Managing Extensions

irAuthor provides a framework for writing extensions to add additional functionality within irAuthor. There are four ways to use extensions with irAuthor: The default extensions included with irAuthor, those added through the installer like Dynamics and Salesforce, through the Extension Manager, or writing your own extensions by consulting the SDK Developers Guide. 

The features and functions provided by a given extension can be surfaced in irAuthor in a variety of ways. Be sure to consult the ReadMe doc available for each extension (see the Information icon in the Extension Manager) to understand its intended use.

To manage irAuthor extensions:

File -> Extensions

The extensions window has two tabs, one for managing extensions from the InRule Extension Exchange, and one for managing pre-installed and custom extensions.

Browse

This tab lists all extensions currently available to download from the Extension Exchange. To install an extension, select it in the list and then choose a version from the drop-down:

Selecting an extension and version will display information about InRule’s version compatibility and notes for that version of the extension. Clicking Install will download the extension and install it into irAuthor. Once the download is complete, irAuthor will prompt you to restart so that it can complete the installation.

Navigating back to the Extension Manager will show the version of the extension that is installed. The extension can also be uninstalled by selecting the extension again and clicking the uninstall icon. In the Browse section of the Extensions window, you can also update the extensions to newer versions by changing the version in the Version drop-down and clicking the Update button.

If the extension does not appear as expected in irAuthor, it likely needs to be enabled (checked) under the Installed tab (see below).

For more information about these extensions, visit the irAuthor extensions GitHub repository here. There are two types of extensions included here, managed and unmanaged extensions. Managed extensions are built and handled by InRule, and are listed in the Extension Manager within irAuthor. Unmanaged extensions are not officially supported by InRule, but source code is available for example purposes.

Installed

The Installed tab lists all extensions currently installed in irAuthor, whatever their source. If an extension is installed manually or via the Browse tab, it will need to be enabled here before it can be used. To enable or disable an extension, select the check next to its name.

Developer Extension

The Developer Extension is shipped with irAuthor, but not enabled by default. Enabling it adds additional features useful to developers. To learn more about how to develop your own irAuthor extensions, consult the SDK Developers Guide.