Writing a JIRA plugin that uses Active Object

[connorsml]

I am just getting started with JIRA plugin development and I would like to write something with a UI to store objects like the todo app here: https://developer.atlassian.com/docs/atlassian-platform-common-components/active-objects/getting-started-with-active-objects

However, I am only intending to write something for use with JIRA, and the code above uses the refapp. According to this page below, the refapp may not be appropriate:

https://developer.atlassian.com/docs/developer-tools/about-the-atlassian-refapp

"It is probably not of interest to developers wanting to write plugins for a specific Atlassian application."

So my question: Is the refapp the appropriate place to start developing a JIRA plugin that uses active object? Will I be able to link my entities to a JIRA issue later if I use the refapp? Can I use the refapp as a base for developing a plugin that I would like to release to the public later.

[crf · Accepted solution]

Although there are not very many of them, there are third-party plugins that use the refapp.  This is, however, because they are legitimately cross-product plugins.  Most plugins are product-specific, so the refapp is not an appropriate choice for them.

That said, Active Objects itself is in the Atlassian cross-product platform ands works essentially the same way in all products, so using refapp keeps product-specific references out of the example.

Although it is meant more as an example of using atlassian-scheduler than AO, there is a tiny bit of AO use in this JIRA-specific example plugin, and it also contains a lot of information about some of the pitfalls of initializing it (problems that should be fixed in JIRA 7.0, but that's another story): https://bitbucket.org/cfuller/atlassian-scheduler-jira-example

Specifically, see:

• AwesomeStuff – an AO object definition
• AwesomeStuffDao – an interface providing its CRUD and find operations
• AwesomeStuffDaoImpl – implementation of AwesomeStuffDao that delegates to AO
• AwesomeLauncher– detailed information about how to make sure AO is ready before you try to talk to it

[connorsml]

Thanks @Chris Fuller. That is very helpful. Would you have any advice regarding the GUI side of it? I am not sure if I should be trying to look at webwork actions, or if I should be writing a servlet as per the refapp guide.

https://developer.atlassian.com/jiradev/jira-architecture/building-jira-add-ons/jira-plugins2-overview/jira-plugin-module-types/servlet-plugin-module

or

https://developer.atlassian.com/jiradev/jira-architecture/building-jira-add-ons/jira-plugins2-overview/jira-plugin-module-types/webwork-plugin-module

[crf]

Unfortunately, I really am strictly a back-end developer; user interfaces are not my thing. I believe in most cases the simplest and preferred method is to use a webwork action to back a Soy template, but I cannot offer specific help in that area. The design team has guidelines at https://design.atlassian.com/latest/ that may be helpful, here.

[connorsml]

Thanks, I will look into that.