Disco AD Compare Plugin — Architecture

Build Environment Constraints

MSBuild: C:\Windows\Microsoft.NET\Framework64\v4.0.30319\MSBuild.exe (v4.0 only)
C# version: 5 — no interpolation, no ?., no auto-property init, no expression-bodied members
Target framework: .NET 4.5
csproj ToolsVersion: 4.0
No Visual Studio installed on build server

Assembly Reference Strategy

All references resolve from a single directory (DiscoBinPath, typically C:\Program Files\Disco\WebApp\bin). The build script uses a regex to rewrite all <HintPath> entries:

<HintPath>[^<]+\\([^\\<]+\.dll)</HintPath>  →  <HintPath>$DiscoBinPath\$1</HintPath>

Plugin Packaging

Compile with MSBuild → bin\Release\Disco.Plugins.ADCompare.dll
Generate manifest.json (manual, no ManifestGenerator available)
Package DLL + PDB + manifest into .zip, rename to .discoPlugin
Import via Disco UI: Configuration → Plugins → Install Plugin

Manifest Format

Must match PluginManifest.cs / PluginFeatureManifest.cs exactly:

Top level: Id, Name, Author, Url, Version, AssemblyPath, TypeName, ConfigurationHandlerTypeName, WebHandlerTypeName, Features[]
Each feature: Id, Name, TypeName, PrimaryFeature (bool), CategoryTypeName (string)
UIExtension category: Disco.Services.Plugins.Features.UIExtension.UIExtensionFeature``1

AD Comparison Logic

managedBy returns a Distinguished Name (e.g. CN=Sue Lesnjak,OU=Teachers,...)
Disco stores assigned users as DOMAIN\username (e.g. CURRIC\09269037)
Comparison requires looking up the assigned user in AD to get their DN, then comparing DN-to-DN
Devices without DOMAIN\ComputerName format (no backslash) are skipped to avoid API errors

Plugin Installation Paths

Installed: C:\Disco\Plugins\Disco.Plugins.ADCompare\
Packages: C:\Disco\PluginPackages\
Storage: C:\Disco\PluginStorage\

Web Handler Routing

Route pattern: Plugin/{PluginId}/{PluginAction} — action segment is required
Dashboard: /Plugin/Disco.Plugins.ADCompare/Run
Export: /Plugin/Disco.Plugins.ADCompare/Export
Landing: /Plugin/Disco.Plugins.ADCompare/Index

UIExtension Rendering (UNRESOLVED)

Features initialize successfully (confirmed in Disco logs). Manifest format matches working plugins. Register() is called in Initialize() override. However, panels don't render on device/user pages. Investigation needed — likely related to how ExecuteAction returns are consumed by Disco's Razor views, or possibly a model binding issue with DeviceShowModel/UserShowModel.

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