Modules

One of the innovations introduced in MailWatch in v4 was the use of external modules to define the program's GUI. These modules are standard Amiga system libraries, that follow a specific API (which is currently private and subject to change).

You can choose which GUI module to use with the MWDF tooltype. You must provide the complete path for the module.

appicons.mwdf This module displays a choice of icons as AppIcons on the Workbench screen. These icons change as the files that MailWatch is watching change. This module mirrors the behaviour of MailWatch in previous versions, and it is the default setting for the program.

dummy.mwdf This module does nothing at all. Perfect for those people who need the file notification and action features that MailWatch provides, but not any GUI feedback.

textreqs.mwdf This module puts up a simple text requester whenever a file that is being watched changes. However, since these requesters are modal, they block the execution of the program, such that any other program actions will be queued until the requester is answered. If I have any requests, I will try to fix this, but at the moment textreqs.mwdf exists more as a proof of concept than anything else.

I am in the process of writing more GUI modules, including some to interface to other programs. Of course, you could always use ARexx scripts as notification actions if you wished to control other programs, based on the state of the files being watched.

Any suggestions as to what sorts of external modules people would find useful are invited; when I've got some time I'll stabilize the API and make it publically available.