Copprhead - I'm finally wrapping my app switche...
I'm finally wrapping my app switcher webapp / html into a SK webapp. It's basically an index.html, a script.js, some images and a stylesheet. I followed the documentation, put my stuff in /public, added /plugin/index.js. In index.js I have access to "app", but how can I access "app" in my script.js which is run when the html is loaded?
12 Replies
you can't. script.js runs in the browser, plugin (and its index.js) on the server that are two different, unrelated processes and can be on two separate computers
ok sure makes sense, thanks for clarification.
I was asking because I need to get a URL from the plugin configuration in the browser/frontend js. What would be the best way to achieve that?
Maybe I'm thinking it wrong. If it's needed in the browser, should I have my own configuration dialog instead of the server's plugin config and save/retrieve it using the application data storage?
you can access a plugin's configuration data at
/skServer/plugins/<pluginId>/config
...but this really depends on what you are after. if all you need is configuration for your webapp you should be using applicationData
http://demo.signalk.org/documentation/develop/webapps.html?highlight=application#application-data-storing-webapp-data-on-the-serverMy webapp is a launcher for other webapps. Some have hardcoded URLs, one should be configurable. It would be nice if I could use the plugin config mechanism somehow. Also, it would be nice NOT to have to deal with authentication. Accessing plugin's config as you describe it seems to require auth.
Could I make the server write the URL from the plugin config to application data so that I only have to read it from my webapp?
since a plugin has access to the Express application you can create your own http api that serves the configuration data as is, for example under
/_plugins/<yourpluginid>/config
we could add an explicit way to add plugin-specific public paths to the plugin api, since https://demo.signalk.io/documentation/develop/plugins/server_plugin_api.html?highlight=custom#exposing-custom-http-paths--openapi apis end up under /plugins that requires admin level accessServer API - Signal K Server Documentation
A Guide for users and developers.
fs.writeFileSync(__dirname+'/public/options.js',optionsjs);
Should I explain further?Thought about that, but it's not very clean I think.
Sounds like a good solution except for the "admin level access" - I suppose you mean SK admin auth.
Couldn't I just make a new path self.myplugin.url, write the value to it from the server plugin and read it in the browser/webapp? Pretty hacky but may work?
You misunderstood - if you do app.get with your own path that will be unauthenticated
Ok. So is this something that already works (you wrote "we could add an explicit way to add plugin-specific public paths") or does that need changes to the server code?
What's your take on Vlad's proposal?
So is this something that already worksI use this way too - to notify the my web-app about change configuration in the SignalK admin panel. But if you don't need it, it's easier to transfer the configuration via a file.
I ended up using the file option 🙂 very simple and works very well.
Thanks both!
Just pushed it to NPM.
Will make a short video and post in announcements.
sorry, i missed your last question: we now have a documented way for a plugin to add http endpoints BUT it does not support accessing them without authentication. we could/should add explicit support for that in the server code
writing the config as webapp code is hacky but works