interested in creating a plug-in. is there a guide?

[emotionnotion]

Not looking for a Java, C++ or VB guide rather, a end-to-end guide for creating a simple plug-in through SageTV Studio.

Anything out there?

[GKusnick]

There's a lot more to creating packaging a plugin than just editing STV code in Studio. In fact some flavors of plugin don't require any Studio work at all. Even for UI mod plugins, Studio is just one step in the process.

Not all of the docs have been updated yet for the new V7 plugin system, but you should start with the plugin developer's guide as well as the Studio Information Resources sticky thread.

I'd also suggest skimming some of the recent threads in this forum that have addressed similar questions:

Trying to figure out the plugin process
Stupid question on moving a menu item

So yes, there's quite a bit of information out there in various places if you go looking for it.

(And by the way, although it's technically possible to use VB or C++ in a plugin, in practice it's way more trouble than it's worth. You're better off just learning Java for anything that can't be done directly in Studio.)

[emotionnotion]

Thanks Greg and Understood.

I am from a VB and C++ background; do not know Java well but have done a lot of Jscript so should be able to transition I hope. I stopped programming professionally 7 years ago and miss it

Will look at the guide and understand more about the role of the Studio against the other undelying development tools at play.

I assume there is a mountain of detail on the existing API's and foundational/core components (many of which I believe you have created)

[PLUCKYHD]

Good luck to you!

Studio has a big learning curve but once you get it down it is really pretty simple and easy to do whatever you want existing or new things within it's limits of course.

And remember if you get stuck you can always ask here it is very rarely if ever someone doesn't know the answer. There is the for sage Apis and several outside projects like gregs,Phoenix, and ortus also have Apis.

If you do start coding in java outside of studio I really recomend using sagex API to handle the core sage calls as sagex is object based and really easy/great method IMHO.

For studio I don't know how I could get by without gregs studio tools it add so much great function and utility.


Cheers

[emotionnotion]

Thanks. Will start to understand the SageTV development process based on this information. Always prefer to use foundations that have been done before as its quicker to learn this way.

Just got to find the time now after the day job! ;-)

[Tiki]

My recommendation is to follow these steps:
1. Get familiar with SageTV as a user first
2. Experiment with Installing plugins written by other developers
3. Read the Studio manual.
4. Work through the Studio tutorials.
5. Think about what you want to accomplish with your plugin and break it down into pieces in your mind (you might have some UI elements, some configuration options, some interface to outside components, etc.). It's best to start with something simple and work your way up
6. Find some areas in the default SageTV stv or in a 3rd party plugin that behave similarly to the pieces you identified in step 5 and then study the Studio code behind them to see how others accomplished things.

I assume you've probably already done steps 1 and 2, but who knows...

...again, start small. If you are not an expert in Java, I would start by trying to accomplish as much as possible within the Studio environment (learn one thing at a time). Of course, it really depends on what the purpose of your plugin is. If it is mostly to modify the user interface - Studio makes sense. If it is mostly to do something outside of the Sage interface (e.g. apps like the webserver, BMT, SageTray), most of the work probably needs to be done in something like Java.

Once you get comfortable with Studio, you may find that you have ideas for things that are either really difficult or impossible to do in Studio. This is when you want to start branching out into Java. Studio lets you call external functions that are written in Java, so the next step is to find some pre-written Java functions that can do what you need. Then, if you still can't do what you need, it's time to really move into Java and write your own classes to do what you need.