Autodesk Developer Blog

Innovate. Integrate. Automate

Why doesn’t an App’s PackageContents.xml have a schema?

—

by

Autodesk Alumni
in

by Fenton Webb

A few people have asked my why we did not post a schema for the PackageContents.xml. We specifically do not have a schema because:

1) We wanted to make a very general design for describing the way components are loaded into a host application, as you know each host application (Revit/AutoCAD/Inventor/Maya/etc etc) are different from each other in their plugin requirements, so we wanted to make sure that the XML could be easily adjusted to suit different needs as each host platform adopted the Exchange store.

2) The PackageContents.xml is meant to be extensible, for example, it can be used to store developer specific application settings.

3) The PackageContents.xml is currently used to load apps into host applications, like AutoCAD, but also in Autodesk to automate building installers and also by the AppManager. We see the XML file being used by 3rd party developers for their own needs too.

Finally, to be clear, each attribute definition inside of the PackageContents.xml must start with an upper-case letter and finish all in lower-case… e.g.

Url=’””

not

URL=””

Comments

6 responses to “Why doesn’t an App’s PackageContents.xml have a schema?”

  1. Maxence Avatar
    Maxence

    Ok, but when the loading fail, please display an explicit error message, not a cryptic (and undocumented) error code. I’ve lost several hours in order to find why my bundle was not loaded by AutoCAD. If it was one of my guys (in fact, I’ve got only one) who wrote this kind of thing, I will have fired him :-P

    Reply
  2. Fenton Webb Avatar
    Fenton Webb

    Hey Maxence!
    ah, personally I think the error code guy should have been promoted actually :-)
    The idea is to give you guys a tool which builds your app installers for you, but we haven’t finished it yet, so that’s why something’s are not finalized…
    Best thing next time is to just ask… The codes are bitwise as follows:
    ERR_SETENV 1
    ERR_COMMAND_REG 2
    ERR_WRITE_REG 4
    ERR_GROUPNAME_REG 8
    ERR_LOAD_FAILED 16
    ERR_NO_APPNAME 32
    ERR_WRONG_SCHEMA_VERSION 64

    Reply
  3. Kerry Brown Avatar
    Kerry Brown

    Fenton,

    Best thing next time is to just ask… The codes are >>bitwise as follows:
    I may eventually get tired of saying this :
    This stuff should be documented … If you can post it in a blog you can add it to the docs .. and not waste our time or yours either.
    Regards
    Kerry

    Reply
  4. JeffH Avatar
    JeffH

    My problem is I can not find good fundamental documentation to know what I need to ask or if I am asking the right question.

    Reply
  5. Fenton Webb Avatar
    Fenton Webb

    Hey Kerry!
    it is, now… ;-)

    Reply
  6. Andrey Bushman (@AndreyBushman) Avatar
    Andrey Bushman (@AndreyBushman)

    A few people have asked…
    It’s me…
    For me it is unconvincing arguments. Before starting writing a code, it is necessary to think over in advance architecture, instead of to change it in process.
    Absence of detailed documentation (without errors) does almost impossible creation of GUI of application for operation with PackageContents.xml.

    Reply

Leave a Reply to MaxenceCancel reply

Discover more from Autodesk Developer Blog

Subscribe now to keep reading and get access to the full archive.

Continue reading