Developer Guide

Extending iBridges‑GUI

iBridges‑GUI supports a modular plugin system that allows developers to add new functionality through custom tabs.
Your plugin is automatically detected and integrated into the main application at runtime.

A minimal example and template structure are available in the
plugin example repository.

Contributing

iBridges‑GUI is an open‑source project, and we welcome contributions of all kinds — from bug reports and feature ideas to full pull requests.

Main repository:
iBridges‑GUI on GitHub

Contribution workflow

1. Fork the repository
   
2. Create a feature branch from develop
   
3. Implement your changes
   
4. Submit a pull request back to develop

This workflow helps us review changes efficiently and maintain a clean development history.

Code structure overview

The core application lives in the
ibridgesgui
package. Its architecture is modular, separating UI, logic, and iRODS operations into clear components.

Top-level modules

These modules provide the core functionality used across the application:

• __main__.py — application entry point
  
• config.py — configuration handling
  
• gui_utils.py — shared GUI helpers
  
• threads.py — background worker threads
  
• info.py — application metadata
  
• irods_tree_model.py — iRODS tree model
  
• login.py — authentication
  
• logviewer.py — log viewer tab
  
• welcome.py — startup screen
  
• md_schemas/ — metadata schema definitions

mainmenu/

The orchestration layer of the application:

• main_window.py — main Qt window hosting all tabs
  
• tab_manager.py — loads and organizes built‑in tabs
  
• plugin_manager.py — discovers and loads plugin tabs
  
• session_manager.py — manages user session state
  
• config_manager.py — handles configuration files and user-defined settings

This directory is the best starting point for understanding how the application is assembled.

browsertab/

Implements the iRODS browser tab using a model–controller–view structure:

• browser_model.py — data model
  
• browser_controller.py — navigation and logic
  
• browser.py — UI
  
• irods_browser_service.py — iRODS operations

searchtab/

Implements the search interface:

• search_model.py — query state and results
  
• search_controller.py — executes searches and handles filters
  
• search.py — UI for building queries and viewing results

synctab/

Implements synchronization:

• sync_model.py — sync state and configuration
  
• sync_controller.py — sync logic and background tasks
  
• sync.py — UI for managing sync jobs

popup_widgets/

Reusable dialogs for:

• creating collections
  
• creating directories
  
• uploading/downloading
  
• renaming
  
• metadata editing
  
• configuration checks
  
• resource tree dialogs

Each dialog has its own file, making them easy to reuse or extend.

ui_files/

Contains:

• Qt Designer .ui files
  
• auto‑generated Python wrappers
  
• matching controller/view logic

This keeps UI layout editable without touching logic.

icons/

Contains all icons used in the GUI, including navigation arrows, sync indicators, loading animations, and the application logo.