dovetail

dovetail

Make your application pluggable!

Getting Started

To install the module, run the following in the command line:

npm i dovetail --save

Use within your application with the following lines of JavaScript:

var events = require('events');

// require the main Dovetail class
var Dovetail = require('dovetail');

// create an "application" to be pluggable
var MyApp = function (options) {
	// make it an EventEmitter
	events.EventEmitter.call(this);

	// create a new instance of Dovetail
	// passing in your application
	this.dovetail = new Dovetail(this);

	// automatically load plugins
	this.dovetail.resolve('/path/to/plugins/*.js', options);
};

require('util').inherits(MyApp, events.EventEmitter);

Nothing else is required, but the plugins won't run until you trigger them

MyApp.prototype.trigger = function (event, params, done) {
	this.dovetail.runEvent(event, params, done);
};

Also, provide a helper method on your application to allow plugins to self register:

MyApp.prototype.registerPlugin = function (name, description, options, fn) {
	this.dovetail.createPlugin(name, description, options, fn);
};

Now you can drop a javascript file into your plugins folder and it'll be registered:

module.exports = function (app) {
	var options = {
		events: [ 'app:before:start' ] // list of events this plugin will listen for
	};

	app.registerPlugin('my-custom-plugin', 'This is an awesome plugin that runs before the application starts.', options, function (params, done) {
		console.log('This is my custom plugin!');
		console.log('event', params.event);

		// add something to the params to be passed back to your app
		params.startTime = new Date();

		// let the app know that the plugin is finished
		done();
	});
};

Create a function for your app that will trigger some events:

MyApp.prototype.start = function () {
	var self = this;

	// set up some paramets to keep track of state
	self.params = {};

	// trigger that the app will be starting
	self.trigger('app:before:start', self.params, function(err) {
		if (err) {
			throw new Error(err);
		}
		console.log('The app has started');

		// do some work


		// trigger that the app is going to end
		self.trigger('app:before:end', self.params, function (err) {
			if (err) {
				throw new Error(err);
			}
			console.log('The app has ended');
		});

	});
}

Contributing

Find a bug? Have a feature request? Please create an Issue.

In lieu of a formal styleguide, take care to maintain the existing coding style. Add unit tests for any new or changed functionality. Lint and test your code using grunt, and build the documentation with grunt-readme.

Pull requests are also encouraged, and if you find this project useful please consider "starring" it to show your support! Thanks!

Author

Jon Schlinkert

• github/jonschlinkert
• twitter/jonschlinkert

Brian Woodward

• github/doowb
• twitter/doowb

License

Copyright (c) 2014 undefined, contributors. Released under the license

This file was generated by grunt-readme on Thursday, March 6, 2014.