RE: Questions re: plugin variables
Thanks, that clears everything up. It seems the fact that preference tags don't work inside platform tags is a bug. Fortunately there is no advantage to putting a preference tag inside and everyone seems to put them outside. Julian -Original Message- From: Shazron [mailto:shaz...@gmail.com] Sent: Wednesday, November 12, 2014 6:38 PM To: dev@cordova.apache.org Subject: Re: Questions re: plugin variables I know it seems confusing, but the preference tag inside the config-file tag is just some xml insertion into the config.xml file that is specified, but is not related to the preference tag specified for plugin.xml. It is the preference tag for config.xml. It should behave as specified in the Plugin Spec [1], when inside platform tags, except for what I explained above. Answering your points: 1) Yes, it ignores the value attribute, only 'name' is applicable per the spec. 2) They shouldn't be ignored if inside the platform node, seems to be a bug (unless the tool is smart enough to know if the variable is actually being used and not prompt -- but that seems to be bad design) [1] http://cordova.apache.org/docs/en/4.0.0/plugin_ref_spec.md.html#Plugin%20Specification On Fri, Nov 7, 2014 at 7:18 AM, Horn, Julian C julian.c.h...@intel.com wrote: Leo's question really hasn't been answered yet. Let me try to make this more concrete and see if anyone can explain whether the current behavior of the CLI is correct or not. The plugin.xml in the StatusBar plugin contains the following content: ... platform name=ios config-file target=config.xml parent=/*. ... preference name=StatusBarOverlaysWebView value=true / There are several mysteries here. 1) What does it mean if the name attribute of a preference tag does not obey the only capital letters, digits, or underscores rule? Apparently it can never cause variable replacement. 2) What does the value attribute mean? Does this supply a default value for a variable if the variable is not mentioned in the --variable flag (thus making the variable optional)? 3) Where can preference tags legally appear? Must they be outside of platform tags, or can they be inside platform tags or even inside config-file tags? Our experiments with CLI 4.0.1-dev show the following: 1) The value attribute is ignored by the CLI, or at least it doesn't create a default value. For example, suppose you put the following preference tag outside of any platform tag. preference name=API_KEY value=my-api-key / We found that the user is still required to supply --variable API_KEY, which means that my-api-key never becomes the value of API_KEY. 2) preference tags appear to be ignored by the CLI if they appear below a platform node. If you move the preference node shown above from outside a platform node to inside a platform node, then the CLI stops prompting for a --variable flag and $API_KEY is not replaced by anything. It looks to us like the preference tag is overloaded. When it appears outside the platform tag it defines a variable. When it appears inside a platform tag it does not. The meaning of the preference tag within a platform tag is apparently determined by the platform. If people agree that this is correct then the documentation can be updated accordingly. However, we did see some code in the implementation that seemed to be looking for preference tags inside of platform tags. It seems like this isn't working as intended, but then again we can't figure out what the intention is. Julian -Original Message- From: Marcel Kinard [mailto:cmarc...@gmail.com] Sent: Friday, November 07, 2014 9:42 AM To: dev@cordova.apache.org Subject: Re: Questions re: plugin variables If there is a reasonable question from a user, it should probably be added to the docs (assuming it's not already there). Leo, would you like to do a pull request? On Nov 5, 2014, at 8:24 PM, Mark Koudritsky kam...@google.com wrote: Variables should to be provided when adding the plugin E.g: cordova plugin add org.some.plugin --variable API_KEY=some_value Example of a plugin that uses variables: http://plugins.cordova.io/#/package/com.phonegap.plugins.facebookcon ne ct Relevant places in the code in cordova-lib: Where variables are checked during plugin add: https://github.com/apache/cordova-lib/blob/master/cordova-lib/src/co rd ova/plugin.js#L126 https://github.com/apache/cordova-lib/blob/master/cordova-lib/src/pl ug man/install.js#L296 Here each variable is replaced with its value when generating the config munge which is an object that describes changes that need to be applied to the platform dir. https://github.com/apache/cordova-lib/blob/master/cordova-lib/src/pl ug man/util/config-changes.js#L368 On Wed, Nov 5, 2014 at 5:28 PM, Treggiari, Leo leo.treggi...@intel.com wrote: I'm having a hard
Re: Questions re: plugin variables
I know it seems confusing, but the preference tag inside the config-file tag is just some xml insertion into the config.xml file that is specified, but is not related to the preference tag specified for plugin.xml. It is the preference tag for config.xml. It should behave as specified in the Plugin Spec [1], when inside platform tags, except for what I explained above. Answering your points: 1) Yes, it ignores the value attribute, only 'name' is applicable per the spec. 2) They shouldn't be ignored if inside the platform node, seems to be a bug (unless the tool is smart enough to know if the variable is actually being used and not prompt -- but that seems to be bad design) [1] http://cordova.apache.org/docs/en/4.0.0/plugin_ref_spec.md.html#Plugin%20Specification On Fri, Nov 7, 2014 at 7:18 AM, Horn, Julian C julian.c.h...@intel.com wrote: Leo's question really hasn't been answered yet. Let me try to make this more concrete and see if anyone can explain whether the current behavior of the CLI is correct or not. The plugin.xml in the StatusBar plugin contains the following content: ... platform name=ios config-file target=config.xml parent=/*. ... preference name=StatusBarOverlaysWebView value=true / There are several mysteries here. 1) What does it mean if the name attribute of a preference tag does not obey the only capital letters, digits, or underscores rule? Apparently it can never cause variable replacement. 2) What does the value attribute mean? Does this supply a default value for a variable if the variable is not mentioned in the --variable flag (thus making the variable optional)? 3) Where can preference tags legally appear? Must they be outside of platform tags, or can they be inside platform tags or even inside config-file tags? Our experiments with CLI 4.0.1-dev show the following: 1) The value attribute is ignored by the CLI, or at least it doesn't create a default value. For example, suppose you put the following preference tag outside of any platform tag. preference name=API_KEY value=my-api-key / We found that the user is still required to supply --variable API_KEY, which means that my-api-key never becomes the value of API_KEY. 2) preference tags appear to be ignored by the CLI if they appear below a platform node. If you move the preference node shown above from outside a platform node to inside a platform node, then the CLI stops prompting for a --variable flag and $API_KEY is not replaced by anything. It looks to us like the preference tag is overloaded. When it appears outside the platform tag it defines a variable. When it appears inside a platform tag it does not. The meaning of the preference tag within a platform tag is apparently determined by the platform. If people agree that this is correct then the documentation can be updated accordingly. However, we did see some code in the implementation that seemed to be looking for preference tags inside of platform tags. It seems like this isn't working as intended, but then again we can't figure out what the intention is. Julian -Original Message- From: Marcel Kinard [mailto:cmarc...@gmail.com] Sent: Friday, November 07, 2014 9:42 AM To: dev@cordova.apache.org Subject: Re: Questions re: plugin variables If there is a reasonable question from a user, it should probably be added to the docs (assuming it's not already there). Leo, would you like to do a pull request? On Nov 5, 2014, at 8:24 PM, Mark Koudritsky kam...@google.com wrote: Variables should to be provided when adding the plugin E.g: cordova plugin add org.some.plugin --variable API_KEY=some_value Example of a plugin that uses variables: http://plugins.cordova.io/#/package/com.phonegap.plugins.facebookconne ct Relevant places in the code in cordova-lib: Where variables are checked during plugin add: https://github.com/apache/cordova-lib/blob/master/cordova-lib/src/cord ova/plugin.js#L126 https://github.com/apache/cordova-lib/blob/master/cordova-lib/src/plug man/install.js#L296 Here each variable is replaced with its value when generating the config munge which is an object that describes changes that need to be applied to the platform dir. https://github.com/apache/cordova-lib/blob/master/cordova-lib/src/plug man/util/config-changes.js#L368 On Wed, Nov 5, 2014 at 5:28 PM, Treggiari, Leo leo.treggi...@intel.com wrote: I'm having a hard time understanding exactly how plugin variables work. It's probably a level of detail that only plugin developers and tool developers need to be concerned about. I'd appreciate it if someone can give me the answers. 1. variables can be indicated by a dollar-sign followed by a series of capital letters, digits, or underscores. To make the variable mandatory, the platform tag needs to contain a preference tag. Does this mean
Re: Questions re: plugin variables
If there is a reasonable question from a user, it should probably be added to the docs (assuming it's not already there). Leo, would you like to do a pull request? On Nov 5, 2014, at 8:24 PM, Mark Koudritsky kam...@google.com wrote: Variables should to be provided when adding the plugin E.g: cordova plugin add org.some.plugin --variable API_KEY=some_value Example of a plugin that uses variables: http://plugins.cordova.io/#/package/com.phonegap.plugins.facebookconnect Relevant places in the code in cordova-lib: Where variables are checked during plugin add: https://github.com/apache/cordova-lib/blob/master/cordova-lib/src/cordova/plugin.js#L126 https://github.com/apache/cordova-lib/blob/master/cordova-lib/src/plugman/install.js#L296 Here each variable is replaced with its value when generating the config munge which is an object that describes changes that need to be applied to the platform dir. https://github.com/apache/cordova-lib/blob/master/cordova-lib/src/plugman/util/config-changes.js#L368 On Wed, Nov 5, 2014 at 5:28 PM, Treggiari, Leo leo.treggi...@intel.com wrote: I'm having a hard time understanding exactly how plugin variables work. It's probably a level of detail that only plugin developers and tool developers need to be concerned about. I'd appreciate it if someone can give me the answers. 1. variables can be indicated by a dollar-sign followed by a series of capital letters, digits, or underscores. To make the variable mandatory, the platform tag needs to contain a preference tag. Does this mean that there are optional and required variables - i.e? - A variable reference is defined by a lexical element which begins with a $ and is followed only by capital letters, digits, or underscores? - A variable is made mandatory by the presence of a preference tag which uses the same name with the $ removed? - Can this preference tag be anywhere in the plugin.xml file, or must it be the direct child of the plugin element or a platform element? - Can the variable references be anywhere or only within strings? 2. Where and when are the variables replaced by their value? - plugin.xml is the only place that the variable value is used and only for replacing the variable references? - When in Cordova CLI do the values get applied - during add, during prepare? 3. What happens if you combine dependencies with variables. For example, suppose A depends on B, and B requires a variable X. How do you supply the value? Thanks, Leo - To unsubscribe, e-mail: dev-unsubscr...@cordova.apache.org For additional commands, e-mail: dev-h...@cordova.apache.org
RE: Questions re: plugin variables
Leo's question really hasn't been answered yet. Let me try to make this more concrete and see if anyone can explain whether the current behavior of the CLI is correct or not. The plugin.xml in the StatusBar plugin contains the following content: ... platform name=ios config-file target=config.xml parent=/*. ... preference name=StatusBarOverlaysWebView value=true / There are several mysteries here. 1) What does it mean if the name attribute of a preference tag does not obey the only capital letters, digits, or underscores rule? Apparently it can never cause variable replacement. 2) What does the value attribute mean? Does this supply a default value for a variable if the variable is not mentioned in the --variable flag (thus making the variable optional)? 3) Where can preference tags legally appear? Must they be outside of platform tags, or can they be inside platform tags or even inside config-file tags? Our experiments with CLI 4.0.1-dev show the following: 1) The value attribute is ignored by the CLI, or at least it doesn't create a default value. For example, suppose you put the following preference tag outside of any platform tag. preference name=API_KEY value=my-api-key / We found that the user is still required to supply --variable API_KEY, which means that my-api-key never becomes the value of API_KEY. 2) preference tags appear to be ignored by the CLI if they appear below a platform node. If you move the preference node shown above from outside a platform node to inside a platform node, then the CLI stops prompting for a --variable flag and $API_KEY is not replaced by anything. It looks to us like the preference tag is overloaded. When it appears outside the platform tag it defines a variable. When it appears inside a platform tag it does not. The meaning of the preference tag within a platform tag is apparently determined by the platform. If people agree that this is correct then the documentation can be updated accordingly. However, we did see some code in the implementation that seemed to be looking for preference tags inside of platform tags. It seems like this isn't working as intended, but then again we can't figure out what the intention is. Julian -Original Message- From: Marcel Kinard [mailto:cmarc...@gmail.com] Sent: Friday, November 07, 2014 9:42 AM To: dev@cordova.apache.org Subject: Re: Questions re: plugin variables If there is a reasonable question from a user, it should probably be added to the docs (assuming it's not already there). Leo, would you like to do a pull request? On Nov 5, 2014, at 8:24 PM, Mark Koudritsky kam...@google.com wrote: Variables should to be provided when adding the plugin E.g: cordova plugin add org.some.plugin --variable API_KEY=some_value Example of a plugin that uses variables: http://plugins.cordova.io/#/package/com.phonegap.plugins.facebookconne ct Relevant places in the code in cordova-lib: Where variables are checked during plugin add: https://github.com/apache/cordova-lib/blob/master/cordova-lib/src/cord ova/plugin.js#L126 https://github.com/apache/cordova-lib/blob/master/cordova-lib/src/plug man/install.js#L296 Here each variable is replaced with its value when generating the config munge which is an object that describes changes that need to be applied to the platform dir. https://github.com/apache/cordova-lib/blob/master/cordova-lib/src/plug man/util/config-changes.js#L368 On Wed, Nov 5, 2014 at 5:28 PM, Treggiari, Leo leo.treggi...@intel.com wrote: I'm having a hard time understanding exactly how plugin variables work. It's probably a level of detail that only plugin developers and tool developers need to be concerned about. I'd appreciate it if someone can give me the answers. 1. variables can be indicated by a dollar-sign followed by a series of capital letters, digits, or underscores. To make the variable mandatory, the platform tag needs to contain a preference tag. Does this mean that there are optional and required variables - i.e? - A variable reference is defined by a lexical element which begins with a $ and is followed only by capital letters, digits, or underscores? - A variable is made mandatory by the presence of a preference tag which uses the same name with the $ removed? - Can this preference tag be anywhere in the plugin.xml file, or must it be the direct child of the plugin element or a platform element? - Can the variable references be anywhere or only within strings? 2. Where and when are the variables replaced by their value? - plugin.xml is the only place that the variable value is used and only for replacing the variable references? - When in Cordova CLI do the values get applied - during add, during prepare? 3. What happens if you combine dependencies with variables. For example, suppose
Re: Questions re: plugin variables
Variables should to be provided when adding the plugin E.g: cordova plugin add org.some.plugin --variable API_KEY=some_value Example of a plugin that uses variables: http://plugins.cordova.io/#/package/com.phonegap.plugins.facebookconnect Relevant places in the code in cordova-lib: Where variables are checked during plugin add: https://github.com/apache/cordova-lib/blob/master/cordova-lib/src/cordova/plugin.js#L126 https://github.com/apache/cordova-lib/blob/master/cordova-lib/src/plugman/install.js#L296 Here each variable is replaced with its value when generating the config munge which is an object that describes changes that need to be applied to the platform dir. https://github.com/apache/cordova-lib/blob/master/cordova-lib/src/plugman/util/config-changes.js#L368 On Wed, Nov 5, 2014 at 5:28 PM, Treggiari, Leo leo.treggi...@intel.com wrote: I'm having a hard time understanding exactly how plugin variables work. It's probably a level of detail that only plugin developers and tool developers need to be concerned about. I'd appreciate it if someone can give me the answers. 1. variables can be indicated by a dollar-sign followed by a series of capital letters, digits, or underscores. To make the variable mandatory, the platform tag needs to contain a preference tag. Does this mean that there are optional and required variables - i.e? - A variable reference is defined by a lexical element which begins with a $ and is followed only by capital letters, digits, or underscores? - A variable is made mandatory by the presence of a preference tag which uses the same name with the $ removed? - Can this preference tag be anywhere in the plugin.xml file, or must it be the direct child of the plugin element or a platform element? - Can the variable references be anywhere or only within strings? 2. Where and when are the variables replaced by their value? - plugin.xml is the only place that the variable value is used and only for replacing the variable references? - When in Cordova CLI do the values get applied - during add, during prepare? 3. What happens if you combine dependencies with variables. For example, suppose A depends on B, and B requires a variable X. How do you supply the value? Thanks, Leo
