Plugins - Implement Plugin Framework

[ReenigneArcher]

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If RetroArcher supported plugins it would provide an easier way for people to make RetroArcher better without having to contribute to the core project (which can be quite overwhelming).

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Something similar to plugins from one of these:

• Plex Media Server
• Kodi
• HomeAssistant

More research is needed

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Additional context
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Examples of possible plugins:

• Additional standalone emulators
• A bios verifier tool
• Resource monitoring dashboard

[ReenigneArcher]

Some ideas...

Plugin Repository (decided against this, separate github organization instead with separate repos)

• Could create a RetroArcher.plugins repo which would be separated from RetroArcher.X.
• The repo could have 3 branches
  • master (stable)
  • nightly (latest)
  • template (mostly empty, just contain template files)
• Workflow could be something like this:
  • Plugin Developers fork the repo
  • Create a new branch in their fork using template branch as a base
  • When finished with release do a PR back to the main repo's nightly branch

Plugin Requirements

• all plugins to be installed to a specified folder, likely named plug-ins
• plug-ins will need some kind of manifest file with all the metadata... json is probably a good format for this
• settings/configurations

Likely required changed to RetroArcher.X

• create an interface for dealing with plugins, which could:
  • install plugins that are part of the RetroArcher.plugins repo
  • uninstall any installed plugins
  • for installed plugins, load a configuration UI (html) page associated with that plugin
• for each folder in plugin directory, import the plugin... each plugin's main file will probably need to be named __init__.py
• if the plugin was imported successfully, list the plugin in the plugins menu/page

[ReenigneArcher]

Here's a preview of the in process plugin management page.

Plugins to be installed to the plugins folder within the RetroArcher root directory.

Idea for structure of a plugin:

└───example-plugin
    │   manifest.xml
    │
    ├───bin
    ├───code
    │       requirements.txt
    │       __init__.py
    │
    ├───html
    │       config.html
    │       index.html
    │
    ├───lib
    └───resources
        ├───css
        ├───fonts
        ├───images
        │       background.png
        │       icon.png
        │
        └───js

Milestones:

• Install plugins using git
• Check plugins for updates using git
• Define requirements for plugins
• Document plugins

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