Extending IBM MQ Explorer

We can extend the IBM MQ Explorer by writing one, or more, Eclipse plug-ins.

The IBM MQ Explorer is Eclipse based, and as such acquires all its functionality, and perspective information, through various plug-ins supplied with IBM MQ. To extend the IBM MQ Explorer we must to write one, or more, Eclipse plug-ins. Through writing a plug-in we can extend the function of the IBM MQ Explorer in the following ways:

  • Add further menu options to existing pop-up menus and associate actions with them.
  • Add tree nodes to the navigation view, and associated content pages.

When writing a plugin, we need to supply the following resources:

    A plugin.xml file
    Specify extension points in a plugin.xml file. Use the extension points to extend the functionality of the IBM MQ Explorer. There are many types of extension point available within the IBM MQ Explorer and Eclipse. Each type of extension point is used to extend the IBM MQ Explorer in a different way. Most extension points are associated with a Java archive (JAR) file. For more information on the extension points available, see Utilizing extension points.

    A set of Java archive (JAR) files
    Write classes that implement the functionality specified by the extension points that you declared in the plugin.xml file. Package the classes in JAR files, so that every JAR file is associated with at least one extension point.

IBM MQ supplies sample Eclipse plug-ins called simple, and menu. The simple plug-in uses all the extension points provided in the IBM MQ Explorer to extend the Explorer in a number of basic ways. The simple plug-in can be used as a basis for writing your own Eclipse plug-ins. For instructions of how to import the simple plugin, see Writing an Eclipse plug-in for IBM MQ Explorer.

Information on how to write Eclipse plug-ins is available in the Platform Plug-in Developers Guide, found in the online Eclipse help. See https://help.eclipse.org/latest/index.jsp?nav=%2F2 for more information.

Parent topic: Introduction to IBM MQ Explorer


Related concepts