SprayQc - plugin development

SprayQc provides an extensible environment for plugins. In this manual it is explained how to develop a plugin in the C# .NET framework.

Globally, plugin development involves implementation of the interface 'IPlugin' defined in the library 'SprayQc.interfaces.dll'. This interface defines all the calls that need to be implemented so the SprayQc container can communicate with the plugin. Additionally, it provides access to the SprayQc container class for the plugin to interact with.

The UML diagram above gives a global overview of the setup. A more comprehensive view can be found here. The UML diagram provides a complete overview of all the classes and enumerated types involved in plugin development.

• IPlugin
This interface provides the definition for a plugin that is used within the SprayQc framework.
• ISprayQc
This interface provides the definition of the SprayQc framework that can be used by a plugin to gather information.
• IRawFillename
This interface provides the definition for information pertaining to the currently recorded raw file. As the SprayQc application centers around raw-files, this is some of the most important information and is passed through almost all callback methods.
• INotification
This interface defines all the information required to make a notification to the operator.
• PluginType
Definition of the different roles a plugin can assume within the framework.
• CatastrophicError
Definition off whether the catastrophic error is reported or resolved.
• MessageType
Plugins can report messages to the message box in the SprayQc application. This does not trigger any notifications to the operator and as such can be used for non-critical updates. The type (error, warning, update) is specified here.
• MeasurementState
This defines the different states a measurement can be in. Idling in this case means no measurement and further there are Init, SampleLoad, PrepareMeasurement, Gradient and Washout. These states can be requested from the SprayQc application and reacted to by the plugins.

Plugin example

This first step is to link your project to the DLL's of SprayQc. In Visual studio this can be done by right-clicking on the 'References' in the project tree and selecting 'Add Reference'. Select the tab 'Browse' in the dialog. In this dialog select 'SprayQc.interfaces.dll' and 'SprayQc.utils.dll' and press OK.

When this is done you can proceed to create a class (e.g. ExampleDevice). When the class has been created, the following namespaces are required. With these the new class can inherit from IPlugin.

using System;
using System.Drawing;
using System.Windows.Forms;

using SprayQc.interfaces;


public class ExampleDevice : IPlugin
{
       public ExampleDevice(ISprayQc sprayqc)
             : base(sprayqc)
       {
       }

Additionally a number of functions are required to be implemented. The first section deal with the window environment in which the plugin needs to play a role. The first if these function is the Dispose, which is called when the application closes and all allocated resources need to be released. In this simple example no resources are present and the function is empty.

#region IPlugin overrides
public override void Dispose()
{
}

public override string GetName()
{
        return "Example";
}

public override PluginType GetPluginType()
{
        return PluginType.Regular;
}

public override Bitmap GetIcon()
{
        return Example_Resource.application;
}

In the example, the _ctrlOverview is an instance of the CtrlOverview class described later.

public override UserControl[] GetControls()
{
         return new UserControl[]{
                _ctrlOverview
        };
}

public override void MonitoringStart()
{
}

public override void MonitoringFinish()
{
}

public override void MeasurementPending(IRawFilename rawFile)
{
}

public override void MeasurementStart(IRawFilename rawFile)
{
}

public override void MeasurementFinish(IRawFilename rawFile)
{
}

public override void Notify(IRawFilename rawFile, string subject, string body, string[] attachments)
{
           throw new NotImplementedException();
}

public override void OnCatastrophicError(CatastrophicError error)
{
}

using System.Windows.Forms;


public partial class CtrlOverview : UserControl
{
        public CtrlOverview()
       {
               InitializeComponent();
               Name = "Example overview";
       }
}

Accessing SprayQc information

Besides setting up the callbacks, the plugin also needs access to central information provided by the ISprayQcApp member. This paragraph describes the function calls that can be used to get to this information.

When a plugin with the role MeasurementManagement triggers the MeasurementStart, this will return true. This can be used by plugins to determine whether a measurement is ongoing, without the need of keep track of this itself. This does not convey information about the stage at which the measurement is at this point.

bool IsMeasuring();

MeasurementState GetMeasurementState();

void AddMessage(MessageType type, string message);

void Notify(string subject, string message, string[] attachmentFiles, IRawFilename rawFile);

void OnCatastrophicError(CatastrophicError error);

void MeasurementPending(IRawFilename rawFile);

void SetMeasurementState(MeasurementState state, IPlugin plugin);
void MeasurementStart(IRawFilename rawFile, IPlugin plugin);
void MeasurementFinish(IRawFilename rawFile, IPlugin plugin);

List<IPlugin> GetPlugins();
IPlugin GetPluginOfType(Type type);