In this document i am trying to explain how to add support for a new protocol to GOIM 2.

I'm doing this by giving the example of adding xfire support.

1. Creating a new protocol project

This will be the base protocol support.

• New -> Project ... Plug-in project
  • Project name: net.sphene.goim.protocol.xfire (this can be of course be different)
  • Source Folder: src / Output Folder: bin
  • This plug-in is targeted to run with: Eclipse version: 3.3
  • Plug-in Options: do NOT check 'This plug-in will make contributions to the UI' (This will be done by a second plug-in)
  • You might want to create an 'Activator' Class (e.g. XfireActivator)
• Add the Extension
  • In the MANIFEST.MF open the 'Extensions' tab and click 'Add...'
    • select net.sphene.goim.core.protocols
    • make sure to add net.sphene.goim.core to the list of plug-in dependencies
  • Select an appropriate id (e.g. net.sphene.goim.protocol.xfire.protocol), name and icon
  • still in the MANIFEST-MF editor click on the 'class' link and create a new class - e.g. 'XfireProtocolExtension' - it has to implement IProtocolExtension

This class will only need one method:

public IIMAccountConnection createIMAccountConnect(IAccount account)

the job of this method is to create a new IM connection for the given account.

So you need to create a new class which implements 'IIMAccountConnection' and - to make your life easier - extends AbstractIMAccountConnection.

2. Creating a new protocol UI project

The UI project is responsible for providing the login/register (if appropriate) dialogs for the wizard. It might also contain other protocol specific UI.

• New -> Project .. Plug-in Project
  • net.sphene.goim.protocol.xfire.ui - by convention the UI project simply has an 'ui' addition.
  • This time check 'This plug-in will make contributions to the UI'
  • Do not use any plug-in templates
• open the MANIFEST-MF and add a new extension to the extension point 'net.sphene.goim.core.ui.protocolui'
• protocolextension: this should be the ID of your protocol - in our example net.sphene.goim.protocol.xfire.protocol