Possibility to setup a plugin environment in code

[cneumuel]

For testing purposes it should be possible to set up an environment where all plugins are loaded as if HL was started, without actually starting it. This can be convenient for testing and development purposes.

An application should be useable like this:

  class Program {
    static void Main(string[] args) {
      PluginManager pm = new PluginManager(Path.GetDirectoryName(Assembly.GetExecutingAssembly().Location));
      pm.DiscoverAndCheckPlugins();
      pm.Run(pm.Applications.Where(x => x.Name == "TestApp").SingleOrDefault());
    }
  }

  [Plugin("TestPlugin", "1.0.0.0")]
  [PluginFile("HeuristicLab.MetaOptimization.Test.exe", PluginFileType.Assembly)]
  public class TestPlugin : PluginBase { }

  [Application("TestApp")]
  public class TestApp : ApplicationBase {
    public override void Run() {
      // in here, all plugins are loaded and can be discovered
      var items = ApplicationManager.Manager.GetInstances<IItem>();
    }
  }

Therefore visibility changes in PluginManager and ApplicationDescription are required. Also exe-files need to be discovered as plugins by the PluginManager.

[cneumuel]

fixed in r5652