Plugin libraries

ODABA supports extended features, which can be provided via plug-in libraries. Depending on the service provided by a plug-in, specific interfaces are provided that are implemented as dummy interfaces in the ODABA standard libraries. Plug-in libraries provide a static (C) function for each service, which allows creating a plug-in object instance inheriting from the dummy interface class implementation. Typically, the plug-in creator function is called

Create ClassName ()

(e.g. CreateSpellCheck() for creating a SpellCheck class instance). Usually, plug-in interfaces provide a few simple functions, which have to be supported by the interface. Plug-ins are provided via dynamic link libraries that must get standard library names according to the operating system. Typically, each plug-in comes along with a separate library. In general, one may, however, also provide several plug-ins in one library.

Plug-ins might be reimplemented as long as the interface supports the required services.