Binary Plugin

A binary plugin is a type of plugin that is primarily used for:

• Locating the position of executable files and determining whether they exist.
• Invoking executable files based on actual needs and encapsulating pre-processing logic for input and post-processing logic for output.

Sharing and Exclusivity

Shared binary plugins are primarily located in $TEXMACS_PATH/plugins/binary, with each executable file corresponding to a source code file:

$TEXMACS_PATH/plugins/binary/progs/binary/<name>.scm

For example, the source code for Ghostscript's gs command corresponds to:

$TEXMACS_PATH/plugins/binary/progs/binary/gs.scm

Exclusive binary plugins are located in:

$TEXMACS_PATH/plugins/<name>/progs/binary/<name>.scm

For instance, the source code corresponding to the executable file for the Octave plugin is located in:

$TEXMACS_PATH/plugins/octave/progs/binary/octave.scm

Three Essential Elements

Function	Purpose
(find-binary-xyz)	Locates the position of the xyz executable file. If it does not exist, it returns (url-none).
(has-binary-xyz?)	Determines whether the xyz executable file exists. If it exists, it returns #t; if not, it returns #f.
(version-binary-xyz?)	Returns the version of the xyz executable file. If the executable file does not exist, it returns an empty string; otherwise, it returns a string containing version information.

Detailed Explanation of (find-binary-xyz)

• If the configuration item plugin:binary is set to off, then (find-binary-xyz) will return (url-none).
  • If the configuration item plugin:binary:xyz is set to off, then (find-binary-xyz) will return (url-none).
    • If the configuration item plugin:binary:xyz is set to candidates-only, it will only check the candidate paths and return the result.
      • If the configuration item plugin:binary:xyz is set to a path and that path exists, it will return the specified path.
      • Check the candidate paths. If any of them exist, return the candidate path.
      • Search for the executable file with the name specified in the candidate paths within the system path. If it exists, return the path; otherwise, return (url_none).

The author of the binary plugin only needs to focus on whether the implementation of (xyz-binary-candidates) is reasonable. The configuration item plugin:binary currently (1.2.5.2) only supports configuration using Scheme code such as (set-preference "plugin:binary" "/path/to/binary/xyz").

Help -> Plugins -> Binaries

By clicking "Help -> Plugins -> Binaries" in Texmacs, you can find three runnable Scheme code snippets:

1. How to locate the path of a specific binary plugin.
2. How to customize the path of a specific binary plugin.
3. How to disable all binary plugins.