Wim.Abstractions 0.3.0

Wim

Wim is a highly extensible Windows application framework designed to enable Vim-like keybindings and interactions with the Windows GUI. The application itself is a minimal foundation that requires plugins to provide actual functionality.

This application is still in early development, and we are actively working on expanding its capabilities.

Overview

Wim provides a robust plugin system that allows developers to extend its functionality in various ways:

• Add Vim-like keybindings for Windows applications
• Implement Lua scripting support
• Create custom GUI overlays and interactions
• Handle system-wide keyboard events
• And much more through the plugin system

Architecture

The application is built with a modular architecture centered around a plugin system:

Core Components

• Plugin System: A dynamic plugin loading mechanism that allows for runtime loading and unloading of functionality
• Message System: A pub/sub message system for inter-plugin communication
• Runtime Path Management: Flexible path management for configuration, data, and plugin storage
• Main Window: A WPF-based window system that supports overlay text

Plugin Interface

Plugins implement the IPlugin interface, which is available through the Wim.Abstractions NuGet package. This package contains all the necessary interfaces and types for plugin development.

public interface IPlugin
{
    string Name { get; }
    string Version { get; }
    string Description { get; }
    void Initialize(IApp app);
    void Unload();
}

Getting Started

Prerequisites

• Windows 7 or later
• .NET 8.0 or later
• Visual Studio 2022 (for development)

Installation

Currently, Wim does not have an installer. To run the application, follow these steps:

1. Download the latest release from the releases page
2. Extract the files to your desired location (do not modify the directory structure)
3. Run Wim.exe

Creating a Plugin

1. Create a new .NET class library project
2. Install the Wim.Abstractions NuGet package:

   dotnet add package Wim.Abstractions
   

3. Implement the IPlugin interface
4. Build your plugin and place it in the plugins directory

Example plugin structure:

using Wim.Abstractions;

public class MyPlugin : IPlugin
{
    public string Name => "MyPlugin";
    public string Version => "1.0.0";
    public string Description => "A sample plugin";

    public void Initialize(IApp app)
    {
        // Initialize your plugin
    }

    public void Unload()
    {
        // Clean up resources
    }
}

Available Services

Plugins have access to several services through the IApp interface from the Wim.Abstractions package:

• MessageManager: For inter-plugin communication
• RuntimePathManager: For managing file paths and resources
• MainWindow: For displaying and overlays
• Constants: For accessing application-wide constants
• InstallationChecker: For checking whether the application is installed or running from a specific path

Installing Plugins

Plugins are loaded from the following locations:

• The Wim installation directory
• The config subdirectory of the Wim installation directory
• The data subdirectory of the Wim installation directory

We are working on a plugin manager plugin that will allow users to manage plugins by toml configuration files.

Contributing

Contributions are welcome! Please feel free to submit a Pull Request.

License

This project is licensed under the terms of the license included in the repository.

Acknowledgments

• Built with WPF for modern Windows UI capabilities