Plug-in configuration file

The plugin.xml controls all aspects of a plug-in, making each extension visible to the rest of the toolkit. The file uses pre-defined extension points to locate changes, and integrates those changes into the core code.

The root element of the plugin.xml file is <plugin>, and must specify an id attribute. The id attribute is used to identify the plug-in, as well as to identify whether pre-requisite plug-ins are available. The id attribute should follow the syntax rules:

id    ::= token('.'token)*
token ::= ( [0..9] | [a..zA..Z] | ’_’ | ’-’ )+

The <plugin> element supports the following child elements:

<feature> defines an extension to contribute to a defined extension point. The following attributes are supported:

Attribute	Description	Required
`extension`	extension point identifier	yes
`value`	comma separated string value of the extension	either `value` or `file`
`file`	file path value of the extension, relative to plugin.xml	either `value` or `file`
`type`	type of the `value` attribute	no

extension-point defines new a extension point that can be used by other plug-ins. The following attributes are supported:

Attribute Description Required

id extension point identifier yes

name extension point name no
<require> defines plug-in dependencies. The following attributes are supported:

Attribute Description Required

plugin vertical bar separated list of plug-ins that are required yes

importance flag whether plug-in is required or optional no
<template> defines files that should be treated as templates. The following attributes are supported:

Attribute Description Required

file file path to the template, relative to plugin.xml yes
<meta> defines metadata. The following attributes are supported:

Attribute Description Required

type metadata name yes

value metadata value yes

Attribute	Description	Required
`id`	extension point identifier	yes
`name`	extension point name	no

Attribute	Description	Required
`plugin`	vertical bar separated list of plug-ins that are required	yes
`importance`	flag whether plug-in is required or optional	no

Attribute	Description	Required
`file`	file path to the template, relative to plugin.xml	yes

Attribute	Description	Required
`type`	metadata name	yes
`value`	metadata value	yes

Any extension that is not recognized by the DITA-OT is ignored; all elements other than <plugin> are optional. Since version 1.5.3 multiple extension definitions within a plug-in configuration file are combined; in older versions only the last extension definition is used.