Hi Roger!

On Jul 06, 2006 02:15 PM, Roger Kristiansen <rogerk at linpro.no> wrote:

> 2. We create a subclass of the Management class, and add it in 
> /path/to/openxchange/etc/groupware/classfiles. Then we write a
> template
> for our module and make a folder for it in 
> /path/to/openxchange/share/groupware/data/templates/EN/. We found this
> way of doing it outlined in a couple of postings on the mailing list: 
> http://www.open-xchange.org/pipermail/devel/2006-March/010793.html and
> http://www.open-xchange.org/pipermail/devel/2005-October/010557.html
> 

I would go with this version, simply because it's easier to find
examples about how stuff is used in the OX. There are many examples of
the OX internals floating around (the OX itself) and not so many (any?)
that use the API. So, if you ask my opinion, this is the way to go.
AFAIK there is no 'official' way of doing this, and surely the APIs that
are used by the OX are only marginally stable. Maybe you can tell us a
bit more about what you have in mind, so we can help you better?

> And then for the questions:
> 
> As we would like to be able to contribute this module back to the 
> community if it turns out to work well, we want it to be easy to
> install
> and to fit in nicely with the rest of OX and other modules both in 
> looks, deployment method, ease of upgrades, and architecture.
> 

I suppose with both versions you're pretty much on your own when it
comes to deployment, upgrades and look and feel. You'll propably find
yourself patching more than just the etc/groupware/classfiles (when it
comes to looks, for example, you'll have to touch one of the javascript
libraries to get this nice highlighting effect etc...)

There is no standard way of deploying the OX or the upgrades. It all
depends on whether your using the Community Version (build and deploy it
yourself) or one of the Commercial Versions (use RPMs), so how to deploy
your oxtender is depending on which version you are aiming to support. I
would write a custom installer script, but again, the details are pretty
much up to you.

> a) Which is the preferred, or "right" way of doing this?
> 

Any one that works. ;-> Other than that I don't recall an 'official'
OXtending Process.

> b) Is there any other way which would make it cleaner and deployment 
> even easier?
> 

None that I know of.

> c) What is the criteria for something to be an "OXtender"? Is it
> pretty
> much anything that in any way tries to integrate with and extend OX' 
> functionality, or are there any other criteria that needs to be
> filled?
> 

AFAIK to make some technology that somehow interfaces with the OX an
OXtender is simply calling it one ;->

> Regards,
> Roger
> 
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Cheerio
 Francisco