Ubuntu Manpage: Audio::RPLD - Module to communicate with RoarAudio PlayList Daemon

Provided by: libaudio-rpld-perl_0.006-1.1_all

NAME

       Audio::RPLD - Module to communicate with RoarAudio PlayList Daemon

SYNOPSIS

        use Audio::RPLD;

        # Open new connection
        my $rpld = Audio::RPLD->new([$addr[, $type[, $port]]]);

        # Work with the connection
        $rpld->play();
        $rpld->stop();
        #...

        # close the connection
        $rpld->disconnect();

        # reconnect:
        $rpld->connect($addr[, $type[, $port]]);

DESCRIPTION

       This module is used to communicate with a RoarAudio PlayList Daemon (rpld).  It includes support for
       nearly all of the protocol.

METHODS

Common Arguments
Here is a list of all the arguments used in this documentation so I do not need to explain later for each
method again.

$addr
The Address of the server. This can be a filename or host or nodename. If the type is known to you,
you should set the $type argument.

Do not limit the user to hostname or filenames or something. The user should be abled to enter any
server location in a freeform text input.

$type
This is the type of the address of the server. Currently defined types are:

UNIX Use a UNIX socket to connect to the server.

DECnet Use a DECnet socket to connect to the server (currently not supported because there is no
IO::Socket::DECnet yet).

INET Use a INET (IPv4) socket to connect to the server.

#SOCKET Use a already connected socket as connection to the server. This can for example be a object
opened with a SSL/TLS or proxy module or any other bidirectional IO object. Object is passed
as $addr parameter.

a value of undef
Use Autodetection.

$port
If using a INET socket this is the port number to connect to. Use undef (not include in arguments
list) to use defaults.

$playlist, $playlist_from, $playlist_to, $history
A Playlist to use. This can be a integer to use the playlist ID (which is preferred), a string to use
the playlist name or $any (return value of $rpld->any()) to search thru all playlists and use the
first hint. $any is not supported by all commands as it does not make sense for all commands.

$vol
A volume. If this is an integer the volume is in range 0 to 65535 (recommended). If it's a string and
suffixed by a '%' it is in range 0 to 100. A value of zero always means total silence.

$size
A history size. This is an integer or undef. If undef the server's default is used.

$backend
The address of a RoarAudio server as used as backend for a queue. If undef the default server will be
used.

$mixer
The mixer ID of the mixer core which should be used by a queue. If undef the server's default mixer
core will be used. This should normally be undef.

$role
The stream role as used by a queue. This is the name or undef to use rpld's or RoarAudio server's
default. This is the name of the role not the ID. Common values include "music" and
"background_music".

$likeness
A floating point describing how much the user likes a song.

$name
A string of a name of some object.

$ple
A Playlist entry (item) identifier. This is a string of one of the several types. Here is a quick
overview:

Long Global Track Number
The long GTN is a hex string (with leading 0x) prefixed by 'long:' with a length of 64 bit
(16 raw digits). It is used to identify a playlist entry within the runtime of the server
process. This one is the one you normally use for all operations like queuing a track for
playback.

Short Global Track Number
The short GTN is a shorter (only 32 bit) version of the GTN prefixed with 'short:'. It's use
is exactly the same as for the long GTN. It exists to get the GTN passed thru things which do
not support more than 32 bit. As this is normally not the case for Perl (you pass them around
as strings anyway) you should not need to use it at all. It's not recommended to use this
one.

UUID The UUID is a string prefixed with 'uuid:' followed by the normal hex-dash notation (example:
uuid:54ab0c5f-b058-4c9b-ab3b-dea11b608482). It is used to identify a song. In contrast to the
GTN this is not changed by commands such like copy or move operations. The normal use for
this is if you want to store something over multiple runtimes of the server process like
favorites or something.

If a song does not include a UUID in it's meta data the server will generate a random one so
each song has one.

Those UUIDs can also be used together with the Tantalos protocol.

Pointer A pointer is a string (the pointer name) prefixed by 'pointer:' (example: pointer:default).
Those are used to have symbolic pointers a playlist entry. The following pointers are
currently known by rpld:

default If the Main Queue runs out of songs and the current pointer reached the end of the
current playlist the current pointer is set to this value and song lookup is done
again. For details about the current pointer see below.

current If the Main Queue run out of queued songs the song this pointer points to is
automatically queued and this pointer is set to the next entry the the playlist. This
is used for 'start here and just play the playlist' behavior. If this pointer reaches
the end of the playlist it becomes undefined and if the default pointer is set
redefined with it's value. See above for more information about the default pointer.

startup If the startup pointer is set the song it points to is added once at startup of the
daemon. This can for example be used to implement boot sounds.

temp The temp pointer is a pointer for user defined jobs. It is the only pointer which is
not global (shared with all clients) but a client local pointer. The application can
use it for whatever it wants to use it for.

As of rpld 0.1rc7 multi queue support was added. To support this pointers can have a queue
and client ID suffix. The suffix has the syntax: pointer[queue:client]. Both queue and client
can be omitted. If the client ID is omitted the colon (':') can be omitted, too. If both are
omitted the brackets ('[]') can also be omitted. Queue defaults to the current client's
default queue and client defaults to the current client.

Numerical Index
This is a numerical index of the entry. It's format is num:N where N is the index starting
with zero. For example num:0 is the first entry in playlist, num:15 is the 16th entry.

Likeness Index
This is like the normal numerical index just uses the likeness values of the entries. This is
hardly of use to the user and mainly for internal use. Syntax is likeness:F with F the
floating point index.

Random Entry
A Random entry can be selected by using random:[PLI]. PLI is a optional parameter. It must be
the ID of the playlist to select entry from. If no playlist is given the current one is used.

Random liked Entry
This is like normal random entry but prioritized by the value set with LIKE and DISLIKE
commands. Syntax is: randomlike:[PLI].

$pointer
A Pointer. This is a string of the pointer name. It is not prefixed with 'pointer:' as when used as
PLE.

Common return values
The following return types are used by methods in this module:

$rpld
The instance of this module as returned by new().

$res
A general return value. This is undef in case of failure or a defined value in case of no error. The
value may be a string, hash- or arrayref depending on the method. See description of the method for
details.

$any
The return value of any(). This can be used as wildcard for playlist names in some cases.

Basic functions
$rpld = Audio::RPLD->new([$addr[, $type[, $port]]])

This method creates a new Audio::RPLD object. If arguments are passed they are directly passed to a call
to the connect method (see below) in order to connect to the server. If this fails undef is returned. If
no arguments are given you need to connect the object to the server via the connect method later on your
own.

$res = $rpld->connect($addr[, $type[, $port]])

Connect to a server. You must not call this on a already connected object.

$res = $rpld->connect_default()

Connect to a server by trying default locations. You must not call this on a already connected object.

$res = $rpld->disconnect()

Disconnect from the server. You may use $rpld->connect() again to connect to a (new/different) server.

$res = $rpld->is_connected()

Returns true value if the object is currently connected to a server or undef if not.

$res = $rpld->identify([%options])

This identifies the process at the server. An optional list of options is taken. Each key-value pair is
send to the server as it is.

Currently supported keys are: name, pid, nodename and hostid.

This command is send automatically at connect. You only need to call this manually if want to set one of
those options. It is recommended to do this at least for the application name.

Special values
$any = $rpld->any()

This function returns a value that can be used as playlist wildcard.

Basic communication functions
$res = $rpld->noop()

Send a NOOP command to the server.

This can be used to ping the server or for keep-alive.

Server information functions
$res = $rpld->serverinfo()

Send a SERVERINFO command to the server.

This tells basic information about the server like it's version and location.

The return value is a hashref which contains the following keys (all keys may or may not be set depending
on what info the server provides):

version
This is the product name, version and vendor information for the server.

location
This is the location of the server in a lion readable way e.g. "kitchen".

description
This is a description for the server e.g. "Central Media Server"

contact
Those are information on the server administrator. Normally contains nick or real name as well as an
e-mail address.

serial
This is a string with the serial number of the device.

address
This contains address data of the device.

uiurl
This is an URL to a user interface used to control the server. This can be a web interface such as
Romie or some other kind of interface. All protocols are allowed. This includes telnet:// and
ssh://.

hostid
This is the UNIX HostID of the server.

license
This is the license of the server software or device.

build
This is a build stamp. It contains information on the build. This is mostly useful when reporting
problems to upstream or the distributor.

system
This contains a sub-hash with information about the server's OS. Those information are normally read
via the uname() system call by the server software. This means all limits of uname() also apply to
those data. The following keys are know as of this writing:

sysname
The operating system's name e.g. "NetBSD".

release
The operating system's release.

nodename
The node name of as known by the operating system.

machine
The host architecture as known by the operating system.

x This is a sub-hash with vendor specific information. The name is based on the "X-"-prefix those keys
have. The content and format is fully up to the server software. However the following keys have
been seen in the wild:

application This key is used by the RoarAudio PlayList Daemon (rpld) and contains it's name.

Storing and restoring
$res = $rpld->store()

Ask the server to store (dump) all data on permanent storage (disk). This is normally used at exit to
save all the playlists on disk so they can be restored at next startup.

$res = $rpld->restore()

Restore from disk. This is normally done at startup time (by rpld itself). You should not call this
again if the server already restored it's state because this may result in undefined behavior. Current
behavior of rpld is that it forgets the complete current state and loads the new state. This was changed
in version 0.1rc7. Before version 0.1rc7 it added everything to the current state resulting in
duplicates. This may change in future.

Playback control
$res = $rpld->play()

Start playback.

$res = $rpld->stop()

Stop playback.

$res = $rpld->next()

Skip to next song.

$res = $rpld->prev()

Skip to previous song.

$res = $rpld->isplaying()

Return a true value if we are currently playing.

$res = $rpld->showidentifier()

Return a identifier for the currently running stream at the server. The format of this identifier is
undefined. This should not be used. Using this value can result in race conditions.

Queue control
$res = $rpld->flushq()

Flush the Main Queue. Playback is stopped (because no songs are left in the queue).

$res = $rpld->showcur()

Return the Playlist entry for the current song (if playback is running this is the currently played
song). This contains information about this song from the playlist. If you want to read the current meta
data or other live data use $rpld->showplaying().

The return value is in the same format as that of $rpld->showple(). See $rpld->showple() for more
information on it.

$res = $rpld->showplaying()

Returns live information on what is currently played.

The return value is a hashref which contains the following keys (all keys may or may not be set depending
on what info the server provides):

state
A string of the current playback state in uppercase. Possible values include: STOPPED, PAUSE,
RUNNING.

longgtn
The long GTN of the current ple.

shortgtn
The short GTN of the current ple.

uuid
The UUID of the current ple.

time
A hash containing keys for the current playback time in different units. The unit name is the key
name. Units may include: samples, s.

meta
A hash containing keys for each meta data type provided by the server. Types may include: title,
album, artist, performer, version.

mduc
The meta data update counter (MDUC) for current playback.

rate
The sample rate of the current playback.

channels
The number of channels of the current playback.

bits
The number of bits of the current playback.

$res = $rpld->listq([$playlist])

List playlist entries of the Main Queue or the given playlist. This is the same as $rpld->listple()
expect that the default playlist is the Main Queue not the currently selected playlist.

$res = $rpld->showqueue([$playlist])

Returns a hashref with information about the given list or the current queue if no list is given. The
structure of the hashref is the same as for listplaylist(). This function is the same as showlist() but
returns the current queue as default of no list is given.

Volume control
$res = $rpld->setvolume($vol)

Set volume to $vol.

$res = $rpld->showvolume()

Return a hashref to a hash containing volume information.

The hash contains the following keys:

value
The current playback volume in units of scale.

scale
The unit of value.

pc The volume in percent.

The current volume (as float) is value/scale.

Controlling pause state
$res = $rpld->pause()

Set the playback in pause mode.

You should not use this function but $rpld->togglepause() if possible.

$res = $rpld->unpause()

Unpause the playback.

You should not use this function but $rpld->togglepause() if possible.

$res = $rpld->togglepause()

Toggle the pause state. This is the recommended function to change the pause state of playback.

This is because it interacts best with other applications changing the current pause state.

Playlist management
$res = $rpld->setplaylist($playlist)

Select the given playlist. After selecting a playlist it becomes the default playlist for most operations
which take a optional playlist argument. (Operations for which this does not set the default are marked
in the corresponding description).

$res = $rpld->addplaylist($name)

Add a playlist.

$res = $rpld->delplaylist($playlist)

Delete a playlist. All entries are deleted, too.

$res = $rpld->flushplaylist($playlist)

Flush a playlist. If this is used on the Main Queue the playback is stopped as no songs are left to play.

$res = $rpld->listplaylist()

Get a list of playlists known by the server. This returns a arrayref to a array containing a hashref for
each list. This hash contains the following keys:

id The ID of the playlist.

parent
The ID of the parent playlist.

name
The name of the playlist.

children
A arrayref with the IDs of the children playlists.

history_size (optional)
The size of the history if this is a history. This is the number of PLEs this playlist will store
before old entries becomes deleted automatically.

history (optional)
The PLI of the playlist used as history if this is a queue.

volume (optional)
The playback volume if this is a queue.

backend (optional)
The backend used by this queue (if this is a queue). The backend is the name (server address) of the
RoarAudio server.

mixer (optional)
The ID of the Mixer used on the RoarAudio server. -1 for default. Only set if this is a queue.

role (optional)
The Stream role used by this queue. Often "music" or "background_music". Only if this is a queue.

Parent/child information should be used to display a tree to the user.

$res = $rpld->showlist($playlist)

Returns a hashref with information about the given playlist. The structure of the hashref is the same as
for listplaylist().

$res = $rpld->setparentlist($playlist)

Set the parent playlist of the current playlist. Setting parent playlist of a list the current one is
currently not supported.

Queue management
$res = $rpld->setqueue($playlist)

Select the given playlist as queue. After selecting a queue it becomes the default queue for the current
connection.

$res = $rpld->delqueue($playlist)

Delete a queue from a playlist. The playlist will not be removed just the queue.

$res = $rpld->addqueue($playlist, $history[, $backend[, $mixer[, $role]]])

Add a queue to playlist $pl with the playlist $history as history. Optionally the server to connect to
can be given as $backend and the mixer to connect to as $mixer. In addition the stream role can be set
using $role.

History management
$res = $rpld->addhistory($playlist, [$size])

Add a history to the playlist. The history size can be set using the optional argument $size. If not
given the server's default will be used.

$res = $rpld->delhistory($playlist)

Delete a history from a playlist. The playlist will not be removed just the history.

Playlist Entry management
$res = $rpld->delple($ple[, $playlist])

Delete the given playlist entry.

$res = $rpld->queueple($ple[, $playlist[, $pos]])

Queue the given playlist entry. This means it is copied over to the Main Queue. This function is
recommended over $rpld->copyple() to queue songs.

The optional position is used to give the place in the playlist where to queue the song. It is counted
as 'n entries after the first one'. This means if you pass a value of zero the song is placed as next
song. If you pass a value of one it is placed as the song after the next song and so on. A value of -1
means that it is added before the first one. If you place a song before the first one in the Main Queue
playback is stopped and restarted so this song becomes the currently played song.

If you omit the position or pass undef the default behavior is to add at the end of the playlist which
should be the default in your applications, too.

$res = $rpld->copyple($ple, $playlist_from, $playlist_to[, $pos])

The given playlist entry is copied from the playlist $playlist_from to the playlist $playlist_to. If
$playlist_from is undef the currently selected playlist is used as source.

For the meaning of the position parameter ($pos) see $rpld->queueple() above.

$res = $rpld->moveple($ple, $playlist_from, $playlist_to[, $pos])

The given playlist entry is moved from the playlist $playlist_from to the playlist $playlist_to. If
$playlist_from is undef the currently selected playlist is used as source.

For the meaning of the position parameter ($pos) see $rpld->queueple() above.

$res = $rpld->listple($playlist)

List all playlist entries from the given playlist. The return value is an arrayref with elements as if
they are returned by $rpld->showple(). See $rpld->showple() for more info about the return format.

Note: You should avoid calling this too often as it returns a large amount of data. You also should not
store data for currently not used playlists (for example only store data for the playlist currently shown
to the user).

$res = $rpld->searchple($needle, $op, $src, [$pli, [$opts]])

List playlist entries matching a given rule. The return value is the same as for $rpld->listple().

This function accepts the following arguments:

$needle
The needle is the search term the server will search for. It may be a scalar value or a arrayref.
If an arrayref the array must have one or two elements. If the array has two elements the first one
is the type of needle and the second is the value to search for. The supported types depend on the
server. As of version 0.1.5 RoarAudio PlayList Daemon supports: String types, DISCID, UUID, GENRE,
TRACKNUM[BER]. String types are defined with a type of undef. If it has only one element the type
defaults to undef (string type). If a scalar value is given the type is automatically selected based
on the prefix. If a prefix is found matching one of the known types that type is selected. If no such
prefix is found the string is used as string type. This is handy for user interfaces with only a
single "intelligent" search box. For non-user input the array form is strongly recommended.

$op This is the operator used to compare needle to the source.

Currently the following options are defined. For negative versions see $opts.

eq The needle must to match the source.

ne The needle must not match the source.

in The needle is found anywhere within the source.

begin
The needle is found at the begin of the source.

end The needle is found at the end of the source.

$src
This is the source to compare the needle with.

This can be undef, a scalar value, $any or a arrayref.

$any matches any information within the PLE. If an arrayref is used the array must consist of one or
two elements. The first element is the source. The second is the sub-source. Valid values depend on
the server software. As of version 0.1.5 RoarAudio PlayList Daemon supports: ALBUM, TITLE, ARTIST,
PERFORMER, VERSION, FILENAME, DISCID, UUID, GENRE, TRACKNUM[BER] and TAG:"Tagname". Not all of them
can be used with all kinds of needles. If $src is a scalar value it is interpreted as ['TAG', $src]
or [$src] depending on the needle. If this is undef the source is selected by the type of needle
with string needles defaulting to $any.

$pli (optional)
This is the playlist to search in or $any.

$opts (optional)
This is an hashref with options. All options are optional. The following keys are currently defined:

neg If set to a true value the search is inverted.

casesensitive
If set to a true value the search is done case sensetive.

queues
If set to true value searching in queues is allowed. If set to a false but not undef value such
searches are disallowed. If set to undef the default is used.

histories
Does the same as "queues" just for histories.

$res = $rpld->showple($ple[, $playlist])

Return data of the given playlist entry. If no playlist is given the currently selected one is used.

The return value is a hashref with the following keys:

codec (optional)
The name of the used codec.

length (optional)
The playback length in seconds.

file
The filename. This may be anything supported by RoarAudio's DSTR. Including local files, web radio
streams and other types.

meta
The value for the meta key is a hashref of it's own to a list of provided meta data.

The following keys may be included. All are optional. Other keys may also be included.

album Name of the album.

title Title of the song.

artist Name of the Artist.

performer
Name of the performer for this record.

version Version of this record.

discid CDDB DiscID for this song.

tracknumber
Tracknumber of this song in the album.

totaltracks
Total number of tracks in this album.

genre Genre of this song.

genreid Genre ID of this song.

longid
The long GTN for the entry.

shortid
The short GTN for the entry.

uuid (optional)
The UUID for the entry.

likeness (optional)
The likeness value stored by the server. This is a float in rage from zero to infinity. The bigger
the value is the more the song is liked.

$res = $rpld->like($ple[, $likeness])

Tells the server that the user likes this entry. Optionally tells the server how much. A value of +1.0
is the default if no value is given. This is added to the likeness value stored by the server. A value
of zero has no effect. A negative value indicates dislikeness. See dislike() for more information about
dislikeness.

$res = $rpld->dislike($ple[, $likeness])

This is the same as like() just marks a the given entry as disliked. Optionally tells the server how
much. A value of +1.0 is the default if no value is given. The value is subtracted from server's value.
A value of zero has no effect. A negative value indicates likeness. See like() for more information
about likeness.

Pointers
$res = $rpld->setpointer($pointer, $ple[, $playlist])

Set the given pointer to the given playlist entry. If no playlist is given the currently selected one is
used.

$res = $rpld->unsetpointer($pointer)

Unset the given pointer.

$res = $rpld->showpointer([$pointer])

Returns information about the given or all pointers.

The return value is a hashref with keys of the pointer names. The values for those keys are a hashref
containing information on the corresponding pointer. If the hashref for the pointer points to a empty
hash (no keys defined) then the pointer is not defined.

If the pointer is defined the following keys are contained:

raw The playlist entry the pointer points to in a raw format.

longid (optional)
If the pointer contains an information about the playlist entries long GTN this GTN.

shortid (optional)
If the pointer contains an information about the playlist entries short GTN this GTN.

uuid (optional)
If the pointer contains an information about the playlist entries UUID this UUID.

random (optional)
If the pointer points to a random song within a playlist this contains the corresponding search
string.

randomlike (optional)
If the pointer points to a random song (respecting likeness) within a playlist this contains the
corresponding search string.

playlist (optional)
If the pointer contains a playlist hint this contains the playlist ID.

Clients
$res = $rpld->listclients()

Get a list of clients connected to the server. This returns a arrayref to a array containing a hashref
for each client. This hash contains the following keys:

id The ID of the client.

name
The name of the client.

protocol
The name of the protocol the client is using.

pid (optional)
The process ID of the client.

nodename (optional)
The name of the node the client is being conneected from.

hostid (optional)
The unix hostid of the node the client is being connected from.

AUTHOR

         Philipp "ph3-der-loewe" Schafft <lion@lion.leolix.org>

LICENSE