Custom tasks

The miManager allows the creation of custom tasks. The format is fairly simple though you probably need at least some experience with programing for it.

Plugging in

miManager manages the task sequence for you as well as loading the task script (if needed). There are several ways to plug a new task into miManager, the all involve passing the activator function to the manager in various ways.

1. You can pass the activator function as a script.
2. You can pass it as the play property of the script object ().
3. You can set it into the taskActivateProvider using taskActivateProvider.set(taskName, activatorFunction) during the configuration stage of the angular flow (This is worth the trouble mainly if you intend to use this task many times).

Activator function

The activator function is the function that is responsible for the activation of your task as well as for the communication with miManager.

It should:

• Run your task (just do whatever you like).
• Return a function that may be used to force the end of the task.
• Call the done function whenever it is done.

The activator function is invoked using angular dependency injection, so you can use any of the angular annotation methods to get dependencies.

The following dependencies are supported (as well as all standard angular services):

Custom Task Example

The following displays a messages to the user and proceeds to the next task after 5 seconds:

// the define wrapper
define(function(){
    // the script object being returned
    return {
        // custom script content
        content: 'Hi there, I\'m your custom message',

        // the activator function uses three dependencie
        play: function activator(done, script, $element){
            var timeoutId = setTimeout(done, 5000);
            $element.html(script.content);

            // will be called at the end of the task to clean things up
            // (whether the end is forced or triggered by 'done')
            return function clear(){
                clearTimeout(timeoutId);
                $element.empty();           
            };
        }
    };
});

In order to use it all you have to do is point the task to the correct url:

var taskElement = {scriptUrl:'path/to/script'};