Plugin Interface¶

Introduction¶

Plugins for HexChat are written in C. The interface aims to keep 100% binary compatability. This means that if you upgrade HexChat, you will not need to recompile your plugins, they’ll continue to work. The interface doesn’t depend on any structures and offsets, so compiler versions shouldn’t have an impact either. The only real requirement of a HexChat plugin is that it define an hexchat_plugin_init symbol. This is your entry point function, see the example below. You should make all your global variables and functions static, so that a symbol is not exported. There is no harm in exporting these symbols, but they are not necessary and only pollute the name-space. Plugins are compiled as shared objects (.so files), for example:

Most UNIX systems:

gcc -Wl –export-dynamic -Wall -O1 -shared -fPIC myplugin.c -o myplugin.so

OS X:

gcc -no-cpp-precomp -g -O2 -Wall -bundle -flat_namespace -undefined suppress -o myplugin.so myplugin.c

See the Windows section on how to compile a plugin using Visual Studio.

All strings passed to and from plugins are encoded in UTF-8, regardless of locale.

Sample plugin¶

This simple plugin auto-ops anyone who joins a channel you’re in. It also adds a new command /AUTOOPTOGGLE, which can be used to turn the feature ON or OFF. Every HexChat plugin must define an hexchat_plugin_init function, this is the normal entry point. hexchat_plugin_deinit is optional.

#include "hexchat-plugin.h"

#define PNAME "AutoOp"
#define PDESC "Auto Ops anyone that joins"
#define PVERSION "0.1"

static hexchat_plugin *ph;      /* plugin handle */
static int enable = 1;

static int
join_cb (char *word[], void *userdata)
{
        if (enable)
        {
                /* Op ANYONE who joins */
                hexchat_commandf (ph, "OP %s", word[1]);
        }
        /* word[1] is the nickname, as in the Settings->Text Events window in HexChat */

        return HEXCHAT_EAT_NONE;        /* don't eat this event, HexChat needs to see it! */
}

static int
autooptoggle_cb (char *word[], char *word_eol[], void *userdata)
{
        if (!enable)
        {
                enable = 1;
                hexchat_print (ph, "AutoOping now enabled!\n");
        }
        else
        {
                enable = 0;
                hexchat_print (ph, "AutoOping now disabled!\n");
        }

        return HEXCHAT_EAT_ALL;     /* eat this command so HexChat and other plugins can't process it */
}

void
hexchat_plugin_get_info (char **name, char **desc, char **version, void **reserved)
{
        *name = PNAME;
        *desc = PDESC;
        *version = PVERSION;
}

int
hexchat_plugin_init (hexchat_plugin *plugin_handle, char **plugin_name, char **plugin_desc, char **plugin_version, char *arg)
{
        /* we need to save this for use with any hexchat_* functions */
        ph = plugin_handle;

        /* tell HexChat our info */
        *plugin_name = PNAME;
        *plugin_desc = PDESC;
        *plugin_version = PVERSION;

        hexchat_hook_command (ph, "AutoOpToggle", HEXCHAT_PRI_NORM, autooptoggle_cb, "Usage: AUTOOPTOGGLE, Turns OFF/ON Auto Oping", 0);
        hexchat_hook_print (ph, "Join", HEXCHAT_PRI_NORM, join_cb, 0);

        hexchat_print (ph, "AutoOpPlugin loaded successfully!\n");

        return 1;       /* return 1 for success */
}

int
hexchat_plugin_deinit (hexchat_plugin *plugin_handle)
{
        hexchat_print (ph, "Unloading AutoOpPlugin");
        return 1;       /* return 1 for success */
}

What’s word and word_eol?¶

They are arrays of strings. They contain the parameters the user entered for the particular command. For example, if you executed:

/command NICK hi there

word[1] is command
word[2] is NICK
word[3] is hi
word[4] is there
word_eol[1] is command NICK hi there
word_eol[2] is NICK hi there
word_eol[3] is hi there
word_eol[4] is there

These arrays are simply provided for your convenience. You are not allowed to alter them. Both arrays are limited to 32 elements (index 31). word[0] and word_eol[0] are reserved and should not be read.

Lists and Fields¶

Lists of information (DCCs, Channels, User list, etc.) can be retreived with hexchat_list_get. All fields are read only and must be copied if needed for a long time after calling hexchat_list_str. The types of lists and fields available are:

“channels”	list of channels, querys and their servers
Name	Description	Type
channel	Channel or query name	string
channelkey	Channels key or NULL (2.9.6+)	string
chanmodes	Channel modes e.g. “beI,k,l” (2.12.2+)	string
chantypes	Channel types e.g. “#!&”	string
context	(hexchat_context *) pointer. Can be used with hexchat_set_context	string
flags	1 = Connected 2 = Connecting 4 = Marked away 8 = End of MOTD 16 = Has WHOX 32 = Has IDMSG 64 = Hide Join/Parts 128 = Hide Join/Parts unset 256 = Beep on Message 512 = Blink Tray 1024 = Blink Taskbar 2048 = Logging 4096 = Logging unset 8192 = Scrollback 16384 = Scrollback unset 32768 = Strip colors 65536 = Strip colors unset	int
id	Unique server ID	int
lag	Lag in milliseconds	int
maxmodes	Maximum modes per line	int
network	Name of network	string
nickprefixes	Nickname prefixes e.g. “@+”	string
nickmodes	Nickname mode chars e.g. “ov”	string
queue	Number of bytes in the send-queue	int
server	Server name to which this channel belongs	string
type	1 = Server 2 = Channel 3 = Dialog 4 = Notice 5 = SNotice	int
users	Number of users in this channel	int

“dcc”	list of DCC file transfers
Name	Description	Type
address32	Address of the remote user (ipv4 address)	int
cps	Bytes per second (speed)	int
destfile	Destination full pathname	string
file	File name	string
nick	Nickname of person who the file is from/to	string
port	TCP port number	int
pos	Bytes sent/received	int
poshigh	Bytes sent/received, high order 32 bits	int
resume	Point at which this file was resumed (or zero if it was not resumed)	int
resumehigh	Point at which this file was resumed, high order 32 bits	int
size	File size in bytes, low order 32 bits (cast it to unsigned)	int
sizehigh	File size in bytes, high order 32 bits	int
status	0 = Queued 1 = Active 2 = Failed 3 = Done 4 = Connecting 5 = Aborted	int
type	0 = Send 1 = Recieve 1 = ChatRecv 1 = ChatSend	int

“ignore”	current ignore list
Name	Description	Type
mask	Ignore mask. .e.g. !@*.aol.com	string
flags	0 = Private 1 = Notice 2 = Channel 3 = CTCP 4 = Invite 5 = Unignore 6 = NoSave 7 = DCC	int

“notify”	list of people on notify
Name	Description	Type
networks	Networks to which this nick applies. Comma separated. May be NULL.	string
nick	Nickname	string
flags	Bit field of flags. 0=Is online.	int
on	Time when user came online.	time_t
off	Time when user went offline.	time_t
seen	Time when user the user was last verified still online.	time_t

Fields are only valid for the context when hexchat_list_get() was called (i.e. you get information about the user ON THAT ONE SERVER ONLY). You may cycle through the “channels” list to find notify information for every server.

“users”	list of users in the current channel
Name	Description	Type
account	Account name or NULL (2.9.6+)	string
away	Away status (boolean)	int
lasttalk	Last time the user was seen talking	time_t
nick	Nick name	string
host	Host name in the form: user@host (or NULL if not known).	string
prefix	Prefix character, .e.g: @ or +. Points to a single char.	string
realname	Real name or NULL	string
selected	Selected status in the user list, only works for retrieving the user list of the focused tab	int

Example:

list = hexchat_list_get (ph, "dcc");

if (list)
{
        hexchat_print (ph, "--- DCC LIST ------------------\nFile  To/From   KB/s   Position\n");

        while (hexchat_list_next (ph, list))
        {
                hexchat_printf (ph, "%6s %10s %.2f  %d\n",
                        hexchat_list_str (ph, list, "file"),
                        hexchat_list_str (ph, list, "nick"),
                        hexchat_list_int (ph, list, "cps") / 1024,
                        hexchat_list_int (ph, list, "pos"));
        }

        hexchat_list_free (ph, list);
}

Plugins on Windows (Win32)¶

All you need is Visual Studio setup as explained in Building. Your best bet is to use an existing plugin (such as the currently unused SASL plugin) in the HexChat solution as a starting point. You should have the following files:

hexchat-plugin.h - main plugin header
plugin.c - Your plugin, you need to write this one :)
plugin.def - A simple text file containing the following:

EXPORTS
    hexchat_plugin_init
    hexchat_plugin_deinit
    hexchat_plugin_get_info

Leave out hexchat_plugin_deinit if you don’t intend to define that function. Then compile your plugin in Visual Studio as usual.

Caveat: plugins compiled on Win32 must have a global variable called ph, which is the plugin_handle, much like in the sample plugin above.

Controlling the GUI¶

A simple way to perform basic GUI functions is to use the /GUI command. You can execute this command through the input box, or by calling hexchat_command (ph, “GUI …..”);.

GUI ATTACH: Same function as “Attach Window” in the HexChat menu.
GUI DETACH: Same function as “Detach Tab” in the HexChat menu.
GUI APPLY: Similar to clicking OK in the settings window. Execute this after /SET to activate GUI changes.
GUI COLOR *n*: Change the tab color of the current context, where n is a number from 0 to 3.
GUI FOCUS: Focus the current window or tab.
GUI FLASH: Flash the taskbar button. It will flash only if the window isn’t focused and will stop when it is focused by the user.
GUI HIDE: Hide the main HexChat window completely.
GUI ICONIFY: Iconify (minimize to taskbar) the current HexChat window.
GUI MSGBOX *text*: Displays a asynchronous message box with your text.
GUI SHOW: Show the main HexChat window (if currently hidden).

You can add your own items to the menu bar. The menu command has this syntax:

MENU [-eX] [-i<ICONFILE>] [-k<mod>,<key>] [-m] [-pX] [-rX,group] [-tX] {ADD|DEL} <path> [command] [unselect command]

For example:

MENU -p5 ADD FServe
MENU ADD "FServe/Show File List" "fs list"
MENU ADD FServe/-
MENU -k4,101 -t1 ADD "FServe/Enabled" "fs on" "fs off"
MENU -e0 ADD "FServe/Do Something" "fs action"

In the example above, it would be recommended to execute MENU DEL FServe inside your hexchat_plugin_deinit function. The special item with name “-” will add a separator line.

Parameters and flags:

-eX: Set enable flag to X. -e0 for disable, -e1 for enable. This lets you create a disabled (shaded) item.
-iFILE: Use an icon filename FILE. Not supported for toggles or radio items.
-k<mod>,<key>: Specify a keyboard shortcut. “mod” is the modifier which is a bitwise OR of: 1-SHIFT 4- CTRL 8-ALT in decimal. “key” is the key value in decimal, e.g. -k5,101 would specify SHIFT-CTRL-E.
-m: Specify that this label should be treated as Pango Markup language. Since forward slash (“/”) is already used in menu paths, you should replace closing tags with an ASCII 003 instead e.g.: hexchat_command (ph, “MENU -m ADD “<b>Bold Menu<03b>””);
-pX: Specify a menu item’s position number. e.g. -p5 will cause the item to be inserted in the 5th place. If the position is a negative number, it will be used as an offset from the bottom/right-most item.
-rX,group: Specify a radio menu item, with initial state X and a group name. The group name should be the exact label of another menu item (without the path) that this item will be grouped with. For radio items, only a select command will be executed (no unselect command).
-tX: Specify a toggle menu item with an initial state. -t0 for an “unticked” item and -t1 for a “ticked” item.

If you want to change an item’s toggle state or enabled flag, just ADD an item with exactly the same name and command and specify the -tX -eX parameters you need.

It’s also possible to add items to HexChat’s existing menus, for example:

MENU ADD "Settings/Sub Menu"
MENU -t0 ADD "Settings/Sub Menu/My Setting" myseton mysetoff

However, internal names and layouts of HexChat’s menu may change in the future, so use at own risk.

Here is an example of Radio items:

MENU ADD "Language"
MENU -r1,"English" ADD "Language/English" cmd1
MENU -r0,"English" ADD "Language/Spanish" cmd2
MENU -r0,"English" ADD "Language/German" cmd3

You can also change menus other than the main one (i.e popup menus). Currently they are:

Root Name	Menu
$TAB	Tab menu (right click a channel/query tab or treeview row)
$TRAY	System Tray menu
$URL	URL link menu
$NICK	Userlist nick-name popup menu
$CHAN	Menu when clicking a channel in the text area

Example:

MENU -p0 ADD "$TAB/Cycle Channel" cycle

You can manipulate HexChat’s system tray icon using the /TRAY command:

Usage:
TRAY -f <timeout> <file1> [<file2>] Flash tray between two icons. Leave off file2 to use default HexChat icon.
TRAY -f <filename>                  Set tray to a fixed icon.
TRAY -i <number>                    Flash tray with an internal icon.
TRAY -t <text>                      Set the tray tooltip.
TRAY -b <title> <text>              Set the tray balloon.

Icon numbers:

2: Message
5: Highlight
8: Private
11:File

For tray balloons on Linux, you’ll need libnotify.

Filenames can be ICO or PNG format. PNG format is supported on Linux/BSD and Windows XP. Set a timeout of -1 to use HexChat’s default.

Handling UTF-8/Unicode strings¶

The HexChat plugin API specifies that strings passed to and from HexChat must be encoded in UTF-8.

What does this mean for the plugin programmer? You just have to be a little careful when passing strings obtained from IRC to system calls. For example, if you’re writing a file-server bot, someone might message you a filename. Can you pass this filename directly to open()? Maybe! If you’re lazy… The correct thing to do is to convert the string to “system locale encoding”, otherwise your plugin will fail on non-ascii characters.

Here are examples on how to do this conversion on Unix and Windows. In this example, someone will CTCP you the message “SHOWFILE <filename>”.

static int
ctcp_cb (char *word[], char *word_eol[], void *userdata)
{
        if(strcmp(word[1], "SHOWFILE") == 0)
        {
                get_file_name (nick, word[2]);
        }

        return HEXCHAT_EAT_HEXCHAT;
}

static void
get_file_name (char *nick, char *fname)
{
        char buf[256];
        FILE *fp;

        /* the fname is in UTF-8, because it came from the HexChat API */

#ifdef _WIN32

        wchar_t wide_name[MAX_PATH];

        /* convert UTF-8 to WIDECHARs (aka UTF-16LE) */
        if (MultiByteToWideChar (CP_UTF8, 0, fname, -1, wide_name, MAX_PATH) < 1)
        {
                return;
        }

        /* now we have WIDECHARs, so we can _wopen() or CreateFileW(). */
        /* _wfopen actually requires NT4, Win2000, XP or newer. */
        fp = _wfopen (wide_name, "r");

#else

        char *loc_name;

        /* convert UTF-8 to System Encoding */
        loc_name = g_filename_from_utf8 (fname, -1, 0, 0, 0);
        if(!loc_name)
        {
                return;
        }

        /* now open using the system's encoding */
        fp = fopen (loc_name, "r");
        g_free (loc_name);

#endif

        if (fp)
        {
                while (fgets (buf, sizeof (buf), fp))
                {
                        /* send every line to the user that requested it */
                        hexchat_commandf (ph, "QUOTE NOTICE %s :%s", nick, buf);
                }
                fclose (fp);
        }
}

Types and Constants¶

hexchat_plugin¶
hexchat_list¶
hexchat_hook¶
hexchat_context¶
hexchat_event_attrs¶

HEXCHAT_PRI_HIGHEST¶
HEXCHAT_PRI_HIGH¶
HEXCHAT_PRI_NORM¶
HEXCHAT_PRI_LOW¶
HEXCHAT_PRI_LOWEST¶

HEXCHAT_EAT_NONE¶
HEXCHAT_EAT_XCHAT¶
HEXCHAT_EAT_PLUGIN¶
HEXCHAT_EAT_ALL¶

HEXCHAT_FD_READ¶
HEXCHAT_FD_WRITE¶
HEXCHAT_FD_EXCEPTION¶
HEXCHAT_FD_NOTSOCKET¶

Functions¶

General Functions¶

void hexchat_command(hexchat_plugin *ph, const char *command)¶

Executes a command as if it were typed in HexChat’s input box.

Parameters:	ph – Plugin handle (as given to hexchat_plugin_init). command – Command to execute, without the forward slash “/”.

void hexchat_commandf(hexchat_plugin *ph, const char *format, ...)¶

Executes a command as if it were typed in HexChat’s input box and provides string formatting like printf.

Parameters:	ph – Plugin handle (as given to hexchat_plugin_init). format – The format string.

void hexchat_print(hexchat_plugin *ph, const char *text)¶

Prints some text to the current tab/window.

Parameters:	ph – Plugin handle (as given to hexchat_plugin_init). text – Text to print. May contain mIRC color codes.

void hexchat_printf(hexchat_plugin *ph, const char *format, ...)¶

Prints some text to the current tab/window and provides formatting like printf.

Parameters:	ph – Plugin handle (as given to hexchat_plugin_init). format – The format string.

int hexchat_emit_print(hexchat_plugin *ph, const char *event_name, ...)¶

Generates a print event. This can be any event found in the Settings ‣ Text Events window. The vararg parameter list must always be NULL terminated. Special care should be taken when calling this function inside a print callback (from hexchat_hook_print()), as not to cause endless recursion.

Parameters:	ph – Plugin handle (as given to hexchat_plugin_init). event_name – Text event to print.
Returns:	0 on Failure, 1 on Success

Example:

hexchat_emit_print (ph, "Channel Message", "John", "Hi there", "@", NULL);

int hexchat_emit_print_attrs(hexchat_plugin *ph, hexchat_event_attrs *attrs, const char *event_name, ...)¶

Generates a print event. This is the same as hexchat_emit_print() but it passes an hexchat_event_attrs to hexchat with the print attributes.

Parameters:	ph – Plugin handle (as given to hexchat_plugin_init). attrs – Print attributes. This should be obtained with `hexchat_event_attrs_create()` and freed with `hexchat_event_attrs_free()`. event_name – Text event to print.
Returns:	0 on Failure, 1 on Success

New in version 2.9.6.

Example:

hexchat_event_attrs *attrs;

attrs = hexchat_event_attrs_create (ph);
attrs->server_time_utc = 1342224702;
hexchat_emit_print (ph, attrs, "Channel Message", "John", "Hi there", "@", NULL);
hexchat_event_attrs_free (ph, attrs);

void hexchat_send_modes(hexchat_plugin *ph, const char *targets[], int ntargets, int modes_per_line, char sign, char mode)¶

Sends a number of channel mode changes to the current channel. For example, you can Op a whole group of people in one go. It may send multiple MODE lines if the request doesn’t fit on one. Pass 0 for modes_per_line to use the current server’s maximum possible. This function should only be called while in a channel context.

Parameters:	ph – Plugin handle (as given to hexchat_plugin_init). targets – Array of targets (strings). The names of people whom the action will be performed on. ntargets – Number of elements in the array given. modes_per_line – Maximum modes to send per line. sign – Mode sign, ‘-’ or ‘+’. mode – Mode char, e.g. ‘o’ for Ops.

Example: (Ops the three names given)

const char *names_to_Op[] = {"John", "Jack", "Jill"};
hexchat_send_modes (ph, names_to_Op, 3, 0, '+', 'o');

int hexchat_nickcmp(hexchat_plugin *ph, const char *s1, const char *s2)¶

Performs a nick name comparision, based on the current server connection. This might be an RFC1459 compliant string compare, or plain ascii (in the case of DALNet). Use this to compare channels and nicknames. The function works the same way as strcasecmp.

Parameters:	ph – Plugin handle (as given to hexchat_plugin_init). s1 – String to compare. s2 – String to compare s1 to.

Quote from RFC1459: >Because of IRC’s scandanavian origin, the characters {}| are considered to be the lower case equivalents of the characters [], respectively. This is a critical issue when determining the equivalence of two nicknames.

Returns:	An integer less than, equal to, or greater than zero if s1 is found, respectively, to be less than, to match, or be greater than s2.

char* hexchat_strip(hexchat_plugin *ph, const char *str, int len, int flags)¶

Strips mIRC color codes and/or text attributes (bold, underlined etc) from the given string and returns a newly allocated string.

Parameters:	ph – Plugin handle (as given to hexchat_plugin_init). str – String to strip. len – Length of the string (or -1 for NULL terminated). flags – Bit-field of flags: - 0: Strip mIRC colors. - 1: Strip text attributes.
Returns:	A newly allocated string or NULL for failure. You must free this string with `hexchat_free()`.

Example:

{
    char *new_text;

    /* strip both colors and attributes by using the 0 and 1 bits (1 BITWISE-OR 2) */
    new_text = hexchat_strip (ph, "\00312Blue\003 \002Bold!\002", -1, 1 | 2);

    if (new_text)
    {
            /* new_text should now contain only "Blue Bold!" */
            hexchat_printf (ph, "%s\n", new_text);
            hexchat_free (ph, new_text);
    }
}

void hexchat_free(hexchat_plugin *ph, void *ptr)¶

Frees a string returned by hexchat_* functions. Currently only used to free strings from hexchat_strip().

Parameters:	ph – Plugin handle (as given to hexchat_plugin_init). ptr – Pointer to free.

hexchat_event_attrs *hexchat_event_attrs_create(hexchat_plugin *ph)¶

Allocates a new hexchat_event_attrs. The attributes are initially marked as unused.

Returns:	A pointer to the allocated `hexchat_event_attrs`. Should be freed by `hexchat_event_attrs_free()`.

New in version 2.9.6.

void hexchat_event_attrs_free(hexchat_plugin *ph, hexchat_event_attrs *attrs)¶

Frees an hexchat_event_attrs.

Parameters:	attrs – Attributes previously allocated by `hexchat_event_attrs_create()`.

New in version 2.9.6.

Getting Information¶

const char* hexchat_get_info(hexchat_plugin *ph, const char *id)¶

Returns information based on your current context.

Parameters:

ph – Plugin handle (as given to hexchat_plugin_init).
id –
ID of the information you want. List of ID’s(case sensitive):
- away: away reason or NULL if you are not away.
- channel: current channel name.
- charset: character-set used in the current context.
- configdir: HexChat config directory, e.g.: /home/user/.config/hexchat. This string is encoded in UTF-8.
- event_text <name>: text event format string for name.
- gtkwin_ptr: (GtkWindow *).
- host: real hostname of the server you connected to.
- inputbox: the input-box contents, what the user has typed.
- libdirfs: library directory. e.g. /usr/lib/hexchat. The same directory used for auto-loading plugins. This string isn’t necessarily UTF-8, but local file system encoding.
- modes: channel modes, if known, or NULL.
- network: current network name or NULL.
- nick: your current nick name.
- nickserv: nickserv password for this network or NULL.
- server: current server name (what the server claims to be). NULL if you are not connected.
- topic: current channel topic.
- version: HexChat version number.
- win_ptr: native window pointer. Unix: (GtkWindow *) Win32: HWND.
- win_status: window status: “active”, “hidden” or “normal”.

Returns:

A string of the requested information, or NULL. This string must not be freed and must be copied if needed after the call to hexchat_get_info().

int hexchat_get_prefs(hexchat_plugin *ph, const char *name, const char **string, int *integer)¶

Provides HexChat’s setting information (that which is available through the /SET command). A few extra bits of information are available that don’t appear in the /SET list, currently they are:

state_cursor: Current input box cursor position (characters, not bytes).

id: Unique server id

Parameters:

ph – Plugin handle (as given to hexchat_plugin_init).
name – Setting name required.
string – Pointer-pointer which to set.
integer – Pointer to an integer to set, if setting is a boolean or integer type.

Returns:

0: Failed.
1: Returned a string.
2: Returned an integer.
3: Returned a boolean.

Example:

{
    int i;
    const char *str;

    if (hexchat_get_prefs (ph, "irc_nick1", &amp;str, &amp;i) == 1)
    {
            hexchat_printf (ph, "Current nickname setting: %s\n", str);
    }
}

hexchat_list* hexchat_list_get(hexchat_plugin *ph, const char *name)¶

Retreives lists of information.

Parameters:	name – Name from the List and Fields Table
Returns:	hexchat_list to be used by the following functions.

const char* const* hexchat_list_fields(hexchat_plugin *ph, const char *name)¶

Lists fields in a given list.

Parameters:	name – Name from the List and Fields Table

int hexchat_list_next(hexchat_plugin *ph, hexchat_list *xlist)¶

Selects the next list item in a list.

Parameters:	xlist – `hexchat_list` returned by `hexchat_list_get()`

const char* hexchat_list_str(hexchat_plugin *ph, hexchat_list *xlist, const char *name)¶

Gets a string field from a list.

Parameters:	name – Name from the List and Fields Table xlist – `hexchat_list` returned by `hexchat_list_get()`

int hexchat_list_int(hexchat_plugin *ph, hexchat_list *xlist, const char *name)¶

Gets a int field from a list.

Parameters:	name – Name from the List and Fields Table xlist – `hexchat_list` returned by `hexchat_list_get()`

time_t hexchat_list_time(hexchat_plugin *ph, hexchat_list *xlist, const char *name)¶

Gets a time field from a list.

Parameters:	name – Name from the List and Fields Table xlist – `hexchat_list` returned by `hexchat_list_get()`

void hexchat_list_free(hexchat_plugin *ph, hexchat_list *xlist)¶

Frees a list.

Parameters:	xlist – `hexchat_list` returned by `hexchat_list_get()`

Hook Functions¶

hexchat_hook* hexchat_hook_command(hexchat_plugin *ph, const char *name, int pri, int (*callb)(char *word[], char *word_eol[], void *user_data), const char *help_text, void *userdata)¶

Adds a new /command. This allows your program to handle commands entered at the input box. To capture text without a “/” at the start (non-commands), you may hook a special name of “”. i.e hexchat_hook_command(ph, “”, …).

Commands hooked that begin with a period (‘.’) will be hidden in /HELP and /HELP -l.

Parameters:

ph – Plugin handle (as given to hexchat_plugin_init).
name – Name of the command (without the forward slash).
pri – Priority of this command. Use HEXCHAT_PRI_NORM.
callb – Callback function. This will be called when the user executes the given command name.
help_text – String of text to display when the user executes /HELP for this command. May be NULL if you’re lazy.
userdata – Pointer passed to the callback function.

Returns:

Pointer to the hook. Can be passed to hexchat_unhook().

Example:

static int
onotice_cb (char *word[], char *word_eol[], void *userdata)
{
    if (word_eol[2][0] == 0)
    {
            hexchat_printf (ph, "Second arg must be the message!\n");
            return HEXCHAT_EAT_ALL;
    }

    hexchat_commandf (ph, "NOTICE @%s :%s", hexchat_get_info (ph, "channel"), word_eol[2]);
    return HEXCHAT_EAT_ALL;
}

hexchat_hook_command (ph, "ONOTICE", HEXCHAT_PRI_NORM, onotice_cb, "Usage: ONOTICE <message> Sends a notice to all ops", NULL);

hexchat_hook* hexchat_hook_fd(hexchat_plugin *ph, int fd, int flags, int (*callb)(int fd, int flags, void *user_data), void *userdata)¶

Hooks a socket or file descriptor. WIN32: Passing a pipe from MSVCR71, MSVCR80 or other variations is not supported at this time.

Parameters:

ph – Plugin handle (as given to hexchat_plugin_init ()).
fd – The file descriptor or socket.
flags – One or more of HEXCHAT_FD_* constants tells HexChat that the provided fd is not a socket, but an “MSVCRT.DLL” pipe.
callb – Callback function. This will be called when the socket is available for reading/writing or exception (depending on your chosen flags)
userdata – Pointer passed to the callback function.

Returns:

Pointer to the hook. Can be passed to hexchat_unhook().

hexchat_hook* hexchat_hook_print(hexchat_plugin *ph, const char *name, int pri, int (*callb)(char *word[], void *user_data), void *userdata)¶

Registers a function to trap any print events. The event names may be any available in the Settings ‣ Text Events window. There are also some extra “special” events you may hook using this function. Currently they are:

“Open Context”: Called when a new hexchat_context is created.
“Close Context”: Called when a hexchat_context pointer is closed.
“Focus Tab”: Called when a tab is brought to front.
“Focus Window”: Called a toplevel window is focused, or the main

tab-window is focused by the window manager.
“DCC Chat Text”: Called when some text from a DCC Chat arrives. It provides these elements in the word[] array:
word[1] Address word[2] Port word[3] Nick word[4] The Message

“Key Press”: Called when some keys are pressed in the input box. It provides these elements in the word[] array:

word[1] Key Value
word[2] State Bitfield (shift, capslock, alt)
word[3] String version of the key
word[4] Length of the string (may be 0 for unprintable keys)

Parameters:	ph – Plugin handle (as given to hexchat_plugin_init). name – Name of the print event (as in Text Events window). pri – Priority of this command. Use `HEXCHAT_PRI_NORM`. callb – Callback function. This will be called when this event name is printed. userdata – Pointer passed to the callback function.
Returns:	Pointer to the hook. Can be passed to `hexchat_unhook()`.

Example:

static int
youpart_cb (char *word[], void *userdata)
{
    hexchat_printf (ph, "You have left channel %s\n", word[3]);
    return HEXCHAT_EAT_HEXCHAT;     /* don't let HexChat do its normal printing */
}

hexchat_hook_print (ph, "You Part", HEXCHAT_PRI_NORM, youpart_cb, NULL);

hexchat_hook* hexchat_hook_print_attrs(hexchat_plugin *ph, const char *name, int pri, int (*callb)(char *word[], hexchat_event_attrs *attrs, void *user_data), void *userdata)¶

Registers a function to trap any print events. This is the same as hexchat_hook_print() but the callback receives an hexchat_event_attrs with attributes related to the print event.

Parameters:	ph – Plugin handle (as given to hexchat_plugin_init). name – Name of the print event (as in Text Events window). pri – Priority of this command. Use `HEXCHAT_PRI_NORM`. callb – Callback function. This will be called when this event name is printed. userdata – Pointer passed to the callback function.
Returns:	Pointer to the hook. Can be passed to `hexchat_unhook()`.

New in version 2.9.6.

hexchat_hook* hexchat_hook_server(hexchat_plugin *ph, const char *name, int pri, int (*callb)(char *word[], char *word_eol[], void *user_data), void *userdata)¶

Registers a function to be called when a certain server event occurs. You can use this to trap PRIVMSG, NOTICE, PART, a server numeric, etc. If you want to hook every line that comes from the IRC server, you may use the special name of RAW LINE.

Parameters:	ph – Plugin handle (as given to hexchat_plugin_init). name – Name of the server event. pri – Priority of this command. Use `HEXCHAT_PRI_NORM`. callb – Callback function. This will be called when this event is received from the server. userdata – Pointer passed to the callback function.
Returns:	Pointer to the hook. Can be passed to `hexchat_unhook()`.

Example:

static int
kick_cb (char *word[], char *word_eol[], void *userdata)
{
    hexchat_printf (ph, "%s was kicked from %s (reason=%s)\n", word[4], word[3], word_eol[5]);
    return HEXCHAT_EAT_NONE;        /* don't eat this event, let other plugins and HexChat see it too */
}

hexchat_hook_server (ph, "KICK", HEXCHAT_PRI_NORM, kick_cb, NULL);

hexchat_hook* hexchat_hook_server_attrs(hexchat_plugin *ph, const char *name, int pri, int (*callb)(char *word[], char *word_eol[], hexchat_event_attrs *attrs, void *user_data), void *userdata)¶

Registers a function to be called when a certain server event occurs. This is the same as hexchat_hook_server() but the callback receives an hexchat_event_attrs with attributes related to the server event.

Parameters:	ph – Plugin handle (as given to hexchat_plugin_init). name – Name of the server event. pri – Priority of this command. Use `HEXCHAT_PRI_NORM`. callb – Callback function. This will be called when this event is received from the server. userdata – Pointer passed to the callback function.
Returns:	Pointer to the hook. Can be passed to `hexchat_unhook()`.

New in version 2.9.6.

hexchat_hook *hexchat_hook_timer(hexchat_plugin *ph, int timeout, int (*callb)(void *user_data), void *userdata)¶

Registers a function to be called every “timeout” milliseconds.

Parameters:	ph – Plugin handle (as given to hexchat_plugin_init). timeout – Timeout in milliseconds (1000 is 1 second). callb – Callback function. This will be called every “timeout” milliseconds. userdata – Pointer passed to the callback function.
Returns:	Pointer to the hook. Can be passed to `hexchat_unhook()`.

Example:

static hexchat_hook *myhook;

static int
stop_cb (char *word[], char *word_eol[], void *userdata)
{
    if (myhook != NULL)
    {
            hexchat_unhook (ph, myhook);
            myhook = NULL;
            hexchat_print (ph, "Timeout removed!\n");
    }

    return HEXCHAT_EAT_ALL;
}

static int
timeout_cb (void *userdata)
{
    hexchat_print (ph, "Annoying message every 5 seconds! Type /STOP to stop it.\n");
    return 1;       /* return 1 to keep the timeout going */
}

myhook = hexchat_hook_timer (ph, 5000, timeout_cb, NULL);
hexchat_hook_command (ph, "STOP", HEXCHAT_PRI_NORM, stop_cb, NULL, NULL);

void* hexchat_unhook(hexchat_plugin *ph, hexchat_hook *hook)¶

Unhooks any hook registered with hexchat_hook_print/server/timer/command. When plugins are unloaded, all of its hooks are automatically removed, so you don’t need to call this within your hexchat_plugin_deinit function.

Parameters:	ph – Plugin handle (as given to hexchat_plugin_init). hook – Pointer to the hook, as returned by hexchat_hook_*.
Returns:	The userdata you originally gave to hexchat_hook_*.

Context Functions¶

hexchat_context* hexchat_find_context(hexchat_plugin *ph, const char *servname, const char *channel)¶

Finds a context based on a channel and servername. If servname is NULL, it finds any channel (or query) by the given name. If channel is NULL, it finds the front-most tab/window of the given servname. If NULL is given for both arguments, the currently focused tab/window will be returned.

Parameters:	ph – Plugin handle (as given to hexchat_plugin_init). servname – Server name or NULL. channel – Channel name or NULL.
Returns:	Context pointer (for use with `hexchat_set_context()`) or NULL.

hexchat_context* hexchat_get_context(hexchat_plugin *ph)¶

Returns the current context for your plugin. You can use this later with hexchat_set_context().

Parameters:	ph – Plugin handle (as given to hexchat_plugin_init).
Returns:	Context pointer (for use with `hexchat_set_context()`).

int hexchat_set_context(hexchat_plugin *ph, hexchat_context *ctx)¶

Changes your current context to the one given.

Parameters:

ph – Plugin handle (as given to hexchat_plugin_init).
ctx – Context to change to (obtained with hexchat_get_context() or hexchat_find_context()).

Returns:

1: Success.
0: Failure.

Plugin Preferences¶

int hexchat_pluginpref_set_str(hexchat_plugin *ph, const char *var, const char *value)¶

Saves a plugin-specific setting with string value to a plugin-specific config file.

Parameters:

ph – Plugin handle (as given to hexchat_plugin_init).
var – Name of the setting to save.
value – String value of the the setting.

Returns:

1: Success.
0: Failure.

Example:

int
hexchat_plugin_init (hexchat_plugin *plugin_handle, char **plugin_name, char **plugin_desc, char **plugin_version, char *arg)
{
    ph = plugin_handle;
    *plugin_name = "Tester Thingie";
    *plugin_desc = "Testing stuff";
    *plugin_version = "1.0";

    hexchat_pluginpref_set_str (ph, "myvar1", "I want to save this string!");
    hexchat_pluginpref_set_str (ph, "myvar2", "This is important, too.");

    return 1;       /* return 1 for success */
}

In the example above, the settings will be saved to the plugin_tester_thingie.conf file, and its content will be: >myvar1 = I want to save this string! myvar2 = This is important, too.

You should never need to edit this file manually.

int hexchat_pluginpref_get_str(hexchat_plugin *ph, const char *var, char *dest)¶

Loads a plugin-specific setting with string value from a plugin-specific config file.

Parameters:

ph – Plugin handle (as given to hexchat_plugin_init).
var – Name of the setting to load.
dest – Array to save the loaded setting’s string value to.

Returns:

1: Success.
0: Failure.

int hexchat_pluginpref_set_int(hexchat_plugin *ph, const char *var, int value)¶

Saves a plugin-specific setting with decimal value to a plugin-specific config file.

Parameters:

ph – Plugin handle (as given to hexchat_plugin_init).
var – Name of the setting to save.
value – Decimal value of the the setting.

Returns:

1: Success.
0: Failure.

Example:

static int
saveint_cb (char *word[], char *word_eol[], void *user_data)
{
    int buffer = atoi (word[2]);

    if (buffer > 0 && buffer < INT_MAX)
    {
            if (hexchat_pluginpref_set_int (ph, "myint1", buffer))
            {
                    hexchat_printf (ph, "Setting successfully saved!\n");
            }
            else
            {
                    hexchat_printf (ph, "Error while saving!\n");
            }
    }
    else
    {
            hexchat_printf (ph, "Invalid input!\n");
    }

    return HEXCHAT_EAT_HEXCHAT;
}

You only need such complex checks if you’re saving user input, which can be non-numeric.

int hexchat_pluginpref_get_int(hexchat_plugin *ph, const char *var)¶

Loads a plugin-specific setting with decimal value from a plugin-specific config file.

Parameters:	ph – Plugin handle (as given to hexchat_plugin_init). var – Name of the setting to load.
Returns:	The decimal value of the requested setting upon success, -1 for failure.

int hexchat_pluginpref_delete(hexchat_plugin *ph, const char *var)¶

Deletes a plugin-specific setting from a plugin-specific config file.

Parameters:

ph – Plugin handle (as given to hexchat_plugin_init).
var – Name of the setting to delete.

Returns:

1: Success.
0: Failure.

If the given setting didn’t exist, it also returns 1, so 1 only indicates that the setting won’t exist after the call.

int hexchat_pluginpref_list(hexchat_plugin *ph, char *dest)¶

Builds a comma-separated list of the currently saved settings from a plugin-specific config file.

Parameters:

ph – Plugin handle (as given to hexchat_plugin_init).
dest – Array of size 4096 to save the list to.

Returns:

1: Success.
0: Failure (nonexistent, empty or inaccessible config file).

Example:

static void
list_settings ()
{
    char list[4096];
    char buffer[512];
    char *token;

    hexchat_pluginpref_list (ph, list);
    hexchat_printf (ph, "Current Settings:\n");
    token = strtok (list, ",");

    while (token != NULL)
    {
            hexchat_pluginpref_get_str (ph, token, buffer);
            hexchat_printf (ph, "%s: %s\n", token, buffer);
            token = strtok (NULL, ",");
    }
}

In the example above we query the list of currently stored settings, then print them one by one with their respective values. We always use hexchat_pluginpref_get_str (), and that’s because we can read an integer as string (but not vice versa).

Plugin GUI¶

void* hexchat_plugingui_add(hexchat_plugin *ph, const char *filename, const char *name, const char *desc, const char *version, char *reserved)¶

Adds a fake plugin to the GUI in Window ‣ Plugins and Scripts. This does not need to be done for your actual plugin and is only used for interfaces to other languages like our python plugin.

Returns:	Handle to be used with `hexchat_plugingui_remove()`

void hexchat_plugingui_remove(hexchat_plugin *ph, void *handle)¶

Removes the fake plugin from the GUI. Again not to be used to remove your own plugin.

Parameters:	handle – Handle returned by `hexchat_plugingui_add()`

Table of Contents

Previous topic

Next topic

This Page

Plugin Interface¶

Introduction¶

Sample plugin¶

What’s word and word_eol?¶

Lists and Fields¶

Plugins on Windows (Win32)¶

Controlling the GUI¶

Handling UTF-8/Unicode strings¶

Types and Constants¶

Functions¶

General Functions¶

Getting Information¶

Hook Functions¶

Context Functions¶

Plugin Preferences¶

Plugin GUI¶