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Pim Apps

This repository contains simple example apps for Pim. You can write your own apps and host them anywhere that's publicly accessible over HTTP - you need not fork this repository unless you want your app included here. Pim downloads your app and converts it, storing it locally, so you needn't worry about bandwidth issues.

Overview

Apps are JavaScript files fetched by the Pim server, processed by PimScript, and then made available for all to install and use.

App support is early, so we don't guarantee any level of security at this point which is why we make apps' source code publicly visible (you should code with this in mind).

The Pim server uses the information in the app header to pass through the variables the app has requested access to.

Apps are intended to be able to be loaded and unloaded at will - e.g. when switching between chats - so most tasks are automatically reversed when the app unloads. For example if you add a method to the formatter, when your app is uninstalled that method will be immediately removed from the formatter without you having to do anything. All events should be registered in the app.load method

App Header

Apps should start with a header containing a JSON payload followed by a description. The easiest way to generate this header is to use the App Template tool.

Here's an example:

###!PIM_APP{
  "name"    : "Chat Links"
, "version" : "0.1.1"
, "access"  : ["app","formatter","chatCollection"]
}
-------------
This app allows you to embed links to other chats in your messages. To
link to a chat, simply type `[chat #]` where `#` is the id of the chat.
This will render as the name of the chat as a hyperlink - on clicking
you will visit that chat.
###

name

Display name for the app.

version

The app's version number, uses npm's semantic versioning

access

An array of the Pim objects and methods that it needs access to. You MUST include "app" in this list.

Global objects: dom, lib

PimScript (currently) uses ADsafe, so you get access to the dom and lib objects. We've tweaked the dom/bunch objects so that they contain a pimFormat method that clears the current element and replaces it's content with the results of Pim formatting the string that is passed through - this is a simple way of rendering rich text.

Object: app

The app object represents the app itself. It has two methods load and render that should be over-ridden by the app.

load: should register all event listeners/callbacks/etc.
render: should populate the app's view with content.

app.load = function() {
  formatter.add(formatter.PHASE_PLAIN, 80, embedTweet);
}

app.render = function(data) {
  dom.pimFormat("To link to a chat, simply type `[chat #]` where `#` is the id of the chat.");
}

Object: formatter

The formatter takes the plain text of messages and converts it into the HTML that is displayed. The formatter has a number of default actions and runs in 3 phases: PHASE_PLAIN, PHASE_HTML and PHASE_FINAL.

You almost certainly want PHASE_PLAIN.

At the end of PHASE_PLAIN the text is converted to HTML by escaping the HTML entities, and then we enter PHASE_HTML.

At the end of PHASE_HTML the placeholders (see below) are re-inserted, and then we enter PHASE_FINAL.

Methods

formatter.escapeHTML(html): returns html with its HTML entities replaced.

formatter.placeholder(str): returns an HTML-safe placeholder string to be inserted into the message and be replaced with str just before PHASE_FINAL. (Use this to prevent further processing e.g. of code blocks.)

formatter.scrollBottom(): if your method loads data asynchronously and this makes the content reflow, you should call this method to scroll back to the bottom (if scroll lock is enabled, otherwise scrollBottom() is a no-op).

formatter.add(phase, priority, callback):

  • phase: which phase to run the callback: formatter.PHASE_PLAIN, formatter.PHASE_HTML or formatter.PHASE_FINAL
  • priority: value between 0 (highest, runs first) and 100 (lowest, runs last) - decides when during the phase the callback is ran
  • callback: see below

formatter.remove(phase, priority, callback): the opposite of formatter.add

Callback

function(text, phase, meta)

  • text: the current content of the message
  • phase: the phase this method is being called in
  • meta: meta-data about the message being formatted (rarely needed)

Most callbacks run towards the end of PHASE_PLAIN and take the form:

callback = function(text) {
  return formatter.replaceMatches(text, /reg(exp)(here)/gi, function(matches) {
    return formatter.placeholder("Match[1]: " + matches[1]);
  });
};

Function: jsonp

jsonp(key, data, callback): fetches JSONP data from the URL specified by looking up key in the jsonp_urls hash in the header and inserting the data specified in data, and then calls callback with the results. Have a look at embed-tweet.js (or .coffee) for an example.

Object: chatCollection/userCollection

These mimic backbone collections containing all the chats/users that are currently known. These are currently heavily locked down, only supporting the .get() and .find() methods. Models contained in collections support the .get() method and an .id read-only property. Chat models also have a messageCollection object.

Need more?

Need more access? More documentation? More help? Want to give feedback? Please get in contact - [email protected] - the app platform is under constant development so if you can give us a good reason to add something we probably will.