How to start a brand new Plugin

How to start a brand new Plugin

Use case

I want to start a brand new Plugin: entando-plugin-jpmyspecialthingy

1. Have the project entando-plugins-parent
2. We will assume that entando-plugin-jpmyspecialthingy doesn't need any other Plugin to get its job done
3. Create a new maven module project under entando-plugins-parent
   • Call it entando-plugin-jpmyspecialthingy
   • Use the entando-archetype-plugin-generic archetype
   • groupId : org.entando.entando.plugins
   • artifactId : entando-plugin-jpmyspecialthingy
   • package : com.mycompany.plugins.jpmyspecialthingy
   • Configure the two additional properties:
     • pluginCode : jpmyspecialthingy
     • pluginName : My Special Thingy
   • Now check the entando-plugins-parent/pom.xml.
     Find:

<modules>
.....
     <module>entando-plugin-jpmyspecialthingy</module>
.....
</modules>

Fine, now please show me how to add some other Plugins as dependencies of mine Plugin

Say you want to use entando-plugin-jpmail as a dependency.

1. Open the pom.xml of entando-plugin-jpmyspecialthingy and edit:
   You must add all of the following for every Plugin you want to use as a dependency (do not copy-paste blindly. Check the version, at least):

<!-- 
     To properly understand the following comments, remember we are editing the pom.xml for
     entando-plugin-jpmyspecialthingy. 
     Thus, "this Plugin" and "the Plugin" are always referred to entando-plugin-jpuserreg. 
-->

<!-- 
     This is for adding the proper files to a WAR based on Entando, using WAR overlay.
-->
<dependency>
  <groupId>org.entando.entando.plugins</groupId>
	<artifactId>entando-plugin-jpmail</artifactId>
	<version>3.2.0</version><!-- version. Don't remove this comment. -->
	<type>war</type>
</dependency>

<!-- 
     This is for properly compile the sources during the development of the Plugin. 
     Its scope is "provided", thus it will be not included in a WAR based on Entando.
-->
<dependency>
	<groupId>org.entando.entando.plugins</groupId>
	<artifactId>entando-plugin-jpmail</artifactId>
	<version>3.2.0</version><!-- version. Don't remove this comment. -->
	<type>jar</type>
	<classifier>classes</classifier>
	<scope>provided</scope>
</dependency>

<!-- 
     This is used at compile time for the tests.
-->
<dependency>
	<groupId>org.entando.entando.plugins</groupId>
	<artifactId>entando-plugin-jpmail</artifactId>
	<version>3.0.0</version><!-- version. Don't remove this comment. -->
	<type>jar</type>
	<classifier>tests</classifier>
	<scope>test</scope>
</dependency>

Then the dependency must be declared in the component descriptor of the plugin: modify the file entando-plugin-jpmyspecialthingy/src/main/resources/component/plugins/jpmyspecialthingy/component.xml as report below:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<component>
  <code>jpmyspecialthingy</code>
  <description>My special thing</description>
	<dependencies>
		<code>jpmail</code>
		<!-- other dependencies here -->
	</dependencies>
...
</component>

2. Done! Go try some mvn commands :)