Orthanc Plugin SDK Documentation

This C/C++ SDK allows external developers to create plugins that can be loaded into Orthanc to extend its functionality. Each Orthanc plugin must expose 4 public functions with the following signatures:

1. int32_t OrthancPluginInitialize(const OrthancPluginContext* context): This function is invoked by Orthanc when it loads the plugin on startup. The plugin must:
   • Check its compatibility with the Orthanc version using OrthancPluginCheckVersion().
   • Store the context pointer so that it can use the plugin services of Orthanc.
   • Register all its REST callbacks using OrthancPluginRegisterRestCallback().
   • Register all its callbacks for received instances using OrthancPluginRegisterOnStoredInstanceCallback().
   • Possibly register a custom storage area using OrthancPluginRegisterStorageArea().
   • Possibly register a custom database back-end area using ::OrthancPluginRegisterDatabaseBackend().
2. void OrthancPluginFinalize(): This function is invoked by Orthanc during its shutdown. The plugin must free all its memory.
3. const char* OrthancPluginGetName(): The plugin must return a short string to identify itself.
4. const char* OrthancPluginGetVersion(): The plugin must return a string containing its version number.

The name and the version of a plugin is only used to prevent it from being loaded twice.

The various callbacks are guaranteed to be executed in mutual exclusion since Orthanc 0.8.5.