How to write a Plugin?

To build your own plugin, you'll need to go through a few simple steps:

  • Import the player library.
  • Implement the plugin API methods and properties.
  • Register the plugin in the player framework.

In this guide, we'll go through these steps and elaborate with examples of both Plain JavaScript & ES6.

Table of Contents

The player core library exposes two main utilities:

  • BasePlugin - The class that your plugin will inherit from.
  • registerPlugin - The static player method that will register your plugin in the player registry.

Let's take a look at the BasePlugin API.

Base Plugin API

constructor(name, player, config)

Parameters

NameTypeDescription
namestringPlugin name
playerplaykit.core.PlayerPlayer instance
configObjectPlugin config

Properties

config

Type: Object - The runtime plugin config.

player

Type: playkit.core.Player - The player instance.

name

Type: string - The plugin registry name.

logger

Type: playkit.core.Logger - The logger of the plugin.

eventManager

Type: playkit.core.EventManager - The plugin event manager.


Properties to Implement

(static) defaultConfig

Type: Object - The default plugin config.


Methods

getConfig(attr)

Parameters

NameTypeDescription
attrstringconfig key (optional)

Returns: any - If an attribute is provided, returns the value of the config attribute. If not, returns the plugin config.

updateConfig(update)

Parameters

NameTypeDescription
updateObjectNew full or partial config

Returns: void - Merges the update config with the existing config.

getName()

Returns: string - The plugin name.

dispatchEvent(name, payload)

Parameters

NameTypeDescription
namestringThe event name
payloadObjectThe event payload object

Returns: void - Dispatches an event from the player.


Methods to Implement

(static) isValid(player)

Parameters

NameTypeDescription
playerplaykit.core.PlayerPlayer instance

Returns: boolean - Whether the plugin is valid or not.

You can help the player instance API with your decision logic. For example, if you want to enable your plugin on a Chrome browser only, you can simply implement the following:

class MyPlugin extends BasePlugin {  static isValid(player) {    return player.env.browser.name === 'Chrome';  }
}

getUIComponents(uiCompoments: KPUIComponent[])

Returns: void - merge the provided ui components array to the config.ui.uiComponents of the player configuration. see here for more details.

Equivalent to the config.ui.uiComponents of the player configuration:

loadMedia()

Returns: void - Runs on player media loaded.

The player will call this method on media loaded event. Useful in case of logic depends on the media data / metadata

destroy()

Returns: void - Runs the plugin destroy logic.

The player will call this method before destroying itself.

reset()

Returns: void - Runs the plugin reset logic.

The player will call this method before changing media.

get ready()

Returns: Promise<*> - a Promise which is resolved when plugin is ready for the player load

Signal player that plugin has finished loading its dependencies and player can continue to loading and playing states. Use this when your plugin requires to load 3rd party dependencies which are required for the plugin operation. By default the base plugin returns a resolved plugin. If you wish the player load and play (and middlewares interception) to wait for some async action (i.e loading a 3rd party library) you can override and return a Promise which is resolved when the plugin completes all async requirements.


Now, lets take a look at the registerPlugin API.

Register Plugin API

registerPlugin(pluginName, pluginClass)

Parameters

NameTypeDescription
pluginNamestringThe plugin name
pluginClassplaykit.core.BasePluginThe plugin class

Writing a Basic Plugin

In this section, we'll learn how to write a simple plugin, one that doesn't require any installation or setup steps except for a player script in hand (remotely or locally).

In the examples we'll use the ES6 syntax.

Step 1 - Import the Player Library

1 . In your index.html file, include a path to the player script:

<!DOCTYPE html>
<html lang="en">  <head>    <meta charset="UTF-8" />    <title>MyPlugin</title>    <script src="PATH/TO/PLAYER/LIB/FILENAME.js"></script>  </head>
</html>

2 . Create a new file called my-plugin.js and include it in your index.html:

<!DOCTYPE html>
<html lang="en">  <head>    <meta charset="UTF-8" />    <title>MyPlugin</title>    <script src="PATH/TO/PLAYER/LIB/FILENAME.js"></script>    <script type="module" src="PATH/TO/FILE/my-plugin.js"></script>  </head>  <body></body>
</html>

Step 2 - Create Your Plugin Class

1 . In my-plugin.js, define the plugin class:

class MyPlugin {  constructor(name, player, config) {}
}

2 . Extends the BasePlugin base class:

import {BasePlugin} from 'kaltura-player-js';

class MyPlugin extends BasePlugin {  constructor(name, player, config) {    super(name, player, config);  }
}

Step 3 - Implement the BasePlugin Methods

In my-plugin.js, add the necessary methods and properties to override as explained above:

import {BasePlugin} from 'kaltura-player-js';

class MyPlugin extends BasePlugin {  static defaultConfig = {};
  static isValid(player) {}
  constructor(name, player, config) {    super(name, player, config);  }
  destroy() {}
  reset() {}
}

Step 4 - Fill in Simple Implementations

To see the plugin in action, lets fill in some simple implementations:

import {BasePlugin} from 'kaltura-player-js';

class MyPlugin extends BasePlugin {  _myCollection;
  static defaultConfig = {    myValue: 1  };
  static isValid(player): boolean {    return true;  }
  constructor(name, player, config) {    super(name, player, config);    this.logger.debug('Hello from ' + this.getName() + ' plugin constructor!');    this._myCollection = [this.config.myValue];    this._addBindings();  }
  destroy() {    this.logger.debug('Empty collection');    this._myCollection = [];  }
  reset() {    this.logger.debug('Reset collection');    this._myCollection = [this.config.myValue];  }
  _addBindings() {    this.eventManager.listen(this.player, this.player.Event.SEEKED, () => {      this.logger.debug(this.player.currentTime + ' Added to my collection');      this._myCollection.push(this.player.currentTime);      this.dispatchEvent('collectionUpdate', {collection: this._myCollection});    });  }
}

Step 5 - Register Your Plugin

Use the factory registerPlugin method to register your plugin in the player framework:

<!DOCTYPE html>
<html lang="en">  <head>    <meta charset="UTF-8" />    <title>MyPlugin</title>    <script src="PATH/TO/PLAYER/LIB/FILENAME.js"></script>    <script type="module" src="PATH/TO/FILE/my-plugin.js"></script>  </head>  <body>    <script>      KalturaPlayer.core.registerPlugin('myPlugin', MyPlugin);    </script>  </body>
</html>

Step 6 - Configure Your Plugin

All that's left now is to verify that the player activates the plugin during runtime.

1 . Include the new plugin name and plugin configuration in the player configuration. For example:

var config = {  plugins: {    myPlugin: {      myValue: 10    }  }
};

2 . Let's expand our test page and add:

a . A placeholder div to the player:

<div id="player-div" style="width: 360px; height: 640px;"></div>

b . A basic player configuration:

var config = {  log: {    level: 'DEBUG'  },  targetId: 'player-div',  provider: {    partnerId: 'YOUR_PARTNER_ID'  },  plugins: {    myPlugin: {      myValue: 10    }  }
};

c . Setup code.

var mediaInfo = {entryId: 'YOUR_ENTRY_ID'};
var player = KalturaPlayer.setup(config);
player.loadMedia(mediaInfo).then(function () {  player.play();
});

3 . Connect everything together and you'll get:

<!DOCTYPE html>
<html lang="en">  <head>    <meta charset="UTF-8" />    <title>MyPlugin</title>    <script src="PATH/TO/PLAYER/LIB/FILENAME.js"></script>    <script src="PATH/TO/FILE/my-plugin.js"></script>  </head>  <body>    <script>      KalturaPlayer.core.registerPlugin('myPlugin', MyPlugin);
      var config = {        log: {          level: 'DEBUG'        },        targetId: 'player-div',        provider: {          partnerId: 'YOUR_PARTNER_ID'        },        plugins: {          myPlugin: {            myValue: 10          }        }      };
      var mediaInfo = {entryId: 'YOUR_ENTRY_ID'};      var player = KalturaPlayer.setup(config);      player.loadMedia(mediaInfo).then(function () {        player.play();      });    </script>  </body>
</html>

That's it! the player starts to play and your plugin is activated.

Plugin Boilerplate - and fully working example

You can find here a prepared and pre-configured plugin template

The template includes a full environment, written in ECMAScript6 and TypeScript, and transpired in ECMAScript5 using webpack and the TypeScript compiler, includes all scripts needed for the CI/CD cycle, bundling, and version handling and includes (Mocha / Karma) based test environment and pre-configured ESLint static code analysis.

For Detailed instructions for using the template - follow the steps here

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