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You open the Plugins<\/em> dialog using Tools > Plugins<\/a>.\u00a0 By default, it shows options for installing and running plugins. Click on the More>><\/em> button to display an extra set of buttons that are more relevant for creating and managing plugin scripts.\u00a0 Click on the <<Less<\/em> button to hide the additional options again.<\/p>\n How to Write Plugins<\/em> opens the Plugin Help.\u00a0 As well as detailed help on individual aspects of plugins, it includes some short introductory tutorials that provide the ideal starting point for learning to write Lua scripts in a \u0192h<\/span><\/span> context.\u00a0 (Note: in \u0192h<\/span><\/span>6 those tutorials mistakenly say use \/n for new line instead of \\n).<\/p>\n The Plugin Help also describes the \u0192h<\/span><\/span> data structure and syntax, and how records are accessed and links.\u00a0 There are many similarities between accessing record fields in Queries and Plugins, but also some important differences.<\/p>\n The links at the bottom of this article\u00a0<\/em>list a range of Lua related sites, including the Programming in Lua book, which is advanced, but well worth exploring if you are interested in developing more advanced Plugins.\u00a0 Another resource recommended by people who are new to programming and\/or Lua is this Lua Tutorial<\/a>.<\/p>\n Note that all plugins are “open source”, meaning that any user can read the full details of the plugin script, and create modified copies to tailor the detailed application to their own requirements.<\/p>\n A typical plugin contains some or all of the following elements<\/p>\n An overview of more detailed Knowledge Base pages on dedicated topics is given below, along with links to complementary material available elsewhere<\/p>\n The Snippets<\/a> section of this Knowledge Base provides many useful Functions that are often needed in Plugins, and provide example of how to write Lua code.\u00a0 These range from general introductory material of interest to all authors to complex and highly specialised functions for advanced users.<\/p>\n\u0192h<\/span><\/span> uses Unicode text encoding (UTF-8) to enable support for the additional characters required by many languages other than English.\u00a0 This can cause complications for plugins that need to handle text or file names that contain these characters as not all of the required tools have been updated to support Unicode.\u00a0 The additional factors that need to be considered are described in International Character Handling for Plugin Authors.<\/a><\/p>\n Separate Knowledge Base pages provide more detailed descriptions of building a user interface with IUP<\/a>, and using pattern matching for manipulating text strings<\/a>.\u00a0 These will be of interest to developing and intermediate authors.<\/p>\n There are a number of key differences in the scripting language and libraries used in various versions of \u0192h<\/span><\/span>.\u00a0 These are mostly of interest to existing authors of store plugins that need to run in different versions of \u0192h<\/span><\/span>, and are described in pages covering Lua References and Library Modules<\/a>, and cross-version compatibility for Versions 5, 6 & 7<\/a> and for Versions 7 and 8<\/a>.<\/p>\n The \u0192h<\/span><\/span>7 plugin help is also available online<\/a>, as is the \u0192h<\/span><\/span>8 plugin help.<\/a><\/p>\n Plugin authors usually start by developing plugins for their own use, driven by the need to do something that is outside the native scope of FH,\u00a0 As you develop your skills, you may wish to consider making your plugin available to other users if it is likely to be of more general interest.<\/p>\nElements of a Typical Plugin<\/h2>\n
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Other Resources<\/h2>\n
Publishing Your Plugin<\/h2>\n