Plugin

Purpose

The Plugin is a separate API and deployment that acts as the primary data source for DataEngine:

• Holds or connects to the actual data storage (Plugin DB).
• Exposes HTTP endpoints that understand semantic IDs and JSON Schema sent by DataEngine.
• Returns data and metadata in a shape that DataEngine can map into AAS submodels and submodel elements.

DataEngine itself remains stateless with respect to business values; it only orchestrates between templates and Plugin data.

Plugin Manifest

Each Plugin exposes its capabilities to DataEngine via a Plugin Manifest. The manifest tells DataEngine:

• Which semantic IDs the plugin can provide values for.
• Whether the plugin can provide Shell Descriptors and/or Asset Information.
• Where the plugin is hosted (URL) and how it should be addressed.

Conceptually, a manifest entry contains at least the following fields:

{
  "supportedSemanticIds": [
    "http://example.com/idta/digital-nameplate/thumbnail",
    "http://example.com/idta/digital-nameplate/contact-name",
    "http://example.com/idta/digital-nameplate/email"
  ],
  "capabilities": {
    "hasShellDescriptor": true,
    "hasAssetInformation": false
  }
}

Field Overview

• supportedSemanticIds
  List of semantic IDs that this plugin can serve. DataEngine uses this information to decide which plugin(s) to call for a given submodel or submodel element.

• capabilities
  Flags describing what kind of data the plugin can provide:

  • hasShellDescriptor – plugin can provide metadata required to build Shell Descriptors.
  • hasAssetInformation – plugin can provide assetInformation content for shells.

How DataEngine Uses the Manifest

• At startup, DataEngine loads one or more Plugin Manifests.
• For each request, it builds a semantic tree of required IDs and uses the manifests to:
  • Select the appropriate plugin(s) that support those semantic IDs.
  • Apply Multi-Plugin conflict rules when multiple plugins claim the same semantic ID.
• This allows adding or replacing plugins without changing DataEngine code—only the manifest configuration needs to be updated.

Endpoints

1. Manifest

1.1 Get Plugin Manifest

• Method: GET
• Route: /manifest
• Query parameters: None
• Request body: None
• Responses:
  • 200 OK – Returns the plugin manifest (JSON object describing plugin capabilities / configuration).

{
  "supportedSemanticIds": [
  ],
  "capabilities": {
    "hasShellDescriptor":
    "hasAssetInformation": 
  },
}

Summary: Returns the plugin manifest data used by the DataEngine to discover this plugin's capabilities.

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2. MetaData

Base route: /metadata

2.1 Get Shell Descriptors (Paginated)

• Method: GET
• Route: /metadata/shells
• Query parameters:
  • limit (int, optional) – Maximum number of shell descriptors to return.
  • cursor (string, optional) – Cursor for pagination.
• Request body: None
• Responses:
  • 200 OK – Returns a ShellDescriptors containing a collection of shell descriptors and optionally a pagination cursor.

{
  "paging_metadata": {
    "cursor": ""
  },
  "result": [
    {
      "globalAssetId": "",
      "idShort": "",
      "id": "",
      "specificAssetIds": [
        {
          "name": "",
          "value": ""
        }
      ]
    }
  ]
}

Summary: Returns a paged list of Asset Administration Shell (AAS) descriptors known by the plugin.

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2.2 Get Single Shell Descriptor

• Method: GET
• Route: /metadata/shells/{AasIdentifier}
• Route parameters:
  • AasIdentifier (string, required) – Base64-encoded AAS identifier.
• Request body: None
• Responses:
  • 200 OK – Returns a ShellDescriptor with metadata for the requested AAS.

    {
      "globalAssetId": "",
      "idShort": "",
      "id": "",
      "specificAssetIds": [
        {
          "name": "",
          "value": ""
        }
      ]
    }

Summary: Returns the descriptor metadata for a single Asset Administration Shell, identified by a base64-encoded AAS identifier.

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2.3 Get Asset Information

• Method: GET
• Route: /metadata/assets/{shellIdentifier}
• Route parameters:
  • shellIdentifier (string, required) – Base64-encoded shell identifier.
• Request body: None
• Responses:
  • 200 OK – Returns an Asset with asset-level information for the given shell.

{
  "globalAssetId": "",
  "specificAssetIds": [
    {
      "name": "",
      "value": ""
    }
  ],
  "defaultThumbnail": {
    "path": "",
    "contentType": ""
  }
}

Summary: Returns asset metadata associated with a given shell, using a base64-encoded shell identifier.

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3. Submodel Data

3.1 Query Submodel Data

• Method: POST
• Route: /data/{submodelId}
• Headers:
  • Content-Type: application/json
• Route parameters:
  • submodelId (string, required) – Base64-encoded submodel identifier.
• Request body:
  • JSON Schema defining the data query (optional, but must not be null).
  • If null, the request is rejected with 400 Bad Request.
• Responses:
  • 200 OK – Returns a JsonObject representing submodel data that matches the query.

{
  "SemanticId_of_ContactInformations": {
    "SemanticId_of_ContactInformation": [
      {
        "SemanticId_of_name": "Jane Smith",
        "SemanticId_of_description": "Software Engineer",
        "SemanticId_of_phone": "+49 987 654321",
        "SemanticId_of_fax": "+49 987 654320",
        "SemanticId_of_email": "jane.smith@example.com",
        "SemanticId_of_ipCommunication": [
          {
            "SemanticId_of_AddressOfAdditionalLink": "10.0.0.1",
            "SemanticId_of_TypeOfCommunication": "FTP",
            "SemanticId_of_AvailableTime": "08:00 - 18:00"
          }
        ]
      }
    ]
  }
}

Summary: Queries AAS submodel data for the given submodel identifier using a JSON Schema filter. The submodelId is base64-decoded internally before executing the query.

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Relation to DPP-Plugin

• A concrete implementation of this concept is the DPP-Plugin (Digital Product Passport Plugin).
• DPP-Plugin implements:
  • The Plugin contract expected by DataEngine.
  • A concrete database schema for storing submodel / submodel element values.
• See the separate DPP-Plugin repository for:
  • DPP Plugin Repository

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