Apps.mios Developer's Guide

Revision as of 09:42, 18 September 2011

apps.mios.com contains a plugin creation wizard that aims to make the plugin creation process easier.

Documentation

The plugin which will be used as an example in this documentation is the Elk Alarm Panel Plugin. This plugin has 8 files:

These files are for the panel itself:

• D_ElkAlarmPanel1.xml
• D_ElkAlarmPanel1.json

These files are for the partitions:

• D_ElkAlarmPartition1.xml
• D_ElkAlarmPartition1.json

These are the implementation files, which are used for both the panel and the partitions:

• I_ElkAlarmPanel1.xml
• L_ElkAlarmPanel1.lua

The are the service description files for the panel and the partitions:

• S_ElkAlarmPanel1.xml
• S_AlarmPartition2.xml

Plugin Info

Plugin Information

• Description: The description that will appear next to the title in the Marketplace.
• Instructions: Instructions for installing and configuring the plugin. Some plugins require additional steps for installation, steps which should be documented here.
• Visibility: For plugins intended to be made available to the public, the visibility should be public.
• License: GPL3, BSD, proprietary

UPnP Data

This is the necessary information for creating the plugin device. If your plugin will have more than one device file, MiOS will use the information here to create the main plugin device. For the Elk Alarm Panel Plugin the main device is the panel device.

UPnP

Plugin Devices

• The first three fields are the ones from UPnP Data. This is the necessary information for creating the plugin device. If your plugin will have more than one device file, MiOS will use the information here to create the main plugin device. For the Elk Alarm Panel Plugin the main device is the panel device.
• Invisible: An invisible device is for internal use only and won't be presented to the user. An example for this is the Insteon Network device.

Plugin Files

Here you can add, remove, edit, upload and download the files used by the plugin. This is an interface for the SVN repository where the files are stored.

File:Plugin Files.png

Pressing the Edit button will open the editor. For the device, service and implementation files there are wizards available for editing the files.

Versions

Releases

This is the list with all the released or pending for approval plugin versions.

Add Release

• Platform: The target platform for the plugin. While most plugins will very likely target all the platforms, some plugins need separate versions for different platforms.
• Compatible firmware: Some plugins require features present only in newer firmwares versions to run. Others did things that were later incorporated in MiOS, so are now obsolete. These versions must be specified here.
• Dev, Alpha, Beta, RC: these are some of the software development phases. Only RC (Release Candidate) versions can be submitted for approval.

After the version has been added to the Releases list, RC versions can be submitted for approval. Someone from Mi Casa Verde will have a look at the plugin and check for malicious code, and test it a little to make sure that it doesn't affect the stability or proper functioning of MiOS. If everything is OK, the plugin will be approved and it will become available to install for the targeted public (selected in the Visibility drop-down).

Versions

Versions are snapshots of the plugin, i.e. how the plugin looked at a particular SVN revision. It's recommended to create a version for every milestone or development phase reached, so that you can go back to it if something went wrong in the subsequent revisions.

Publish

Here you can publish the plugin in its current state and assign it a version. The comments will be added after the version so that you can create versions like 1.4 Holiday Edition. If a file contains sensitive data (e.g. a PIN code) it is recommended to encrypt it.