Each folder in the Plugins SDK contains scripts for creating new plugins of that type. Here is the directory structure of the Plugins SDK:
liferay-plugins-<version>/- Plugins SDK root directory.clients/- client applications directory.dist/- archived plugins for distribution and deployment.ext/- Ext plugins directory. See Chapter 8 on Ext plugins.hooks/- hook plugins directory. See Chapter 7 on hooks.layouttpl/- layout templates directory. See Chapter 6 on creating Liferay Layout Templates.lib/- commonly referenced libraries.misc/- development configuration files. Example, a source code formatting specification file.portlets/- portlet plugins directory. See Chapter 3 on portlet development.themes/- themes plugins directory. See Chapter 5 on creating Liferay themes.tools/- plugin templates and utilities.webs/- web plugins directory.build.properties- default SDK properties.build.<username>.properties- (optional) override SDK properties.build.xml- contains targets to invoke in the SDK.build-common.xml- contains common targets and properties referenced throughout the SDK.build-common-plugin.xml- contains common targets and properties referenced by each plugin.build-common-plugins.xml- contains common targets and properties referenced by each plugin type.
New plugins are placed in their own subdirectory of the appropriate plugin type.
For instance, a new portlet called “greeting-portlet” would reside in
liferay-plugins-[version]/portlets/greeting-portlet.
There’s an Ant build file (build.xml) in each of the plugins directories. Here
are some Ant targets you’ll commonly use in developing your plugins:
build-service- builds the service layer for a plugin, using Liferay Service Builder.clean- cleans the residual files created by the invocations of the compilation, archiving, and deployment targets.compile- compiles the plugin source code.deploy- builds and deploys the plugin to your application server.format-source- formats the source code per Liferay’s source code guidelines, informing you of violations that must be addressed. See the Development Style community wiki page for details.format-javadoc- formats the Javadoc per Liferay’s Javadoc guidelines. See the Javadoc Guidelines community wiki page for details.
Next, let’s consider some best practices for developing plugins using the SDK.