diff --git a/base/inc/TPluginManager.h b/base/inc/TPluginManager.h
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..82377513fd2c4e87471aef96238eda90c7a716dc
--- /dev/null
+++ b/base/inc/TPluginManager.h
@@ -0,0 +1,113 @@
+// @(#)root/base:$Name:$:$Id:$
+// Author: Fons Rademakers 26/1/2002
+
+/*************************************************************************
+ * Copyright (C) 1995-2002, Rene Brun and Fons Rademakers. *
+ * All rights reserved. *
+ * *
+ * For the licensing terms see $ROOTSYS/LICENSE. *
+ * For the list of contributors see $ROOTSYS/README/CREDITS. *
+ *************************************************************************/
+
+#ifndef ROOT_TPluginManager
+#define ROOT_TPluginManager
+
+
+//////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
+// //
+// TPluginManager //
+// //
+// This class implements a plugin library manager. It keeps track of //
+// a list of plugin handlers. A plugin handler knows which plugin //
+// library to load to get a specific class that is used to extend the //
+// functionality of a specific base class. For example, to extend the //
+// base class TFile to be able to read RFIO files one needs to load //
+// the plugin library libRFIO.so which defines the TRFIOFile class. //
+// This loading should be triggered when a given URI contains a //
+// regular expression defined by the handler. Handlers can be defined //
+// for example as resources in the .rootrc file, e.g.: //
+// //
+// Plugin.TFile: ^rfio: TRFIOFile RFIO //
+// Plugin.TSQLServer: ^mysql: TMySQLServer MySQL //
+// +Plugin.TSQLServer: ^pgsql: TPgSQLServer PgSQL //
+// //
+// Plugin handlers can also be registered at run time, e.g.: //
+// //
+// gROOT->GetPluginManager()->AddHandler("TSQLServer", "^sapdb:", //
+// "TSapDBServer", "SapDB"); //
+// //
+// A list of currently defined handlers can be printed using: //
+// //
+// gROOT->GetPluginManager()->Print(); //
+// //
+// The use of the plugin library manager removes all textual references //
+// to hard-coded class and library names and the resulting dependencies //
+// in the base classes. The plugin manager is used to extend a.o. //
+// TFile, TSQLServer, TGrid, etc. functionality. //
+// //
+//////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
+
+#ifndef ROOT_TObject
+#include "TObject.h"
+#endif
+#ifndef ROOT_TString
+#include "TString.h"
+#endif
+
+class TEnv;
+class TList;
+class TPluginManager;
+
+
+class TPluginHandler : public TObject {
+
+friend class TPluginManager;
+
+private:
+ TString fBase; // base class which will be extended by plugin
+ TString fRegexp; // regular expression which must be matched in URI
+ TString fClass; // class to be loaded from plugin library
+ TString fPlugin; // plugin library which should contain fClass
+
+ TPluginHandler() { }
+ TPluginHandler(const char *base, const char *regexp,
+ const char *className, const char *pluginName);
+
+ ~TPluginHandler() { }
+
+ const char *GetBase() const { return fBase; }
+ const char *GetRegexp() const { return fRegexp; }
+ const char *GetPlugin() const { return fPlugin; }
+
+ Bool_t CanHandle(const char *base, const char *uri);
+
+public:
+ const char *GetClass() const { return fClass; }
+ Int_t LoadPlugin();
+
+ ClassDef(TPluginHandler,1) // Handler for plugin libraries
+};
+
+
+class TPluginManager : public TObject {
+
+private:
+ TList *fHandlers; // list of plugin handlers
+
+public:
+ TPluginManager() { fHandlers = 0; }
+ ~TPluginManager();
+
+ void LoadHandlersFromEnv(TEnv *env);
+ void AddHandler(const char *base, const char *regexp,
+ const char *className, const char *pluginName);
+ void RemoveHandler(const char *base, const char *regexp = 0);
+
+ TPluginHandler *FindHandler(const char *base, const char *uri);
+
+ void Print(Option_t *opt = "") const;
+
+ ClassDef(TPluginManager,1) // Manager for plugin handlers
+};
+
+#endif
diff --git a/base/src/TPluginManager.cxx b/base/src/TPluginManager.cxx
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..cd255d50cdc301b01d45947127c5e8b191cf5182
--- /dev/null
+++ b/base/src/TPluginManager.cxx
@@ -0,0 +1,227 @@
+// @(#)root/base:$Name:$:$Id:$
+// Author: Fons Rademakers 26/1/2002
+
+/*************************************************************************
+ * Copyright (C) 1995-2002, Rene Brun and Fons Rademakers. *
+ * All rights reserved. *
+ * *
+ * For the licensing terms see $ROOTSYS/LICENSE. *
+ * For the list of contributors see $ROOTSYS/README/CREDITS. *
+ *************************************************************************/
+
+//////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
+// //
+// TPluginManager //
+// //
+// This class implements a plugin library manager. It keeps track of //
+// a list of plugin handlers. A plugin handler knows which plugin //
+// library to load to get a specific class that is used to extend the //
+// functionality of a specific base class. For example, to extend the //
+// base class TFile to be able to read RFIO files one needs to load //
+// the plugin library libRFIO.so which defines the TRFIOFile class. //
+// This loading should be triggered when a given URI contains a //
+// regular expression defined by the handler. Handlers can be defined //
+// for example as resources in the .rootrc file, e.g.: //
+// //
+// Plugin.TFile: ^rfio: TRFIOFile RFIO //
+// Plugin.TSQLServer: ^mysql: TMySQLServer MySQL //
+// +Plugin.TSQLServer: ^pgsql: TPgSQLServer PgSQL //
+// //
+// Plugin handlers can also be registered at run time, e.g.: //
+// //
+// gROOT->GetPluginManager()->AddHandler("TSQLServer", "^sapdb:", //
+// "TSapDBServer", "SapDB"); //
+// //
+// A list of currently defined handlers can be printed using: //
+// //
+// gROOT->GetPluginManager()->Print(); //
+// //
+// The use of the plugin library manager removes all textual references //
+// to hard-coded class and library names and the resulting dependencies //
+// in the base classes. The plugin manager is used to extend a.o. //
+// TFile, TSQLServer, TGrid, etc. functionality. //
+// //
+//////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
+
+#include "TPluginManager.h"
+#include "TEnv.h"
+#include "TRegexp.h"
+#include "TROOT.h"
+#include "TList.h"
+#include "TOrdCollection.h"
+
+ClassImp(TPluginHandler)
+ClassImp(TPluginManager)
+
+
+//______________________________________________________________________________
+TPluginHandler::TPluginHandler(const char *base, const char *regexp,
+ const char *className, const char *pluginName)
+{
+ // Create a plugin handler. Called by TPluginManager.
+
+ fBase = base;
+ fRegexp = regexp;
+ fClass = className;
+ fPlugin = pluginName;
+}
+
+//______________________________________________________________________________
+Bool_t TPluginHandler::CanHandle(const char *base, const char *uri)
+{
+ // Check if regular expression appears in the URI, if so return kTRUE.
+
+ if (fBase != base)
+ return kFALSE;
+
+ TRegexp re(fRegexp, kFALSE);
+ TString ruri = uri;
+
+ if (ruri.Index(re) != kNPOS)
+ return kTRUE;
+ return kFALSE;
+}
+
+//______________________________________________________________________________
+Int_t TPluginHandler::LoadPlugin()
+{
+ // Load the plugin library for this handler. Returns 0 on successful loading
+ // and -1 in case the library does not exist or in case of error.
+
+ return gROOT->LoadClass(fClass, fPlugin);
+}
+
+
+//______________________________________________________________________________
+TPluginManager::~TPluginManager()
+{
+ // Clean up the plugin manager.
+
+ delete fHandlers;
+}
+
+//______________________________________________________________________________
+void TPluginManager::LoadHandlersFromEnv(TEnv *env)
+{
+ // Load plugin handlers specified in config file, like:
+ // Plugin.TFile: ^rfio: TRFIOFile RFIO
+ // Plugin.TSQLServer: ^mysql: TMySQLServer MySQL
+ // +Plugin.TSQLServer: ^pgsql: TPgSQLServer PgSQL
+ // The + allows the extension of an already defined resource (see TEnv).
+
+ if (!env) return;
+
+ TIter next(env->GetTable());
+ TEnvRec *er;
+
+ while ((er = (TEnvRec*) next())) {
+ char *s;
+ if ((s = strstr(er->GetName(), "Plugin."))) {
+ const char *val = env->GetValue(er->GetName(), (const char*)0);
+ if (val) {
+ Int_t cnt = 0;
+ char *v = StrDup(val);
+ s += 7;
+ while (1) {
+ TString regexp = strtok(!cnt ? v : 0, ",; ");
+ if (regexp.IsNull()) break;
+ TString clss = strtok(0, ",; ");
+ if (clss.IsNull()) break;
+ TString plugin = strtok(0, ",; ");
+ if (plugin.IsNull()) break;
+ AddHandler(s, regexp, clss, plugin);
+ cnt++;
+ }
+ delete [] v;
+ }
+ }
+ }
+}
+
+//______________________________________________________________________________
+void TPluginManager::AddHandler(const char *base, const char *regexp,
+ const char *className, const char *pluginName)
+{
+ // Add plugin handler to the list of handlers. If there is already a
+ // handler defined for the same base and regexp it will be replaced.
+
+ if (!fHandlers) {
+ fHandlers = new TList;
+ fHandlers->IsOwner();
+ }
+
+ // make sure there is no previous handler for the same case
+ RemoveHandler(base, regexp);
+
+ TPluginHandler *h = new TPluginHandler(base, regexp, className, pluginName);
+ fHandlers->Add(h);
+}
+
+//______________________________________________________________________________
+void TPluginManager::RemoveHandler(const char *base, const char *regexp)
+{
+ // Remove handler for the specified base class and the specified
+ // regexp. If regexp=0 remove all handlers for the specified base.
+
+ if (!fHandlers) return;
+
+ TIter next(fHandlers);
+ TPluginHandler *h;
+
+ while ((h = (TPluginHandler*) next())) {
+ if (h->fBase == base) {
+ if (!regexp || h->fRegexp == regexp) {
+ fHandlers->Remove(h);
+ delete h;
+ }
+ }
+ }
+}
+
+//______________________________________________________________________________
+TPluginHandler *TPluginManager::FindHandler(const char *base, const char *uri)
+{
+ // Returns the handler if there exists a handler for the specified URI.
+ // Returns 0 in case handler is not found.
+
+ if (!fHandlers) return kFALSE;
+
+ TIter next(fHandlers);
+ TPluginHandler *h;
+
+ while ((h = (TPluginHandler*) next())) {
+ if (h->CanHandle(base, uri)) {
+ if (gDebug > 0)
+ Printf("<TPluginManager::FindHandler>: found plugin for %s",
+ h->GetClass());
+ return h;
+ }
+ }
+
+ if (gDebug > 0)
+ Printf("<TPluginManager::FindHandler>: did not find plugin for handling %s",
+ uri);
+
+ return 0;
+}
+
+//______________________________________________________________________________
+void TPluginManager::Print(Option_t *) const
+{
+ // Print list of registered plugin handlers.
+
+ if (!fHandlers) return;
+
+ TIter next(fHandlers);
+ TPluginHandler *h;
+
+ printf("=====================================================================\n");
+ printf("Base Regexp Class Plugin\n");
+ printf("=====================================================================\n");
+
+ while ((h = (TPluginHandler*) next())) {
+ printf("%-18s %-15s %-18s %s\n", h->fBase.Data(), h->fRegexp.Data(),
+ h->fClass.Data(), h->fPlugin.Data());
+ }
+ printf("=====================================================================\n\n");
+}