iChatStatus is a very quick and very unsupported hack, which will automatically update your iChat status to reflect the song played in iTunes.
To install the program, drag the preference pane to one of the following folders (you may need to create them!):
Home Folder -> Library -> PreferencePanes
Harddrive -> Library -> PreferencePanes
Do not put the program in this folder: /System/Library/PreferencePanes/
Start System Preferences and click the iChatStatus preference pane. Activate the program by clicking the top check box.
Set the various options using the pref pane. Your changes should immediately be reflected in iChat.
System requirements:
iChatStatus should run on all system versions supporting iChat, but has been tested on 10.2.2 - 10.2.4.
Support (this is an important section!):
iChatStatus is a quick hack, which makes unresponible use of private Apple frameworks. It is likely to break on future system versions, and it is possible that it could cause unexpected problems on current OS versions too. iChatStatus is 100% unsupported. If you find a bug, please report it to [email protected], although there is no guarantee that it will be fixed.
Frequently Asked Questions:
Q: Why doesn't iChatStatus work with AIM?
A: Because AIM doesn't support all of the protocol sugar iChat supports. Don't ask me to implement universal AIM support, because I won't.
Q: Does iChatStatus use AppleScript to communicate with iChat?
A: No. iChat does not support AppleScript. iChatStatus uses a private interface to iChat which is also used by the iChat menu extra.
Q: Does iChatStatus use Application Enhancer (APE)?
A: No.
Q: Will iChatStatus make my machine unstable?
A: No, that is very unlikely. The worst that could happen is that you start having problems with iChat. In that case, simply quit the program using the attached AppleScript.
Q: Does iChatStatus use a lot of bandwidth?
A: Setting the status does consume some bandwidth. However, the status will only be set when it actually changed. Therefore it will only be updated when the current song in iTunes changes.
Q: How is iChatStatus releated to SETI@Home?
A: Not in any way. Why on earth would you ever think they were? But you are encouraged to write scripts to make the two interact!
Q: Do I need to log out and back in again after installation?
A: No, but you will need to restart System Preferences.
Q: Will iChatStatus work when iChat is turned off?
A: It should, yes.
Q: Why do I get the message that I am not allowed to modify the PreferencePanes folder?
A: Most likely, you tried to put it in this folder: /System/Library/PreferencePanes. Read the installation instructions again.
Q: I made a cool script. Can you include it with the program.
A: Sure. Just send me a mail and I'll include it in a new version as soon as I have time.
Q: Is there a way to enter Unicode characters in AppleScript?
A: I don't know. I haven't found a way to do it without separate osaxen. Please drop me a note (over iChat or mail) if you know how!
Q: What should I do if I have problems with a script, or the status stops updating.
A: Switch briefly to another script, and then back to the script you want to use. This should force a re-read.
Q: Can I have the source?
A: Yes. Contact me over iChat. The only reason it isn't included on the DMG is to save bandwidth.
Customizability:
You can use preference pane to modify how the program interacts with iChat. The prefix and suffix boxes can be used to prepend/append some arbitrary text to the status message. Unicode is OK.
You can also select an alternative script. This script will be run at regular intervals and the result will be used as your status line. Place the scripts you want to use in the following location:
Home folder -> Library -> Application Support -> iChatStatus
Scripts must have the extension ".scpt". For reference, use the script which is used by default. It can be found inside of the application bundle.
There are several example scripts included on the disk image in the Example Scripts folder. There is also a text file with short descriptions of the scripts. If you want to contribute a script, feel free to send it to me.
Contact Info:
The developer's homepage is at http://www.ittpoi.com/. At present, there is no information on SetiChatStatus on the webpage. The developer can be reached by mail: [email protected]. Or by iChat. Please drop me a note if you like the program!