IRC Hacks [Electronic resources] نسخه متنی

Hack 3 IRC from Mac OS X

Several IRC clients are available for Mac OS X.
Check them out for your favorite features.

There is no shortage of IRC clients for Macintosh users.
ChatZilla [Hack #4], the truly
outstanding IRC client integrated into

Mozilla,
is popular
among Mac users and can also be used on other operating systems.
Non-Mozilla users have many alternatives, too.
Some applications, such as


Fire (http://fire.sourceforge.net), combine IRC
chat with ICQ, AIM, and
JabberIM. However, because the features of IRC are different than the
set for other chat applications, IRC users may find themselves
frustrated with these programs. The server-channel model is not
clearly supported, and sending standard IRC commands is difficult
when they are not all fully supported. One of the friendliest and
three of the more popular, and more powerful, IRC clients available
for OS X are presented here: Conversation, X-Chat Aqua, Snak, and
IRCle.

1.4.1 Conversation

Conversation
(http://www.conversation.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk)
is about as close as you'll come to using iChat for
IRC. It sports a rather iChat-like look-and-feel (Figure 1-3) with just about everything accessible through
an intuitive set of buttons and switches and drag-and-drop support
throughout. A Favorites list holds your best buddies and preferred
channels so you can just log on and click your way to conversation. A
Recent Channels and Users list helps you find that person you were
chatting with yesterday or where you had that fabulous conversation
last week. Or just set things up so you automatically log in and join
your various discussion channels automatically.

Figure 1-3. Conversation, an iChat-like IRC client

While you're best off comparing and contrasting
Conversation's feature set with the other clients
covered here, it's a good bet
you'll find it an intuitive vehicle for your first
foray into IRC.

1.4.2 X-Chat Aqua

X-Chat
Aqua is an OS X version of the popular Unix IRC client, XChat. It is
freeware that can be downloaded from http://xchataqua.sourceforge.net.

When X-Chat launches, you are prompted to enter nicknames and
personal information and to choose a

server in the Server List window
(see Figure 1-4). A list of
networks is provided by default, and you
have the option to add to the list. Once nicks and server are
selected, clicking Connect will connect and open a server window.

Figure 1-4. The initial server list popup in X-Chat Aqua

X-Chat Aqua can use a


tab- or window-based view
of channels and servers. The default setup puts each channel in a tab
at the bottom of the window as it is joined. Channels can be opened
in new windows, instead of as tabs, by using File New
Channel Window.

Figure 1-5 shows a connection to the
freenode IRC network (shown at the top of
the window) and three channels (shown in tabs at the bottom of the
window). Channel participants are displayed in the bar on the right.
While this window is white on black, colors can be configured to your
preferences.

Figure 1-5. A main window for X-Chat Aqua

The File menu also has options to connect directly to a new server in
either a tab or a new window or to use the Server List to establish a
new connection. All commands and messages can be given in the input
line at the bottom of each window, and some are also included as
selectable options under the User menu.

1.4.3 Snak

The

Snak IRC
client is shareware that is free for 30 days. After that time, Snak
will automatically quit after 30 minutes until it is registered for
$20. Snak can be downloaded from http://www.snak.com.

The Server List is the window in the lower-right corner (Figure 1-6). Notice that the #rdfig and #mindswap
channels have been grouped into one window, while the server,

Figure 1-6. The main Snak window

The first time Snak is launched, a wizard walks you through the
process of creating a

nickname and selecting a preferred
channel. This information is stored in the Preferences. Connections
to any server can be made
through the Profile list. This window will come up by
default and can also be found in the Windows menu. It lists all of
the stored IRC servers with your preferred nick and startup commands.
To connect to one of the servers, you can just locate it in the
Server List and click Connect.

Docking is an interesting feature of
Snak.
Channels can be open
in separate windows. Using the Dock command in the Windows menu, the
windows can be changed into tabs in other windows. This allows you to
group multiple channels any way you like; they need not necessarily
be docked with the server window. Channels can also be customized by
appearance. Each channel window can have its own color scheme, set
using Edit Channel Settings.

1.4.4 IRCle

IRCle is a
Macintosh-only IRC client. It is available as shareware from
http://www.ircle.com. The trial
period is 30 days, and all features are enabled during the trial.
Registration is $20 and gets rid of the warning messages that will
appear when the application is launched.

When IRCle is run for the first
time, the Connections list needs to be modified.
The Connections window should appear by default (as shown in Figure 1-7) but can also be found in the Windows menu if
it doesn't. There will be 10 default
connectionsthe maximum number of server connections that IRCle
supportsand they will all be configured to use the nickname
"ircleuser." To change this, click
on a connection and then click the Edit...
button at the bottom of the window. This will bring up a dialog box
(Figure 1-8) where you can change your nickname,
real name, exit message, and other properties.

Figure 1-7. Connections window in IRCle

Figure 1-8. Changing your nickname in IRCle Connection Preferences

To connect to an IRC server with this new nickname, select the
connection in the Connections window, and then click the
Server... button. A window with a long list of
servers will come up. You can choose from that list or click
Add to add a new server. Once you have found the
server you want in the list, click it, and then click
Select. The connection is now configured to
connect to the server. Click the Connect button
in the Connections window to attach to the server.

The server messages will appear in the Console window. The Inputline window is
used to join channels, send commands, and type messages to a channel.
Each channel will appear in its own window. Depending on which window
is in focus, the Userlist window will change to show the name and
participants of the current channel. Private chats established using
/query will also get their own window. If someone
else sends a private message to you without a separate window, the
message will appear in the Console.

The multitude of
windows in IRCle, as seen in Figure 1-9, can become overwhelming. A feature called the
Channelbar is available to make them a
bit more manageable. Found under the Windows menu, the Channelbar
puts a bar across the top of the window with buttons for each
channel, console, and chat window. Clicking a button brings the
corresponding channel to the foreground. Using option-click on a
button will hide the selected channel window without disconnecting
from it.

Figure 1-9. IRCle running full screen

Now that you know about lots of Mac OS X IRC clients,
it's up to you to decide which one you want to use.
Perhaps after you've read this book, you may even be
tempted to write your own.

Jennifer Golbeck