Starting from Beta 2 WideStream supports custom extensions. Moreover it is possible to add a support for a new protocol (by default only HTTP and FTP are supported) without the need to make any changes to the rest of the application. Also you may implement custom download adapters (see previous blog entry for details) as well as custom browser integration providers.
Basically all you need to do is to create a manifest.xml file and place it in the same folder where WideStream is installed. By default an application has an embed manifest that includes configuration of HTTP, FTP protocols and other standard functionality. You can take a look at the standard manifest in the project repository. When you create a custom manifest.xml file in the application folder it is processed in addition to the standard one.
For now manifest has three sections - Integrations, Protocols and Adapters. Inside each of the sections you can declare your own add-in by providing add-in name, description, a fully qualified name of the implementation class and, depending on the add-in type, a fully qualified name of the add-in options class.
As you can see native WideStream functionality such as FTP download support which is present since the very first public release is now being "added" to the application as an add-in. (By the way you can find a list of all active add-ins using a new Add-Ins dialog accessible from Tools->Add-ins menu).
What this functionality gives? For example, WideStream can't download from your favorite site (that requires to perform some actions such as submission of HTML form with some site specific information prior to download) - there is no problem at all, just create your download adapter as it is done now for the VBulletin attachments or YouTube video. WideStream doesn't support integration with your browser? You can teach it how to integrate with it.
Moreover if you are planning to implement your own network application - for example an SSH/SFTP client - you don't have to create all the application from scratch. You can use all the functionality that is already implemented in WideStream such as configuration engine (user interface for your settings is being generated dynamically based on your Options class), host manager, download queue management and much more. You can concentrate your effort on the SSH/SFTP client implementation and save up a lot of time.
