Plugin System

Plugin System

Extend Nimbus with powerful built-in plugins or create your own using C# and XML.

Jump to

1. Built-in Plugins

Nimbus comes with a rich set of plugins ready to use. These cover everything from math to network requests.

🔢
MathPlugin
abs, min, max, pow, sqrt, round, random, floor, ceil, sin, cos, pi
📝
StringPlugin
upper, lower, trim, length, contains, replace, repeat, padleft
📅
DatePlugin
now, today, time, year, month, day, timestamp, format
📁
FilePlugin
read, write, exists, delete, size, extension, directory, append
🔐
CryptoPlugin
md5, sha256, guid, shortid
📋
JsonPlugin
get, count, has
🌐
NetPlugin
urlencode, urldecode, base64encode, download
💬
DialogPlugin
input, folder (Open dialogs)

2. How to Use Plugins

There are two ways to use plugins: calling functions that return values, or executing commands.

Calling Functions

Use the <Plugin> tag to execute a method and store the result in a variable.

App.xml 
<!-- Calculate Square Root -->
<Plugin Name="MathPlugin" Method="sqrt" Params="16" ToState="result"/>

<!-- Get String Length -->
<Plugin Name="StringPlugin" Method="length" Params="Hello" ToState="len"/>

<!-- Generate GUID -->
<Plugin Name="CryptoPlugin" Method="guid" ToState="myId"/>

Executing Commands

Some plugins register custom XML commands. For example, FilePlugin adds <file.write>.

<!-- Using Command -->
<file.write Path="log.txt" Content="System started"/>

<!-- Using Dialog -->
<dialog.input Title="Enter Name" Message="Who are you?" ToState="username"/>

<!-- Using UI Helper -->
<ui.toast Message="Operation Complete"/>

3. Creating C# Plugins

You can create powerful plugins by writing a C# class that implements INimbusPlugin. Save your file in the `plugins/` folder.

folder
Location: Place your `.cs` files in the `plugins/` folder next to `App.xml`. Nimbus compiles them automatically at runtime.

Example: Greeting Plugin

Create `plugins/MyPlugin.cs`:

plugins/MyPlugin.cs 
using System;
using System.Xml;
using Nimbus.WPF; // Core framework namespace

public class MyPlugin : INimbusPlugin
{
    // Metadata
    public string Name { get { return "MyPlugin"; } }
    public string Version { get { return "1.0"; } }
    public string Description { get { return "A custom greeting plugin"; } }

    public void OnLoad(WpfEngine engine)
    {
        // 1. Register a Function (returns string)
        engine.RegisterFunction("myplugin.greet", delegate(string args)
        {
            return "Hello, " + args + "!";
        });

        // 2. Register a Command (performs action)
        engine.RegisterCommand("myplugin.log", delegate(XmlNode node, object sender)
        {
            string msg = node.Attributes["Message"].Value;
            engine.Log("MY_PLUGIN", msg);
            return true;
        });
    }

    public void OnUnload(WpfEngine engine) 
    {
        // Cleanup logic if needed
    }

    public void OnEvent(WpfEngine engine, string eventName, object data) 
    {
        // Listen to engine events
    }
}

Using Your C# Plugin

<!-- Call Function -->
<Plugin Name="MyPlugin" Method="greet" Params="World" ToState="greeting"/>

<!-- Call Command -->
<myplugin.log Message="Custom log message"/>

4. Creating XML Plugins

For simpler logic, you can create "Logic Plugins" using purely XML. This is great for reusable handler libraries.

Example: Auth Plugin

Create `plugins/Auth.xml`:

plugins/Auth.xml 
<NimbusPlugin Name="AuthPlugin" Version="1.0">
    
    <Handlers>
        <Handler Name="Login">
            <!-- Simulated login logic -->
            <If Condition="{username} == 'admin' AND {password} == '123'">
                <Set Var="isLoggedIn" Value="true"/>
                <Toast Message="Login Successful!" Type="Success"/>
            <Else>
                <Set Var="isLoggedIn" Value="false"/>
                <Alert Message="Invalid credentials"/>
            </Else>
            </If>
        </Handler>
        
        <Handler Name="Logout">
            <Set Var="isLoggedIn" Value="false"/>
            <Toast Message="Logged out"/>
        </Handler>
    </Handlers>

    <!-- Expose commands to App.xml -->
    <Commands>
        <Command Name="auth.login" Handler="Login"/>
        <Command Name="auth.logout" Handler="Logout"/>
    </Commands>

</NimbusPlugin>

Using Your XML Plugin

Nimbus automatically loads `.xml` files in the `plugins/` folder.

<!-- Use the custom command directly -->
<auth.login/>

<!-- Or call via Plugin tag -->
<Plugin Name="AuthPlugin" Method="Logout"/>

5. Plugin API Reference

Methods available to C# plugins via the `WpfEngine` instance.

MethodDescription
engine.RegisterFunction(name, func)Register a string-returning function (e.g., `math.abs`).
engine.RegisterCommand(name, handler)Register a void-returning command (e.g., `file.write`).
engine.SetVariable(name, value)Set a state variable.
engine.GetVariable(name)Get a state variable value.
engine.GetControl(name)Get a WPF control reference.
engine.Log(level, message)Write to DevTools log.
engine.ExecuteHandler(name)Run another handler by name.