Imploded Software

Helium supports a plug-in architecture for downloading of information from different sources.

Download plug-ins are developed in any .NET language, the examples below are written in c#.

API definition

It is possible to create custom plug-ins using the defined interfaces in ImPluginEngine.Abstractions:

 IPlugin (mandatory)

    public interface IPlugin
    {
        string Name { get; }
        string Version { get; }
    }

IPluginConfig

Implement this interface if your plug-in supports configuration.

    public interface IPluginConfig
    {
        void ConfigurePlugin();
    }

IAlbumPicture

Implement this interface if your plug-in supports downloading of album pictures.

    public interface IAlbumPicture
    {
        Task GetAlbumPicture(PluginAlbum album, CancellationToken ct, Action<PluginImage> updateAction);
    }

The implementation needs to be async, hence the method signature returns a Task and not void.

Be sure to use the CancellationToken in your executing code to support cancellation.

The last parameter, updateAction, is a delegate that the plug-in should fill with return data and Helium will read to display and handle the result. See below for a defintition of the PluginImage class.

IArtistPicture

Implement this interface if your plug-in supports downloading of artist pictures.

    public interface IArtistPicture
    {
        Task GetArtistPicture(PluginArtist artist, CancellationToken ct, Action<PluginImage> updateAction);
    }

The implementation needs to be async, hence the method signature returns a Task and not void.

Be sure to use the CancellationToken in your executing code to support cancellation.

The last parameter, updateAction, is a delegate that the plug-in should fill with return data and Helium will read to display and handle the result. See below for a defintition of the PluginImage class.

IArtistPlugin

Implement this interface if your plug-in supports downloading of artist information.

    public interface IArtistPlugin
    {
        Task<PluginArtist> GetArtistData(PluginArtist artist, CancellationToken ct);
    }

The implementation needs to be async, hence the method signature returns a Task and not void.

Be sure to use the CancellationToken in your executing code to support cancellation.

    public interface ILabelPicture
    {
        Task GetLabelPicture(PluginLabelInformation label, CancellationToken ct, Action<PluginImage> updateAction);
    }

The implementation needs to be async, hence the method signature returns a Task and not void.

Be sure to use the CancellationToken in your executing code to support cancellation.

The last parameter, updateAction, is a delegate that the plug-in should fill with return data and Helium will read to display and handle the result. See below for a defintition of the PluginImage class.

ILabelPlugin

Implement this into your plug-in supports downloading of label information.

    public interface ILabelPlugin
    {
        Task<PluginLabelInformation> GetLabelData(PluginLabelInformation label, CancellationToken ct);
    }

The implementation needs to be async, hence the method signature returns a Task and not void.

Be sure to use the CancellationToken in your executing code to support cancellation.

ILyrics

Implement this in your plug-in to support downloading of lyrics.

    public interface ILyrics
    {
        Task GetLyrics(PluginLyricsInput input, CancellationToken ct, Action<PluginLyricsResult> updateAction);
    }

The implementation needs to be async, hence the method signature returns a Task and not void.

Be sure to use the CancellationToken in your executing code to support cancellation.

PluginImage

This is a class which is used as a return type for resulting data.

    public class PluginImage
    {
        public string Filename { get; set; }
        public int Width { get; set; }
        public int Height { get; set; }
        public string FoundByPlugin { get; set; }
        public string SizeString { get { return string.Format("{0}*{1}", Width, Height); } }
        public int Id { get; set; }
    }

 When a plug-in returns information it should set the following properties:

• Filename should be set to the absolute filepath of the downloaded image
• Width should be set to the width of the downloaded image
• Height should be set to the height of the downloaded image
• FoundByPlugin should be set to the plug-ins name
• Id should be set to the album or artist id (via the in parameter, e.g. album.Id

    public class PluginArtist
    {
        public string Name { get; set; }
        public string BornName { get; set; }
        public string MusicBrainzId { get; set; }
        public string Biography { get; set; }
        public int Formed { get; set; }
        public int Disbanded { get; set; }
        public string Country { get; set; }
        public string ImageName { get; set; }
        public string ArtistUrl { get; set; }

        public List<string> Akas { get; set; }
        public List<string> GroupMembers { get; set; }
        public List<string> MemberOf { get; set; }
        public List<string> SimilarArtists { get; set; }
        public List<string> InfluencedBy { get; set; }
        public List<string> Followers { get; set; }
        public List<string> SeeAlso { get; set; }
        public List<string> PerformedSongsBy { get; set; }
        public int Id { get; set; }
    }

    public class PluginLabelInformation
    {
        public string Name { get; set; }
        public string ContactInfo { get; set; }
        public string ParentLabel { get; set; }
        public string WebPage { get; set; }
        public string Profile { get; set; }
        public string ImageName { get; set; }

        public int Formed { get; set; }
        public int Disbanded { get; set; }
        public string LabelCode { get; set; }
        public string Country { get; set; }
        public List<string> Sublabels { get; set; }
        public int Id { get; set; }

    }

    public class PluginLyricsInput
    {
        public string Artist { get; set; }
        public string Title { get; set; }
    }

    public class PluginLyricsResult
    {
        public string FoundByPlugin { get; set; }
        public string Lyrics { get; set; }
        public string Artist { get; set; }
        public string Title { get; set; }
    }