custom-plugins.dita 2.4 KB

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  1. <?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
  2. <!DOCTYPE concept PUBLIC "-//OASIS//DTD DITA Concept//EN" "concept.dtd">
  3. <!-- This file is part of the DITA Open Toolkit project. See the accompanying LICENSE file for applicable license. -->
  4. <concept id="custom-plugins">
  5. <title>Customizing DITA-OT with plug-ins</title>
  6. <titlealts>
  7. <navtitle>Custom plug-ins</navtitle>
  8. </titlealts>
  9. <shortdesc id="plugins-creating">You can install or create DITA-OT plug-ins to change the default output types in
  10. various ways, add entirely new kinds of output formats, or implement DITA topic specializations.</shortdesc>
  11. <conbody>
  12. <p>A plug-in consists of a directory, typically stored within the <filepath>plugins/</filepath> directory inside of
  13. the DITA-OT. Every plug-in is controlled by a file named <filepath>plugin.xml</filepath>, which is located in the
  14. root directory of the plug-in.</p>
  15. <section id="plugin-benefits">
  16. <title>Plug-in benefits</title>
  17. <p>Plug-ins allow you to extend the toolkit in a way that is consistent, easy-to-share, and possible to preserve
  18. through toolkit upgrades.</p>
  19. <p>The DITA-OT plug-in mechanism provides the following benefits:</p>
  20. <ul>
  21. <li>Plug-ins can easily be shared with other users, teams, or companies. Typically, all users need to do is to
  22. unzip and run a single installation command. With many builds, even that installation step is automatic.</li>
  23. <li>Plug-ins permit overrides or customizations to grow from simple to complex over time, with no increased
  24. complexity to the extension mechanism.</li>
  25. <li>Plug-ins can be moved from version to version of the DITA-OT simply by reinstalling or copying the directory
  26. from one installation to another. There is no need to re-integrate code based on updates to the core
  27. processing of the DITA-OT.</li>
  28. <li>Plug-ins can build upon each other. If you like a plug-in, simply install that plug-in, and then create your
  29. own plug-in that builds on top of it. The two plug-ins can then be distributed to your team as a unit, or you
  30. can share your own extensions with the original provider.</li>
  31. </ul>
  32. </section>
  33. <section>
  34. <title>Working with plug-ins</title>
  35. <p>Extended documentation for creating plug-ins is provided in the following topics.</p>
  36. </section>
  37. </conbody>
  38. </concept>