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Like a Zope 'meta_type', a plug-in kind is a string which describes a kind of Zope object.  Unlike a 'meta_type', plug-in kinds are used by more than one class of object.  You can think of a plug-in kind as a sort of meta-meta_type, which groups together a variety of similar meta-types by the collaboration interfaces they support.

For example, the string '"Attribute Provider"' is a plug-in kind used for AttributeProviders.  There can be many different classes whose instances act as AttributeProviders, but as long as their '__plugin_kind__' attribute is set to '"Attribute Provider"', they will be recognized by their PlugInContainers as AttributeProviders.

PlugInGroups display an "Add" list that only includes registered plug-ins of the correct plug-in kinds.  (PlugInGroups can support more than one !PlugInKind, even though PlugIns can each only *be* of one !PlugInKind.)

Since PlugInGroups are restricted to a specific set of plug-in kinds, PlugInContainers can be assured that the PlugIns in those groups support whatever collaboration interfaces are required by the container.