Addon version check?

[tobias1919]

Hello! I'll start by saying, that i'm very new to writing addons, and programming in general...

I see some addons giving an in-game message when a new version is available...
How is this done? I've tried googling various stuff, but doesn't seem to come up with anything worth mentioning...

[Dridzt]

SendAddonMessage

[Seerah]

To expand upon what Drizdt said, the addons will talk with each other over the addon message channel to ask for the addon version. If a user updates to a new version and that version doesn't match that returned by the other copies of the addon, they will know that it is newer (if the number is bigger, of course).

Now... There are only a select few of addons that where users having the latest version is in their best interests. If you don't have a really, really, really good reason for this, then don't put it in your addon.

[Phanx]

Originally Posted by Seerah If you don't have a really, really, really good reason for this, then don't put it in your addon.

This x1000. It's incredibly annoying to download something simple, and later have it spam you with "OMG YOUR ADDON IS OUT OF DATE!!!!!" warnings for no good reason. Other than major patches, I only run the Curse Client to check for addon updates about once a month. An addon spamming me about unnecessary updates isn't going to make me go update immediately. It's just going to make me uninstall the addon.

The only addons that have a good reason for version checking are addons whose functionality depends on communicating with other users of the addon, and even then, they should only pester the user to update if their version is no longer compatible with the current version.

[Petrah]

If you absolutely must add this to your addon, be certain that it will only print the information one time. Not every time you log in or upon every UI reload. That's a good way to annoy the hell out of people.

Personally, in Wow that is my biggest pet peeve... to be spammed repeatedly with the same info from an addon.

[Tonyleila]

Originally Posted by Phanx This x1000. It's incredibly annoying to download something simple, and later have it spam you with "OMG YOUR ADDON IS OUT OF DATE!!!!!" warnings for no good reason. An addon spamming me about unnecessary updates isn't going to make me go update immediately. It's just going to make me uninstall the addon.

It's going to make me remove the spam from the AddOn code

Originally Posted by Petrah If you absolutely must add this to your addon, be certain that it will only print the information one time

NO please just make an option to disable all chat massages for the addon for all future versions.

[Petrah]

Originally Posted by Tonyleila It's going to make me remove the spam from the AddOn code NO please just make an option to disable all chat massages for the addon for all future versions.

Even better for those who don't care about updates.

[tobias1919]

Hehe

Thank you all for your replies...
Yet again, i forgot to think of the obvious - and i am NOT implementing this in any addon. I was simply curious about how it worked.