Plug-in configuration file
The plugin.xml file controls all aspects of a plug-in, making each extension visible to the rest of the toolkit. The file uses pre-defined extension points to locate changes, and integrates those changes into the core code.
The root element of the plugin.xml file is <plugin>, and must specify an id attribute. The id attribute is used to identify the plug-in, as well as to identify whether pre-requisite plug-ins are available. The id attribute should follow the syntax rules:
id ::= token('.'token)*
token ::= ( [0..9] | [a..zA..Z] | ’_’ | ’-’ )+
The <plugin> element supports the following child elements:
The
<feature>element defines an extension to contribute to a defined extension point. The following attributes are supported:|Attribute|Description|Required| |---------|-----------|--------| |
extension|extension point identifier|yes| |value|comma separated string value of the extension|eithervalueorfile| |file|file path value of the extension, relative to plugin.xml|eithervalueorfile| |type|type of thevalueattribute|no|The
<extension-point>element defines new a extension point that can be used by other plug-ins. The following attributes are supported:|Attribute|Description|Required| |---------|-----------|--------| |
id|extension point identifier|yes| |name|extension point description|no|The
<require>element defines plug-in dependencies. The following attributes are supported:|Attribute|Description|Required| |---------|-----------|--------| |
plugin|vertical bar separated list of plug-ins that are required|yes| |importance|flag whether plug-in is required or optional|no|The
<template>element defines files that should be treated as templates. The following attributes are supported:|Attribute|Description|Required| |---------|-----------|--------| |
file|file path to the template, relative to plugin.xml|yes|The
<meta>element defines metadata. The following attributes are supported:|Attribute|Description|Required| |---------|-----------|--------| |
type|metadata name|yes| |value|metadata value|yes|The
<transtype>element defines an output format (transformation type). The following attributes are supported for transformations:|Attribute|Description|Required| |---------|-----------|--------| |
name|transformation name|yes| |desc|description|no| |abstract|defines an abstract transformation type that cannot be used directly|no| |extends|specifies the name of the transformation type being extended|no|The
<transtype>element may define additional parameters for the transformation type using<param>child elements. The following parameter attributes are supported:|Attribute|Description|Required| |---------|-----------|--------| |
name|parameter name|yes| |desc|description|no| |type|parameter type (enum, file, string)|yes|Enumeration parameters (
<param>elements of type enum) define enumeration values with<val>child elements. The following attributes are supported:|Attribute|Description|Required| |---------|-----------|--------| |
default|defines an enumeration value as the default value (default="true")|yes|
Any extension that is not recognized by the DITA-OT is ignored; all elements other than <plugin> are optional. Since version 1.5.3 multiple extension definitions within a plug-in configuration file are combined; in older versions only the last extension definition is used.
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