Menu extra
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
A Menu extra, menu item or status item in Mac OS X is a small icon or sometimes a word that appears at the right of the menu bar. They often provide quick ways to use applications (e.g. iChat) or display information (for example the system clock), or control system-level variables (for example the volume control). There are a number of third party menu items available. Menu extras are similar to items in the Microsoft Windows system tray but are less common.
There are many menu extras supplied with Mac OS X, most of which are activated from their parent application or via an external device being connected (for example, Inkwell will activate when a graphics tablet is connected to your computer). All supplied menu extras can be found in this folder: /System/Library/CoreServices/Menu Extras/.
Menu extras were introduced with Mac OS X v10.1 and replaced Dock extras. There was some controversy when they were originally introduced. Although Apple provided an API for third-party developers to use to create menu extras using the NSStatusItem class, they used another private class called NSMenuExtra to develop their own menu extras. Menu extras based on NSMenuExtra automatically included a number of extra features not available to NSStatusItem-based extras, such as drag and drop install/uninstall and the ability to rearrange the extras using the mouse. The given reason for this is that NSMenuExtra-based menu extras operate within the address space of the SystemUIServer so faulty code in a menu extra could cause instability in a core part of the operating system.
[edit] External links
- Building NSMenuExtra - A Small Tutorial - article written by Rustam Muginov for Cocoa Dev Central
- NSStatusItem class - Apple developer documentation for NSStatusItem
- OS X menubar items - Extensive list of menu extras (last updated 6/16/06)
Applications
Address Book • Automator • Backup • Calculator • Chess • Dashboard • Dictionary • DVD Player • Finder • Front Row • Grapher • iCal • iChat • iSync • iTunes • Mail • Photo Booth • Preview • QuickTime Player • Safari • Sherlock • Stickies • TextEdit
Utilities
Activity Monitor • AirPort Admin Utility • Audio MIDI Setup • Bluetooth File Exchange • BOMArchiveHelper • Classic • ColorSync Utility • Console • Crash Reporter • DigitalColor Meter • Directory Access • DiskImageMounter • Disk Utility • Font Book • Grab • Help Viewer • Image Capture • Installer • Internet Connect • Keychain Access • Migration Assistant • NetInfo Manager • Network Utility • ODBC Administrator • Printer Setup Utility • Software Update • System Preferences • System Profiler • Terminal • Universal Access • VoiceOver • X11
Technology & User interface (future features italicized)
⌘ • ⌥ • Apple Advanced Typography • AppleScript • Aqua • ATSUI • Audio Units • Bonjour • Boot Camp • Carbon • Cocoa • ColorSync • Core Animation • Core Audio • Core Data • Core Foundation • Core Image • Core Video • CUPS • Darwin • Exposé • FileVault • Inkwell • icns • Keychain • Mach-O • OpenGL • plist • Quartz • QuickTime • Rosetta • Smart folder • Spaces • Spotlight • Time Machine • Uniform Type Identifier • Universal binary • WebKit • Xgrid • XNU
