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  1. <html><head><meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=ISO-8859-1"><title>The Actions Catalog</title><meta name="generator" content="DocBook XSL Stylesheets V1.73.2"><link rel="start" href="index.html" title="jEdit 4.3 User's Guide"><link rel="up" href="plugin-implement.html" title="Chapter 18. Implementing a Simple Plugin"><link rel="prev" href="plugin-implement-editbus.html" title="The EditBus"><link rel="next" href="plugin-implement-dockables.html" title="The dockables.xml Window Catalog"></head><body bgcolor="white" text="black" link="#0000FF" vlink="#840084" alink="#0000FF"><div class="navheader"><table width="100%" summary="Navigation header"><tr><th colspan="3" align="center">The Actions Catalog</th></tr><tr><td width="20%" align="left"><a accesskey="p" href="plugin-implement-editbus.html">Prev</a> </td><th width="60%" align="center">Chapter 18. Implementing a Simple Plugin</th><td width="20%" align="right"> <a accesskey="n" href="plugin-implement-dockables.html">Next</a></td></tr></table><hr></div><div class="sect1" lang="en"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h2 class="title" style="clear: both"><a name="plugin-implement-actions"></a>The Actions Catalog</h2></div></div></div><p>Actions define procedures that can be bound to a menu item, a
    2. 

  2.         toolbar button or a keyboard shortcut. Most plugin Actions <sup>[<a name="id2608896" href="#ftn.id2608896" class="footnote">4</a>]</sup> are short scripts written in BeanShell, jEdit's macro
    3. 

  3.         scripting language. These scripts either direct the action themselves,
    4. 

  4.         delegate to a method in one of the plugin's classes that encapsulates
    5. 

  5.         the action, or do a little of both. The scripts are usually short;
    6. 

  6.         elaborate action protocols are usually contained in compiled code,
    7. 

  7.         rather than an interpreted macro script, to speed execution.</p><p>Actions are defined by creating an XML file entitled
    8. 

  8.         <code class="filename">actions.xml</code> and placing it in the plugin JAR
    9. 

  9.         file.</p><p>The <code class="filename">actions.xml</code> file from the
    10. 

  10.         <span class="application">QuickNotepad</span> plugin looks as follows:</p><div class="informalexample"><pre class="programlisting">&lt;ACTIONS&gt;
    11. 

  11. 	&lt;ACTION NAME="quicknotepad.choose-file"&gt;
    12. 

  12. 		&lt;CODE&gt;
    13. 

  13. 			wm.addDockableWindow(QuickNotepadPlugin.NAME);
    14. 

  14. 			wm.getDockableWindow(QuickNotepadPlugin.NAME).chooseFile();
    15. 

  15. 		&lt;/CODE&gt;
    16. 

  16. 	&lt;/ACTION&gt;
    17. 

  17. 

  18. 	&lt;ACTION NAME="quicknotepad.save-file"&gt;
    19. 

  19. 		&lt;CODE&gt;
    20. 

  20. 			wm.addDockableWindow(QuickNotepadPlugin.NAME);
    21. 

  21. 			wm.getDockableWindow(QuickNotepadPlugin.NAME).saveFile();
    22. 

  22. 		&lt;/CODE&gt;
    23. 

  23. 	&lt;/ACTION&gt;
    24. 

  24. 

  25. 	&lt;ACTION NAME="quicknotepad.copy-to-buffer"&gt;
    26. 

  26. 		&lt;CODE&gt;
    27. 

  27. 			wm.addDockableWindow(QuickNotepadPlugin.NAME);
    28. 

  28. 			wm.getDockableWindow(QuickNotepadPlugin.NAME).copyToBuffer();
    29. 

  29. 		&lt;/CODE&gt;
    30. 

  30. 	&lt;/ACTION&gt;
    31. 

  31. &lt;/ACTIONS&gt;</pre></div><p>This file defines three actions. They each use a built-in variable
    32. 

  32.         <code class="literal">wm</code>, which refers to the current view's <a class="ulink" href="../api/org/gjt/sp/jedit/gui/DockableWindowManager.html" target="_top">
    33. 

  33.         <code class="classname">DockableWindowManager</code></a>. Whenever you need
    34. 

  34.         to obtain a reference to the current dockable, or create a new one, this
    35. 

  35.         is the class to use. We use the method <code class="filename">addDockable() followed
    36. 

  36.         by getDockable()</code> to create if necessary, and then bring up
    37. 

  37.         the QuickNotepad plugin dockable. This will be docked or floating,
    38. 

  38.         depending on how it was last used.</p><p>When an action is invoked, the BeanShell scripts address the
    39. 

  39.         plugin through static methods, or if instance data is needed, the
    40. 

  40.         current <a class="ulink" href="../api/org/gjt/sp/jedit/View.html" target="_top">
    41. 

  41.         <code class="classname">View</code></a>, its <a class="ulink" href="../api/org/gjt/sp/jedit/gui/DockableWindowManager.html" target="_top">
    42. 

  42.         <code class="classname">DockableWindowManager</code></a>, and the plugin
    43. 

  43.         object return by the <code class="filename">getDockable()</code> method.</p><p>If you are unfamiliar with BeanShell code, you may nevertheless
    44. 

  44.         notice that the code statements bear a strong resemblance to Java code,
    45. 

  45.         with one exception: the variable <code class="varname">view</code> is never
    46. 

  46.         assigned any value.</p><p>For complete answers to this and other BeanShell mysteries, see
    47. 

  47.         <a class="xref" href="writing-macros-part.html" title="Part III. Writing Macros">Part III, &#8220;Writing Macros&#8221;</a>; two observations will suffice
    48. 

  48.         here. First, the variable <code class="varname">view</code> is predefined by
    49. 

  49.         jEdit's implementation of BeanShell to refer to the current
    50. 

  50.         <code class="classname">View</code> object. Second, the BeanShell scripting
    51. 

  51.         language is based upon Java syntax, but allows variables to be typed at
    52. 

  52.         run time, so explicit types for variables need not be declared.</p><p>A formal description of each element of the
    53. 

  53.         <code class="filename">actions.xml</code> file can be found in the documentation
    54. 

  54.         of the <a class="ulink" href="../api/org/gjt/sp/jedit/ActionSet.html" target="_top">
    55. 

  55.         <code class="classname">ActionSet</code></a> class.</p><div class="footnotes"><br><hr width="100" align="left"><div class="footnote"><p><sup>[<a name="ftn.id2608896" href="#id2608896" class="para">4</a>] </sup>Some plugins, such as Sidekick, Console, and
    56. 

  56.                 ProjectViewer, create pure Java EditAction-derived Actions,
    57. 

  57.                 based which services are available, or which files are found in
    58. 

  58.                 a certain path. However, this is an advanced topic you can
    59. 

  59.                 explore further in the source and API docs of those
    60. 

  60.                 plugins.</p></div></div></div><div class="navfooter"><hr><table width="100%" summary="Navigation footer"><tr><td width="40%" align="left"><a accesskey="p" href="plugin-implement-editbus.html">Prev</a> </td><td width="20%" align="center"><a accesskey="u" href="plugin-implement.html">Up</a></td><td width="40%" align="right"> <a accesskey="n" href="plugin-implement-dockables.html">Next</a></td></tr><tr><td width="40%" align="left" valign="top">The EditBus </td><td width="20%" align="center"><a accesskey="h" href="index.html">Home</a></td><td width="40%" align="right" valign="top"> The dockables.xml Window Catalog</td></tr></table></div></body></html>
    61. 

  61.