Live plugin settings

Some plugins let you change their values while DataMind Oda runs, without a restart. Open Plugins in the sidebar and select the plugin: its live settings appear as a form you can edit. This page covers those forms: which fields appear, how secret fields behave, how to undo a change, and what to do when a change is refused.

For Oda's other settings areas, see Settings sections and plugins and Memory, skills and connectors.

What a form shows

• A form shows only the fields a plugin exposes for live editing; everything else stays hidden.
• Only a plugin active in the running installation shows a form.
• A value written as an expression is kept whole; the form does not rewrite it.
• A read-only form keeps its values visible, but every control that would change a value is disabled.
• A plugin with a settings page of its own is configured there, not in a generated form.
• If a plugin has nothing live to offer, its form says This plugin has no configuration fields.

Change a plugin's values

1. Open Plugins in the sidebar and select the plugin.
2. Change the values you need in its form.
3. Select Save.

The change applies while Oda runs, once the app is ready; Hot reload covers when a change reaches a running Oda and when a restart is needed instead.

For example, the Shell card bounds how long a command may run and how much output it may produce; The command environment describes what those limits do.

Secret fields

A secret field, such as a key or token, is write-only:

• You can set a secret; Oda never shows the value back.
• The form shows only whether a value is set.
• Changing other fields leaves your secrets in place.

Reset a value

Reset to default removes your change and puts back the value beneath it, including the default.

• A reset cannot delete a value that a layer beneath supplies; it clears only what you set.
• Removing an item from a list removes that item.

When a change is refused

Oda refuses a form change in a few situations:

• The setting changed first. Every save carries the setting's state as your form read it. If another change landed after that, the save is refused with settings namespace "<name>" changed since it was read (expected revision <x>, now <y>). Reload the form and apply your change again.
• A higher layer owns the value. A value fixed in this computer's settings file, or on the command line, wins over a form, and a change that would be overridden is refused. See The profile settings file and Command line and flags.
• The plugin cannot be configured live. No configurable plugin entry "<name>" means no settings form matches that plugin; Plugin entry "<name>" has no volatile fields means the plugin exposes nothing you can change while Oda runs.
• The field is not offered live. A save that touches a field the plugin does not expose for live editing is refused: Config field "<path>" is not volatile.

The service behind the forms is described in Settings and credentials reference.

Questions, answered

Why can I not see a setting I expected?

A form shows only the fields the plugin exposes for live editing. The plugin's other values are not part of the live settings, so they stay hidden.

How do I know whether a secret is set?

The form shows only whether a value is set, never the value itself. To change a secret, set a new one; a change that does not touch a secret leaves the stored value in place.

Why was my change refused as out of date?

Another change landed after your form read the setting, and the save was refused. Nothing is wrong with your change: reload the form and apply it again.

Why can I not change a value that is set elsewhere?

A value fixed in this computer's settings file, or on the command line, wins over a form; a change that would be overridden is refused. See The profile settings file and Command line and flags.

What does This plugin has no configuration fields mean?

The plugin exposes nothing you can change while Oda runs, so its form is empty by design. There is nothing to fix.

Why is there no settings form for a plugin?

Only plugins active in the running installation show forms; a plugin that is not loaded shows none. A plugin with a settings page of its own is configured on that page, not in a generated form.

What happens to my old settings after an update?

Oda imports the older settings file once, after the app is ready, and then renames the old file so the import never repeats. A section Oda cannot import is left out, with a warning.

Where do saved form changes go?

Into the settings file the profile keeps on this computer, which records what is different from Oda's built-in setup. See The profile settings file; edit that file only when DataMind support asks you to.