# Create an ImSwitch Extension **URL:** \ **Category:** openUC2 ImSwitch\ **Created:** [June 19, 2024, 4:01pm UTC](https://openuc2.discourse.group/t/create-an-imswitch-extension/39 "2024-06-19T16:01:17Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 1\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![benedictdied](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/96bed5/32.png) [@benedictdied](https://openuc2.discourse.group/u/benedictdied)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2024, 4:01pm UTC](https://openuc2.discourse.group/t/create-an-imswitch-extension/39/1 "2024-06-19T16:01:17Z")
# Create an Extension for ImSwitch: A Tutorial In the openUC2 ImSwitch fork we created a new feature. =\> You don’t need to understand the whole code base anymore, only the 3 main elements to interact with imswitch. 😇 In this tutorial, we will create an adapter for the Arkitekt Experiment Manager to be used within ImSwitch. We will expose API-generated functions to a service and implement the Controller, Manager, and Widget for it. To simplify the process, we will use a cookiecutter template that provides a skeleton for the plugin. Follow these steps to get started. ## 1. Setting Up Your Environment 1. Open a terminal and navigate to the directory where you want to develop the plugin, e.g., `~/Downloads`: 2. Clone the cookiecutter template from the GitHub repository: 3. Activate your Python environment or use your system Python: 4. Use the cookiecutter to generate the plugin skeleton and follow the prompts: This process generates a project structure with files such as `imswitch_arkitekt_manager.py`, `imswitch_arkitekt_widget.py`, and `imswitch_arkitekt_controller.py`. ## 2. Setting Up Dependencies Add any dependencies your plugin requires in the `setup.cfg` file. For our example, we need the `arkitekt` package: ```ini [options] packages = find: install_requires = arkitekt ``` ## 3. Registering the Plugin In `setup.cfg`, register the entry points for the plugin: ```ini [options.entry_points] imswitch.manifest = imswitch-arkitekt = imswitch_arkitekt:imswitch.yaml imswitch.implugins = imswitch_arkitekt_controller = imswitch_arkitekt:imswitch_arkitekt_controller imswitch_arkitekt_widget = imswitch_arkitekt:imswitch_arkitekt_widget ``` These entry points will be loaded inside ImSwitch. ## 4. Implementing the Widget The widget needs to be derived from one of the base widgets. Here’s an example implementation in `imswitch_arkitekt_widget.py`: ```python from imswitch.imcontrol.view.widgets.basewidgets import Widget from imswitch.imcommon.model import initLogger from arkitekt.qt.magic_bar import MagicBar from arkitekt.builders import publicscheduleqt from qtpy import QtCore, QtWidgets class imswitch_arkitekt_widget(Widget): """Linked to the Arkitekt Controller.""" sigLoadParamsFromHDF5 = QtCore.Signal() sigPickSetup = QtCore.Signal() sigClosing = QtCore.Signal() def __init__ (self, *args, **kwargs): super(). __init__ (*args, **kwargs) # Initialize the logger self.__logger = initLogger(self) self.__logger.debug("Initializing") # Create the main widget layout self.cwidget = QtWidgets.QWidget() layout = QtWidgets.QVBoxLayout() self.cwidget.setLayout(layout) # Initialize the Magic Bar (Arkitekt) to have the menu available identifier = "github.io.jhnnsrs.mikro-imswitch" version = "latest" logo = "https://avatars.githubusercontent.com/u/127734217?s=200&v=4" settings = QtCore.QSettings("imswitch", f"{identifier}:{version}") self.global_app = publicscheduleqt( identifier, version, parent=self.cwidget, logo=logo, settings=settings ) self.magic_bar = MagicBar(self.global_app, dark_mode=True) self.loadParamsButton = QtWidgets.QPushButton("Load Parameters") self.loadParamsButton.clicked.connect(self.sigLoadParamsFromHDF5.emit) self.pickSetupButton = QtWidgets.QPushButton("Pick Setup") self.pickSetupButton.clicked.connect(self.sigPickSetup.emit) self.fileSelectButton = QtWidgets.QPushButton("Select File") self.fileSelectButton.clicked.connect(self.sigPickSetup.emit) layout.addWidget(self.magic_bar) layout.addWidget(self.loadParamsButton) layout.addWidget(self.pickSetupButton) layout.addWidget(self.fileSelectButton) layout.addStretch() self.setLayout(layout) ``` This may look as the following: ![image](https://global.discourse-cdn.com/free1/uploads/openuc2/original/1X/ccaa78574f1c61811fd38a8559f78f841f717bd7.png) ## 5. Implementing the Controller The controller connects the widget with the model and handles interactions. Here’s an example implementation in `imswitch_arkitekt_controller.py`: ```python from imswitch.imcontrol.model.managers.detectors.DetectorManager import DetectorManager from imswitch.imcontrol.controller.basecontrollers import ImConWidgetController from mikro.api.schema import from_xarray from arkitekt import App from rekuest.qt.builders import qtinloopactifier, qtwithfutureactifier from mikro.api.schema import RepresentationFragment, OmeroRepresentationInput, PhysicalSizeInput, ChannelInput from koil.qt import QtFuture from qtpy import QtCore class imswitch_arkitekt_controller(ImConWidgetController): """Linked to Arkitekt Controller.""" def __init__ (self, *args, **kwargs): super(). __init__ (*args, **kwargs) self.__logger = initLogger(self) self.__logger.debug("Initializing imswitch arkitekt controller") self.__app = self._widget.global_app if not imswitch.IS_HEADLESS: self._widget.magic_bar.app_up.connect(self.on_app_up) self._widget.magic_bar.app_down.connect(self.on_app_down) self.qt_actifier = qtinloopactifier self.qt_future_activier = qtwithfutureactifier self.__app.rekuest.register(builder=self.qt_actifier)(self.call_run_scan) self.__app.rekuest.register(builder=self.qt_actifier)(self.set_laser_value) self.__app.rekuest.register()(self.snap_image) self.__app.rekuest.register(builder=self.qt_future_activier)(self.on_do_stuff_async) def on_do_stuff_async(self, qtfuture: QtFuture, hello: str) -> str: print(hello) qtfuture.resolve("42") return None def call_run_scan(self): controlMainController = self._MikroMainController__moduleMainControllers["imcontrol"] scanController = controlMainController.controllers["Scan"] scanController.runScan() def snap_image(self, xdims: int = 1000, ydims: int = 1000) -> RepresentationFragment: detectorName = self._master.detectorsManager.getAllDeviceNames()[0] detectorManager = self._controller._master.detectorsManager[detectorName] latestimg = detectorManager.getLatestFrame().copy() active_channels = [detectorName] if len(latestimg.shape) == 2: latestimg = latestimg[:, :, np.newaxis] active_channels = ["channel1"] metadata = OmeroRepresentationInput( physicalSize=PhysicalSizeInput(x=2, y=2), channels=[ChannelInput(name=channel) for channel in active_channels] ) return from_xarray( xr.DataArray(latestimg, dims=["x", "y", "c"]), name="Randomly generated image", omero=metadata ) def set_laser_value(self, lasername: str, value: int): allIlluNames = self._master.lasersManager.getAllDeviceNames() laserSource = self._master.lasersManager[allIlluNames[0]] laserSource.setEnabled(True) laserSource.setLaserValue(lasername, value) def on_app_up(self): print("App up") def on_app_down(self): print("App down") def closeEvent(self): self.__logger.debug("Shutting down") ``` ## 6. Debugging Tips - Start ImSwitch each time you make changes to test the extension. - Keep the number of `availableWidgets` low to reduce startup times. ## 7. Installation To install the plugin, navigate to the plugin directory and run: ```bash pip install -e . ``` You should see: ```bash Installing collected packages: imswitch-arkitekt Successfully installed imswitch-arkitekt-0.0.1 ``` ## 8. Setting Up and Testing the Plugin Add the plugin to the `availableModules` tag in your ImSwitch configuration: ```json "availableWidgets": [ "Settings", "View", "Recording", "Image", "Laser", "Positioner", "Autofocus", "MCT", "ROIScan", "HistoScan", "Hypha", "imswitch_arkitekt" ] ``` ## 9. Publishing Feel free to update the `README.md` and then add your changes and publish it on github. Then - e.g. in case of this example plugin - you can install it using: ```auto pip install https://github.com/openUC2/imswitch-arkitekt/archive/refs/heads/main.zip ``` in the same environment as imswitch. Then you can use the plugin. ## 10. Troubleshooting - Add any missing packages to `setup.cfg`. - Ensure the correct names are used in the configuration to avoid errors like: ```python --- Logging error --- Traceback (most recent call last): ... AttributeError: module 'imswitch.imcontrol.view.widgets' has no attribute 'arkitekt_controllerWidget' ``` With this guide, you should be able to create and set up an ImSwitch plugin successfully. Happy coding!