App Management

The App Management API is enabled by default. However, there are several initialization options for it depending on what set of features you want to use.

To specify the desired mode for the App Management API, use the optional Config object when initializing the Glue42 library:

// Enabling all features of the App Management API.
const config = { appManager: "full" };

const glue = await Glue(config);

The appManager property of the Config object accepts the following values:

The App Management API is accessible through the glue.appManager object.

See the JavaScript App Management example on GitHub.

To restart Glue42 Enterprise, use the restart() method. This will close all running apps and their instances and then restart Glue42 Enterprise:

await glue.appManager.restart();

To shut down Glue42 Enterprise, use the exit() method. This will close all running apps and their instances:

await glue.appManager.exit();

For details on how to execute custom code before restart or shutdown and also how to prevent restart or shutdown, see the Events > Shutdown section.

Available since Glue42 Enterprise 3.12

App definitions can be imported, exported and removed at runtime using the InMemoryStore object of the App Management API.

Note that all app Definition objects provided at runtime are stored in-memory and the methods of the InMemoryStore object operate only on them - i.e., the app definitions provided to Glue42 Enterprise through local or remote configuration files aren't affected.

Import

To import a list of app definitions at runtime, use the import() method:

const definitions = [
    {
        name: "my-app",
        type: "window",
        title: "My App",
        details: {
            url: "https://my-domain.com/my-app"
        }
    },
    {
        name: "my-other-app",
        type: "window",
        title: "My Other App",
        details: {
            url: "https://my-domain.com/my-other-app"
        }
    }
];
const mode = "merge";

const importResult = await glue.appManager.inMemory.import(definitions, mode);

The import() method accepts a list of Definition objects as a first parameter and an import mode as a second. There are two import modes - "replace" (default) and "merge". Using "replace" will replace all existing in-memory definitions with the provided ones, while using "merge" will merge the existing ones with the provided ones, replacing the app definitions with the same name. Use the imported property of the returned ImportResult object to see a list of the successfully imported definitions and its errors property to see a list of the errors:

const importedApps = importResult.imported;
const errors = importResult.errors;

importedApps.forEach(console.log);
errors.forEach(e => console.log(`App: ${e.app}, Error: ${e.error}`));

Export

To export a list of already imported in-memory app definitions, use the export() method:

const definitions = await glue.appManager.inMemory.export();

Remove

To remove a specific in-memory app definition, use the remove() method and provide the app name:

await glue.appManager.inMemory.remove("my-app");

Clear

To clear all imported in-memory definitions, use the clear() method:

await glue.appManager.inMemory.clear();

To see a list of all apps available to the current user, use the applications() method:

const apps = glue.appManager.applications();

Specific App

To get a reference to a specific app, use the application() method and pass the name of the app as an argument:

const app = glue.appManager.application("ClientList");

Current App Instance

To get a reference to the instance of the current app, use the myInstance property:

const myInstance = glue.appManager.myInstance;

To start an app, use the start() method of the app object:

const app = glue.appManager.application("ClientList");

const appInstance = await app.start();

The start() method accepts two optional parameters - a context object (object in which you can pass custom data to your app) and an ApplicationStartOptions object.

The following example demonstrates how to start an app with context, enable the Glue42 Channels for it and join it to a specific Channel:

const app = glue.appManager.application("ClientList");
const context = { selectedUser: 2 };
const startOptions = { allowChannels: true, channelId: "Red" };

const appInstance = await app.start(context, startOptions);

Note that all app options available under the "details" top level key of the app configuration can be passed as properties of the ApplicationStartOptions object. For more details on the available app configuration options, see the definition for the "window" app type under the "details" top-level of the app configuration schema.

To list all running instances of all apps, use the instances() method:

// Returns a collection of the running instances of all apps.
glue.appManager.instances();

To stop a running instance, use the stop() method of an instance object:

await appInstance.stop();

Shutdown

Available since Glue42 Enterprise 3.11

The shutdown event provided by the App Management API allows you to execute custom code before Glue42 Enterprise shuts down. The available time for the execution of your code is 60 seconds. The callback you provide for handling the event will receive a ShuttingDownEventArgs object as an argument. Use its restarting property to determine whether Glue42 Enterprise is restarting or is shutting down:

// The async code in the handler will be awaited up to 60 seconds
// before Glue42 Enterprise shuts down.
const handler = async (args) => {
    const isRestarting = args.restarting;

    if (isRestarting) {
        console.log("Restarting...");
    } else {
        await handleShutdown();
    };
};

glue.appManager.onShuttingDown(handler);

To prevent shutdown or restart of Glue42 Enterprise, the async handler must resolve with an object with a prevent property set to true:

const handler = async () => { return { prevent: true } };

glue.appManager.onShuttingDown(handler);

App

The set of apps defined for the current user can be changed at runtime. To track the events which fire when an app has been added, removed or updated, use the respective methods exposed by the App Management API.

App added event:

const handler = app => console.log(app.name);

// Notifies you when an app has been added.
const unsubscribe = glue.appManager.onAppAdded(handler);

App removed event:

const handler = app => console.log(app.name);

// Notifies you when an app has been removed.
const unsubscribe = glue.appManager.onAppRemoved(handler);

App updated event:

const handler = app => console.log(app.name);

// Notifies you when an app configuration has been updated.
const unsubscribe = glue.appManager.onAppChanged(handler);

Instance

To monitor instance related events globally (for all instances of all apps running in Glue42 Enterprise) or on an app level (only instances of a specific app), use the respective methods exposed by the App Management API.

Global

The appManager object offers methods which you can use to monitor instance events for all apps running in Glue42 Enterprise. Get notified when an app instance has started, stopped, has been updated or when starting an app instance has failed. The methods for handling instance events receive a callback as a parameter which in turn receives the app instance as an argument. All methods return an unsubscribe function - use it to stop receiving notifications about instance events.

Instance started event:

const handler = instance => console.log(instance.id);

const unsubscribe = glue.appManager.onInstanceStarted(handler);

Instance stopped event:

const handler = instance => console.log(instance.id);

const unsubscribe = glue.appManager.onInstanceStopped(handler);

Instance updated event:

const handler = instance => console.log(instance.id);

const unsubscribe = glue.appManager.onInstanceUpdated(handler);

App Level

To monitor instance events on an app level, use the methods offered by the Application object. The methods for handling instance events receive a callback as a parameter which in turn receives the app instance as an argument.

Instance started event:

const app = glue.appManager.application("ClientList");
const handler = instance => console.log(instance.id);

app.onInstanceStarted(handler);

Instance stopped event:

const app = glue.appManager.application("ClientList");
const handler = instance => console.log(instance.id);

app.onInstanceStopped(handler);

For a complete list of the available App Management API methods and properties, see the App Management API Reference Documentation.