8.8.15. Automatic loading and saving of plugin parameters#

itom has the optional ability, that all plugin parameters (type Param), which are part of the m_params map of the plugin-class and do not have the typeNoAutoSave-flag defined, can be stored in a plugin-specific xml-file when the plugin instance is closed. This saving is not only dependent on the plugin but also on its unique identifier. itom has the optional ability, that all plugin parameters (of type Param or ParamBase), which are part of the m_params map of the plugin-class and do not have the typeNoAutoSave-flag defined, can be stored in a plugin-specific xml-file when the plugin instance is closed. This saving is not only dependent on the plugin but also on its unique identifier.

Additionally, the decision whether these parameters should be saved or not, is set by the member variable m_autoSavePolicy of the interface class of the plugin (see Plugin interface class). This variable can have the following values:

enum tAutoSavePolicy {
    autoSaveAlways          = 0x1, /*!< always saves parameters to xml-file at shutdown */
    autoSaveNever           = 0x2  /*!< never saves parameters to xml-file at shutdown (default) */
};

If the member has the value autoSaveAlways, all parameters contained in the map m_params of the plugin instance are saved in a xml-subtree. This subtree is dependent on the unique identifier of the plugin. Remember, that only plugins which do not have the flag typeNoAutoSave will be saved (see Parameter-Container class of itom).

Inversely, saved parameters in a plugin specific xml-file can also be set after that the plugin instance has been created and initialized (with the mandatory and optional parameters given by the constructor in python). The loading of these xml-parameters is dependent on the value of the member variable m_autoLoadPolicy of the plugin’s interface class. This variable can have the following values:

enum tAutoLoadPolicy {
    autoLoadAlways           = 0x1, /*!< always loads xml file by addInManager */
    autoLoadNever            = 0x2, /*!< never automatically loads parameters from xml-file (default) */
    autoLoadKeywordDefined   = 0x4  /*!< only loads parameters if keyword autoLoadParams=1 exists in python-constructor */
};

If the variable is set to autoLoadAlways, all parameters in the xml-subtree, having the same unique identifier (ID) than the recently opened plugin instance, are set in the instance. This is done by calling the method setParam of the instance for every specific parameter. It is up to you to decide whether you accept the given parameter from the xml-file or not. Remember that setParam is called after that the plugin instance is created and the init-method of the plugin has been called. Of course, the init-method gets the mandatory and optional parameters, which are indicated when you create the plugin instance for example in python.

If the variable is set to autoLoadNever, no parameters of the xml-file will be set to the plugin’s instance.

If the variable is set to autoLoadKeywordDefined, the parameters from the xml-subtree are only set to the plugin’s instance, if the plugin has been created in python with the last keyword-defined parameter autoLoadParams=1.

Example:

a = dataIO("DummyGrabber",param1,...,paramN,autoLoadParams=1)
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