Plugin (BladeRunnerJS v1.5.1-0.gba3e1c0)

All Known Subinterfaces:

AssetPlugin, CommandPlugin, CompositeContentPlugin, ContentPlugin, MinifierPlugin, ModelObserverPlugin, RequirePlugin, RoutableContentPlugin, TagHandlerPlugin

All Known Implementing Classes:

AbstractAssetPlugin, AbstractCommandPlugin, AbstractContentPlugin, AbstractMinifierPlugin, AbstractModelObserverPlugin, AbstractPlugin, AbstractRequirePlugin, AbstractTagHandlerPlugin, JSAPArgsParsingCommandPlugin
```
public interface Plugin
```
Plugin is the base interface for all plug-ins within BladeRunnerJS. Plug-ins are discovered automatically by BladeRunnerJS (using the SPI Mechanism introduced in Java 6), and are constructed using a zero-arg constructor. The setBRJS() method is used in lieu of a parameterized constructor, and is invoked before any non-identifier methods (see below).
Because plug-ins form part of the model, yet use the model to initialize themselves, an untenable circular dependency exists. To overcome this problem, each concrete plug-in instance is wrapped inside a virtual proxy that delays plug-in initialization until somebody attempts to actually use the plug-in. Since code interested in interacting with a subset of the plug-ins will often need to query all of them to locate the ones it needs, certain identifier-methods are proxied through before the object's setBRJS() method has been invoked, which plug-in authors must be aware of.

Another consequence of wrapping all plug-ins in a virtual proxy is that the instanceof operator and the Object.getClass() method do not work as expected. The instanceOf() and getPluginClass() methods are provided to overcome these deficiencies.

Method Summary

All Methods Instance Methods Abstract Methods
Modifier and Type	Method and Description
`<P extends Plugin> P`	`castTo(java.lang.Class<P> pluginInterface)` An alternative to Java's class casting mechanism that is needed because BladeRunnerJS wraps plug-ins within virtual proxy wrappers, preventing class casting from working.
`void`	`close()` Invoked during the invocation of `BRJS.close()`, offering plug-ins a chance to release any resources they may be holding on to.
`java.lang.Class<?>`	`getPluginClass()` An alternative to Java's `Object.getClass()` method that is needed because BladeRunnerJS wraps plug-ins within virtual proxy wrappers, causing the native `Object.getClass()` method to become ineffective.
`<P extends Plugin> boolean`	`instanceOf(java.lang.Class<P> pluginInterface)` An alternative to Java's `instanceof` operator that is needed because BladeRunnerJS wraps plug-ins within virtual proxy wrappers, causing the native `instanceof` operator to become ineffective.
`void`	`setBRJS(BRJS brjs)` Invoked after construction, and before any non-identifier methods have been invoked, so plug-ins have a reference to the BladeRunnerJS model.

- Method Detail
  - setBRJS
```
void setBRJS(BRJS brjs)
```
    Invoked after construction, and before any non-identifier methods have been invoked, so plug-ins have a reference to the BladeRunnerJS model.
    
    Parameters:
    
    brjs - The reference to the BladeRunnerJS model.
  - close
```
void close()
```
    Invoked during the invocation of BRJS.close(), offering plug-ins a chance to release any resources they may be holding on to.
  - instanceOf
```
<P extends Plugin> boolean instanceOf(java.lang.Class<P> pluginInterface)
```
    An alternative to Java's instanceof operator that is needed because BladeRunnerJS wraps plug-ins within virtual proxy wrappers, causing the native instanceof operator to become ineffective.
    Plug-ins are not expected to implement this method themselves, and should instead extend one of the AbstractPlugin sub-classes (e.g. AbstractCommandPlugin).
    
    Type Parameters:
    
    P - Any plugin
    
    Parameters:
    
    pluginInterface - The interface which this object may, or may not be, an instance of.
    
    Returns:
    
    true, if this object is an instance of the given interface, and false otherwise.
  - castTo
```
<P extends Plugin> P castTo(java.lang.Class<P> pluginInterface)
```
    An alternative to Java's class casting mechanism that is needed because BladeRunnerJS wraps plug-ins within virtual proxy wrappers, preventing class casting from working.
    Plug-ins are not expected to implement this method themselves, and should instead extend one of the AbstractPlugin sub-classes (e.g. AbstractCommandPlugin).
    
    Type Parameters:
    
    P - Any plugin
    
    Parameters:
    
    pluginInterface - The interface which this object may, or may not be, an instance of.
    
    Returns:
    
    The plugin cast to the type P
  - getPluginClass
```
java.lang.Class<?> getPluginClass()
```
    An alternative to Java's Object.getClass() method that is needed because BladeRunnerJS wraps plug-ins within virtual proxy wrappers, causing the native Object.getClass() method to become ineffective.
    Plug-ins are not expected to implement this method themselves, and should instead extend one of the AbstractPlugin sub-classes (e.g. AbstractCommandPlugin).
    
    Returns:
    
    A reference to the class of the underlying plug-in.

Interface Plugin

Method Summary

Method Detail

setBRJS

close

instanceOf

castTo

getPluginClass