NAME

Net::OSCAR - Implementation of AOL's OSCAR protocol for instant messaging (for interacting with AIM a.k.a. AOL IM a.k.a. AOL Instant Messenger - and ICQ, too!)

VERSION

version 1.928

SYNOPSIS

        use Net::OSCAR qw(:standard);

        sub im_in {
                my($oscar, $sender, $message, $is_away) = @_;
                print "[AWAY] " if $is_away;
                print "$sender: $message\n";
        }

        $oscar = Net::OSCAR->new();
        $oscar->set_callback_im_in(\&im_in);
        $oscar->signon($screenname, $password);
        while(1) {
                $oscar->do_one_loop();
                # Do stuff
        }

INSTALLATION

HOW TO INSTALL

        perl Build.PL
        perl Build
        perl Build test
        perl Build install

See "perldoc Module::Build" for details. Note that this requires that you have the perl module Module::Build installed. If you don't, the traditional "perl Makefile.PL ; make ; make test ; make install" should still work.

DEPENDENCIES

This modules requires "Digest::MD5" and "Scalar::Util". "Test::More" is needed to run the test suite, and "XML::Parser" is needed to generate the XML parse tree which is shipped with released versions.

INTRODUCTION

ABSTRACT

"Net::OSCAR" implements the OSCAR protocol which is used by AOL's AOL Instant Messenger service. To use the module, you create a "Net::OSCAR" object, register some functions as handlers for various events by using the module's callback mechanism, and then continually make calls to the module's event processing methods.

You probably want to use the ":standard" parameter when importing this module in order to have a few important constants added to your namespace. See "CONSTANTS" below for a list of the constants exported by the ":standard" tag.

No official documentation exists for the OSCAR protocol, so it had to be figured out by analyzing traffic generated by AOL's official AOL Instant Messenger client. Source code from the Gaim client, the protocol analysis provided by the Ethereal network sniffer, and the Alexander Shutko's website <http://iserverd1.khstu.ru/oscar/> were also used as references.

This module strives to be as compatible with "Net::AIM" as possible at the API level, but some protocol-level differences prevent total compatibility. The TOC protocol implemented by "Net::AIM" is simpler than OSCAR and has official reference documentation from AOL, but it only provides a small subset of the full "OSCAR" functionality. See the section on "Net::AIM Compatibility" for more information.

EVENT PROCESSING OVERVIEW

Event processing is the implementation of "Net::OSCAR" within the framework of your program, so that your program can respond to things happening on the OSCAR servers while still doing everything else that you need it to do, such as accepting user input. There are three main ways for the module to handle event processing. The simplest is to call the do_one_loop method, which performs a "select" call on all the object's sockets and reads incoming commands from the OSCAR server on any connections which have them. The "select" call has a default timeout of 0.01 seconds which can be adjusted using the timeout method. This means that every time you call do_one_loop, it will pause for that interval if there are no messages from the OSCAR server. If you need lower overhead, want better performance, or need to handle many Net::OSCAR objects and/or other files and sockets at once, see "HIGH-PERFORMANCE EVENT PROCESSING" below.

FUNCTIONALITY

"Net::OSCAR" pretends to be WinAIM 5.5.3595. It supports remote buddylists including permit and deny settings. It also supports chat, buddy icons, and extended status messages. At the present time, setting and retrieving of directory information is not supported; nor are email privacy settings, voice chat, stock ticker, file transfer, direct IM, and many other of the official AOL Instant Messenger client's features.

TERMINOLOGY

When you sign on with the OSCAR service, you are establishing an OSCAR session.

CALLBACKS

"Net::OSCAR" uses a callback mechanism to notify you about different events. A callback is a function provided by you which "Net::OSCAR" will call when a certain event occurs. To register a callback, calling the "set_callback_callbackname" method with a code reference as a parameter. For instance, you might call "$oscar->set_callback_error(\&got_error);". Your callback function will be passed parameters which are different for each callback type (and are documented below). The first parameter to each callback function will be the "Net::OSCAR" object which generated the callback. This is useful when using multiple "Net::OSCAR" objects.

REFERENCE

BASIC FUNCTIONALITY

METHODS

new ([capabilities => CAPABILITIES], [rate_manage => RATE_MANAGE_MODE]): Creates a new "Net::OSCAR" object. You may optionally pass a hash to set some parameters for the object.

capabilities: A listref of optional features that your client supports. Valid capabilities are:

extended_status: iChat-style extended status messages
buddy_icons
file_transfer
file_sharing
typing_status: Typing status notification
buddy_list_transfer

rate_manage: Which mechanism will your application be using to deal with the sending rates which the server enforces on the client? See "RATE LIMIT OVERVIEW" for more information on the subject.

OSCAR_RATE_MANAGE_NONE
OSCAR_RATE_MANAGE_AUTO
OSCAR_RATE_MANAGE_MANUAL

        $oscar = Net::OSCAR->new(capabilities => [qw(extended_status typing_status)], rate_manage => OSCAR_RATE_MANAGE_AUTO);

signon (HASH)
signon (SCREENNAME, PASSWORD[, HOST, PORT]: Sign on to the OSCAR service. You can specify an alternate host/port to connect to. The default is login.oscar.aol.com port 5190.
The non-hash form of "signon" is obsolete and is only provided for compatibility with "Net::AIM". If you use a hash to pass parameters to this function, here are the valid keys:

screenname
password: Screenname and password are mandatory. The other keys are optional. In the special case of password being present but undefined, the auth_challenge callback will be used - see "auth_challenge" for details.
stealth: Use this to sign on with stealth mode activated. Using this, as opposed to signon on without this setting and then calling "set_stealth", will prevent the user from showing as online for a brief interval after signon. See "set_stealth" for information about stealth mode.
pass_is_hashed: If you want to give Net::OSCAR the MD5 hash of the password instead of the password itself, use the MD5'd password in the password key and also set this key. The benefit of this is that, if your application saves user passwords, you can save them in hashed form and don't need to store the plaintext.
local_ip: If you have more than one IP address with a route to the internet, this parameter can be used to specify which to use as the source IP for outgoing connections.
local_port: This controls which port Net::OSCAR will listen on for incoming direct connections. If not specified, a random port will be selected.
host
port
proxy_type: Either "SOCKS4", "SOCKS5", "HTTP", or HTTPS. This and "proxy_host" must be specified if you wish to use a proxy. "proxy_port", "proxy_username", "proxy_password" are optional. Note that proxy support is considered experimental. You will need to have the "Net::SOCKS" module installed for SOCKS proxying or the "LWP::UserAgent" module installed for HTTP proxying.
proxy_host
proxy_port
proxy_username
proxy_password

If the screenname is all-numeric, it will automatically be treated as an ICQ UIN instead of an AIM screenname.

signoff: Sign off from the OSCAR service.

CALLBACKS

signon_done (OSCAR): Called when the user is completely signed on to the service.

BUDDIES AND BUDDYLISTS

See also "OTHER USERS" for methods which pertain to any other user, regardless of whether they're on the buddylist or not.

METHODS

findbuddy (BUDDY): In scalar context, returns the name of the group that BUDDY is in, or undef if BUDDY could not be found in any group. If BUDDY is in multiple groups, will return the first one we find.
In list context, returns a two-element list consisting of the group name followed by the group hashref (or the empty list of the buddy is not found.)
commit_buddylist: Sends your modified buddylist to the OSCAR server. Changes to the buddylist won't actually take effect until this method is called. Methods that change the buddylist have a warning about needing to call this method in their documentation. After calling this method, your program MUST not call it again until either the buddylist_ok or buddylist_error callbacks are received.
rollback_buddylist: Revert changes you've made to the buddylist, assuming you haven't called "commit_buddylist" since making them.
reorder_groups (GROUPS): Changes the ordering of the groups in your buddylist. Call "commit_buddylist" to save the new order on the OSCAR server.
reorder_buddies (GROUP, BUDDIES): Changes the ordering of the buddies in a group on your buddylist. Call "commit_buddylist" to save the new order on the OSCAR server.
rename_group (OLDNAME, NEWNAME): Renames a group. Call "commit_buddylist" for the change to take effect.
add_buddy (GROUP, BUDDIES): Adds buddies to the given group on your buddylist. If the group does not exist, it will be created. Call "commit_buddylist" for the change to take effect.
remove_buddy (GROUP, BUDDIES): See add_buddy.
add_group (GROUP): Creates a new, empty group. Call "commit_buddylist" for the change to take effect.
remove_group (GROUP): See add_group. Any buddies in the group will be removed from the group first.
groups: Returns a list of groups in the user's buddylist.
buddies (GROUP): Returns the names of the buddies in the specified group in the user's buddylist. The names may not be formatted - that is, they may have spaces and capitalization removed. The names are "Net::OSCAR::Screenname" objects, so you don't have to worry that they're case and whitespace insensitive when using them for comparison.
buddy (BUDDY[, GROUP]): Returns information about a buddy on the user's buddylist. This information is a hashref as per "USER INFORMATION" below.
set_buddy_comment (GROUP, BUDDY[, COMMENT]): Set a brief comment about a buddy. You must call "commit_buddylist" to save the comment to the server. If COMMENT is undefined, the comment is deleted.
set_buddy_alias (GROUP, BUDDY[, ALIAS]): Set an alias for a buddy. You must call "commit_buddylist" to save the comment to the server. If ALIAS is undefined, the alias is deleted.
buddylist_limits: Returns a hash containing the maximum number of buddylist entries of various types. The keys in the hash are:

buddies
groups
permits
denies

So, the maximum number of buddies allowed on a buddylist is stored in the "buddies" key. Please note that buddylist storage has some overhead, so the actual number of items you can have on a buddylist may be slightly less than advertised.

If the OSCAR server did not inform us of the limits, values of 0 will be used.

CALLBACKS

buddy_in (OSCAR, SCREENNAME, GROUP, BUDDY DATA)

SCREENNAME (in buddy group GROUP) has signed on, or their information has changed. BUDDY DATA is the same as that returned by the buddy method.

buddy_out (OSCAR, SCREENNAME, GROUP)

Called when a buddy has signed off (or added us to their deny list.)

buddylist_error (OSCAR, ERROR, WHAT)

This is called when there is an error commiting changes to the buddylist. "ERROR" is the error number. "WHAT" is a string describing which buddylist change failed. "Net::OSCAR" will revert the failed change to its state before "commit_buddylist" was called. Note that the buddylist contains information other than the user's buddies - see any method which says you need to call "commit_buddylist" to have its changes take effect.

buddylist_ok (OSCAR)

This is called when your changes to the buddylist have been successfully commited.

buddylist_changed (OSCAR, CHANGES)

This is called when your buddylist is changed by the server. The most common reason for this to happen is if the screenname you are signed on with is also signed on somewhere else, and the buddylist is changed in the other session.

Currently, only changes to buddies and groups will be listed in "CHANGES". Changes to privacy settings and any other portions of the buddylist will not be included in the list in the current version of "Net::OSCAR".

"CHANGES" is a list of hash references, one for each change to the buddylist, with the following keys:

type: Either "MODBL_WHAT_BUDDY" or "MODBL_WHAT_GROUP". This indicates if the change was to a buddy or a group.
action: Either "MODBL_ACTION_DEL" or "MODBL_ACTION_ADD". This indicates whether the change was an addition/modification or a deletion.
group: The name of the group which the modification took place in. For "MODBL_WHAT_BUDDY", this will be the name of the group which the changed buddy was changed in; for "MODBL_WHAT_GROUP", this will be the name of the group which was changed.
buddy: This key is only present for "MODBL_WHAT_BUDDY". It's the name of the buddy which was changed.

The "MODBL_*" constants come from "Net::OSCAR::Common", and are included in the ":standard" export list.

PRIVACY

"Net::OSCAR" supports privacy controls. Our visibility setting, along with the contents of the permit and deny lists, determines who can contact us. Visibility can be set to permit or deny everyone, permit only those on the permit list, deny only those on the deny list, or permit everyone on our buddylist.

METHODS

add_permit (BUDDIES): Add buddies to your permit list. Call "commit_buddylist" for the change to take effect.
add_deny (BUDDIES): See add_permit.
remove_permit (BUDDIES): See add_permit.
remove_deny (BUDDIES): See add_permit.
get_permitlist: Returns a list of all members of the permit list.
get_denylist: Returns a list of all members of the deny list.
visibility: Returns the user's current visibility setting. See set_visibility.
set_visibility (MODE): Sets the visibility mode, which determines how the permit and deny lists are interpreted. Note that if you're looking for the feature which will prevent a user from showing up as online on any buddy list while not affecting anything else, the droids you're looking for are "is_stealth"/"set_stealth".
The visibility mode may be:

VISMODE_PERMITALL: Permit everybody.
VISMODE_DENYALL: Deny everybody.
VISMODE_PERMITSOME: Permit only those on your permit list.
VISMODE_DENYSOME: Deny only those on your deny list.
VISMODE_PERMITBUDS: Same as VISMODE_PERMITSOME, but your permit list is made to be the same as the buddies from all the various groups in your buddylist (except the deny group!) Adding and removing buddies maintains this relationship. You shouldn't manually alter the permit or deny groups when using this visibility mode.

These constants are contained in the "Net::OSCAR::Common" package, and will be imported into your namespace if you import "Net::OSCAR" with the ":standard" parameter.

When someone is permitted, they can see when you are online and send you messages. When someone is denied, they can't see when you are online or send you messages. You cannot see them or send them messages. You can talk to them if you are in the same chatroom, although neither of you can invite the other one into a chatroom.

Call "commit_buddylist" for the change to take effect.

is_stealth
set_stealth STEALTH_STATUS: These methods deal with "stealth mode". When the user is in stealth mode, she won't show up as online on anyone's buddylist. However, for all other purposes, she will be online as usual. Any restrictions, imposed by the visibility mode (see "set_visibility"), on who can communicate with her will remain in effect.
Stealth state can be changed by another signon of the user's screenname. So, if you want your application to be aware of the stealth state, "is_stealth" won't cut it; there's a "stealth_changed" callback which will serve nicely.
set_group_permissions (NEWPERMS): Set group permissions. This lets you block any OSCAR users or any AOL users. "NEWPERMS" should be a list of zero or more of the following constants:

GROUPPERM_OSCAR: Permit AOL Instant Messenger users to contact you.
GROUPPERM_AOL: Permit AOL subscribers to contact you.

Call "commit_buddylist" for the change to take effect.

group_permissions: Returns current group permissions. The return value is a list like the one that "set_group_permissions" wants.

OTHER USERS

THE SIGNED-ON USER

These methods deal with the user who is currently signed on using a particular "Net::OSCAR" object.

METHODS

email

Returns the email address currently assigned to the user's account.

screenname

Returns the user's current screenname, including all capitalization and spacing.

is_on

Returns true if the user is signed on to the OSCAR service. Otherwise, returns false.

profile

Returns your current profile.

set_away (MESSAGE)

Sets the user's away message, also marking them as being away. If the message is undef or the empty string, the user will be marked as no longer being away. See also "get_away".

set_extended_status (MESSAGE)

Sets the user's extended status message. This requires the "Net::OSCAR" object to have been created with the "extended_status" capability. Currently, the only clients which support extended status messages are Net::OSCAR, Gaim, and iChat. If the message is undef or the empty string, the user's extended status message will be cleared. Use "get_info" to get another user's extended status.

set_info (PROFILE)

Sets the user's profile. Call "commit_buddylist" to have the new profile saved into the buddylist, so that it will be set the next time the screenname is signed on. (This is a Net::OSCAR-specific feature, so other clients will not pick up the profile from the buddylist.)

Note that Net::OSCAR stores the user's profile in the server-side buddylist, so if "commit_buddylist" is called after setting the profile with this method, the user will automatically get that same profile set whenever they sign on through Net::OSCAR. See the file "PROTOCOL", included with the "Net::OSCAR" distribution, for details of how we're storing this data.

Use "get_info" to retrieve another user's profile.

set_icon (ICONDATA)

Sets the user's buddy icon. The "Net::OSCAR" object must have been created with the "buddy_icons" capability to use this. "ICONDATA" must be less than 4kb, should be 48x48 pixels, and should be BMP, GIF, or JPEG image data. You must call commit_buddylist for this change to take effect. If "ICONDATA" is the empty string, the user's buddy icon will be removed.

When reading the icon data from a file, make sure to call "binmode" on the file handle.

Note that if the user's buddy icon was previously set with Net::OSCAR, enough data will be stored in the server-side buddylist that this will not have to be called every time the user signs on. However, other clients do not store the extra data in the buddylist, so if the user previously set a buddy icon with a non-Net::OSCAR-based client, this method will need to be called in order for the user's buddy icon to be set properly.

See the file "PROTOCOL", included with the "Net::OSCAR" distribution, for details of how we're storing this data.

You should receive a buddy_icon_uploaded callback in response to this method.

Use "get_icon" to retrieve another user's icon.

change_password (CURRENT PASSWORD, NEW PASSWORD)

Changes the user's password.

confirm_account

Confirms the user's account. This can be used when the user's account is in the trial state, as determined by the presence of the "trial" key in the information given when the user's information is requested.

change_email (NEW EMAIL)

Requests that the email address registered to the user's account be changed. This causes the OSCAR server to send an email to both the new address and the old address. To complete the change, the user must follow instructions contained in the email sent to the new address. The email sent to the old address contains instructions which allow the user to cancel the change within three days of the change request. It is important that the user's current email address be known to the OSCAR server so that it may email the account password if the user forgets it.

format_screenname (NEW FORMAT)

Allows the capitalization and spacing of the user's screenname to be changed. The new format must be the same as the user's current screenname, except that case may be changed and spaces may be inserted or deleted.

set_idle (TIME)

Sets the user's idle time in seconds. Set to zero to mark the user as not being idle. Set to non-zero once the user becomes idle. The OSCAR server will automatically increment the user's idle time once you mark the user as being idle.

CALLBACKS

admin_error (OSCAR, REQTYPE, ERROR, ERRURL): This is called when there is an error performing an administrative function - changing your password, formatting your screenname, changing your email address, or confirming your account. REQTYPE is a string describing the type of request which generated the error. ERROR is an error message. ERRURL is an http URL which the user may visit for more information about the error.
admin_ok (OSCAR, REQTYPE): This is called when an administrative function succeeds. See admin_error for more info.
buddy_icon_uploaded (OSCAR): This is called when the user's buddy icon is successfully uploaded to the server.
stealth_changed (OSCAR, NEW_STEALTH_STATE): This is called when the user's stealth state changes. See "is_stealth" and "set_stealth" for information on stealth.
extended_status (OSCAR, STATUS): Called when the user's extended status changes. This will normally be sent in response to a successful set_extended_status call.
evil (OSCAR, NEWEVIL[, FROM]): Called when your evil level changes. NEWEVIL is your new evil level, as a percentage (accurate to tenths of a percent.) ENEMY is undef if the evil was anonymous (or if the message was triggered because your evil level naturally decreased), otherwise it is the screenname of the person who sent us the evil. See the "evil" method for more information on evils.

FILE TRANSFER AND DIRECT CONNECTIONS

file_send SCREENNAME MESSAGE FILEREFS: "FILEDATA" can be undef to have Net::OSCAR read the file, a file handle, or the data to send.

EVENT PROCESSING

METHODS

do_one_loop: Processes incoming data from our connections to the various OSCAR services. This method reads one command from any connections which have data to be read. See the timeout method to set the timeout interval used by this method.
process_connections (READERSREF, WRITERSREF, ERRORSREF): Use this method when you want to implement your own "select" statement for event processing instead of using "Net::OSCAR"'s do_one_loop method. The parameters are references to the readers, writers, and errors parameters used by the select statement. The method will ignore all connections which are not "Net::OSCAR::Connection" objects or which are "Net::OSCAR::Connection" objects from a different "Net::OSCAR" object. It modifies its arguments so that its connections are removed from the connection lists. This makes it very convenient for use with multiple "Net::OSCAR" objects or use with a "select"-based event loop that you are also using for other purposes.
See the selector_filenos method for a way to get the necessary bit vectors to use in your "select".

CALLBACKS

connection_changed (OSCAR, CONNECTION, STATUS)

Called when the status of a connection changes. The status is "read" if we should call "process_one" on the connection when "select" indicates that the connection is ready for reading, "write" if we should call "process_one" when the connection is ready for writing, "readwrite" if "process_one" should be called in both cases, or "deleted" if the connection has been deleted.

"CONNECTION" is a "Net::OSCAR::Connection" object.

Users of this callback may also be interested in the "get_filehandle" method of "Net::OSCAR::Connection".

CHATS

METHODS

chat_join (NAME[, EXCHANGE]): Creates (or joins?) a chatroom. The exchange parameter should probably not be specified unless you know what you're doing. Do not use this method to accept invitations to join a chatroom - use the "chat_accept" method for that.
chat_accept (CHATURL): Use this to accept an invitation to join a chatroom.
chat_decline (CHATURL): Use this to decline an invitation to join a chatroom.

CALLBACKS

chat_buddy_in (OSCAR, SCREENNAME, CHAT, BUDDY DATA): SCREENNAME has entered CHAT. BUDDY DATA is the same as that returned by the buddy method.
chat_buddy_out (OSCAR, SCREENNAME, CHAT): Called when someone leaves a chatroom.
chat_im_in (OSCAR, FROM, CHAT, MESSAGE): Called when someone says something in a chatroom. Note that you receive your own messages in chatrooms unless you specify the NOREFLECT parameter in chat_send.
chat_invite (OSCAR, WHO, MESSAGE, CHAT, CHATURL): Called when someone invites us into a chatroom. MESSAGE is the message that they specified on the invitation. CHAT is the name of the chatroom. CHATURL is a chat URL and not a "Net::OSCAR::Connection::Chat" object. CHATURL can be passed to the chat_accept method to accept the invitation.
chat_joined (OSCAR, CHATNAME, CHAT): Called when you enter a chatroom. CHAT is the "Net::OSCAR::Connection::Chat" object for the chatroom.
chat_closed (OSCAR, CHAT, ERROR): Your connection to CHAT (a "Net::OSCAR::Connection::Chat" object) was severed due to ERROR.

RATE LIMITS

See "RATE LIMIT OVERVIEW" for more information on rate limits.

METHODS

rate_level (OSCAR, METHODNAME[, CHAT]): Returns the rate level (one of "RATE_CLEAR", "RATE_ALERT", "RATE_LIMIT", "RATE_DISCONNECT") which the OSCAR session is currently at for the "Net::OSCAR" (or "Net::OSCAR::Connection::Chat") method named "METHODNAME" right now. This only makes sense for methods which send information to the OSCAR server, such as "send_im", but if you pass in a method name which doesn't make sense (or isn't actually a "Net::OSCAR" method, or which isn't rate-limited), we'll gladly an empty list. This method is not available if your application is using "OSCAR_RATE_MANAGE_NONE".
If "METHODNAME" is "chat_send", you should also pass the "Net::OSCAR::Connection::Chat" object to get rate information on (as the "CHAT" parameter.)
rate_limits (OSCAR, METHODNAME[, CHAT]): Similar to "rate_level". This returns the boundaries of the different rate level categories for the given method name, in the form of a hash with the following keys (this won't make sense if you don't know how the current level is calculated; see below):

window_size
levels: A hashref with keys for each of the levels. Each key is the name of a level, and the value for that key is the threshold for that level.

clear
alert
limit
disconnect

last_time: The time at which the last command to affect this rate level was sent.
current_state: The session's current rate level.

Every time a command is sent to the OSCAR server, the level is recalculated according to the formula (from Alexandr Shutko's OSCAR documentation, <http://iserverd.khstu.ru/oscar/>:

        NewLevel = (Window - 1)/Window * OldLevel + 1/Window * CurrentTimeDiff

"CurrentTimeDiff" is the difference between the current system time and "last_time".

would_make_rate_level (OSCAR, METHODNAME[, CHAT]): Returns the rate level which your session would be at if "METHODNAME" were sent right now. See "rate_level" for more information.

CALLBACKS

rate_alert (OSCAR, LEVEL, CLEAR, WINDOW, WORRISOME, VIRTUAL)

This is called when you are sending commands to OSCAR too quickly.

"LEVEL" is one of "RATE_CLEAR", "RATE_ALERT", "RATE_LIMIT", or "RATE_DISCONNECT" from the "Net::OSCAR::Common" package (they are imported into your namespace if you import "Net::OSCAR" with the ":standard" parameter.) "RATE_CLEAR" means that you're okay. "RATE_ALERT" means you should slow down. "RATE_LIMIT" means that the server is ignoring messages from you until you slow down. "RATE_DISCONNECT" means you're about to be disconnected.

"CLEAR" and "WINDOW" tell you the maximum speed you can send in order to maintain "RATE_CLEAR" standing. You must send no more than "WINDOW" commands in "CLEAR" milliseconds. If you just want to keep it simple, you can just not send any commands for "CLEAR" milliseconds and you'll be fine.

"WORRISOME" is nonzero if "Net::OSCAR" thinks that the alert is anything worth worrying about. Otherwise it is zero. This is very rough, but it's a good way for the lazy to determine whether or not to bother passing the alert on to their users.

A "VIRTUAL" rate limit is one which your application would have incurred, but you're using automatic rate management, so we stopped something from being sent out.

MISCELLANEOUS

METHODS

timeout ([NEW TIMEOUT])

Gets or sets the timeout value used by the do_one_loop method. The default timeout is 0.01 seconds.

loglevel ([LOGLEVEL[, SCREENNAME DEBUG]])

Gets or sets the level of logging verbosity. If this is non-zero, varing amounts of information will be printed to standard error (unless you have a "log" callback defined). Higher loglevels will give you more information. If the optional screenname debug parameter is non-zero, debug messages will be prepended with the screenname of the OSCAR session which is generating the message (but only if you don't have a "log" callback defined). This is useful when you have multiple "Net::OSCAR" objects.

See the "log" callback for more information.

auth_response (MD5_DIGEST[, PASS_IS_HASHED])

Provide a response to an authentication challenge - see the "auth_challenge" callback for details.

clone

Clones the object. This creates a new "Net::OSCAR" object whose callbacks, loglevel, screenname debugging, and timeout are the same as those of the current object. This is provided as a convenience when using multiple "Net::OSCAR" objects in order to allow you to set those parameters once and then call the signon method on the object returned by clone.

buddyhash

Returns a reference to a tied hash which automatically normalizes its keys upon a fetch. Use this for hashes whose keys are AIM screennames since AIM screennames with different capitalization and spacing are considered equivalent.

The keys of the hash as returned by the "keys" and "each" functions will be "Net::OSCAR::Screenname" objects, so you they will automagically be compared without regards to case and whitespace.

findconn (FILENO)

Finds the connection that is using the specified file number, or undef if the connection could not be found. Returns a "Net::OSCAR::Connection" object.

selector_filenos

Returns a list whose first element is a vec of all filehandles that we care about reading from and whose second element is a vec of all filehandles that we care about writing to. See the "process_connections" method for details.

icon_checksum (ICONDATA)

Returns a checksum of the buddy icon. Use this in conjunction with the "icon_checksum" buddy info key to cache buddy icons.

get_app_data ([GROUP[, BUDDY]])

Gets application-specific data. Returns a hashref whose keys are app-data IDs. IDs with high-order byte 0x0001 are reserved for non-application-specific usage and must be registered with the "libfaim-aim-protocol@lists.sourceforge.net" list. If you wish to set application-specific data, you should reserve a high-order byte for your application by emailing "libfaim-aim-protocol@lists.sourceforge.net". This data is stored in your server-side buddylist and so will be persistent, even across machines.

If "GROUP" is present, a hashref for accessing data specific to that group is returned.

If "BUDDY" is present, a hashref for accessing data specific to that buddy is returned.

Call "commit_buddylist" to have the new data saved on the OSCAR server.

chat_invite (CHAT, MESSAGE, WHO)

Deprecated. Provided for compatibility with "Net::AIM". Use the appropriate method of the "Net::OSCAR::Connection::Chat" object instead.

chat_leave (CHAT)

Deprecated. Provided for compatibility with "Net::AIM". Use the appropriate method of the "Net::OSCAR::Connection::Chat" object instead.

chat_send (CHAT, MESSAGE)

Deprecated. Provided for compatibility with "Net::AIM". Use the appropriate method of the "Net::OSCAR::Connection::Chat" object instead.

CALLBACKS

auth_challenge (OSCAR, CHALLENGE, HASHSTR)

New for Net::OSCAR 2.0: AOL Instant Messenger has changed their encryption mechanisms; instead of using the password in the hash, you may now use the MD5 hash of the password. This allows your application to save the user's password in hashed form instead of plaintext if you're saving passwords. You must pass an extra parameter to "auth_response" indicating that you are using the new encryption scheme. See below for an example.

OSCAR uses an MD5-based challenge/response system for authentication so that the password is never sent in plaintext over the network. When a user wishes to sign on, the OSCAR server sends an arbitrary number as a challenge. The client must respond with the MD5 digest of the concatenation of, in this order, the challenge, the password, and an additional hashing string (currently always the string "AOL Instant Messenger (SM)", but it is possible that this might change in the future.)

If password is undefined in "signon", this callback will be triggered when the server sends a challenge during the signon process. The client must reply with the MD5 digest of CHALLENGE . MD5(password) . HASHSTR. For instance, using the MD5::Digest module:

        my($oscar, $challenge, $hashstr) = @_;
        my $md5 = Digest::MD5->new;
        $md5->add($challenge);
        $md5->add(md5("password"));
        $md5->add($hashstr);
        $oscar->auth_response($md5->digest, 1);

Note that this functionality is only available for certain services. It is available for AIM but not ICQ. Note also that the MD5 digest must be in binary form, not the more common hex or base64 forms.

log (OSCAR, LEVEL, MESSAGE)

Use this callback if you don't want the log_print methods to just print to STDERR. It is called when even "MESSAGE" of level "LEVEL" is called. The levels are, in order of increasing importance:

OSCAR_DBG_NONE: Really only useful for setting in the "loglevel" method. No information will be logged. The default loglevel.
OSCAR_DBG_PACKETS: Hex dumps of all incoming/outgoing packets.
OSCAR_DBG_DEBUG: Information useful for debugging "Net::OSCAR", and precious little else.
OSCAR_DBG_SIGNON: Like "OSCAR_DBG_NOTICE", but only for the signon process; this is where problems are most likely to occur, so we provide this for the common case of people who only want a lot of information during signon. This may be deprecated some-day and be replaced by a more flexible facility/level system, ala syslog.
OSCAR_DBG_NOTICE
OSCAR_DBG_INFO
OSCAR_DBG_WARN

Note that these symbols are imported into your namespace if and only if you use the ":loglevels" or ":all" tags when importing the module (e.g. "use Net::OSCAR qw(:standard :loglevels)".)

Also note that this callback is only triggered for events whose level is greater than or equal to the loglevel for the OSCAR session. The "loglevel" method allows you to get or set the loglevel.

ERROR HANDLING

CALLBACKS

error (OSCAR, CONNECTION, ERROR, DESCRIPTION, FATAL)

Called when any sort of error occurs (except see admin_error below and buddylist_error in "BUDDIES AND BUDDYLISTS".)

"CONNECTION" is the particular connection which generated the error - the "log_print" method of "Net::OSCAR::Connection" may be useful, as may be getting "$connection->{description}". "DESCRIPTION" is a nicely formatted description of the error. "ERROR" is an error number.

If "FATAL" is non-zero, the error was fatal and the connection to OSCAR has been closed.

snac_unknown (OSCAR, CONNECTION, SNAC, DATA)

Called when Net::OSCAR receives a message from the OSCAR server which it doesn't known how to handle. The default handler for this callback will print out the unknown SNAC.

"CONNECTION" is the "Net::OSCAR::Connection" object on which the unknkown message was received. "SNAC" is a hashref with keys such as "family", "subtype", "flags1", and "flags2".

CHAT CONNECTIONS

Aside from the methods listed here, there are a couple of methods of the "Net::OSCAR::Connection::Chat" object that are important for implementing chat functionality. "Net::OSCAR::Connection::Chat" is a descendent of "Net::OSCAR::Connection".

invite (WHO, MESSAGE): Invite somebody into the chatroom.
chat_send (MESSAGE[, NOREFLECT[, AWAY]]): Sends a message to the chatroom. If the NOREFLECT parameter is present, you will not receive the message as an incoming message from the chatroom. If AWAY is present, the message was generated as an automatic reply, perhaps because you have an away message set.
part: Leave the chatroom.
url: Returns the URL for the chatroom. Use this to associate a chat invitation with the chat_joined that "Net::OSCAR" sends when you've join the chatroom.
name: Returns the name of the chatroom.
exchange: Returns the exchange of the chatroom. This is normally 4 but can be 5 for certain chatrooms.

RATE LIMIT OVERVIEW

The OSCAR server has the ability to specify restrictions on the rate at which the client, your application, can send it commands. These constraints can be independently set and tracked for different classes of command, so there might be one limit on how fast you can send IMs and another on how fast you can request away messages. If your application exceeds these limits, the OSCAR server may start ignoring it or may even disconnect your session.

See also the reference section on rate limits.

RATE MANAGEMENT MODES

"Net::OSCAR" supports three different schemes for managing these limits. Pass the scheme you want to use as the value of the "rate_manage" key when you invoke the "new" method.

OSCAR_RATE_MANAGE_NONE

The default. "Net::OSCAR" will not keep track of what the limits are, much less how close you're coming to reaching them. If the OSCAR server complains that you are sending too fast, your "rate_alert" callback will be triggered.

OSCAR_RATE_MANAGE_AUTO

In this mode, "Net::OSCAR" will prevent your application from exceeding the limits. If you try to send a command which would cause the limits to be exceeded, your command will be queued. You will be notified when this happens via the "rate_alert" callback. This mode is only available if your application implements "Net::OSCAR"'s time-delayed event system.

OSCAR_RATE_MANAGE_MANUAL

In this mode, "Net::OSCAR" will track what the limits are and how close you're coming to reaching them, but won't do anything about it. Your application should use the "rate_level", "rate_limits", and "would_make_rate_level" methods to control its own rate.

TIME-DELAYED EVENTS

CONSTANTS

The following constants are defined when "Net::OSCAR" is imported with the ":standard" tag. Unless indicated otherwise, the constants are magical scalars - they return different values in string and numeric contexts (for instance, an error message and an error number.)

ADMIN_TYPE_PASSWORD_CHANGE
ADMIN_TYPE_EMAIL_CHANGE
ADMIN_TYPE_SCREENNAME_FORMAT
ADMIN_TYPE_ACCOUNT_CONFIRM
ADMIN_ERROR_UNKNOWN
ADMIN_ERROR_BADPASS
ADMIN_ERROR_BADINPUT
ADMIN_ERROR_BADLENGTH
ADMIN_ERROR_TRYLATER
ADMIN_ERROR_REQPENDING
ADMIN_ERROR_CONNREF
VISMODE_PERMITALL
VISMODE_DENYALL
VISMODE_PERMITSOME
VISMODE_DENYSOME
VISMODE_PERMITBUDS
RATE_CLEAR
RATE_ALERT
RATE_LIMIT
RATE_DISCONNECT
OSCAR_RATE_MANAGE_NONE
OSCAR_RATE_MANAGE_AUTO
OSCAR_RATE_MANAGE_MANUAL
GROUPPERM_OSCAR
GROUPPERM_AOL
TYPINGSTATUS_STARTED
TYPINGSTATUS_TYPING
TYPINGSTATUS_FINISHED

Net::AIM Compatibility

Here are the major differences between the "Net::OSCAR" interface and the "Net::AIM" interface:

No get/set method.
No newconn/getconn method.
No group parameter for add_permit or add_deny.
Many differences in chat handling.
No chat_whisper.
No encode method - it isn't needed.
No send_config method - it isn't needed.
No send_buddies method - we don't keep a separate local buddylist.
No normalize method - it isn't needed. Okay, there is a normalize function in "Net::OSCAR::Utility", but I can't think of any reason why it would need to be used outside of the module internals. "Net::OSCAR" provides the same functionality through the "Net::OSCAR::Screenname" class.
Different callbacks with different parameters.

MISCELLANEOUS INFO

There are two programs included with the "Net::OSCAR" distribution. "oscartest" is half a reference implementation of a "Net::OSCAR" client and half a tool for testing this library. "snacsnatcher" is a tool designed for analyzing the OSCAR protocol from libpcap-format packet captures, but it isn't particularly well-maintained; the Ethereal sniffer does a good job at this nowadays.

There is a class "Net::OSCAR::Screenname". OSCAR screennames are case and whitespace insensitive, and if you do something like "$buddy = new Net::OSCAR::Screenname "Matt Sachs"" instead of "$buddy = "Matt Sachs"", this will be taken care of for you when you use the string comparison operators (eq, ne, cmp, etc.)

"Net::OSCAR::Connection", the class used for connection objects, has some methods that may or may not be useful to you.

get_filehandle: Returns the filehandle used for the connection. Note that this is a method of "Net::OSCAR::Connection", not "Net::OSCAR".
process_one (CAN_READ, CAN_WRITE, HAS_ERROR): Call this when a "Net::OSCAR::Connection" is ready for reading and/or writing. You might call this yourself instead of using "process_connections" when, for instance, using the "connection_changed" callback in conjunction with "IO::Poll" instead of "select". The "CAN_READ" and "CAN_WRITE" parameters should be non-zero if the connection is ready for the respective operations to be performed and zero otherwise. If and only if there was a socket error with the connection, set "HAS_ERROR" to non-zero.
session: Returns the "Net::OSCAR" object associated with this "Net::OSCAR::Connection".

USER INFORMATION

Methods which return information about a user, such as "buddy", will return the information in the form of a hash. The keys of the hash are the following -- note that any of these may be absent.

online: The user is signed on. If this key is not present, all of the other keys may not be present.
screenname: The formatted version of the user's screenname. This includes all spacing and capitalization. This is a "Net::OSCAR::Screenname" object, so you don't have to worry about the fact that it's case and whitespace insensitive when comparing it.
comment: A user-defined comment associated with the buddy. See "set_buddy_comment". Note that this key will be present but undefined if there is no comment.
alias: A user-defined alias for the buddy. See "set_buddy_alias". Note that this key will be present but undefined if there is no alias.
extended_status: The user's extended status message, if one is set, will be in this key. This requires that you set the "extended_status" capability when creating the "Net::OSCAR" object.
trial: The user's account has trial status.
aol: The user is accessing the AOL Instant Messenger service from America OnLine.
free: Opposite of aol.
away: The user is away.
admin: The user is an administrator.
mobile: The user is using a mobile device.
typing_status: The user is known to support typing status notification. We only find this out if they send us an IM.
capabilities: The user's capabilities. This is a reference to a hash whose keys are the user's capabilities, and whose values are descriptions of their respective capabilities.
icon: The user's buddy icon, if available.
icon_checksum: The checksum time of the user's buddy icon, if available. Use this, in conjunction with the icon_checksum method, to cache buddy icons.
icon_timestamp: The modification timestamp of the user's buddy icon, if available.
icon_length: The length of the user's buddy icon, if available.
membersince: Time that the user's account was created, in the same format as the "time" function.
onsince: Time that the user signed on to the service, in the same format as the "time" function.
idle_since: Time, in seconds since Jan 1st 1970, since which the user has been idle. This will only be present if the user is idle. To figure out how long the user has been idle for, subtract this value from "time()" .
evil: Evil (warning) level for the user.

Some keys; namely, "typing_status" and "icon_checksum", may be available for people who the user has communicated with but who are not on the user's buddylist.

ICQ-SPECIFIC INFORMATION

ICQ support isn't nearly as well-tested as AIM support, and ICQ-specific features aren't being particularly actively developed. Patches for ICQ-isms are welcome. The initial patch enabling us to sign on to ICQ was provided by Sam Wong.

ICQ METHODS

get_icq_info (UIN): Requests ICQ-specific information. See also the "buddy_icq_info" callback.

ICQ CALLBACKS

buddy_icq_info (OSCAR, UIN, ICQ DATA): The result of a "get_icq_info" call. Data is a hashref with the following keys, the value of each key is a either a hashref or undefined:

basic

nickname
firstname
lastname
email
gmt_offset
authorization
web_aware
direct_connect_permissions
publish_primary_email

home

city
state
phone_num
fax_num
address
cell_phone_num
zip_code
country_code

office

city
state
phone_num
fax_num
address
zip_code
country_code
company
department
position
occupation
office_website

background

age
gender
homepage
birth_year
birth_month
birth_day
spoken_languages: This key is a listref containing the langauges the user speaks.
origin_city
origin_state
origin_country
marital_status

notes: This key is a simple scalar.
email_addresses: This key is a listref, each element of which is a hashref with the following keys:

publish
address

interests: This key is a listref, each element of which is a hashref with the following keys:

category
interest

past_affiliations: This key is a listref, each element of which is a hashref with the following keys:

category
affiliation

present_affiliations: As per above.
homepage

category
keywords

HIGH-PERFORMANCE EVENT PROCESSING

A second way of doing event processing is designed to make it easy to integrate "Net::OSCAR" into an existing "select"-based event loop, especially one where you have many "Net::OSCAR" objects. Simply call the "process_connections" method with references to the lists of readers, writers, and errors given to you by "select". Connections that don't belong to the object will be ignored, and connections that do belong to the object will be removed from the "select" lists so that you can use the lists for your own purposes. Here is an example that demonstrates how to use this method with multiple "Net::OSCAR" objects:

        my $ein = $rin | $win;
        select($rin, $win, $ein, 0.01);
        foreach my $oscar(@oscars) {
                $oscar->process_connections(\$rin, \$win, \$ein);
        }

        # Now $rin, $win, and $ein only have the file descriptors not
        # associated with any of the OSCAR objects in them - we can
        # process our events.

The third way of doing connection processing uses the "connection_changed" callback in conjunction with "Net::OSCAR::Connection"'s "process_one" method. This method, in conjunction with "IO::Poll", probably offers the highest performance in situations where you have a long-lived application which creates and destroys many "Net::OSCAR" sessions; that is, an application whose list of file descriptors to monitor will likely be sparse. However, this method is the most complicated. What you need to do is call "IO::Poll::mask" inside of the "connection_changed" callback. That part's simple. The tricky bit is figuring out which "Net::OSCAR::Connection::process_one"'s to call and how to call them. My recommendation for doing this is to use a hashmap whose keys are the file descriptors of everything you're monitoring in the "IO::Poll" - the FDs can be retrieved by doing "fileno($connection->get_filehandle)" inside of the "connection_changed" - and then calling "@handles = $poll->handles(POLLIN | POLLOUT | POLLERR | POLLHUP)" and walking through the handles.

For optimum performance, use the "connection_changed" callback.

HISTORY

•: 1.925, 2006-02-06

Many buddylist performance enhancements and bug fixes.
Added support for receiving dynamic buddylist changes from the server ("callback_buddylist_changed".)
Add support buddylist transfer ("set_callback_buddylist_in".)
Miscellaneous performance and scalability enhancements.
Added experimental migration support.
Added advanced rate limit management API.
Added "oscarserv" server for testing.
Audited screennames exposed to application to verify that they are "Net::OSCAR::Screenname" objects everywhere.
Began work on file transfer.
Connection status fix for compatibility with POE.

•: 1.907, 2004-09-22

•: Fixed assert failure on certain invalid input ("Buddy Trikill" crash)

•: 1.906, 2004-08-28

•: Reorganized documentation

•: 1.904, 2004-08-26

•: Add $Net::OSCAR::XML::NO_XML_CACHE to prevent use of cached XML parse tree, and skip tests if we can't load Test::More or XML::Parser.

•: 1.903, 2004-08-26

•: Generate XML parse tree at module build time so that users don't need to have XML::Parser and expat installed.

•: 1.902, 2004-08-26

Fixes to buddy icon upload and chat invitation decline
Increase performance by doing lazy generation of certain debugging info

•: 1.901, 2004-08-24

Lots of buddylist-handling bug fixes; should fix intermittent buddylist modification errors and errors only seen when modifying certain screennames; Roy C. rocks.
We now require Perl 5.6.1.
Workaround for bug in Perl pre-5.8.4 which manifested as a "'basic OSCAR services' isn't numeric" warning followed by the program freezing.
"add_group" and "remove_group" methods added.
Fixed a potential memory leak which could impact programs which create many transient Net::OSCAR objects.

•: 1.900, 2004-08-17

Wrote new XML-based protocol back-end with reasonably comprehensive test-suite. Numerous protocol changes; we now emulate AOL's version 5.5 client.
Rewrote snacsnatcher, an OSCAR protocol analysis tool
Reorganized documentation
ICQ meta-info support: get_icq_info method, buddy_icq_info callback
Stealth mode support: is_stealth and set_stealth methods, stealth_changed callback, stealth signon key
More flexible unknown SNAC handling: snac_unknown callback
Application can give Net::OSCAR the MD5-hashed password instead of the cleartext password (pass_is_hashed signon key). This is useful if your application is storing user passwords.
Inability to set blocking on Win32 is no longer fatal. Silly platform.
Fixed chat functionality.

•: 1.11, 2004-02-13

•: Fixed presence-related problems modifying some buddylists

•: 1.10, 2004-02-10

Fixed idle time handling; user info hashes now have an 'idle_since' key, which you should use instead of the old 'idle' key. Subtract "idle_since" from "time()" to get the length of time for which the user has been idle.
Fixed buddylist type 5 handling; this fixes problems modifying the buddylists of recently-created screennames.

•: 1.01, 2004-01-06

•: Fixed buddy ID generation (problems adding buddies)

•: 1.00, 2004-01-03

Documented requirement to wait for buddylist_foo callback between calls to commit_buddylist
Fixed handling of idle time (zoyboy22)
More flexible signon method
Added buddy alias support
Buddy icon support
Typing notification support
mac.com screenname support
Support for communicating with ICQ users from AIM
iChat extended status message support
We now emulate AOL Instant Messenger for Windows 5.2
We now parse the capabilities of other users
Attempts at Win32 (non-cygwin) support

•: 0.62, 2002-02-25

Error handling slightly improved; error 29 is no longer unknown.
A minor internal buddylist enhancement
snacsnatcher fixes

•: 0.61, 2002-02-17

•: Fixed connection handling

•: 0.60, 2002-02-17

Various connection_changed fixes, including the new readwrite status.
Added Net::OSCAR::Connection::session method
Improved Net::OSCAR::Connection::process_one, documented it, and documented using it

•: 0.59, 2002-02-15

Protocol fixes - solves problem with AOL calling us an unauthorized client
Better handling of socket errors, especially when writing
Minor POD fixes

•: 0.58, 2002-01-20

Send buddylist deletions before adds - needed for complex BL mods (loadbuddies)
Added hooks to allow client do MD5 digestion for authentication (auth_challenge callback, Net::OSCAR::auth_response method)

•: 0.57, 2002-01-16

Send callback_chat_joined correctly when joining an existing chat
Don't activate OldPerl fixes for perl 5.6.0
Ignore chats that we're already in

•: 0.56, 2002-01-16

Fixed rate handling
Send multiple buddylist modifications per SNAC
Detect when someone else signs on with your screenname
Corrected attribution of ICQ support

•: 0.55, 2001-12-29

Preliminary ICQ support, courtesy of SDiZ Chen (actually, Sam Wong).
Restored support for pre-5.6 perls - reverted from "IO::Socket" to "Socket".
Corrected removal of buddylist entries and other buddylist-handling improvements
Improved rate handling - new "worrisome" parameter to rate_alert callback
Removed remaining "croak" from "OSCAR::Connection"
Added is_on method

•: 0.50, 2001-12-23

Fixes for the "crap out on 'connection reset by peer'" and "get stuck and slow down in Perl_sv_2bool" bugs!
Correct handling of very large (over 100 items) buddylists.
We can now join exchange 5 chats.
Fixes in modifying permit mode.
Updated copyright notice courtesy of AOL's lawyers.
Switch to IO::Socket for portability in set_blocking.

•: 0.25, 2001-11-26

Net::OSCAR is now in beta!
We now work with perl 5.005 and even 5.004
Try to prevent weird Net::OSCAR::Screenname bug where perl gets stuck in Perl_sv_2bool
Fixed problems with setting visibility mode and adding to deny list (thanks, Philip)
Added some methods to allow us to be POE-ified
Added guards around a number of methods to prevent the user from trying to do stuff before s/he's finished signing on.
Fix *incredibly* stupid error in NO_to_BLI that ate group names
Fixed bad bug in log_printf
Buddylist error handling changes
Added chat_decline command
Signon, signoff fixes
Allow AOL screennames to sign on
flap_get crash fixes

•: 0.09, 2001-10-01

Crash and undefined value fixes
New method: im_ok
New method: rename_group, should fix "Couldn't get group name" error.
Fix for buddy_in callback and data
Better error handling when we can't resolve a host
Vastly improved logging infrastructure - debug_print(f) replaced with log_print(f). debug_print callback is now called log and has an extra parameter.
Fixed MANIFEST - we don't actually use Changes (and we do use Screenname.pm)
blinternal now automagically enforces the proper structure (the right things become Net::OSCAR::TLV tied hashes and the name and data keys are automatically created) upon vivification. So, you can do $bli->{0}->{1}->{2}->{data}->{0x3} = "foo" without worrying if 0, 1, 2, or data have been tied. Should close bug #47.

•: 0.08, 2001-09-07

Totally rewritten buddylist handling. It is now much cleaner, bug-resistant, and featureful.
Many, many internal changes that I don't feel like enumerating. Hey, there's a reason that I haven't declared the interface stable yet! ;)
New convenience object: Net::OSCAR::Screenname
Makefile.PL: Fixed perl version test and compatibility with BSD make

•: 0.07, 2001-08-13

A bunch of Makefile.PL fixes
Fixed spurious admin_error callback and prevent user from having multiple pending requests of the same type. (closes #39)
Head off some potential problems with set_visibility. (closes #34)
Removed connections method, added selector_filenos
Added error number 29 (too many recent signons from your site) to Net::OSCAR::Common.
We now explicitly perl 5.6.0 or newer.

•: 0.06, 2001-08-12

Prevent sending duplicate signon_done messages
Don't addconn after crapping out!
Don't try to delconn unless we have connections.
delete returns the correct value now in Net::OSCAR::Buddylist.
Don't use warnings if $] <= 5.005
evil is a method, not a manpage (doc fix)
Added buddyhash method.
Added a debug_print callback.
Clarified process_connections method in documentation
You can now specify an alternate host/port in signon
Added name method to Chat.
permit list and deny list are no longer part of buddylist
Rewrote buddylist parsing (again!)
No more default profile.
Fix bug when storing into an already-existing key in Net::OSCAR::Buddylist.
snacsnatcher: Remove spurious include of Net::OSCAR::Common
We don't need to handle VISMODE_PERMITBUDS ourself - the server takes care of it. Thanks, VB!
Makefile.PL: Lots of way cool enhancements to make dist:

It modifies the version number for us
It does a CVS rtag
It updates the HTML documentation on zevils and the README.

•: Added HISTORY and INSTALLATION section to POD.

•: 0.05, 2001-08-08

Don't send signon_done until after we get buddylist.
Added signoff method.
Fixed typo in documentation
Fixed chat_invite parm count
Added Scalar::Utils::dualvar variables, especially to Common.pm. dualvar variables return different values in numeric and string context.
Added url method for Net::OSCAR::Chat (closes #31)
Divide evil by 10 in extract_userinfo (closes #30)
chat_invite now exposes chatname (closes #32)
Removed unnecessary and warning-generating session length from extract_userinfo

•: 0.01, 2001-08-02

•: Initial release.

SUPPORT

See http://www.zevils.com/programs/net-oscar/ for support, including a mailing list and bug-tracking system.

AUTHOR

Matthew Sachs <matthewg@zevils.com>.

CREDITS

AOL, for creating the AOL Instant Messenger service, even though they aren't terribly helpful to developers of third-party clients.

Apple Computer for help with mac.com support.

The users of IMIRC for being reasonably patient while this module was developed. <http://www.zevils.com/programs/imirc/>

Bill Atkins for typing status notification and mobile user support. <http://www.milkbone.org/>

Jayson Baker for some last-minute debugging help.

Roy Camp for loads of bug reports and ideas and helping with user support.

Rocco Caputo for helping to work out the hooks that let use be used with POE. <http://poe.perl.org/>

Mark Doliner for help with remote buddylists. <http://kingant.net/libfaim/ReadThis.html>

Adam Fritzler and the libfaim team for their documentation and an OSCAR implementation that was used to help figure out a lot of the protocol details. <http://www.zigamorph.net/faim/protocol/>

The gaim team - the source to their libfaim client was also very helpful. <http://gaim.sourceforge.net/>

Nick Gray for sponsoring scalability work.

John "VBScript" for a lot of technical assistance, including the explanation of rates.

Jonathon Wodnicki for additional help with typing status notification.

Sam Wong <sam@uhome.net> for a patch implementing ICQ2000 support.

LEGAL

Copyright (c) 2001 Matthew Sachs. All rights reserved. This program is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify it under the same terms as Perl itself. AOL and AMERICA ONLINE are registered trademarks owned by America Online, Inc. The INSTANT MESSENGER mark is owned by America Online, Inc. ICQ is a trademark and/or servicemark of ICQ. "Net::OSCAR" is not endorsed by, or affiliated with, America Online, Inc or ICQ. iChat and Apple Computer are registered trademarks of Apple Computer, Inc. "Net::OSCAR" is not endorsed by, or affiliated with, Apple Computer, Inc or iChat.