"Meta Information" file for Modules

We have a need for a functionality when each In-Portal Module can have a special File that contains Meta Information about the module.

For now this will be used on Module Selection installation step where we list modules available for installation. However, we strongly believe information on this step should be more complete and user friendly.

Developer (you) is free to choose the format of the file, but a few things to consider while picking the format:

1. Name, Extension and Location of the file - [module]/install/module_info.tpl.xml

In the future this file might contain some valuable information (ie. Version, Path and so on) so we want to make sure it's VERY protected from the outside use:

a. Our current .htaccess has DENY for tpl.xml files
b. Our [module]/install folder are locked down with .htaccess from direct access via Web.

2. Information inside the file - currently we need:

a. ModuleName (In-Link, In-News, In-Commerce, In-Bulletin, In-Auction, Development Kit)

b. ModuleDescription:

• Directory Management (for In-Link)
• Discussion Forum (for In-Bulletin)
• News Management (for In-News)
• Commercial Shopping Cart (for In-Commerce)
• eBay Auction Management (for In-Auction)

c. ModuleImage - Local (path [module]/install/img/icon_news_management_1.gif) or Remote image (http://dev.in-portal.net/system/images/icon_news_management_1.gif)

http://dev.in-portal.net/in-commerce/products_listing.html (all images, but we'll adjust their sizes accordingly)

d. ModuleVersion - for all - 5.0.1

In XML it would look something like this:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<module_info>
<Name>In-Link</Name>
<Description>Directory Management</Description>
<Image>in-link/install/img/icon_news_management_1.gif</Image>
<Version>5.0.1</Image>
</module_info>

Again, find and use the best format so we can use it in the future as well.

3. How it should look on Module Selection.

check-box - Image (if exists) Directory Management (In-Link 5.0.1)
check-box - Image (if exists) News Management (In-News 5.0.1)

Don't worry about aligning all elements (Image and text), this will be done by Designer. Just make sure you can output all of the Meta data from the file.