[This is preliminary documentation and subject to change.]

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The PlayOn Plugin API is included in the Util.dll assembly included with the PlayOn installation, located in the main application installation directory (usually C:\Program Files\MediaMall).

To create a plugin for PlayOn, you must compile a .NET 2.0 assembly that implements both IPlayOnProvider and IPlayOnProviderSettings. These two interfaces define the metadata and stream source logic for a given content provider, as well as descriptive information used in the Plugin tab of PlayOn Settings.

The main classes of interest for creating a PlayOn plugin are listed as follows:

IPlayOnProvider
IPlayOnProviderSettings
IPlayOnHost
Payload
AbstractSharedMediaInfo

SharedMediaFileInfo

VideoResource
AudioResource
ImageResource

SharedMediaFolderInfo

After compiling a PlayOn plugin, simply rename the DLL assembly to have a .plugin extension, and place it in the plugin subdirectory of the main PlayOn application installation directory. The PlayOn server will automatically detect and attempt to load all .plugin assemblies found in this folder, as well as all dependent DLL's in this folder.

The main entry point for a plugin is through IPlayOnProvider.GetSharedMedia. This method will be invoked by the PlayOn server (IPlayOnHost) in order to query the plugin for metadata for folders and video streams. The GetSharedMedia method returns a Payload object, which is basically just a List of SharedMediaFileInfo and SharedMediaFolderInfo instances, which are then converted into DLNA XML to be sent to the client for display. Whenever media is requested, the IPlayOnProvider.Resolve() method is first invoked, which gives the plugin an opportunity to do any custom processing of the media URL, if necessary.

Classes

	Class	Description
	AbstractSharedMediaInfo	Abstract superclass for metadata for ContentDirectory items. This class is abstract (MustInherit in Visual Basic)abstractMustInherit and so cannot be instantiated.
	AudioResource	Contains metadata information suitable for a ContentDirectory service based on a local or online audio file.
	ImageResource	Contains metadata information suitable for a ContentDirectory service based on a local or online image file.
	Payload	Contains arbitrary items in a list that can be sent between applications.
	SharedMediaFileInfo	Contains metadata information suitable for a ContentDirectory service based on a physical media file or online media stream. This class is abstract (MustInherit in Visual Basic)abstractMustInherit and so cannot be instantiated.
	SharedMediaFolderInfo	Contains metadata information suitable for a ContentDirectory service based on a physical or virtual folder.
	VideoResource	Contains metadata information suitable for a ContentDirectory service based on a local or online video file.

Interfaces

	Interface	Description
	IPlayOnHost	Main interface that hosts a content provider plugin.
	IPlayOnProvider	Main interface for content provider plugins.
	IPlayOnProviderSettings	Main interface for content provider plugins to specify PlayOn Settings components and logic.