Benefits of plug-ins

Plug-ins permit users to extend the toolkit in a way that is consistent, easy-to-share, and possible to preserve through toolkit upgrades.

The DITA-OT plug-in mechanism provides the following benefits:

• Plug-ins can easily be shared with other users, teams, or companies. Typically, all users need to do is to unzip and run a single installation command. With many builds, even that installation step is automatic.
• Plug-ins permit overrides or customizations to grow from simple to complex over time, with no increased complexity to the extension mechanism.
• Plug-ins can be moved from version to version of the DITA-OT simply by reinstalling or copying the directory from one installation to another. There is no need to re-integrate code based on updates to the core processing of the DITA-OT.
• Plug-ins can build upon each other. If you like a plug-in, simply install that plug-in, and then create your own plug-in that builds on top of it. The two plug-ins can then be distributed to your team as a unit, or you can share your own extensions with the original provider.