Adding Parameters

In the simplest case your extension is immediately active in all Beebox projects and has no configuration options. In this page we discuss configuration options.

Activate extension by default: Yes/No

Specifies whether your extension, upon installation, is immediately activated in all Beebox projects or not. Make sure to chose the right option.

Your preference is coded using the EnableByDefault property:

		public override bool EnableByDefault { get { return true; } }

If you return true, the extension is automatically enabled in all Beebox projects upon installation. If you return false, it is disabled.

The Beebox administrator can explicitly enable or disable your extension individually per project from the project settings page:

Adding parameters to an extension

In the screenshot above you can see that the last extension has a parameter. This parameter can be changed individually per project. For example, if your extension copies translated files then the parameter may be the target directory and the Beebox administrator can change the path from one project to the next.

Adding parameters starts with implementing the three methods below:

• ParameterHelp property: Must return a help text. If null then the system assumes that there are no parameters.
• ParameterDefault property: Returns your parameter default value (null or something else). This default value can then be changed in the project settings.
• ValidateParameter() method: This method is called when a user changes the parameter value in a project. Return an error message if the value is not ok.
   

		/// <summary>
		/// Gets optional help description (not html!) of the configuration parameter.
		/// By returning a non-null value, you explicitly tell the Beebox that this extension has a configurable parameter.
		/// </summary>
		public override string ParameterHelp 
		{ 
			get { return "Fill in a directory location."; } 
		}
 
 
 
		/// <summary>
		/// Gets the default value of the parameter. Default can be changed by user.
		/// </summary>
		public override string ParameterDefault { get { return @"c:\hello\world"; } }
 
 
 
		/// <summary>
		/// Validates the user parameters.
		/// Return null if ok, otherwise return an error text.
		/// </summary>
		/// <param name="parameter">The parameter edited by a user.</param>
		/// <returns>Null: parameter is ok. Otherwise return an error message.</returns>
		public override string ValidateParameter(string parameter)
		{
			try
			{
 				// Check validity of the parameter value
				return null;
			}
			catch (Exception e)
			{
				return "The parameter is not correct.";
			}
		}

The last step is to process the configuration parameter passed to the main method of each extension. Example:

public override bool IsMatch(Segment segment, IExtensionConfiguration configuration)

This interface has a Parameter property. It is null if the default parameter was not changed in the project that triggered your extension. A typical code would look like this:

public override bool IsMatch(Segment segment, IExtensionConfiguration configuration)
{
	// Get parameter. 
	// If null then the default value was not edited in the current Beebox project.
 
	var parameter = configuration.Parameter ?? ParameterDefault;
    if (parameter == "x") 
    {
       ....
    }