Plugin idea for Thorlabs, fetch online part data

[NotCobaltDragon]

For those who know Thorlabs, they are a manufacturer/supplier with a huge catalog of parts. Every time I create a part, I always fill the same info from the website.

The idea is to create a plugin that automatically detects Thorlabs parts and fetches data online to be populated into Inventree.

What do you think ? Any feedback and help are welcome !

[NotCobaltDragon]

Update I just made a Python script that asks for the part name and gives you all the info:

Example with the part CF038C/M-P5

Input: Enter part number: CF038C/M-P5
Output:

url: https://www.thorlabs.com/thorproduct.cfm?partnumber=CF038C/M-P5
part_number: CF038C/M-P5
description: Clamping Fork for Ø1.25" Pedestal Bases, 10.2 mm Counterbored Slot, M6 x 1.0 Captive Screw, 5 Pack
pack_size: 5
price: 54,60 €
small_img: images/large/TTN109876-lrg.jpg
big_img: images/xlarge/TTN109876-xl.jpg
small_img url: https://www.thorlabs.com/images/large/TTN109876-lrg.jpg
big_img url: https://www.thorlabs.com/images/xlarge/TTN109876-xl.jpg

It works surprisingly great for a test code ! I'm going to create a github repo with the help of the plugin creator. Thank you again to the amazing people at Inventree for making this simpler !

[matmair]

We are working on making this better / more standardized with #9761

[NotCobaltDragon]

Looks very promising! I saw that SchrodingersGat mentioned pushing the release back to 1.1.0

I currently have the stable 0.17.14 instance running. With your experience and knowledge on the project, would you say it makes more sense to wait until the new SupplierMixin feature comes out, if yes do you have an idea on when will it be available.
Or should I make the plugin with the current stable version and then make an updated version when 1.1.0 will release ?

[matmair]

I would just build an MVP with what you already have figured out and start benefiting; set a notification subscription on the PR and once it gets merged you can refactor and reduce the things you need to handle and maintain yourself.

The next stable should come out reasonably soon so I would target current master for an implementation (there is not much difference in the python plugin interfaces, the way to build a user interface has changed a lot). The plugin builder helps you build a plugin for the current development version, not stable.

[NotCobaltDragon]

Duly noted, thank you for your input !