Studio Server plug-ins

Studio Server plug-ins add (custom) functionality to Studio Server, for instance for connecting to external sources (such as a Web site or a database), or for automating specific processes.

Plug-in types

Two types of Server plug-ins exist:

System plug-ins. Provide default Studio Server functionality.

Custom plug-ins. Any custom-made plug-in that is added to the default installation of Studio Server.

Connectors

Each Server plug-in has its own feature and consists of one or more Connectors, each implementing a part of the feature. The plug-in acts as a container for these connectors, it describes their functionality and make it possible to activate or deactivate the feature.

Two types of connectors exist:

Service connector

Business connector

Service connectors

Service connectors can be used to interfere with the standard behavior of services offered by the application server. The “Overrule System” Run Mode make it possible for a connector to entirely implement a certain service, meaning that the standard service is not used at all. With the Before/After flavors, connectors can act before or after the system or manipulate information received from client applications or information that is about to leave the Server and sent to client applications.

The following types of Service connectors exist:

Run modes

The Run Mode defines the way and the events under which the connector is called by the Server. The following Run Modes exist:

• For connectors of type Service:
• Before System
• After System
• Before- and After System
• Overrule System

• For other connector types:
• Synchronous

Priority

Connectors can be given a priority value which indicates the order in which the connector needs to be called. This is useful when there are multiple connectors implementing the same interface.

Server Plug-ins Maintenance page

The Server plug-ins are controlled through the Server Plug-ins Maintenance page. It shows the current state of the plug-in and the connector details, and make it possible to register, install, activate, or deactivate the Server plug-in functionality.

Figure: The Server Plug-ins Maintenance page

Accessing the page

In Studio Server, click Server Plug-ins in the Maintenance menu or on the Home page.

Page setup

The page is divided into two sections: a list of server plug-ins and their details on the left, and a list of plug-in connectors and their details on the right.

To display the details for a plug-in or connector, select that item from the list.

Implementation stages

During its use, a Server plug-in can go through the following stages:

1. Added to the Studio Server folder
2. Registered in the database
3. Installed
4. Activated
5. Deactivated

To indicate its state, the following icons are used on the Server Plug-in Maintenance page:

Activated.The plug-in is correctly installed.

Deactivated. The functionality of the plug-in has been turned off.

Error. Errors occurred during the installation.

Tip: Hover the mouse pointer over an icon to display additional information about the state of the plug-in.

Server plug-ins that are shipped with Studio Server

• ImageMagick Preview. For enabling image preview generation using ImageMagick and Ghostscript (installed separately).
  See Installing ImageMagick.

Note: In Studio Server 10.26.0 and lower, this plug-in is named 'ImageMagick Preview and Metadata'.

• InCopy HTML Conversion. For converting HTML articles to text so that editing is possible in InDesign or InCopy.
• PHP Preview. For generating previews for JPG, PNG, and GIF images. also reads basic metadata of uploaded files, such as the file size.

• Sips Preview. (Not available in Studio Server 10.27.0 or higher) For using a Sips command for preview generation.
• Solr Search. For enabling the Solr search engine (installed separately). See Integrating Solr in Studio Server.