7. GizmoTools

All GizmoTools are specializations of the GizmoTool class, and must reside in the GizmoTool subdirectory for them to be identified as available for use on a MyPage . For example, the GizmoTool subdirectory currently contains two GizmoTools; WebMonitor and WeatherTool. The doc subdirectory of GizmoTool contains a sample GizmoTool called SampleTool.pm, which indicates the methods that need to be implemented by the GizmoTool subclass .

Each GizmoTool must implement a refresh_item method, as described in SampleTool.pm . This method is invoked when the "backend" process, metadotd.pl, runs, and populates channel information for the GizmoTool at that time. The GizmoTool must implement a display method, and the channel info plus the GizmoTool parameter settings and display method determines how the channel is rendered on a MyPage.

The GizmoTool configuration parameters are stored in the database in the gizmoitemparam table. A corresponding channelitem entry stores the result of running the refresh_item method.