2.2.2. plugins – Extending the browser Module

Plugins are things that add functionality to the browser. Some of them are not site-specific, and could be used in a variety of applications, such as the lib.browser.plugins.cookies, or the lib.browser.plugins.keepalive plugins. UF-specific plugins are kept within the lib.browser.plugins.uf package. Plugins are different from lib.tasks, for a few reasons:

• A plugin has direct access to more of the browser’s features.
• A plugin typically does something simpler than a task.
• A plugin has to be careful about what it overrides, as it could create serious problems if poorly implemented.

If you don’t know what you’re doing, but you want to add more functionality to the library, I’d suggest writing a task, but for certain things, a plugin becomes a more elegant solution.

Plugins for lib.browser.Browser can do a variety of things, such as adding new methods to a lib.browser.Browser instance, adding new properties, overriding old methods or properties, adding handlers, and adding headers to future HTTP requests. The lib.browser.plugins.decorators module provides some useful decorators for making this happen.

• 2.2.2.1. The Plugin Architechure
• 2.2.2.2. decorators – Decorators for Writing Plugins and Extending Pluggable
  • 2.2.2.2.1. Plugin Related Decorators
  • 2.2.2.2.2. Pluggable Related Decorators
• 2.2.2.3. redirect – Base Plugin Class for Handling Redirections
• 2.2.2.4. cookies – Automatic Handling of Browser Cookies
• 2.2.2.5. useragent – HTTP user-agent Spoofing
• 2.2.2.6. keepalive – Handler for HTTP Keep-Alive Headers
  • 2.2.2.6.1. keepalive
  • 2.2.2.6.2. keepalive.handler
• 2.2.2.7. plugins.uf – UF-Specific Plugins
  • 2.2.2.7.1. login – Automatic and Semi-Automatic Gatorlink Login Handling
  • 2.2.2.7.2. isis – Tools for Working With ISIS (Integrated Student Information System)