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| <h1>Fragment</h1> |
| |
| <p>A <strong>fragment</strong> is used to replace or extend the functionality of |
| an existing plug-in. A common use for fragments is to put environment (operating system, |
| architecture, etc.) specific code into fragments. Depending on the environment the |
| plug-in is installed in the base plug-in code along with the correct fragment can be installed. |
| Fragments are also ideal for shipping features like language or maintenance packs that typically |
| trail the initial products for a few months.</p> |
| |
| <p>When a fragment is detected by the platform and its parent plug-in is found, |
| the fragment's libraries, extensions and extension points are "merged" with |
| those of the parent plug-in. </p> |
| |
| <p>While this merging mechanism is good from a runtime point of view, |
| developers need to view fragments as separate entities while working on them.</p> |
| |
| <p>PDE provides full support for fragment development. Fragments can be viewed as |
| "limited plug-ins". They have all of the capability of regular |
| plug-ins but have no concept of life-cycle. Fragments have no top-level class |
| with "startup" and "shutdown" methods.</p> |
| |
| <p>To create a fragment use the <a href="../guide/tools/project_wizards/new_fragment_project.htm">New Fragment Project</a> |
| wizard. Editing fragments is very similar to editing plug-ins.</p> |
| |
| <h3 class="related">Related references</h3> |
| <a href="../guide/tools/editors/manifest_editor/editor.htm">Plug-in Editor</a><br> |
| <a href="../guide/tools/project_wizards/new_fragment_project.htm">New Fragment</a> |
| |
| <h3 class="related">Related concepts</h3> |
| <a href="plugin.htm">Plug-in</a><br> |
| <a href="feature.htm">Feature</a><br> |
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