Check out OSGI?

-> being able to register actions / menu / toolbar

Class loader used:

# already present in classpath at startup
# not present in classpath at startup

Where / how are plugins stored?

# class files in build/plugins
# jar files in ~/.PathVisio/plugins
# jar files in /usr/share/pathvisio/plugins



To test & extend the plugin system, we can make the following plugins:

* Generic visualization plugin (?)
* Non-generic visualization plugin (?)
* plugin that adds Menu item, toolbar item and keyboard shortcut (all run action to show "Hello World" popup dialog)
* plugin for importing / exporting pathway to a different format (e.g gpml with JAXB)
* plugin that adds a preference option
* plugin that adds a smiley Shape
* plugin that adds a new sidebar pane
* statistical analysis plugin (z-score)
* plugin that adds a DataSource (e.g. NuGO wiki)
* Gdb plugin (e.g. mysql driver)

Maybe also a basic plugin template with a build file and directory layout.