README for ivy-xchat-plugin 8 Feb 2002 This is a C plugin for xchat, which creates a bridge between the IRC channels and an Ivy bus. To use it, you should : - install a binary package or compile the sources - either load explicitely the plugin from the appropriate xchat menu, or copy or link it to your .xchat directory (which causes the plugin to be loaded when xchat starts) There are a few issues that need to be solved: 1. Where to install plugins? I am not aware of any standard place to install plugins from rpm or deb packages. I took the decision to put mine in /usr/lib/xchat/plugins, but I should check this with the maintainers of xchat. 2. Where to get headers? To compile, plugins need a few C header files from xchat. I found them in the sources of xchat 1.8.7 and copied them in the 'include' directory. But ideally, there would be a xchat-devel package which installs the necessary header files to /usr/include. I should check this with the maintainers. 3. The plugin should quit properly. The IvyStop function is currently not implemented in the Gtk implementation of Ivy, which causes the plugin to stay as a zombie on the Ivy bus. I should discuss that with FR.Colin. 4. What events and what Ivy syntax? The current version only sends major events from irc to ivy, in a very primitive syntax. Some thoughts should be given to improving this. 5. Ivy relaying should be improved. The idea of relaying Ivy events to IRC channels is interesting, but needs to be designed more carefully. Buffer overflow should be checked for, binding deletion should be allowed, original messages (and not only captures) should be printed, and my nickname (and not the empty string) should appear in my window when a message is relayed from Ivy to a channel. Stéphane Chatty chatty@intuilab.com