It is currently March 28th, 2024, 8:26 pm

Plugin Improvements

Changes made during the Rainmeter 4.1 beta cycle.
User avatar
jsmorley
Developer
Posts: 22628
Joined: April 19th, 2009, 11:02 pm
Location: Fort Hunt, Virginia, USA

Plugin Improvements

Post by jsmorley »

These changes are primarily for those who are interested in creating plugins for Rainmeter. We encourage those who are at least somewhat familiar with C++ or C#, and Microsoft Visual Studio, to take a look at what can be done with plugins, you can really extend the capabilities of Rainmeter, and it can be a lot of fun.

We have added the ability to code a plugin to support Inline Plugin Section Variables. Much like Inline Lua Section Variables, this allows you to code the plugin with a custom function, which can accept parameters and return a value. That function can then be used "inline" in any skin option or action, with the result being resolved and used just like any [&SectionVariable] or [#Variable].

Details on how you do this in your plugin code are here for C++, and here for C#.

In addition, we have to thank tjhrulz, one of the newer members of the Rainmeter Development Team, for some excellent work in improving and extending the Developers documentation for Rainmeter. This has been needed for a long time, and it's a job well done.

Lastly, we have improved and cleaned up the Rainmeter Plugin SDK, which are the tools and examples needed to create plugins for Rainmeter. The API has some improvements, and all new example plugins are provided to get you started with creating your own. We strongly encourage anyone who is currently creating plugins, or wants to get started, to download the latest version of the SDK from the link above.
frankbj57
Posts: 2
Joined: October 15th, 2017, 7:47 pm

Re: Plugin Improvements

Post by frankbj57 »

So this is not effective until (beta) release 4.1?
If that is correct it is a bit confusing, when I click on Developer Help for the Plugin SDK, it is stated as if custom functions are already available.
How stable is beta release 4.1?

Regards
Frank, Rainmeter lover, and plugin author
User avatar
jsmorley
Developer
Posts: 22628
Joined: April 19th, 2009, 11:02 pm
Location: Fort Hunt, Virginia, USA

Re: Plugin Improvements

Post by jsmorley »

frankbj57 wrote:So this is not effective until (beta) release 4.1?
If that is correct it is a bit confusing, when I click on Developer Help for the Plugin SDK, it is stated as if custom functions are already available.
How stable is beta release 4.1?

Regards
Frank, Rainmeter lover, and plugin author
The ability to create plugins with new inline functionality is available and works now. However, it is not supported in skin in Rainmeter unless you are running the 4.1 beta of Rainmeter.

The beta versions are very stable, and in fact we are reasonably close to releasing 4.1. Probably in the next week or two.