Originally Posted by nemof
I am extremely confused by LDB. I came across it recently due to the patch, and have no firm explanation as to its function.
How does it effect my use of of fubar addons? I realize that ldb is not fubar, but as I understand it ldb based addons can be shown in fubar. How are they shown without fubar?
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LDB stands for LibDataBroker. From
Tekkub's LDB page:
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LibDataBroker (or sometimes Data Broker or simply Broker) is a small WoW addon library designed to provide a MVC interface for use in various addons. LDB’s primary goal is to “detach” plugins for TitanPanel and FuBar from the display addon. Plugins can provide data into a simple table, and display addons can receive callbacks to refresh their display of this data. LDB also provides a place for addons to register “quicklaunch” functions, removing the need for authors to embed many large libraries to create minimap buttons. Users who do not wish to be “plagued” by these buttons simply do not install an addon to render them.
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Now how does it affect you and your FuBar plug-ins? This depends on the author of the plug-in and the decisions they make. Most of your FuBar plug-ins will continue has they have with no changes. However some authors may either choose to move their project exclusively to LDB or they may support both LDB and FuBar.
Why are authors moving to LDB? Simple, to do the same job (either provide an info feed or to serve as a "launcher"), going to LDB cuts down on the size of the AddOns and in some cases the complexity. An LDB based mod typically is going to use less memory than a mod that uses FuBar (or LibFuBarPlugin plus in many cases Tablet and Dewdrop). In addition, by going LDB, authors give the user a choice in what display they wish to use. While with FuBar, you are typically limited to FuBar only (or if you don't have FuBar, your MiniMap getting a bad case of Button Acne).
If you wish to continue using FuBar and your plug-in does not support FuBar anymore, you can use this plug-in, Broker2FuBar which will enable FuBar to display LDB "feeds" or "launchers"(a Feed displays information such Gold or Memory usage, a Launcher is used to access the mod in question, LDB mods can both a Feed and a Launcher). Conversely if you wish to phase out FuBar, but there are some FuBar Plug-ins you still want to use (and don't have LDB support) you can FuBar2Broker to display those plug-ins on the LDB Display of your choice.
Some LDB Displays:
Titan Panel
ButtonBin
Barrel
StatBlockCore
Fortress
Carousel
MakeRocketGoNow
Links:
Broker2FuBar
FuBar2Broker
WoWI's Broker section
Seerah's Mod Pick of the Week highlighting Data Broker and its mods