Echelon LNS Plug-in - Manual (Page 58)

Glossary
Action
A command/object class pair implemented by a plug-in. A plug-in is defined by the actions that it can
perform (for example, by the set of commands that it provides and by the class of objects that those
commands operate on). For example, a plug-in might implement two actions, a test command of
AppDevice class objects and a test command of Router class objects.
COM
A Windows standard for component-based software. COM defines a hierarchy of components,
objects, and interfaces. COM components are made up of one or more objects, where each object
encapsulates functionality and data. COM objects expose their functionality and data to other
components through one or more interfaces.
COM Automation Server
A software component that exposes one or more programmable objects to other software components
that are called COM automation clients. The definition for a programmable object is called a COM
class.
COM Class
The definition for a programmable COM object.
Class
See Object Class.
Class ID
A number that defines a particular LNS object class. See Appendix C, Standard Plug-in Object
Classes, for a list of all LNS class IDs.
Command
Operations that a plug-in can perform on an object. Each action implemented by a plug-in performs a
specific command on a specific class of objects. For example, a plug-in might implement two actions,
a test command of AppDevice objects and a test command of Router objects.
Command ID
A number that defines a particular plug-in command.
ComponentApp Object
The type of LNS object used to represent plug-ins and their actions in the LNS Object Server.
Director
A special kind of LNS application that makes use of the LNS Plug-in API. Directors have the ability
to start plug-ins.
GUID
A 128-bit Globally Unique IDentifier. GUIDs are used to uniquely identify entries in the Windows
registry. In Windows documentation, the GUIDs for public classes are often referred to as class IDs
(CLSID); the GUIDs for interfaces are often referred to as interface IDs (IID). Note that the term
Windows class ID does NOT mean the same thing as the term class ID used in this document. When
defining the GUID for a plug-in, make sure that it has a unique GUID of its own, and is not simply
copied from another plug-in.
LNS Object