Add developer guide for vscode-trace-extension

README.md

@@ -283,122 +283,9 @@ yarn playwright test --trace on
 yarn playwright test --retries <retries>
 ```
 
-## Using the External API
-
-VSCode Trace Extension provides an external API that adopter extensions can rely on for communication. Currently the API is limited to the following:
-
-```typescript
-getActiveExperiment(): Experiment | undefined;
-getActiveWebviewPanels(): { [key: string]: TraceViewerPanel | undefined; };
-getActiveWebviews(): vscode.WebviewView[];
-onWebviewCreated(listener: (data: vscode.WebviewView) => void): void;
-onWebviewPanelCreated(listener: (data: vscode.WebviewPanel) => void): void;
-addTraceServerContributor(contributor: TraceServerContributor): void;
-setHandleTraceResourceType(handleFiles: boolean, handleFolders: boolean): void;
-onSignalManagerSignal(event: K extends SignalType, listener: (...args: [...SignalArgs<Signals[K]>]) => void | Promise<void>): void;
-offSignalManagerSignal(event: K extends SignalType, listener: (...args: [...SignalArgs<Signals[K]>]) => void | Promise<void>): void;
-```
-
-### Using the API from Adopter Extensions
-
-```javascript
-//The following retrieves the API object from the vscode-trace-extension
-const ext = vscode.extensions.getExtension("eclipse-cdt.vscode-trace-extension");
-const importedApi = ext.exports;
-```
-
-Once you have the API object, you can proceed to make API calls. For example, if you wish to retrieve the active experiment in the Trace Viewer, the following API call can be used:
-
-```javascript
-const experiment = importedApi.getActiveExperiment();
-```
-
-The API provides getters to retrieve the active webviews and panels. This can be useful for scenarios when webviews/panels were created before the adopter extension was activated but the adopter extension still wants to handle messages from them.
-
-`Note`: The the command key was changed from `message.command` to `method.method` after version `0.4.0`. Please update your code for that.
-
-```javascript
-for (const webview of importedApi.getActiveWebviews()) {
-    webview.webview.onDidReceiveMessage((message) => {
-        switch (message.method) {
-            case "webviewReady":
-            console.log("From adopter extension - webviewReady signal received");
-            break;
-            default:
-            break;
-        }
-    });
-}
-```
-
-The API also provides a way to attach a listener for when webview or webview panel is created. Note that this listener will not be called for webviews and panels created before the registration of the listener. It is recommended to register the listeners during the activation of the adopter extensions.
-
-`Note`: The key for the command key was changed from `message.command` to `method.method` after version `0.4.0`. Please update your code for that.
+## External API
 
-```javascript
-importedApi.onWebviewPanelCreated(_panel => {
-    // For newly created panel, handle messages from webviews
-    _panel.webview.onDidReceiveMessage((message) => {
-        switch (message.method) {
-            case "webviewReady":
-            console.log("From adopter extension - webviewReady signal received");
-            break;
-            default:
-            break;
-        }
-    });
-    _panel.onDidDispose(() => {
-        console.log("panel disposed");
-    });
-});
-```
-
-As a general rule, adopter extensions should retrieve and handle the webviews and webview panels once during their activation by calling `getActiveWebviews` and `getActiveWebviewPanels`. This ensures that the webviews and panels created before the activation of the adopter extension are handled. To handle any new webviews and panels created afterwards, listeners can be registered by calling `onWebviewCreated` and `onWebviewPanelCreated`.
-
-The adopter extensions can also add and remove listeners to signals propagated within the base extension.
-
-```javascript
-const _onExperimentOpened = (experiment: Experiment): void => {
-    console.log(experiment.UUID);
-};
-//Add a listener
-importedApi.onSignalManagerSignal('EXPERIMENT_OPENED', _onExperimentOpened);
-//Remove a listener
-importedApi.offSignalManagerSignal('EXPERIMENT_OPENED', _onExperimentOpened);
-```
-
-If the adopter extensions needs to add a custom hook to the trace server's start/stop API, a contribution can be made by calling `addTraceServerContributor`.
-
-```javascript
-const contributor: TraceServerContributor = {
-    startServer: async () => { 
-        //Perform pre-startup actions
-        //Start the server
-        console.log("server started"); 
-        },
-    stopServer: async () => {
-        //Perform cleanup actions
-        //Stop the server
-        console.log("server stopped"); 
-    },
-    isApplicable: (pathToTrace: string) => {
-        //Check whether this contributor applies for the trace at 'pathToTrace'
-        return true; 
-    }
-  };
-
-importedApi.addTraceServerContributor(contributor);
-```
-
-If adopter extensions want to customize the type of trace resources (File and/or Folder) that the base extension should handle, it can be set by calling `setHandleTraceResourceType`.
-
-```javascript
-const handleTraceFiles = true;
-const handleTraceFolders = false;
-
-//The base extension will only provide support for trace files, and not for trace folders
-importedApi.setHandleTraceResourceType(handleTraceFiles, handleTraceFolders);
-```
+VSCode Trace Extension provides an external API for adopter extensions. For comprehensive documentation on using the external API, including method references and usage examples, see the [Developer Guide](doc/DEVELOPER-GUIDE.md).
 
 ### Remote SSH Support