugin.MyPlugin=MyFactory,34:create arg1 arg2

Ice.Plugin.name.java

Synopsis

Ice.Plugin.name.java=class [args]

Description

Defines a Java plug‑in to be installed during communicator initialization. The specified class must implement the Ice.PluginFactory interface. Any arguments that follow the class name are passed to the create method. For example:

Ice.Plugin.MyPlugin=MyFactory arg1 arg2

Ice.Plugin.name.clr

Synopsis

Ice.Plugin.name.clr=assembly:class [args]

Description

Defines a .NET plug‑in to be installed during communicator initialization. The assembly can be the full assembly name, such as myplugin, Version=0.0.0.0, Culture=neutral, or an assembly DLL name such as myplugin.dll. The specified class must implement the Ice.Plugin­Factory interface. Any arguments that follow the class name are passed to the create method. For example:

Ice.Plugin.MyPlugin=MyFactory, Version=1.2.3.4, Culture=neutral:MyFactory arg1 arg2

Ice.Plugin.name

Synopsis

Ice.Plugin.name=entry_point [args]

Description

Defines a plug‑in to be installed during communicator initialization. The format of entry_point varies by Ice implementation language, therefore this property cannot be defined in a configuration file that is shared by programs in different languages. Ice provides an alternate syntax that facilitates such sharing:

• Ice.Plugin.name.cpp for C++

• Ice.Plugin.name.java for Java

• Ice.Plugin.name.clr for the .NET Common Language Runtime

Refer to the description of each of these properties for more information on the expected entry point syntax.

Ice.PluginLoadOrder

Synopsis

Ice.PluginLoadOrder=names

Description

Determines the order in which plug‑ins are loaded. The Ice run time loads the plug‑ins in the order they appear in names, where each plug‑in name is separated by a comma or white space. Any plug‑ins not mentioned in names are loaded afterward, in an undefined order.

Ice.InitPlugins

Synopsis

Ice.InitPlugins=num

Description

If num is a value greater than zero, the Ice run time automatically initializes the plug‑ins it has loaded. The order in which plug‑ins are loaded and initialized is determined by Ice.PluginLoadOrder. An application may need to set this prop­erty to zero in order to interact directly with a plug‑in after it has been loaded but before it is initialized. In this case, the application must invoke initializePlugins on the plug‑in manager to complete the initialization process. If not defined, the default value is 1.