Appian not detecting custom plugin

Hi I am having trouble deploying a custom-built plugin. I have followed appian documentation about creating plugins and still appian isn't detecting it. I use eclipse to develop and have installed the appian eclipse plugin to create appian java projects. The plugin contains a simple function that returns a string "Hello World". Please help!!

This is the documentation I followed to create my plugin: https://docs.appian.com/suite/help/17.2/Custom_Function_Plug-ins.html

Am I missing something crucial for it to work? Is there a way to see where the plugin is failing?

My appian plugin xml

<appian-plugin name="Document 64 Plugin" key="appian.plexus.document64plugin">

<plugin-info>
<description>Document 64 Plugin</description>
<vendor name="Example" url="http://www.google.com" />
<version>1.0.0</version>
<application-version min="6.1.0" />
</plugin-info>

<!--<function key="encodeDocument64" class="com.appian.plexus.document64.documentToBase64"/>-->

<function-category key="appianPlexusDocument64Category" name="appianPlexusDocument64"/>
<function key="HelloWorld64" class="com.appian.plexus.document64.DocumentHelloWorld64"/>

</appian-plugin>

 

Here is my class

package com.appian.plexus.document64;

import org.apache.log4j.Logger;

import com.appiancorp.services.ServiceContext;
import com.appiancorp.suiteapi.expression.annotations.Function;
import com.appiancorp.suiteapi.expression.annotations.Parameter;

@AppianPlexusDocument64Category
public class DocumentHelloWorld64 {

private static final Logger LOG = Logger.getLogger(DocumentHelloWorld64.class);

@Function
public String HelloWorld64(ServiceContext sc, @Parameter String word) {
return "Hello World";
}

}

  Discussion posts and replies are publicly visible

  • 0
    Certified Lead Developer
    After deploying the JAR to the plugins directory, you should be able to see details about the deployment, including failures, in the application server log. Depending on your custom.properties setting, the deployment scanner may take a few minutes to try to process new plugins.

    If you want to shorten that interval in a development environment, check out the instructions here: docs.appian.com/.../Appian_Plug-ins.html (applies to 17.2 as well)

    At a glance, your structure seems ok, did you also create the appropriate i18n properties files?
  • Once your JAR deployed to plugins folder, It should be displayed directly without doing anything specific. If not working, check with logs and if possible, restart the server (Generally, not required but in your case, you can attempt). Thanks.
  • Hello Justin, thanks for the response. Alright I'll see into it, also I am exporting the plugin as a normal jar file from eclipse. Is there any specific setting I must include when exporting the jar? What is a i18n properties file? Are you talking about the appian-plugin.xml? I might be missing something..
  • Thanks for the reply, I'll check the server logs to see if there is any problem. Also when exporting the jar file, is there any specific setting I need to include? I am exporting the plugin as a normal jar file and I importing the extra jar files I need (like sdks and extra libraries) using the java build path.
  • 0
    Certified Lead Developer
    in reply to Miguel

    Hi @Miguel when you are developing a plugin, it's a good option to have appian plugin for eclipse installed.

    This will help you in creating project structure, i18N file, appian-plugins.xml file, exporting the application etc.

    You can use following link to install the plugin in eclipse

    While exporting the application, you can right click on project >> Appian >> export plugin project

    This will make sure that files are properly arranged within their required folders/directories, else if you want to work without having this plug-in, then you need to follow the guidelines provided in Appian documentation about creating plugin project.

    Hope it will help

  • Hi, thanks for the reply. I wasn't sure what an i18N file was, but now I know, thanks! The thing is, I have exported the file using the appian eclipse plugin and the normal way. But for some reason it isn't working. I have checked the logs and nothing about my plugin is mentioned.
  • HI Miguel,

    As alok said , when you add the plug -in to eclipse, it will take care of the structure and Here are the steps

    Export your project as a JAR file.

    1. Right-click your project and click Export….
    2. Select the JAR file option as the Export destination.
    3. On the Resources to export dialog, clear the .classpath and .project selections as these files are used exclusively by Eclipse.
    4. Select the _admin/plugins folder of your installation directory for your export destination.
      • This directory is created during application server startup.