Menu Extras question

hazmat

hazmat

Rusher of Din
Can someone give me some details on how the menu extras work? I know there's the /System/Library/CoreServices/Menu Extras/ , but not everything that's in the menu is in there, nor in my Login Items. Something like Meteorologist. It seems top appear on login, but I don't know where it's being told to start.

Also, how do the menu items get ordered? It doesn't seem to be the order of startup. Opening Meteorologist will open it all the way on the left. WeatherManX will open second from the left. So since they seem to do things like this, can I re-order them? No key-combo I've tried works, as in command+drag, option+drag, etc.

Thanks.
 
Apple + drag works...I just did it. If you Apple + drag it onto the desktop it poofs like something from the dock would.
 
Each user should have a file called com.apple.systemuiserver.plist in their Preferences directory. That file contains the list of menu extras to load at log in.
 
Command-drag moves menu extras, based a private Apple API. Meteorologist and WeatherManX use a public API, NSStatusItem, which means they cannot be moved around the in the menubar.
 
Originally posted by Ibson
Command-drag moves menu extras, based a private Apple API. Meteorologist and WeatherManX use a public API, NSStatusItem, which means they cannot be moved around the in the menubar.
Click to expand...

So then how are they placed in the menu bar? Starting each one places it in a different position.

And davidbrit2: the weather stuff is not in there, though it does start on login. Where else would the system know to start it?
 
Huh, the only other place I can think of to check would be Login Items in System Preferences. The 'menu extras' might just be installed via a standard application that's getting launched.
 
They are placed in the order that they launch. You could try re-ordering the applications in the Login Items pref pane.
 
No, nothing in Login Items. And if I have both WeatherManX and Meteorologist closed, if I open Meteorologist, it will open as the left-most icon. If I open WeatherManX, it will actually open to the right of the left-most item. Why doesn't go on the end, then?
 
Well, I wrote Meteorologist, so I guess I can comment. =)

The problem is that Apple hasn't given Status Items the same power as Menu Extras. Menu Extras cen be control dragged around the menu bar and even dragged off like the dock; Status Item's don't allow you to do that. In addition, ordering of Status Items is controlled by launch time (moving from right to left I believe), and not the order they wer previously in. Why? Because Status items are linked directly to an app, while Menu Extras are their own entity. That way, the OS X can keep track of the order of the Menu Extras in a plist file and launch them at login. But to get a Status Item to show up in the menu bar, you either nede to launch the application manually, or have it launched automatically on login. In either case, because OS X doesn't keep track of the order of Status items, the order gets messed up.

It's too bad that there's isn't parity between the two API'; it only pushes people towards "breaking the rules."

Matt Fahrenbacher
Humongous Elephants and Tigers
 
Ah. Thanks for the explanation, Matt. And thanks again for Meteorologist. It's all I use now. Looking forward to seeing how it progresses.
 
Matt-

Thanks for a great program. I begin each day with a quick weather check on Meteorologist.

Is it true your suspending work on Meteorologist? Noooooooooooo!
 
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