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+#+title: Using Haskell
+
+* Writing your own xmobar in Haskell
+  :PROPERTIES:
+  :CUSTOM_ID: xmobar-in-haskell
+  :END:
+
+  Besides an standalone program, ~xmobar~ is also a Haskell library providing
+  an interface to write your own status bar. You can write, instead of a
+  configuration file, a real Haskell program that will be compiled and run
+  when you invoke =xmobar=.
+
+  Make sure that ~ghc~ will be able to locate the xmobar library, e.g. with
+
+  #+begin_src shell
+    cabal install --lib xmobar
+  #+end_src
+
+  and then write your Haskell configuration and main function using the
+  functions and types exported in the library, which closely resemble those
+  used in configuration files.  Here's a small example:
+
+  #+begin_src haskell
+    import Xmobar
+
+    config :: Config
+    config =
+      defaultConfig
+        { font = "xft:Terminus-8",
+          allDesktops = True,
+          alpha = 200,
+          commands =
+            [ Run XMonadLog,
+              Run $ Memory ["t", "Mem: <usedratio>%"] 10,
+              Run $ Kbd [],
+              Run $ Date "%a %_d %b %Y <fc=#ee9a00>%H:%M:%S</fc>" "date" 10
+            ],
+          template = "%XMonadLog% }{ %kbd% | %date% | %memory%",
+          alignSep = "}{"
+        }
+
+    main :: IO ()
+    main = xmobar config
+  #+end_src
+
+  You can then for instance run =ghc --make xmobar.hs= to create a new xmobar
+  executable running exactly the monitors defined above.  Or put your
+  =xmobar.hs= program in =~/.config/xmobar/xmobar.hs= and, when running the
+  system-wide xmobar, it will notice that you have your own implementation
+  and (re)compile and run it as needed.
+
+* Writing a plugin
+  :PROPERTIES:
+  :CUSTOM_ID: writing-a-plugin
+  :END:
+  Writing a plugin for xmobar is very simple!
+
+  First, you need to create a data type with at least one constructor.  Next
+  you must declare this data type an instance of the =Exec= class, by defining
+  the one needed method (alternatively =start= or =run=) and 3 optional ones
+  (=alias=, =rate=, and =trigger=):
+
+  #+begin_src haskell
+    start   :: e -> (String -> IO ()) -> IO ()
+    run     :: e -> IO String
+    rate    :: e -> Int
+    alias   :: e -> String
+    trigger :: e -> (Maybe SignalType -> IO ()) -> IO ()
+  #+end_src
+
+  =start= must receive a callback to be used to display the =String= produced by
+  the plugin. This method can be used for plugins that need to perform
+  asynchronous actions. See =src/Xmobar/Plugins/PipeReader.hs= for an example.
+
+  =run= can be used for simpler plugins. If you define only =run= the plugin
+  will be run every second. To overwrite this default you just need to
+  implement =rate=, which must return the number of tenth of seconds between
+  every successive runs. See [[../examples/xmobar.hs][examples/xmobar.hs]] for an example of a plugin
+  that runs just once, and [[../src/Xmobar/Plugins/Date.hs][src/Xmobar/Plugins/Date.hs]] for one that
+  implements =rate=.
+
+  Notice that Date could be implemented as:
+
+  #+begin_src haskell
+    instance Exec Date where
+        alias (Date _ a _) = a
+        start (Date f _ r) = date f r
+
+    date :: String -> Int -> (String -> IO ()) -> IO ()
+    date format r callback = do go
+        where go = do
+                t <- toCalendarTime =<< getClockTime
+                callback $ formatCalendarTime defaultTimeLocale format t
+                tenthSeconds r >> go
+  #+end_src
+
+  Modulo some technicalities like refreshing the time-zone in a clever way,
+  this implementation is equivalent to the one you can read in
+  =Plugins/Date.hs=.
+
+  =alias= is the name to be used in the output template. Default alias will be
+  the data type constructor.
+
+  After that your type constructor can be used as an argument for the
+  Runnable type constructor =Run= in the =commands= list of the configuration
+  options.
+
+  If your plugin only implements =alias= and =start=, then it is advisable to
+  put it into the =Xmobar/Plugins/Monitors= directory and use one of the many
+  =run*= functions in [[../src/Xmobar/Plugins/Monitors/Common/Run.hs][Xmobar.Plugins.Monitors.Run]] in order to define
+  =start=. The =Exec= instance should then live in [[../src/Xmobar/Plugins/Monitors.hs][Xmobar.Plugins.Monitors]].
+
+* Using a Plugin
+
+  To use your new plugin, you just need to use a pure Haskell configuration
+  for xmobar (as explained [[#xmobar-in-haskell][above]]) and load your definitions in your =xmobar.hs=
+  file. You can see an example in [[../examples/xmobar.hs][examples/xmobar.hs]] showing you how to write
+  a Haskell configuration that uses a new plugin, all in one file.
+
+  When xmobar runs with the full path to that Haskell file as its argument
+  (or if you put it in =~/.config/xmobar/xmobar.hs=), and with the xmobar
+  library installed (e.g., with =cabal install --lib xmobar=), the Haskell
+  code will be compiled as needed, and the new executable spawned for you.
+
+  That's it!