/*!
* This program is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify it under the
* terms of the GNU Lesser General Public License, version 2.1 as published by the Free Software
* Foundation.
*
* You should have received a copy of the GNU Lesser General Public License along with this
* program; if not, you can obtain a copy at http://www.gnu.org/licenses/old-licenses/lgpl-2.1.html
* or from the Free Software Foundation, Inc.,
* 51 Franklin Street, Fifth Floor, Boston, MA 02110-1301 USA.
*
* This program is distributed in the hope that it will be useful, but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY;
* without even the implied warranty of MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.
* See the GNU Lesser General Public License for more details.
*
* Copyright (c) 2002-2013 Pentaho Corporation.. All rights reserved.
*/
package org.pentaho.platform.api.engine;
import java.util.List;
/**
* A plugin provider is responsible for serving up {@link IPlatformPlugin}s to whoever is asking, typically
* {@link IPluginManager}. The plugin provider is not responsible for integrating the plugins into the platform.
* It's only role is to render plugin definitions, {@link IPlatformPlugin}s. A plugin provider might load plugin
* definitions from an xml file, or a properties file. You might also create a plugin provider that creates plugins
* programmatically. It won't matter what mechanism you use to define your plugins so long as you implement
* {@link IPluginProvider}.
*
* @author aphillips
*/
public interface IPluginProvider {
/**
* Returns a list of {@link IPlatformPlugin}s defined by this plugin provider. These plugins have not been
* initialized or registered within the platform at this point.
*
* @param session
* the current session
* @return a list of platform plugins
* @throws PlatformPluginRegistrationException
* if there is a problem looking for plugins
*/
public List<IPlatformPlugin> getPlugins( IPentahoSession session ) throws PlatformPluginRegistrationException;
}