General Plugin Methods¶

init()¶

This is where the class is initialized. Here you can initialize class-wide variables, initialize and configure custom logging and so on.

You have the opportunity to use or alter the prefs before passing them on, but most plugins simply forward them to the base class. You'll most likely use the startup() method, described below, to do your global plugin initialization.

Method Signature

def __init__(self, 
             pluginId: str, 
             pluginDisplayName: str, 
             pluginVersion: str, 
             pluginPrefs: indigo.Dict) -> None:

Parameters

Parameter	Description
`pluginId`	the bundle identifier of the plugin (e.g. `com.example.myplugin`)
`pluginDisplayName`	the human-readable name of the plugin
`pluginVersion`	the version string of the plugin
`pluginPrefs`	a dictionary of preferences that the server read from disk

Return Values

Type	Description
None	This method does not return a value.

Exceptions Raised

Type	Description
None	This method should not raise any exceptions. If it does, then that would stop plugin startup immediately.

Command Syntax Examples

def __init__(self, pluginId, pluginDisplayName, pluginVersion, pluginPrefs):
    super().__init__(pluginId, pluginDisplayName, pluginVersion, pluginPrefs)

del()¶

This is the destructor for the class. You will almost certainly never need to override this method, but if you do, you'll need call the super class's method when you have finished your code.

Method Signature

def __del__(self) -> None:

Parameters

Parameter	Description
None	This method does not accept any parameters.

Return Values

Type	Description
None	This method does not return a value.

Exceptions Raised

Type	Description
None	This method should not raise any exceptions. If it does, the plugin will shut down ungracefully.

Command Syntax Examples

def __del__(self):
    super().__del__(self)

startup()¶

This method will get called after your plugin has been initialized. This is really the place where you want to make sure that everything your plugin needs to do gets set up correctly. It's passed no parameters. If you're storing a config parameter that's not editable by the user, this is a good place to make sure it's there and set to the right value. This is not, however, where you want to initialize devices and triggers that your plugin may provide - those are handled after this method completes (see the methods below).

Method Signature

def startup(self) -> None | bool | str:

Parameters

Parameter	Description
None	This method does not accept any parameters.

Return Values

Type	Description
None or True	Plugin starts up normally.
False	Plugin stops with a default message.
str	Plugin stops with the string used as the stop message.

Exceptions Raised

Type	Description

Command Syntax Examples

def startup(self):
    indigo.server.info(u"Startup called")
    # if your plugin needs to connect to a single service and remain connected
    # this is a good place to do it
    self.connection = start_some_connection()

runConcurrentThread()¶

This method is called in a newly created thread after the startup() method finishes executing. It's expected that it should run a loop continuously until asked to shut down.

You must call self.sleep() with the number of seconds to delay between loops. self.sleep() will raise an self.StopThread exception when you should end runConcurrentThread. You don't have to catch that exception if you don't need to do any cleanup before returning - it will just throw out to the next level. Note: shutdown will be called after runConcurrentThread finishes processing so you can do your cleanup there.

Method

Method Name	Required
`runConcurrentThread(self)`	No

Parameters

Parameter	Description
None	This method does not accept any parameters.

Return Value:

Type	Description
None	This method does not return a value.

Exceptions Raised

Type	Description

Command Syntax Examples

def runConcurrentThread(self):
    try:
        while True:
            # Do your stuff here
            self.sleep(60) # in seconds
    except self.StopThread:
        # do any cleanup here
        pass

stopConcurrentThread()¶

This method will get called when the IndigoServer wants your plugin to stop any threads that it may have created. The default implementation (below) will set the stopThread instance variable which causes the self.sleep() method to throw the exception that you handle in runConcurrentThread above. In most circumstances, your plugin won't need to implement this method.

Method

Method Name	Required
`stopConcurrentThread(self)`	No

Parameters

Parameter	Description
None	This method does not accept any parameters.

Return Value:

Type	Description
None	This method does not return a value.

Exceptions Raised

Type	Description

Command Syntax Examples

def stopConcurrentThread(self):
    self.stopThread = True

prepareToSleep()¶

The default implementation of this method will call deviceStopComm() for each device instance and triggerStopProcessing() for each trigger instance provided by your plugin. You can of course override them to do anything you like.

Method

Method Name	Required
`prepareToSleep(self)`	No

Parameters

Parameter	Description
None	This method does not accept any parameters.

Return Value:

Type	Description
None	This method does not return a value.

Exceptions Raised

Type	Description

Command Syntax Examples

def prepareToSleep(self):
    # Perform any tasks that should be done before the server machine sleeps

wakeUp()¶

The default implementation of this method will call deviceStartComm() for each device instance and triggerStartProcessing() for each trigger instance provided by your plugin. You can of course override them to do anything you like.

Method

Method Name	Required
`wakeUp(self)`	No

Parameters

Parameter	Description
None	This method does not accept any parameters.

Return Value:

Type	Description
None	This method does not return a value.

Exceptions Raised

Type	Description

Command Syntax Examples

def wakeUp(self):
    # Perform any tasks that should be done immediately upon waking the server

shutdown()¶

This method will get called when the IndigoServer wants your plugin to exit. If you define a global shutdown variable, this is the place to set it. Other things you might do in this method: if your plugin uses a single interface to talk to multiple devices, this is the place where you would want to shut down that interface (close the serial port or network connection, etc.) Each device and trigger will already have had a chance to shut down by the time this method is called (see the methods below).

Note

shutdown() will be called after runConcurrentThread (discussed above) so any cleanup here will be performed after any changes that might result from a loop in runConcurrentThread.

Method

Method Name	Required
`shutdown(self)`	No

Parameters

Parameter	Description
None	This method does not accept any parameters.

Return Value:

Type	Description
None	This method does not return a value.

Exceptions Raised

Type	Description

Command Syntax Examples

def shutdown(self):
    # do any cleanup necessary before exiting

General Plugin Methods¶

__init__()¶

__del__()¶

startup()¶

runConcurrentThread()¶

stopConcurrentThread()¶

prepareToSleep()¶

wakeUp()¶

shutdown()¶

init()¶

del()¶