The widget's extension.xml file will contain an install manifest <installfeature> snippet with a pointer to the update site and specifications on how to install or update the feature.

Note The Start Configuring Widgets wizard dialog (click Getting Started with Widgets in the toolbar or My Widgets sidebar panel) contains Features and Plugins option. This option launches a wizard sequence designed to simplify the process of creating a Notes client plug-in deployment widget. The wizard guides you through the widget definition and extension.xml creation process.

1. Create the extension.xml file. Use the sample XML below as a guide.

Information about the contents of an install manifest is available in the "Provisioning manifest DTD" topic in the Expeditor Client for Desktop and Devices, Version guide at the IBM Lotus Expeditor Information Center or in the Lotus Expeditor Wiki.

Sample XML

The items in bold are the fields you need to customize for your own feature.

Note You can obtain the sample extension.xml file used in this example at the Lotus Support Site in the "How to use a Notes widget to deploy a new plug-in to an existing Notes installation" tech note.

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>

<webcontextConfiguration version="1.1">

<palleteItem id="com.mycompany.xyz.extensions.featureABX" imageUrl="" 

providerId="com.ibm.rcp.toolbox.prov.provider.ToolboxProvisioning"  

title="Comp XYZ Custom Plugin"

url="nrpc://WidgetCatalogServer.abx.com/updatesite.nsf/site.xml">

<preferences>

</preferences>

<data>

<installManifest>

<![CDATA[

<install>

<installfeature description="Comp XYZ Custom Plugin"
id="Test_Feature_ABX" name="Test Feature ABX"> 

 <requirements>

  <feature download-size="10" id="Test_Feature_ABX" match="perfect" shared="true" size="10" version="1.0"/> 

</requirements>

</installfeature>

</install>

]]>

</installManifest>

</data>

</palleteItem>

</webcontextConfiguration>

Items in the top section of an extension.xml file are described below:

• xml version = internal setting, use exactly as specified in the sample
• encoding = internal setting, use exactly as specified in the sample
• webcontextConfiguration version = internal setting, use exactly as specified in the sample
• palleteItem id = internal ID setting, this must adhere to the namespace/ID format as specified in the sample - this value must be unique for each pallette item
• imageURL = URL at which the widget graphic that appears in the My Widgets sidebar resides, if no value is specified a default graphic is used
• providerID = states the widget's intent, for widgets that deploy features you must use exactly as specified in the sample
• title = widget name that appears in the My Widgets sidebar panel
• url = pointer by which the update site and site.xml are located. You can specify a URL value using NRCP protocol if the update site resides in an NSF-based update site (for example, updateSite.nsf) on a Domino server or using an HTTP protocol if the update site exists on an HTTP server.

Note By default, only public update sites that do not require authentication are available for feature deployment using widgets. However, you can use accounts to configure access to update sites that require user authentication.

Items in the <installManifest> section of the sample XML file are described in the "Provisioning Manifest DTD" link at the top of this section.

Provided that shared="true" is set in the install manifest the widget's .XML, the plug-in is installed to
Notes_install_dir\framework\shared\eclipse. If there is no write access to that directory, the plug-in is installed to Notes_install_dir\data\workspace\applications.

Related topics

Deploying client plug-ins with widgets and the widget catalog
Catalog options and access
Understanding the Eclipse update site
Creating and using an NSF-based update site
Pushing notes.ini settings or location document settings
Pushing Eclipse preference settings
Lotus Support
Lotus Expeditor Wiki
IBM Lotus Expeditor Information Center
"How to use a Notes widget to deploy a new plug-in to an existing Notes installation" on Lotus Support

Glossary