Protocol Plug-Ins

Summary

You now understand how network protocols typically work, and how to implement them in C using Gaim’s protocol plug-in system. I’ve offered hints and tips about how to monitor data sent by an unknown protocol, and decipher what it all means. One such hint is that, even in binary protocols, screen names, messages, and other textual elements will always be sent in plain text. However, what is plain text? How does a computer, which understands only 1s and 0s, represent letters and words?

In the next chapter, I’ll review the many ways computers can do this. This is a crucial element to working with IM protocols, for if you represent text incorrectly, your friends will not be able to read it. Whereas historical reasons make this less problematic for English speakers, for foreign users this is often problematic. I’ll address localizing your application so that it’s usable by as many people as possible, regardless of where they live. In addition to text encoding, I’ll be discussing translation. I’ll explain how the gettext system is used to provide simple translations for all the text in your application.