first prototype for a plugin system

octarine/__init__.py

@@ -1,3 +1,7 @@
 from . import utils
 from .viewer import *
-from .conversion import register_converter, get_converter
+from .conversion import register_converter, get_converter
+from .plugins import register_plugins
+
+
+register_plugins()

octarine/conversion.py

@@ -52,9 +52,10 @@ def register_converter(t, converter, insert='first'):
     Parameters
     ----------
     t :         type | hashable | callable
-                Data type to register the converter for. If a function
+                Data type the converter is meant to convert. If a function
                 it is expected to take a single argument `x` and return
-                True if `x` can be converted using `converter`.
+                True if `x` can be converted using `converter` and False
+                if not.
     converter : callable
                 Function that converts `x` to pygfx visuals. Must accept
                 at least a single argument and return either a single

octarine/plugins.py

@@ -0,0 +1,42 @@
+import importlib
+
+from importlib_metadata import entry_points
+
+registered_plugins = []
+
+
+def register_plugins():
+    """Register a plugin."""
+    # Find all plugins that defined an entry point
+    discovered_plugins = entry_points(group="octarine.plugins")
+
+    # Go over each of the plugins
+    for plugin in discovered_plugins:
+        # Import the module
+        try:
+            module = importlib.import_module(plugin.module)
+        except BaseException as e:
+            print(f"Error importing plugin {plugin.name}: {e}")
+            continue
+
+        # Get the function to register the plugin
+        register_func = getattr(module, plugin.value.split(":")[-1], None)
+
+        # If the function is not found, print an error
+        if register_func is None:
+            print(
+                f"Registration function {plugin.value.split(':')[-1]} not found for plugin {plugin.name}."
+            )
+            continue
+
+        # Otherwise, register the plugin
+        try:
+            register_func()
+        except BaseException as e:
+            print(f"Error registering plugin {plugin.name}: {e}")
+
+        # Add the plugin to the list of registered plugins
+        registered_plugins.append(plugin.name)
+
+
+register_plugins()