After you have determined that your plugin works properly when connected to your channel, you can update the channel to start the plugin automatically whenever the channel is started. To do this, recall that you used commands similar to the following to start your plugin from the command line:

set CLASSPATH=.;"C:\Program Files\iNTERFACEWARE\Chameleon\java\classes.jar";"C:\Program Files\iNTERFACEWARE\Chameleon\java\IGC_java_classes.jar";.

java -classpath %CLASSPATH% DestinationPluginExample localhost 6123 plugin_test

The first of these commands set the value of the CLASSPATH environment variable, and the second command started the executable. For Iguana to be able to start the plugin automatically, you must first define the CLASSPATH environment variable in Iguana. To do this:

• Click the Settings tab.
• Click Environment Variables.
• If CLASSPATH is not defined, click Add Variable to add it. Otherwise, click the CLASSPATH environment variable to edit it.
• Ensure that the definition of CLASSPATH includes the directories that were specified when you started the plugin from the command line:

• Click Save to save the environment variable.

Now that CLASSPATH is defined, the next step is to configure your channel to run the java command shown above to start the plugin automatically. To do this:

• In the Iguana Dashboard, click the name of your channel.
• Click Edit Channel.
• Click the Destination tab.
• Select the Iguana starts executable check box.
• In the Full executable path field, type the full directory path and file name of the java executable that compiles your Java programs (for example, C:\Sun\SDK\jdk\bin\java.exe).
• From the Working directory list box, select Use alternate directory.
• In the text field that appears, type or browse for the location of the Java classes that were generated when you compiled your Java plugin.
• In the Executable parameters field, type the command line arguments that the java executable is expecting (as shown above). The host name of your Iguana server, the plugin communication port number, and the name of your channel can be specified as $hostname$, $port$, and $channel$. Iguana will replace these with the actual host name, port and channel name.

• Click Save Changes.
• In the Diagnostic tools section, click Monitor executable output. This enables you to keep track of the output from your plugin.

• In the Control Panel at the right of the screen, click Start Channel. The status square for the channel changes to green, since Iguana starts the plugin when it starts the channel.
• Have your sending application send one or more test messages through the channel. (If the source component for your channel is LLP Listener, you can use the HL7 Simulator to send a test message, as described in Testing the Plugin.) When the test message is sent, the output from the plugin is displayed in the Iguana channel monitoring window:

• As before, the Iguana logs should indicate that the test message was processed properly.

At this point, your plugin has been tested and is ready for use.