# Writing Native Plugins

Writing Native plugins is pretty simple, but since it's C/C++ it's a bit more complicated.

There are currently no C++ bindings and no intention to write them, but the C API is still usable from C++.

          #include <gplugin.h>
          #include <gplugin-native.h>

          /* This function is called by the native plugin loader to get information
           * about the plugin. It returns a #GPluginPluginInfo instance that
           * describes the plugin. If anything goes wrong during this function,
           * @error should be set via g_set_error() and %NULL should be returned.
           * It must match the signature of #GPluginNativePluginQueryFunc, and it
           * will be passed to #GPLUGIN_NATIVE_PLUGIN_DECLARE which will export it
           * properly.
           */
          static GPluginPluginInfo *
          gplugin_native_basic_plugin_query(GError **error) {
              /* Authors is a list of authors who worked on the plugin.  Generally
               * these are in the "Name Surname <user@domain.com>" format.
               */
              const gchar * const authors[] = {
                  "Author O <author@example.com>",
                  NULL
              };

              /* gplugin_plugin_info_new only requires that the id be set, and the
               * rest are here for demonstration purposes.
               */
              return gplugin_plugin_info_new(
                  "gplugin/native-basic-plugin",
                  GPLUGIN_NATIVE_PLUGIN_ABI_VERSION,
                  "name", "name",
                  "version", "version",
                  "summary", "summary",
                  "description", "description",
                  "authors", authors,
                  "website", "website",
                  NULL);
          }

          /* This function is called by the native plugin loader when the plugin
           * should be loaded. It should do any setup that the plugin requires and
           * return %TRUE if everything was successfull. If not, it should set
           * @error with g_set_error() and return %FALSE. This function needs to
           * match the signature of #GPluginNativePluginLoadFunc, and it will be
           * passed to #GPLUGIN_NATIVE_PLUGIN_DECLARE which will export it
           * properly.
           */
          static gboolean
          gplugin_native_basic_plugin_load(GPluginPlugin *plugin, GError **error) {
              return TRUE;
          }

          /* This function is called by the native plugin loader when the plugin
           * should be unloaded. It should do any clean up that the plugin requires
           * and return %TRUE if everything was successfull. If not, it should set
           * @error with g_set_error() and return %FALSE. This function needs to
           * match the signature of #GPluginNativePluginUnloadFunc, and it will be
           * passed to #GPLUGIN_NATIVE_PLUGIN_DECLARE which will export it
           * properly.
           */
          static gboolean
          gplugin_native_basic_plugin_unload(GPluginPlugin *plugin, GError *error) {
              return TRUE;
          }

          /* This macro does the heavy lifting of making sure to export all of the
           * symbols correctly as well as add some future proofing for features
           * like statically plugins. It is highly recommended to use this macro
           * instead of manually exporting the symbols yourself.
           */
          GPLUGIN_NATIVE_PLUGIN_DECLARE(gplugin_native_basic_plugin)