Developing a hardware plugin
Should I create a C++ hardware plugin?
Probably not.
Domoticz supports a Python plugin framework and this should be used wherever possible to keep the core Domoticz system as small and focussed as possible.
Details are here: Developing a Python plugin
Only hardware that can not be accomodated by the Python framework should be added via C++.
Create a .cpp and a .h file in the hardware directory
Look at other plugins for a good sample, and rename the files and the classes and definitions inside the files. e.g., for a Sonos hardware plugin, I modified these files:
- hardware/SonosPlugin.cpp
- hardware/SonosPlugin.h
Add the new hardware to the appropriate global files
Next we need to make domoticz aware of the new plugins existence.
main/RFXNames.h
Add HTYPE_SonosPlugin to _eHardwareTypes
main/RFXNames.cpp
Add HTYPE_SonosPlugin to Hardware_Type_Desc
main/mainworker.cpp
Add #include "../hardware/SonosPlugin.h" to the end of the includes for hardware
Add instantiation (new) of CSonosPlugin to case for AddHardwareFromParams method
main/WebServer.cpp
Add handling of HTYPE_SonosPlugin within Cmd_UpdateHardware to ensure that all required hardware settings have values. When adding serial devices add the HTYPE to the IsSerialDevice in main/RFXNames.cpp.
Add the UI to create the new hardware in the Hardware tab
www/app/hardware/Hardware.js
Add the Hardware to the field verifications in UpdateHardware and AddHardware (look for text.indexOf("YourModelPlugin")).
Don't forget to also edit the RefreshHardwareTable function, where the hardware items are referred by numeric id!!! I'm assuming here that no extra configuration data for hardware is needed. If you need it, other plugins reuse the hardware available fields from the database:
Address VARCHAR(20), Port INTEGER, Username VARCHAR(100), Password VARCHAR(100), Mode1 - Mode5 CHAR
If you need to let the user edit this fields, create the corresponding Edit* function in HardwareController.js (use available ones as inspiration).
www/html5.appcache
Increment the ref number on the second line so that the browser knows the js file has been updated and to force a refresh of the hardware list.
Change the makefile
CMakeLists.txt
Add hardware/SonosPlugin.cpp to Target - Trick: While debugging, add it close to the top (issues will arrive earlier); later add it as the last hardware code target.
Add the needed specific libraries for linking. In this case (in gcc you would use the -llibname syntax):
pthread gupnp-1.0 gssdp-1.0 gupnp-av-1.0 glib-2.0 gobject-2.0 gthread-2.0
Add the needed specific headers/includes.
Build Makefile
You change that modifying the CMakeLists.txt and then creating a makefile
cmake CMakeLists.txt (raspberry) or cmake -DCMAKE_BUILD_TYPE=Release . (cubieboard)
You have to add to the makefile all the preprocessor definition, include files and libraries needed for your specific plugin, and maybe other compiler/linker options. The syntax for CMake is tricky. I've just added what I needed in a quick and dirty way. There's for sure a better way to do that.
Update Domoticz Visual Studio C++ Project
msbuild/domoticz.vcxproj
Add ../hardware/SonosPlugin.h to the </ClInclude> section.
Add ../hardware/SonosPlugin.cpp to to the </ClCompile> section.
You have to add to the project all the preprocessor definition, include files and libraries needed for your specific plugin, and maybe other compiler/linker options. The syntax for vcxproj is tricky. Please refer to Microsoft Visual C++ reference documentation or look at what has been done for existing plugins such as OpenZWave.
Install any prerequisite packages
for raspbian: sudo apt-get install sometimes you need the -dev version, you never know!.
In this case I had to install this libraries. Check the name of the latest available version using "apt-cache search". libgupnp-1.0-dev libgupnp-av-1.0-dev libgssdp-1.0-dev libsoup2.4-dev libxml2 // libg glib