Introduction to the Plugin Kit

This page applies to Harlequin v13.1r0 and later; and to Harlequin MultiRIP but not Harlequin Core

This chapter provides an introduction to the plugin concept and the various kinds of plugin to which the RIP can connect. It also discusses the plugin interface generally and what is provided with the plugin kit.

A plugin is a program that provides input and output services (or both) for the RIP. Plugins are written in C and compiled and linked separately from the RIP. The RIP loads the installed plugins into memory upon startup.

The SDK includes the following components:

• The Plugin Kit Guide for OEMs, which describes the plugin API in detail.
• The header files, code libraries, and build tools required to interface an external component to the RIP.
• Examples of each type of plugin.