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Created Design: dynamic palette (markdown)
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Design notes for #322
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Currently, the palette of nodes is loaded when the runtime starts and does not change.
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The runtime needs to allow nodes to be added/removed dynamically.
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Some points that need to be considered:
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- nodes can be added by dropping files into the node path, or by npm. Both of these mechanisms should be supported by this feature
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- adding by file will expect the file to have already been copied into node path
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- adding by npm will trigger an npm install of the module
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- future support for importing a zip or files themselves?
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- removing a node cannot 'unload' the module - care must be taken if the node creates any 'static' resources
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- removing a node in the editor must allow it to remove any artefacts added to the page (eg, debug node's tab)
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- a node file or module can contain multiple nodes. Making a request to remove a single node type may trigger the removal of multiple node types.
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- what to do if the node is being used in the current flow? Safest option is to reject the removal.
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- removing a node, without also removing the files, will mean it returns to the palette on the next restart. That would be unexpected.
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## On the packaging of nodes
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### node ###
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A **node** is defined in an html file and a js file. The js file will include a call to the runtime's version of `RED.nodes.registerType`. The html file will contain the template and help script blocks, along with a call to the editor's version of `RED.nodes.registerType`.
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### node set ###
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A js/html file pair may contain multiple **nodes**. This is called a **node set**. Any error loading the js/html files will cause all **nodes** in a **node set** to be unavailable.
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### node module ###
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An npm **node module** may contain multiple js/html file pairs - each identified in the `package.json` file. Hence, an npm module may contain multiple **node sets**, each containing 1 or more **nodes**.
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### node pack ###
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A `node pack` is a collection of similarly-themed nodes that a user might want to install together. It is structurally the same as a node module, but acts as a meta-package that pulls in multiple specific **node modules** using the standard package dependency mechanism.
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### Add/Remove vs Enable/Disable
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The Add/Remove api is for getting new nodes installed into the runtime as well as removing them. It operates at either the js/html level, or the node module level.
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The Enable/Disable api is used with **node sets**. This is how a user can install a **node module** using the Add/Remove API, then elect to disable one or more of the **node sets** it contains so they don't appear in the palette.
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### Adding a node set/module
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To add a new node to the palette:
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1. a request is POSTed to `{admin root}/nodes` to trigger the add.
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The post body is a JSON structure that identifies where the node information comes from, either a local file (`file`) or an npm module (`module`).
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{
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file: "path to local node .js file or package.json",
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module: "npm module name"
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}
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2. The response to this request is a json object containing the node set id, a list of the specific types in the set and a boolean flag to show if it is enabled or not. If not enabled, it may also list an error message describing why it is not enabled - unless if has been disabled by the user.
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3. An event is fired over the comms link telling any connected editors that nodes have been added. This triggers a HTTP Get back to `{admin root}/nodes/{node-set-id}` to load the node definition/help/edit template.
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### Remove node set/module
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To remove a node from the palette:
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1. a DELETE http request is sent to `{admin root}/nodes/{node-set-id}` to trigger the removal.
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2. If the any of the corresponding nodes are in use, the request is rejected
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3. The runtime registry removes the corresponding nodes.
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4. An event is fired over the comms link telling any connected editors that the nodes have been removed.
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### Enable a node set
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TBD
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- need a persistence mechanism to remember the enabled/disabled state of nodes over restarts.
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### Disable a node set
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TBD
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- as with remove, cannot disable a node set that contains an in-use type
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