Node.js: sail-tools

sail-tools is a command line tool for creating, editing, testing, and deploying Component Plugins for Appian.

Why?

The framework for Appian's Component Plugins requires a specific folder and version structure, utility files cannot be easily shared between components, and testing requires a local Appian instance. This tool simplifies creating and managing the Appian manifests and files allowing developers to focus on the HTML and JavaScript of their Components, and provides a testing framework that mocks the Appian JavaScript APIs.

Installation

npm install --global sail-tools

Usage

Run sail-tools inside of an existing Component Plugin project directory or empty project directory.

WARNING: DO NOT RUN OUTSIDE OF A PROJECT DIRECTORY This application zips all files and folders inside of the project folder when creating a deployment package.

The wizard will help you create appian-component-plugin.xml which is your project's manifest and will autogenerate component folders with proper versioning and naming conventions.

The testing framework automatically opens your component in your computer's default browser. The framework automatically parses the component inputs and generates an input field which allows you to send new inputs and view the output values. Component validations are printed to the browser's console, and you can save default test inputs (a default input JSON file is generated at test-time).

Note: Neither Internet Explorer nor Safari supports the test framework. Please use Chrome or Firefox.

The wizard will continue to function as long as the appian-component-plugin.xml is valid, and all rule folders are present with proper properties files. You may edit these files manually, however, the wizard cannot function if there are errors in your manifests.

Internationalization

This tool supports managing the internationalization files of each component, for each of Appian's 16 supported languages. Each language defaults to the en_US value unless an internationalization file is created for the language. The Internationalization options can be found under "Modify Component" -> YOUR_COMPONENT -> "Internationalization".

License

Licensed under Apache 2.0