| name | add-tools-menu-page |
| description | Wiring checklist for adding (or debugging a missing) ATAK Tools-menu page in this plugin. Use whenever you add a new DropDownReceiver page, a new AbstractPluginTool, a toolbar icon, or when a tool/page "exists in code but the Tools-menu button never appears" / "the drop-down never opens". Covers the four seams that must all be wired or the icon silently won't show. |
Adding a Tools-menu page to atak_tw_power_plugin
This plugin surfaces each page (TW Coord, GoTo, Offline Address, Forward Search)
as a Tools-menu icon → broadcast intent → DropDownReceiver. The icon and the
receiver are wired in two different files, and a working page needs four
seams. Missing any one fails silently — most commonly the icon never appears
in the Tools menu because the tool was created but never added to the toolbar
array.
The four seams (ALL required)
For a page called Foo, with action FooIntents.ACTION_SHOW_FOO:
-
Tool class — plugin/FooTool.java extends AbstractPluginTool, fires
ACTION_SHOW_FOO on tap. Mirror ForwardSearchTool / OfflineAddressTool
(ctor takes a Context, passes label + desc strings + drawable + action).
-
Toolbar registration ← the one that gets forgotten —
plugin/TwCoordLifecycle.java: add new FooTool(...pluginContext...) to the
IToolbarItem[] passed to super(...). If it is not in this array, NO icon
appears in the Tools menu, even though the receiver below is registered and
listening. This was the feature-006 bug: ForwardSearchTool existed but was
absent from the array.
-
Receiver registration — TwCoordMapComponent.java (onCreate-ish body):
construct the FooReceiver, build a DocumentedIntentFilter with
addAction(FooIntents.ACTION_SHOW_FOO), and
AtakBroadcast.getInstance().registerReceiver(fooReceiver, filter).
-
Teardown — TwCoordMapComponent.onDestroyImpl (~L640+): null-guard,
unregisterReceiver(fooReceiver) (catch IllegalArgumentException),
fooReceiver.dispose(), set field to null. Mirror the
forwardSearchReceiver block.
Plus the resources the tool class references: R.drawable.ic_foo
(res/drawable/ic_foo.xml) and tool_foo_label / tool_foo_desc strings in
all values*/strings.xml (default + values-zh-rTW + values-ja).
Fast diagnosis: "Tools button doesn't appear"
The icon is built only from the IToolbarItem[] in TwCoordLifecycle. If a
page's receiver is registered (it listens) but no icon shows, seam #2 is missing.
Check first:
grep -n "IToolbarItem\[\]" -A12 app/src/main/java/com/atakmap/android/twcoord/plugin/TwCoordLifecycle.java
Every *Tool under plugin/ must appear in that array. A FooTool.java that
exists but isn't listed there is the smoking gun.
After fixing: the device won't refresh on reinstall alone
ATAK builds the Tools menu when the plugin loads. A plain adb install -r
usually does not rebuild an already-loaded toolbar. Tell the user to either
disable→enable the plugin (Settings → Tool Preferences → Plugins) or fully
restart ATAK. Otherwise they reinstall, see no change, and assume the fix
failed.
Verify before claiming done
TwCoordLifecycle's array length == number of *Tool classes under plugin/.- The new tool's action string matches the receiver's
addAction(...) and the
receiver's onReceive action guard exactly (same constant).
- Build:
./gradlew :app:assembleCivDebug; install; then prompt the
plugin-reload / ATAK-restart step above.
