API Plug-ins › Overview of API Plug-ins

Overview of API Plug-ins

The network administrator, service delivery manager, and Java programmer work together to write API plug-ins that load data into the following Form Designer fields dynamically:

• Select boxes and options
• Dual lists
• Dynamic tables

The API plug-ins are Java objects that implement one of the following predefined interfaces.

• com.ca.usm.plugins.apis.forms.FDSelectDataProvider: This plug-in applies to select boxes (both single-select and multiselect) and dual list fields.
• com.ca.usm.plugins.apis.forms.FDTableDataProvider: This plug-in applies to dynamic tables.

API plug-ins can query the MDB or another data source and return the number of objects that meet the criteria that you specify. API plug-ins are deployed as jar files in the plug-ins directory of the filestore. API plug-ins run in the same Java Virtual Machine instance as Service View.

You can either write your own API plug-ins or copy and modify the predefined plug-ins to meet your requirements. In both cases, you meet the prerequisites and compile your plug-ins before you can use them to populate Form Designer fields dynamically.

When a user completes a form while requesting a service, the report data object populates the specified field with options for the user to select. For example, when a user completes a form to reserve a virtual computer, the report data object populates the list of available computers. In addition, you can write other report data objects to populate related fields, for example, options for RAM and disk space.