OOD Customizations Deployment - Individual folder support

[abujeda]

Currently, Open OnDemand allows customizations and extensions using three primary external folders:

• /etc/ood/config/apps/dashboard/initializers
• /etc/ood/config/apps/dashboard/lib
• /etc/ood/config/apps/dashboard/views

This structure enables developers to create and integrate custom widgets, utilities, and other modifications to enhance Open OnDemand’s functionality and user experience. However, as more customizations are added, managing these additions becomes challenging.

To address this, we propose an enhancement to Open OnDemand that would support independent folders for each customization, each with its own initializers, lib, and views subdirectories. This modular approach would allow each customization to reside in its own self-contained structure, making it easier to add, remove, or share specific features.

We believe that this deployment enhancement will better support sharing customizations among institutions in the Open OnDemand community.

Proposed Structure

This structure would allow customizations to be packaged and shared as independent units:

/etc/ood/config/dashboard/add-ons
├── customization_1
│   ├── initializers
│   ├── lib
│   └── views
├── customization_2
│   ├── initializers
│   ├── lib
│   └── views
└── customization_3
    ├── initializers
    ├── lib
    └── views

Possible implementation pseudocode:

# dashboard/config/application.rb
# plugin_directory = '/var/www/ood/apps/plugins'
...
    # Enable installed plugins
    if ::Configuration.plugin_directory.directory?
      ::Configuration.plugin_directory.children.select(&:directory?).each do |installed_plugin|
        config.paths["config/initializers"] << installed_plugin.join("initializers").to_s
        config.autoload_paths << installed_plugin.join("lib").to_s
        config.paths["app/views"].unshift installed_plugin.join("views").to_s
      end
    end
...

[johrstrom]

Don't they already have access to all three of these?

[johrstrom]

Just meant to comment, didn't mean to close.

[abujeda]

Yes, customizations are already possible, we are proposing a way of installing them that is easier to manage and share. More so when you want to test/try/install a third party customization in your system.

Similar to how interactive apps are installed, dropping "plugin" folder to the "plugins" location will install the plugin.
removing the folder will remove the code. Adding multiple customizations will be easier to manage as the admin only needs to deal with the "plugin" top level folder, instead of having to manage the individual files in the current location that is common to all customizations.