Plugin Tool Execution Framework
Plugin Class
The Plugin class is the basis for all Ayx Plugin Tools in the new Core SDK. The abstract Plugin class provides the required abstract methods that need to be implemented in order for a tool to interact with Alteryx Designer. These interactions are mediated by the Providers, which provide simplified interfaces for Designer functionality and drive the execution of the Ayx Plugin Tools. For more information on the execution flow, see Plugin Lifecycle.
Register the Plugin
Every plugin must be registered with the Core SDK after the new Ayx Plugin Tool class is defined. The Ayx Plugin Tool must implement the base Plugin class in order for the Core SDK to accept the registered plugin. The registration process indicates to the Core SDK that the Plugin exists, what the name of the class is, and provides a means of driving the Ayx Plugin Tool's execution.
The init Method
The __init__ method in the Ayx Plugin Tool class initializes relevant properties. It is also the access point for the BaseProvider object to all of the Plugin methods, so the provider is typically stored as a class variable in the init method. The init is also the point when anchors are set from the provider.
The on_incoming_connection_complete Method
The on_incoming_connection_complete method is called to handle any additional work for a completed anchor. The method is called when there are no more records left. It notifies the plugin that the connection is done sending data.
This method receives an Anchor object that contains the anchor name (anchor.name) and the corresponding input connection (anchor.connection).
The on_record_batch Method
The on_record_batch method is called for each input connection on an anchor.
This method also receives an Anchor object (as well as all the records and data sent from AMP) in the form of a PyArrows Table.
In this method, you can manipulate the data before writing the data to the output anchor using self.provider.write_to_anchor(self.output_anchor_name, table)
The on_complete Method
The on_complete method is called at the end of the runtime execution.
This method typically does any cleanup required for the Ayx Plugin Tool. If the plugin is an Input tool type, this method is used to read the data from the data source and push it to the output anchor (since an Input tool-type has no input anchors or connections, and therefore on_incoming_connection_complete and on_record_batch are not called).
Proxy Environment Configuration
If you run your plugin on a network that requires a proxy, you might encounter errors when you make external requests (an API as a data source, for example). We provide a convenient function to inherit configuration from Designer in proxy_requests. The proxy_requests.create_proxied_session function returns a PACSession initialized with any found Designer proxy authentication settings. If you need any additional configuration, you can extend the PACSession further. Refer to the PyPAC Docs for more info.
