Apple has added some new functionality for mail plugins in Snow Leopard that requires us to have a whitelist for each version of Mail that is known to work with our plugins. Unfortunately, this means that I need to release an update to Mail Unread Menu pretty much every time there is a Mac OS X update, like there was today with 10.6.1. Unless there is a very major change to Mail, the Mail Unread Menu plugin doesn’t need to be changed in order to maintain functionality, so it’s not difficult for me to release these updates, just tedious.

All of that said, there is a new version of Mail Unread Menu available now, version 3.2.2. All it does is update the Info.plist in the mailbundle file, to provide compatibility for Mac OS X 10.6.1 and Mail 4.1. You can download it at the Mail Unread Menu website.

I just released version 3.1 of Mail Unread Menu, which includes a few improvements and bug fixes to the Mail utility. In my opinion, one of the largest improvements is a change in the way that the menu is shown, so that we’re back to the NSStatusItem standard of having sharp corners at the top of the menu. I at least know that Shaun Inman will be happy with this change and that’s good enough for me.

Download version 3.1 or run “Check For Updates…” from the application’s menu.

• New Features
  • Separated unread counts from mailboxes which are shared between accounts.
• Changes
  • Simplified the way the menu is generated.
• Fixes
  • Fixed an issue with a slow down when only getting count from Inbox.
  • Fixed small delay when running scripts.
  • Fixed issue if a custom icon could not be found.
  • Fixed an issue with the count showing 0 when sending an email.

[Update]: In the comments, Trevor Cortez pointed out a small bug with the newly released version 3.1. As a result, I released a version 3.1.1 which fixes this bug and also makes one small interface change.

After debating it internally for a while, I’ve decided that I am no longer going to be able to support Mail Unread Menu on Mac OS X 10.4 Tiger. Since I’m no longer running it as my primary OS, it’s much tougher for me to debug the application when there are issues with it. Since I’m just developing the application in my spare time and don’t have the time or resources that a normal software development team has, I can’t arrange to continue the support. These same reasons are why Mail Unread Menu remains donationware and I would love to keep it that way. Thanks for understanding.

Many people were having some major issues with the newest version of Mail Unread Menu, which isn’t surprising, given the number of different types of Mail setups that exist out there. Earlier today, I released version 3.0.1, with a handful of bug fixes, to hopefully clean up most of the problems folks are experiencing.

There are a few more issues, which I’m working with users to fix, so expect another update soon. If you’re still having issues with Mail Unread Menu, definitely let me know and we’ll see if we can solve the problems.

You can download the new version at the Mail Unread Menu page.

• Changes
  • Changed how the current frontmost application is determined, to improve Unseen status reliability.
• Fixes
  • Fixed an issue when displaying only the count from the Inbox.
  • Fixed an error with preferences when upgrading from version 2.x to 3.x.
  • Fixed an issue where the menu would look odd when showing a very long string

I’ve also just released Mail Unread Menu version 3.0. This add-on to Mail also has a handful of major changes, including the ability to show a background image and choose your own icon. Also, the application can now launch or quit when Mail does, which is the most often requested feature. There is also a new icon, with the new Leopard desktop picture.

There also has been a huge structural change to how the display works, which requires a bit of an explanation. We now have three different categories of Mail. No New Mail is the status when there are no new messages in Mail and New Mail is when there are, both statuses which we’ve had before. However, there is now a status called Unseen Mail, which is when new messages have arrived since the last time Mail was the frontmost application. This is a great way to identify when you really have new messages, as opposed to messages you’ve left marked as unread. This great idea was provided by Shaun Inman, and it works extremely well.

You can download the new version at the Mail Unread Menu page.

• New Features
  • Added ability to mark Unseen Mail, which are messages that have arrived since the last time Mail was the frontmost application.
  • Added the ability to launch or quit application when Mail does the same.
  • Added the ability to add a background of any color behind the unread count.
  • Added the ability to choose a custom icon for any status.
  • Changed the interface for the visual settings of the unread count.
• Changes
  • Changed icon to use the Leopard desktop picture.
  • Greatly improved the speed and quality of applescripts getting information from Mail.
  • Removed slight delay when refreshing after closing preferences window.

Mail Unread Menu was just updated to version 2.6. The biggest fix involves a memory leak that would cause the application to crash on some computers, and, since Mail Unread Menu is an LSUIElement application (no dock icon, no menu bar), it was a silent crash. There are a handful of other small changes, so be sure to update right away. You can download it in the usual spot.

• New Features
  • Added “Check for New Mail” menu item.
  • Different icons can be shown for when there is new mail and when there is not.
• Changes
  • Changed the layout of the preferences window.
  • When bringing Mail to front, minimized windows will now open up.
  • Now immediately check for update when Mail launches or quits.
• Fixes
  • Fixed a major memory leak which would cause the application to crash on some computers.
  • Fixed an issue when using regular expressions with asterisks at the beginning.

I spent a good part of last night and today trying to find a handful of leaks in Mail Unread Menu. However, in trying to use the leaks tool, I became tired of continuously searching for my running application’s pid after restarting it. So, I wrote a small bit of python which I called lleaks (not too much of a muscle-memory change). You can use it just like leaks, but with the name of the application, for example: lleaks Mail Unread Menu.

#! /usr/bin/python

from commands import getoutput
from sys import argv

def main():
    
    # get program name from arguments, escaping the spaces
    programName = "\ ".join(argv[1:])
    
    # run ps ax
    output = getoutput("ps ax | grep " + programName)
    output = output.split('\n')
    
    # filter out this program from the output
    filteredOutput = []
    for item in output:
        
        if -1 == item.find('lleaks') and -1 == item.find('ps ax') and -1 == item.find('grep'):
            filteredOutput.append(item)
    
    # there is no program
    if 0 == len(filteredOutput):
        print "lleaks cannot examine program " + " ".join(programName.split("\ ")) + " because the program does not exist."
        return
    
    # use first instance of the program
    program = filteredOutput[0]
    
    # remove white space at beginning of string
    while 0 == program.find(' '):
        program = program[1:]
        
    # get process for program
    process = program[:program.find(' ')]
    
    # run leaks
    print getoutput("leaks " + process)
    
if __name__ == '__main__': main()

Some great fixes in this release, especially focusing on Leopard and IMAP. Get it now. It’s free!

• New Features
  • Added new icon, courtesy of Willem Hanhart.
  • Added the ability to alphabetize the mailboxes list.
  • Updated bundle to version 3 for Leopard compatibility.
  • The application now periodically updates to catch any missed changes.
• Changes
  • Changed all URLs from burgundylogan.com to loganrockmore.com .
  • Changing preferences will now update the unread count asynchronously.
• Fixes
  • Mailboxes in IMAP accounts can now be opened from the menu.
  • Fixed a crash when dealing with mailbox names containing asterisks.
  • Fixed a handful of memory leaks.

Update: Well, that broke fast. Turns out there was a problem with the asynchronous preferences window, so I’ve removed the feature. The preferences window may seem a little slow now, but hopefully it shouldn’t crash any more. Version 2.5.1 is available now. Sorry!

Today, I was without my Wii controllers after lending them to a friend, so I spent a lot of time upgrading some of the little things with my little online portal here.

• A Mail Unread Menu user Nicolas sent over a French localization yesterday, but the program wasn’t completely ready for it. I spent some time placing NSLocalizedString macros in the code, so that anything outside of the .nib file could be localized. This was easy for the small Mail Unread Menu project, but Assignment Planner is going to be a much larger ordeal.
• Changed the name of the website from Logan Design to Logan Rockmore Design, something that I’ve wanted to do for a while now. I feel like it’s more personal and unique to myself, and not that big of a change to make.
• My twitter username also made the change to burgundylogan.
• With the name change, I created a small and simple LRD logo that I plan to use in a few places. Right now it’s in use on Twitter and on the Forums, with a favicon soon to follow.
• Posted on the blog about the validation badge, something that I’ve wanted to do for a while.
• Fixed the “Last Modified” timestamps at the bottom of each page to be my local Pacific timezone.
• Renamed the CommandLine code to LRCommandLine, something that should’ve been done from the beginning.
• Added a similar project titled LRApplescript, which is basically a Cocoa – Applescript interface that I use in a few of my projects.
• Spent a little bit more time working on another utility that’s in the works. I pretty much just need a good looking icon for it.
• I even was able to watch Tim Lincecum’s impressive major league debut on national television.

Hurray for Sparkle updating and customizable icons! Get it at the usual place.

• New Features
  • Added a choice of menu bar icons.
  • Added the Sparkle framework, which provides automated version upgrading.
  • The status item will correctly remove itself from the menu bar when quitting.