annotate plugins/HOWTO @ 142:fbabd28795d2

[gaim-migrate @ 152] Added auto-load for plugins. Rob pointed out this might be a bad idea: what if plugins modify the buddy list; the plugins are loaded before signon, thus before the buddy list appears. That would cause errors; then when the list does appear, the plugin doesn't work right because it didn't start off well. My response: EWarmenhoven: there are ways around that EWarmenhoven: in gaim_plugin_init you could have: EWarmenhoven: if (blist) { do_the_normal_thing(); } else { gaim_signal_connect(handle, event_signon, now_the_buddy_list_is_here, NULL); } EWarmenhoven: and actually, that's the way it should be for all plugins that modify the buddy list, because there will be at least one point during execution that it could be loaded when the person is signed off (and i'm not talking about when they first start it up, i'm talking about when they choose 'sign off' instead of 'close' in the buddy list menu) committer: Tailor Script <[e-mail]>

Ok, this howto is going to be really short and sweet and to the point.

First off, before you do anything else, in all of the files for your plugin,
put the lines

#define GAIM_PLUGINS
#include "gaim.h"

I mean this. Without this, all kinds of things will not work correctly. If you
really want to know exactly what this does, read ../src/gaim.h and learn. But
if you don't want to do that, just know that it's important.

Now that you've put that there, make sure gaim.h is in your include path.

Ok, now you're ready to write the plugin.

The only function that is required is gaim_plugin_init(void *). This gets
called as soon as it gets loaded (sort of - man dlopen for more details). If
your function never returns, it will crash gaim! If your plugin uses up all
the memory in the system, it will crash gaim! Once your plugin gets loaded,
it effectively becomes a part of gaim, and anything that goes wrong will look
like it is a problem with gaim itself. I write bugfree code! :) Therefore, it
is your problem, not mine. (I'm usually nice and willing to help you with your
problems though.)

The void * that gets passed to gaim_plugin_init is the handle for the plugin.
DO NOT CHANGE THIS POINTER! Bad things will happen. You've been warned. It's
needed for connecting to signals and things. It's a good idea to remember it
somehow.

You can basically do anything you want in the plugin. You can make function
calls, change public widgets, display new widgets, things like that. But the
really neat thing is you can do things at events. For example, when one of
your buddies signs on, you can instantly send them a message. You can modify
the incoming and outgoing text. You can do all kinds of crazy things. Whatever
you want. Check out SIGNALS and CRAZY for more information and ideas.

Plugins can share globals with gaim, but will not share with other plugins.
This is so if you have a global variable GtkWidget *window in your plugin and
J. Random Hacker also has the same name on a global variable, you won't be
constantly overwriting each others' variables. Unfortunately, this also means
that plugins will have difficulty working together. But then again, that's
what shared memory is for.

When your plugin gets unloaded, gaim will try to call gaim_plugin_remove(). It
doesn't have to be there, but it's nice if, say, you create a window, and when
the plugin gets unloaded, it removes the window. Also, all the callbacks you
have attached to gaim signals will be removed.

There are a few examples in this directory. Enjoy.