This special app type is used to provide import and export functionality.
IMatch integrates these apps in the Import & Export Panel.

The app.json file

Import and Export Apps are identified by the type element. The following values are supported:

Any app that with the one types specified above will be listed in the Import & Export Panel in IMatch.

Depending on the value defined in the app.json of your app, IMatch can perform certain internal optimizations while the app is running. Always specify the type that best matches what your app does.

Example

This app.json describes an export app (type = "export")

{
    "type" : "export",
    "id": "photools.com.IMatch.HTMLReport",
    "version" : "1.0",
    "name": 
        {
            "en": "HTML Report",
            "de": "HTML-Report"
        },
    "description":
        {
            "en": "This app shows how to create a plug-in app for the Import & Export Panel.",
            "de": "Diese App demonstriert die Implementierung einer Plug-in App für das Import & Export-Panel"
        },
    ...            
        

Name and Description

IMatch uses the name and description of the app as defined in app.json as the title and description in the Import & Export Panel.

Drag & Drop

A user can run a module in the Import & Export Panel either by dropping objects onto the module panel, or by clicking the Run button.

If your import/export app supports dropping of objects, include this in your app.json file:

"supportsDrop": true

If supportsDrop is not included or specified as false, the Import & Export Panel displays the app with a Run button (See the CSV Import App in the image above).
Otherwise it shows the Drop objects here... trigger area.

Processing Dropped Objects in an App

The function IMatch.getDropContext returns a Promise and on success a JSON object which describes the objects the user has dropped on your app in the Import & Export Panel in its scope element.

The general structure of the drop object looks like this:

{
  "type": "file",
  "recursive": false,
  "id": [
    638,
    1229,
    1230,
    1231,
    1232
  ],
  "textData": [],
  "idlistFiles": "@imatch.importExportFiles",
  "idlistFilesSize": 5
}

In this example, the user has dropped 5 files onto the module in the Import & Export Panel.

Usually you retrieve the dropped objects as the first thing in your app. For example:

$(document).ready(function () {

    // Get the dropped objects
    var drop;
    IMatch.getDropContext().then(function(response) {
        drop = JSON.parse(response.scope);
        if (drop.type == 'files') {
            ...
        }
    }, function(error) {
        // No scope available!
    });
    ...

Note note that the promise returned by IMatch.getDropContext() will be rejected if you call this function from an app that was not launched from the Import & Export Panel. Or when you run the app in an external webbrowser.

What your app then does with the dropped objects of course depends on your app. The following code fragment just iterates over all dropped files, logging the file names to the console.
Note how it uses the name of the idlist (drop.idlistFiles) from the drop object with the IMWS /files endpoint to retrieve the id and name for each dropped file.

$(document).ready(function () {

    // Get the dropped objects

    var drop;
    IMatch.getDropContext().then(function(response) {
        drop = JSON.parse(response.scope);
 
        // Just iterate over all dropped files. 
        IMWS.get('v1/files',{
            
            // We use the idlist from the drop object
            // to tell IMWS which files we are interested in
            idlist: drop.idlistFiles,
            
            // We only need the id and the file name
            fields: 'id,filename'

        }).then(function(response) {
            response.files.forEach(function(f) {
                console.log(f.fileName);
            }, this);
        });
    });
...

Tip: Simulating Dropped Objects

If you want to test or debug your import/export app in a web browser outside of IMatch, you app does not have access to the dropped objects. You can work around that by simulating a dropped object. Here is an example:

var dropObject = null;

$(document).ready(function () {

    if (IMatch.isEmbedded()) {
        // Get the dropped objects from IMatch.
        dropObject = IMatch.getDropContext();
    }
    else {
        // If we run this in a browser, we simulate a drop object.
        // We just use the name of the idlist representing the 
        // files selected in the file window. Neat ;-)
        dropObject = {
            type: "files",
            idlistFiles: IMatch.idlist.fileWindowSelection
        }
    }
    ...
});

Examples

The CSV Import app and the HTML Report app show how to create apps which integrate into the Import & Export Panel.