Further examples

Extensive example

The example in $CUBE_INSTALL_PREFIX/share/doc/cube/example/gui/plugin uses all major functions of PluginServices. It contains functions to handle

settings, global preferences e.g. number formats
further tab functions
selections
menus, context menus and toolbars
global values to communicate with other plugins

See also: cubepluginapi::PluginServices
DemoPlugin.h
DemoPlugin.cpp
demo-plugin.pro.in

ValueView example

$CUBE_INSTALL_PREFIX/share/doc/cube/example/gui/value-view is an example of a plugin that offers an additional value view. It adds a boxplot view for tau metrics. The example

implements cubepluginapi::ValueView and replaces the colored box with a boxplot
adds a user dialog which allows the user to change the icon size
implements cubepluginapi::SettingsHandler to save the icon size settings

See also: cubepluginapi::PluginServices
TauValueView.h
TauValueView.cpp
tau-value.pro.in

Problems loading plugins

If the plugin doesn't load, start cube with -verbose to get further information. The most likely reason is an undefined reference:

plugin /opt/cube/lib64/cube-plugins/libSimpleExamplePlugin.so is not a valid 
    CubePlugin version cubeplugin/1.1
Cannot load library /opt/cube/lib64/cube-plugins/libSimpleExamplePlugin.so: 
    (undefined symbol: _ZN13SimpleExample10cubeClosedEv)

If we remove the definition of the method cubeClosed() in SimpleExample.cpp, the plugin is created without errors, but it cannot be loaded. cube -verbose shows the error message above.

When building plugins, it is important to ensure that the plugin is configured in the same way as cube. A plugin build with incompatible options shows the following error:

Plugin verification data mismatch in '/opt/cube/lib64/cube-plugins/libSimpleExamplePlugin.so'

The same compiler, the same Qt library and the same configuration options have to be used. Only plugins which are created using a Qt library with a lower minor version can also be loaded.