Re: [growl-discuss] How to get Growl to email when there is a Skype message

[Peter Hosey]

On Aug 20, 2008, at 02:30:58, e wrote:
> Can someone tell me if Growl can be set up to notify me by email
> each time I have a new voicemail or missed call on Skype?

No, it can't. Skype doesn't post notifications for those events.

> And if so, how?

If it did, this is what you would do:

Open System Preferences and switch to the Growl pane. On the
Applications tab, double-click on Skype. On the Application Settings
tab, set the Application's Display Style to MailMe*.

Then, switch to the Display Options tab, and set the email address
that you want the MailMe display to send to.

*Note: The current release of the Growl preference pane has an off-by-
two bug, so you currently have to select the display that is two menu
items up from MailMe. By default, that's Crystal.

[e s]

Thank you Paul.

In the off chance that Skype does decide to provide this service, I
have set the system preferences as you recommended (great tip about
the off-by-two glitch, by the way - would have never guessed that).
However, where do I set up the email that I would like it to send the
notifications to?

Thanks,
E

[Peter Hosey]

On Aug 20, 2008, at 02:49:20, e s wrote:
> Thank you Paul.

I'm Peter. I don't know what Paul you're addressing.

> However, where do I set up the email that I would like it to send
> the notifications to?

On the Display Options tab. Select the MailMe display from the list on
the left, then enter the address into the field.

[e s]

Sorry, I get my apostles confused!

Right, so got the email set into the Display options, but there is
nothing popping up on the preview. I assume that's due to the fact
that Skype does not support this type of notification?

Thanks so much for your help. (I am new to the tech forum thing - and
a lot of tech in general - but this is so helpful!)

E

[Peter Hosey]

On Aug 20, 2008, at 03:15:37, e s wrote:
> Right, so got the email set into the Display options, but there is
> nothing popping up on the preview. I assume that's due to the fact
> that Skype does not support this type of notification?

If you look in the Display Options tab, you'll notice that it doesn't
say anything about Skype, or any other application. The settings there
are completely independent of applications; they apply regardless of
which application is notifying.

And you don't see anything because there's nothing to see. MailMe
isn't a visual display. All it does is send email. If you check your
email, you should have one (or more) messages from Growl, each with
the subject “Preview”.

[e s]

Thanks, I see.

Oddly, I've not received anything from Growl in my mailbox.

Another question... In the system folder > Growl > Skype >
Notifications > Display Style .... is there an off-by-two issue with
this drop down list as well?
(in other words, would the MailMe option actually be activated by
clicking Crystal here as well?)

[Peter Hosey]

On Aug 20, 2008, at 03:43:07, e s wrote:
> Another question... In the system folder > Growl > Skype >
> Notifications > Display Style .... is there an off-by-two issue with
> this drop down list as well?
> (in other words, would the MailMe option actually be activated by
> clicking Crystal here as well?)

Yes. You can see this for yourself when Growl shows the preview
notification as a result of you choosing a display from that menu.

[e s]

But what if I don't get a preview notification? So far Growl hasn't
even purred!

[Peter Hosey]

On Aug 20, 2008, at 07:52:20, e s wrote:
> But what if I don't get a preview notification?

Good point. You can see that the MailMe display is selected when you
*don't* see a preview bubble, and instead get a preview email message.
☺

[e s]

Hmm. It must not be working then. I'm not getting any messages send to my email.

Perhaps this is still just a bit buggy (I think the off-by-two issue
verifies that!)

Maybe I should give it up for now.

Shame, it seems like such a good product. But then again, Grand
Central will probably eliminate the need for this eventually.
Once I finally get my hands on one of those accounts...

Thanks for your help! :-)

[Peter Hosey]

On Aug 21, 2008, at 01:23:12, e s wrote:
> Perhaps this is still just a bit buggy (I think the off-by-two issue
> verifies that!)

Just because there's *a* bug doesn't mean the whole program is full of
bugs.

And MailMe does work. I know this because I tried it and was able to
receive the Preview notification, remember?

If you figure out what the problem is, please let us know, so that we
can either fix it (if, somehow, it *is* our fault) or document it.

> Shame, it seems like such a good product. But then again, Grand
> Central will probably eliminate the need for this eventually.

According to this RoughlyDrafted article, Grand Central does something
completely different:

<http://www.roughlydrafted.com/2008/06/12/wwdc-2008-new-in-mac-os-x-snow-leopard/
>

It seems to be to help break up tasks into smaller, parallelizable
chunks. It has nothing to do with user notification.

[e s]

Hi Peter.

Sorry, I didn't realise that you were on the Growl team (just thought
this was an open forum and you were just an avid user!).
Didn't mean to offend.

I don't dispute that Growl is great and it works for you. But I have
hit a wall and don't know how to get over it. I have set all the
System Preferences a you described. However it still does not send me
an email.

The main reason I wanted to use Growl was to be notified when I missed
calls and/or received new voicemails on my Skype account. However it
doesn't sound like I will be able to use Growl for that anyway.

The GrandCentral I was referring to was the one Google now has in
Beta. http://www.grandcentral.com/about/whatisgc/
It's not the same as Growl. But it will help me with this
task....Someday. If it ever becomes available to all but the
"privileged few"!

In the meanwhile, please let me know if there's any way that Growl can
work for me. If so, problem solved and I won't even need Google.

Thanks again for all your help. :-)

e

[Peter Hosey]

On Aug 21, 2008, at 02:25:51, e s wrote:
> Sorry, I didn't realise that you were on the Growl team (just
> thought this was an open forum and you were just an avid user!).

It is an open forum. I'm not just an avid user, though; I'm also the
lead developer.

> Didn't mean to offend.

Acknowledged.

> I don't dispute that Growl is great and it works for you. But I have
> hit a wall and don't know how to get over it. I have set all the
> System Preferences a you described. However it still does not send
> me an email.

Please take a screenshot of your MailMe settings, and post the
screenshot in the Files area on the group webpage:

http://groups.google.com/group/growldiscuss/files

Instructions for taking a screenshot are here:

<http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?path=Mac/10.5/en/cdb_scrshtfky.html
>

These instructions are the same on Mac OS X 10.4.

> The GrandCentral I was referring to was the one Google now has in
> Beta. http://www.grandcentral.com/about/whatisgc/

Huh. I hadn't heard of that one.

> In the meanwhile, please let me know if there's any way that Growl
> can work for me.

Not for the Skype thing—that's up to Skype. You should contact them
and lobby for the features you need.

[Alexander Henket]

I posted the original request, with Peter's remark that Skype does not
have such notifications in the Skype Beta group that I'm part of. If I
get useful replies that I'm at liberty to share, I'll post them here.

[e s]

Peter:
Thanks again for your help. I'm attaching 4 screen grabs of the Growl
/Skype settings in my System Preferences. (note I've Xd out my email
details for privacy purposes, but normally it contains the correct
info).

Alexander:
Thank you for the posting. Hopefully we'll get some Skype updates soon.

Many thanks to you both!

e

[Peter Hosey]

On Aug 21, 2008, at 04:35:21, e s wrote:
> I'm attaching 4 screen grabs of the Growl/Skype settings in my

> System Preferences. (note I've Xd out my email details for privacy
> purposes, but normally it contains the correct info).

Looks right, assuming that the email address you have there normally
is correct (no typos or anything).

BTW, I don't recommend setting MailMe as your default display. You
could get a lot of email that way…

I have an idea. Do you use Apple Mail? If not, maybe that's the
problem, as I believe the Message framework (which MailMe uses to send
mail) relies on you having at least one account set up in Mail's prefs.

If you haven't set up Mail before, then that's probably the problem,
and you should try doing that now—at least far enough to be able to
send mail from it.

[Alexander Henket]

Apparently the API supports voicemail and call notification (didn't
persist in asking about missed calls). Does Growl tie into the API to
do what it does or does it work over another mechanism? I will file
the request tonight in the Skype tracker system. Anything that could
make the request more specific is welcome.

[Peter Hosey]

On Aug 21, 2008, at 07:32:44, Alexander Henket wrote:
> Does Growl tie into the API to do what it does or does it work over
> another mechanism?

Growl doesn't use the Skype API at all. Remember, Growl does not ask
applications, applications tell Growl.

[Alexander Henket]

So is it some kind of Apple Event then that Growl subscribes to?

[Peter Hosey]

On Aug 21, 2008, at 07:37:02, Alexander Henket wrote:
> So is it some kind of Apple Event then that Growl subscribes to?

No. We supply a framework that app devs use.

Skype already supports Growl. What e s is asking for is for them to
add a couple more Growl notifications to Skype's existing suite.

The notifications that e s wants are:

- Missed call
- New voice-mail

[Alexander Henket]

Then that is exactly what I'll file. If there are any developments I'll
post them here.

> On Aug 21, 2008, at 07:37:02, Alexander Henket wrote:

[e s]

This is brilliant. Thanks so much for both of your help.
I am a new found fan of the tech forum! :-)

[Alexander Henket]

As you may understand I cannot promise any outcome, but the request is
added to Skype's tracker system. Who knows: your plea may be heard.

All the best

Alexander