Extension Point Service

The Extension Point Service allows a bundle to provide "hooks" that make it possible for other bundles to extend its functionality. An example would be a servlet engine implemented in a bundle, with actual servlets implemented in their own bundles. The actual extension mechanism and how it is implemented is entirely defined by a bundle. The extension point service only provides a standardized configuration mechanism for extension points.

The Extension Point Service is registered under the service name osp.core.xp and implemented in the Poco::OSP::ExtensionPointService class.

A bundle that wishes to register an extension point must provide a subclass of Poco::OSP::ExtensionPoint and register an instance of it with the Extension Point Service. This is usually done in the bundle's implementation of Poco::OSP::BundleActivator.

A bundle implementing an extension can do so by providing a special configuration file named extensions.xml in its bundle's root directory. The file has the following format:

<extensions>
    <extension point="name">
        <!-- bundle specific content -->
    </extension>
    <!-- optionally more extension elements -->
</extensions>

The actual contents of the extension element are defined and interpreted by the Poco::OSP::ExtensionPoint subclass that a bundle defines.

The Poco::OSP::ExtensionPointService registers itself for the bundleStarted event. Whenever a bundle is started, the service looks for a extensions.xml file in the bundle. If such a file is present, the file is parsed using the DOM parser, and for every extension element the corresponding Poco::OSP::ExtensionPoint object is invoked.

Preferences Service

The Preferences Service provides an easy way for a bundle or service to retrieve and store configuration information. It also gives a bundle read-only access to the global application configuration. The Preferences Service is implemented in the Poco::OSP::PreferencesService class.

A bundle accesses and modifies its preferences via the Poco::OSP::Preferences class. A bundle accesses the global configuration via the Poco::OSP::Configuration class.

The Preferences Service is registered under the name osp.core.preferences.

Bundle Installer Service

The Bundle Installer Service provides methods to install new bundles into a running OSP-based application, and to replace/upgrade existing bundles with new versions. The Bundle Installer Service is implemented by the Poco::OSP::BundleInstallerService class and registered under the service name osp.core.installer.