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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 relevant property for your language mapping for details on the entry point syntax.

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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 component can be a partially or fully qualified assembly name, such as myplugin,Version=0.0.0.0,Culture=neutral, or an assembly DLL name such as myplugin.dll that may optionally include a leading relative or absolute path name.

The locations that are searched for the assembly varies depending on how you define the assembly component:

Value for `assembly`	Example	Semantics
Fully-qualified assembly name (strong-named assembly)	`myplugin,Version=...,Culture=neutral,publicKeyToken=...`	Checks assemblies that have already been loaded Searches the Global Assembly Cache (GAC) Searches the directory containing the application
Partially-qualified assembly name	`myplugin`	Checks assemblies that have already been loaded Searches the directory containing the application
Relative path name	`plugins\MyPlugin.dll`	Path name is relative to the application's current working directory. Be sure to include the `.dll` extension in the path name.
Absolute path name	`C:\plugins\MyPlugin.dll`	Assembly must reside at the specified path name. Be sure to include the `.dll` extension in the path name.

See MSDN for more information on how the CLR locates assemblies.

The specified class must implement the Ice.PluginFactory interface. Any arguments that follow the class name are passed to the factory's create method. For example:

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

Whitespace separates the arguments, and any arguments that contain whitespace must be enclosed in quotes.

If you specify a relative path name in the entry point, the assembly is located relative to the program's current working directory:

Ice.Plugin.MyPlugin.clr=..\MyFactory.dll:MyFactory arg1 arg2

Enclose the assembly's path name in quotes if it contains spaces:

Ice.Plugin.MyPlugin.clr="C:\Program Files\MyPlugin\MyFactory.dll:MyFactory" arg1 arg2

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Ice.Plugin.name.cpp

Synopsis

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

Description

Defines a C++ plug-in to be installed during communicator initialization. The path and optional version components are used to construct the path 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,36:create would imply a shared library name of libMyPlugin.so.36 on Unix and MyPlugin36.dll on Windows. Furthermore, if Ice is built on Windows with debugging, a d is automatically appended to the version (for example, MyPlugin36d.dll).

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

C++

Ice::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.

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

Ice.Plugin.MyPlugin.cpp=MyFactory,36:create arg1 arg2

Whitespace separates the arguments, and any arguments that contain whitespace must be enclosed in quotes.

The path component may optionally contain a relative or absolute path name, indicated by the presence of a path separator (/ or \). In this case, the last component of the path is used to construct the version-specific name of the shared library or DLL. Consider this example:

Ice.Plugin.MyPlugin.cpp=./MyFactory,36:create arg1 arg2

The use of a relative path means the Ice run time will look in the current working directory for libMyPlugin.so.36 on Unix or MyPlugin36.dll on Windows.

If the path component contains spaces, the entire entry point must be enclosed in quotes:

Ice.Plugin.MyPlugin.cpp="C:\Program Files\MyPlugin\MyFactory,36:create" arg1 arg2

If the path component does not include a leading path name, Ice delegates to the operating system to locate the shared library or DLL, which typically means that the plug-in can reside in any of the directories in your shared library or DLL search path.

When the plug-in is packaged in a static library and linked into the application through Ice::registerPluginFactory, the entry point (path[,version]:function) component of this property is ignored. The args, if any, are preserved, and are given to the registered plug-in factory function when the plug-in is created.

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Ice.Plugin.name.java

Synopsis

Ice.Plugin.name.java=[path:]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.java=MyFactory arg1 arg2

Whitespace separates the arguments, and any arguments that contain whitespace must be enclosed in quotes.

If path is specified, it may be the path name of a JAR file or class directory, as shown below:

Ice.Plugin.MyPlugin.java=MyFactory.jar:MyFactory
Ice.Plugin.MyOtherPlugin.java=/classes:MyOtherFactory

If path contains spaces, it must be enclosed in quotes:

Ice.Plugin.MyPlugin.java="factory classes.jar":MyFactory

If class is specified without a path, Ice attempts to load the class using class loaders in a well-defined order.

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