Plugin interface descriptions for TC 7.55 (beta)

[ghisler(Author)]

There have been 3 major improvements to the plugin interfaces in TC 7.55:
1. Background packing and unpacking with packer plugins
2. Background uploads and downloads with file system plugins
3. Custom compare functions for synchronize dirs

Plugin reference help files:

Packer plugins:
https://plugins.ghisler.com/plugins/wcx_ref2.21se_chm.zip
File system plugins:
https://plugins.ghisler.com/fsplugins/fspluginhelp2.1se_chm.zip
Lister plugins:
https://plugins.ghisler.com/lsplugins/listplughelp2.1_chm.zip
Content plugins:
https://plugins.ghisler.com/content/contentpluginhelp210se_chm.zip

Here are some beta plugins supporting these new functions:
1. Background packing+unpacking: Bzip2 plugin v1.2 and sources
2a. Background file system plugin: sftp 0.97 beta and sources
2b. Background file system plugin: WinCE / Mobile and sources
3. Content plugin with compare function (for sync): wdx_filesys sample and sources

[MVV]

As I see, there is no changes yet in FsExecuteFile function description regarding returning file path in RemoteName parameter for temporary panels.
Please tell me how many characters I may write to RemoteName buffer while returning FS_EXECUTE_YOURSELF (for both FsExecuteFile and FsExecuteFileW functions).

[ghisler(Author)]

If the version reported is 2.0 or newer, you may return up to 1023 characters (plus terminating 0). If it's older, you may return up to 259 characters (plus terminating 0). Do not include any prefix for extra-long names.

[MVV]

Thanks, I've set buffer size to 1024 for 2.0 and 260 for earlier versions (including null character).

[tbeu]

In contentpluginhelp210beta.zip, on page contplug.h the first comment should read the correct plugin version number 2.10 instead of 1.5.

[ghisler(Author)]

Fixed, thanks!

[tbeu]

In contentpluginhelp210beta.zip, on page ContentGetSupportedFieldFlags the description for contflags_substmask should start with "A combination of all above substitution flags."

[ghisler(Author)]

Fixed, thanks!

[Flint]

ghisler(Author)
A small request for the FS-plugin interface: if the return value is ft_stringw, please, increase the supported buffer length to 1024 characters (2048 bytes).

Reason: If there is a temporary panel plugin which contains a field with source file path, it can return long paths via FsGetLocalNameW, but in FsContentGetValueW maxlen is measured in bytes, so it's impossible to return source path longer than 511 wide characters.


BTW, header in the fsplugin.h still tells "version 2.0". Should not it be 2.1 instead? Or did you plan to change it after the 7.55 final?

[ghisler(Author)]

Hmm, a quick glance at the code shows that 1023 characters should work - what size value is sent to the plugin as maximum possible length?

[Flint]

ghisler(Author)
Ah, sorry, I misinterpreted what I saw. Probably I looked at maxlen value when TC was retrieving another field. Now I checked — indeed, maxlen=2047. The problem is that TC cuts the path when I show it in the custom column (by 258 characters). So, it's not a plugin interface restriction, but that of TC interface.

[Flint]

Why are the parameters CustomTitle and CustomText in the function tRequestProc[W] are char* and not const char*? Does TC change them?

The problem is that I wanted to pass a constant string to tRequestProcW, but got a compiler message about it. Currently I changed the function definition to take constant string, but if TC suddenly tries to modify them, it will result in AV. Can I call RequestProcW(…, L"SomeTitle", …); or do I need to make a writable copy of the "SomeTitle" first?

[ghisler(Author)]

I have just checked it - TC does not modify them. Only ReturnedText is modified.

[Flint]

ghisler(Author)
Thanks for the information. In this case, char* should be replaced with const char* in the header file to avoid this ambiguity.

[MVV]

BTW error was found in WCX interface HLP file:

The following functions do not exist in a Unicode form and must be implemented as Ansi:

ReadHeader - use ReadHeaderEx
CloseArchive
GetPackerCaps
ConfigurePacker
PackToMem
DoneMemPack
PackSetDefaultParams
ReadHeaderEx