Add section for extending

docs/extending.rst

@@ -0,0 +1,104 @@
+.. _extending:
+
+Extending Paperless
+===================
+
+For the most part, Paperless is monolithic, so extending it is often best
+managed by way of modifying the code directly and issuing a pull request on
+`GitHub`_.  However, over time the project has been evolving to be a little
+more "pluggable" so that users can write their own stuff that talks to it.
+
+.. _GitHub: https://github.com/danielquinn/paperless
+
+
+.. _extending-parsers:
+
+Parsers
+-------
+
+You can leverage Paperless' consumption model to have it consume files *other*
+than ones handled by default like ``.pdf``, ``.jpg``, and ``.tiff``.  To do so,
+you simply follow Django's convention of creating a new app, with a few key
+requirements.
+
+
+.. _extending-parsers-parserspy:
+
+parsers.py
+..........
+
+In this file, you create a class that extends
+``documents.parsers.DocumentParser`` and go about implementing the three
+required methods:
+
+* ``get_thumbnail()``: Returns the path to a file we can use as a thumbnail for
+  this document.
+* ``get_text()``: Returns the text from the document and only the text.
+* ``get_date()``: If possible, this returns the date of the document, otherwise
+  it should return ``None``.
+
+
+.. _extending-parsers-signalspy:
+
+signals.py
+..........
+
+At consumption time, Paperless emits a ``document_consumer_declaration``
+signal which your module has to react to in order to let the consumer know
+whether or not it's capable of handling a particular file.  Think of it like
+this:
+
+1. Consumer finds a file in the consumption directory.
+2. It asks all the available parsers: *"Hey, can you handle this file?"*
+3. The first parser that says yes gets to handle the file.  The order in which
+   the parsers are asked is handled by sorting ``INSTALLED_APPS`` in
+   ``settings.py``.
+
+
+.. _extending-parsers-appspy:
+
+apps.py
+.......
+
+This is a standard Django file, but you'll need to add some code to it to
+register your parser as being able to handle particular files.
+
+
+.. _extending-parsers-finally:
+
+Finally
+.......
+
+The last step is to update ``settings.py`` to include your new module.
+Eventually, this will be dynamic, but at the moment, you have to edit the
+``INSTALLED_APPS`` section manually.  Simply add the path to your AppConfig to
+the list like this:
+
+.. code:: python
+
+    INSTALLED_APPS = [
+        ...
+        "my_module.apps.MyModuleConfig",
+        "paperless_tesseract.apps.PaperlessTesseractConfig",
+        ...
+    ]
+
+Note that we're placing our module *above* ``PaperlessTesseractConfig``.  This
+is to ensure that if your module wants to handle any files typically handled by
+the default module, yours will win instead.  If there's no conflict between
+what your module does and the default, then order doesn't matter.
+
+
+.. _extending-parsers-example:
+
+An Example
+..........
+
+The core Paperless functionality is based on this design, so if you want to see
+what a parser module should look like, have a look at `parsers.py`_,
+`signals.py`_, and `apps.py`_ in the `paperless_tesseract`_ module.
+
+.. _parsers.py: https://github.com/danielquinn/paperless/blob/master/src/paperless_tesseract/parsers.py
+.. _signals.py: https://github.com/danielquinn/paperless/blob/master/src/paperless_tesseract/signals.py
+.. _apps.py: https://github.com/danielquinn/paperless/blob/master/src/paperless_tesseract/apps.py
+.. _paperless_tesseract: https://github.com/danielquinn/paperless/blob/master/src/paperless_tesseract/

docs/index.rst

@@ -40,6 +40,7 @@ Contents
    utilities
    guesswork
    migrating
+   extending
    troubleshooting
    scanners
    changelog