1 Instructions to code your own VLC Lua scripts.
7 Lua documentation is available on http://www.lua.org . The reference manual
8 is very useful: http://www.lua.org/manual/5.1/ .
10 All the Lua standard libraries are available.
15 Several types of VLC Lua scripts can currently be coded:
16 * Playlist (see playlist/README.txt)
17 * Art fetcher (see meta/README.txt)
18 * Interface (see intf/README.txt)
19 * Extensions (see extensions/README.txt)
20 * Services Discovery (see sd/README.txt)
22 Lua scripts are tried in alphabetical order in the user's VLC config
23 directory lua/{playlist,meta,intf}/ subdirectory on Windows and Mac OS X or
24 in the user's local share directory (~/.local/share/vlc/lua/... on linux),
25 then in the global VLC lua/{playlist,meta,intf}/ directory.
27 3 - VLC specific Lua modules
28 ============================
30 All VLC specifics modules are in the "vlc" object. For example, if you want
31 to use the "info" function of the "msg" VLC specific Lua module:
32 vlc.msg.info( "This is an info message and will be displayed in the console" )
34 Note: availability of the different VLC specific Lua modules depends on
35 the type of VLC Lua script your are in.
39 local a = vlc.acl(true) -> new ACL with default set to allow
40 a:check("10.0.0.1") -> 0 == allow, 1 == deny, -1 == error
41 a("10.0.0.1") -> same as a:check("10.0.0.1")
42 a:duplicate() -> duplicate ACL object
43 a:add_host("10.0.0.1",true) -> allow 10.0.0.1
44 a:add_net("10.0.0.0",24,true) -> allow 10.0.0.0/24 (not sure)
45 a:load_file("/path/to/acl") -> load ACL from file
49 config.get( name ): Get the VLC configuration option "name"'s value.
50 config.set( name, value ): Set the VLC configuration option "name"'s value.
54 local d = vlc.dialog( "My VLC Extension" ): Create a new UI dialog, with a human-readable title: "My VLC Extension"
55 d:show(): Show this dialog.
56 d:hide(): Hide (but not close) this dialog.
57 d:delete(): Close and delete this dialog.
58 d:del_widget( widget ): Delete 'widget'. It disappears from the dialog and repositioning may occur.
59 d:update(): Update the dialog immediately (don't wait for the current function to return)
61 In the following functions, you can always add some optional parameters: col, row, col_span, row_span, width, height.
62 They define the position of a widget in the dialog:
63 - row, col are the absolute positions on a grid of widgets. First row, col are 1.
64 - row_span, col_span represent the relative size of a widget on the grid. A widget with col_span = 4 will be displayed as wide as 4 widgets of col_span = 1.
65 - width and height are size hints (in pixels) but may be discarded by the GUI module
66 Example: w = d:add_label( "My Label", 2, 3, 4, 5 ) will create a label at row 3, col 2, with a relative width of 4, height of 5.
68 d:add_button( text, func, ... ): Create a button with caption "text" (string). When clicked, call function "func". func is a function reference.
69 d:add_label( text, ... ): Create a text label with caption "text" (string).
70 d:add_html( text, ... ): Create a rich text label with caption "text" (string), that supports basic HTML formatting (such as <i> or <h1> for instance).
71 d:add_text_input( text, ... ): Create an editable text field, in order to read user input.
72 d:add_password( text, ... ): Create an editable text field, in order to read user input. Text entered in this box will not be readable (replaced by asterisks).
73 d:add_check_box( text, ... ): Create a check box with a text. They have a boolean state (true/false).
74 d:add_dropdown( ... ): Create a drop-down widget. Only 1 element can be selected the same time.
75 d:add_list( ... ): Create a list widget. Allows multiple or empty selections.
76 d:add_image( path, ... ): Create an image label. path is a relative or absolute path to the image on the local computer.
78 Some functions can also be applied on widgets:
79 w:set_text( text ): Change text displayed by the widget. Applies to: button, label, html, text_input, password, check_box.
80 w:get_text(): Read text displayed by the widget. Returns a string. Applies to: button, label, html, text_input, password, check_box.
81 w:set_checked( bool ): Set check state of a check box. Applies to: check_box.
82 w:get_checked(): Read check state of a check box. Returns a boolean. Applies to: check_box.
83 w:add_value( text, id ): Add a value with identifier 'id' (integer) and text 'text'. It's always best to have unique identifiers. Applies to: drop_down.
84 w:get_value(): Return identifier of the selected item. Corresponds to the text value chosen by the user. Applies to: drop_down.
85 w:clear(): Clear a list or drop_down widget. After that, all values previously added are lost.
86 w:get_selection(): Retrieve a table representing the current selection. Keys are the ids, values are the texts associated. Applies to: list.
91 deactivate(): Deactivate current extension (after the end of the current function).
95 http( host, port, [cert, key, ca, crl]): create a new HTTP (SSL) daemon.
97 local h = vlc.httpd( "localhost", 8080 )
98 h:handler( url, user, password, acl, callback, data ) -- add a handler for given url. If user and password are non nil, they will be used to authenticate connecting clients. If acl is non nil, it will be used to restrict access. callback will be called to handle connections. The callback function takes 7 arguments: data, url, request, type, in, addr, host. It returns the reply as a string.
99 h:file( url, mime, user, password, acl, callback, data ) -- add a file for given url with given mime type. If user and password are non nil, they will be used to authenticate connecting clients. If acl is non nil, it will be used to restrict access. callback will be called to handle connections. The callback function takes 2 arguments: data and request. It returns the reply as a string.
100 h:redirect( url_dst, url_src ): Redirect all connections from url_src to url_dst.
104 input.is_playing(): Return true if input exists.
105 input.add_subtitle(url): Add a subtitle to the current input
106 input.item(): Get the current input item. Input item methods are:
107 :uri(): Get item's URI.
108 :name(): Get item's name.
109 :duration(): Get item's duration in seconds or negative value if unavailable.
110 :is_preparsed(): Return true if meta data has been preparsed
111 :metas(): Get meta data as a table.
112 :set_meta(key, value): Set meta data.
113 :info(): Get the current input's info. Return value is a table of tables. Keys of the top level table are info category labels.
114 :stats(): Get statistics about the input. This is a table with the following fields:
118 .average_input_bitrate
122 .average_demux_bitrate
137 md5( str ): return the string's hash
138 md5(): create an md5 object with the following methods:
139 :add( str ): add a string to the hash
140 :end_(): finish hashing
141 :hash(): return the hash
145 msg.dbg( [str1, [str2, [...]]] ): Output debug messages (-vv).
146 msg.warn( [str1, [str2, [...]]] ): Output warning messages (-v).
147 msg.err( [str1, [str2, [...]]] ): Output error messages.
148 msg.info( [str1, [str2, [...]]] ): Output info messages.
152 misc.version(): Get the VLC version string.
153 misc.copyright(): Get the VLC copyright statement.
154 misc.license(): Get the VLC license.
156 misc.datadir(): Get the VLC data directory.
157 misc.userdatadir(): Get the user's VLC data directory.
158 misc.homedir(): Get the user's home directory.
159 misc.configdir(): Get the user's VLC config directory.
160 misc.cachedir(): Get the user's VLC cache directory.
162 misc.datadir_list( name ): FIXME: write description ... or ditch function
163 if it isn't useful anymore, we have datadir and userdatadir :)
165 misc.mdate(): Get the current date (in milliseconds).
166 misc.mwait(): Wait for the given date (in milliseconds).
168 misc.lock_and_wait(): Lock our object thread and wait for a wake up signal.
170 misc.should_die(): Returns true if the interface should quit.
171 misc.quit(): Quit VLC.
175 net.url_parse( url, [option delimiter] ): Parse URL. Returns a table with
176 fields "protocol", "username", "password", "host", "port", path" and
178 net.listen_tcp( host, port ): Listen to TCP connections. This returns an
179 object with an accept and an fds method. accept is blocking (Poll on the
180 fds with the net.POLLIN flag if you want to be non blocking).
181 The fds method returns a list of fds you can call poll on before using
182 the accept method. For example:
183 local l = vlc.net.listen_tcp( "localhost", 1234 )
185 local fd = l:accept()
187 net.send( fd, "blabla" )
191 net.close( fd ): Close file descriptor.
192 net.send( fd, string, [length] ): Send data on fd.
193 net.recv( fd, [max length] ): Receive data from fd.
194 net.poll( { fd = events }, [timeout in seconds] ): Implement poll function.
195 Returns the numbers of file descriptors with a non 0 revent. The function
196 modifies the input table to { fd = revents }. See "man poll".
197 net.POLLIN/POLLPRI/POLLOUT/POLLRDHUP/POLLERR/POLLHUP/POLLNVAL: poll event flags
198 net.fd_read( fd, [max length] ): Read data from fd.
199 net.fd_write( fd, string, [length] ): Write data to fd.
200 net.stat( path ): Stat a file. Returns a table with the following fields:
209 net.opendir( path ): List a directory's contents.
213 object.input(): Get the current input object.
214 object.playlist(): Get the playlist object.
215 object.libvlc(): Get the libvlc object.
217 object.find( object, type, mode ): Find an object of given type. mode can
218 be any of "parent", "child" and "anywhere". If set to "parent", it will
219 look in "object"'s parent objects. If set to "child" it will look in
220 "object"'s children. If set to "anywhere", it will look in all the
221 objects. If object is unset, the current module's object will be used.
222 Type can be: "libvlc", "playlist", "input", "decoder",
223 "vout", "aout", "packetizer", "generic".
224 This function is deprecated and slow and should be avoided.
225 object.find_name( object, name, mode ): Same as above except that it matches
226 on the object's name and not type. This function is also slow and should
227 be avoided if possible.
231 osd.icon( type, [id] ): Display an icon on the given OSD channel. Uses the
232 default channel is none is given. Icon types are: "pause", "play",
233 "speaker" and "mute".
234 osd.message( string, [id] ): Display text message on the given OSD channel.
235 osd.slider( position, type, [id] ): Display slider. Position is an integer
236 from 0 to 100. Type can be "horizontal" or "vertical".
237 osd.channel_register(): Register a new OSD channel. Returns the channel id.
238 osd.channel_clear( id ): Clear OSD channel.
239 osd.menu.show(): Show the OSD menu.
240 osd.menu.hide(): Hide the OSD menu.
241 osd.menu.prev(): Select previous/left item.
242 osd.menu.next(): Select next/right item.
243 osd.menu.up(): Move selection up.
244 osd.menu.down(): Move selection down.
245 osd.menu.activate(): Activate/validate current selection.
249 playlist.prev(): Play previous track.
250 playlist.next(): Play next track.
251 playlist.skip( n ): Skip n tracks.
252 playlist.play(): Play.
253 playlist.pause(): Pause.
254 playlist.stop(): Stop.
255 playlist.clear(): Clear the playlist.
256 playlist.repeat_( [status] ): Toggle item repeat or set to specified value.
257 playlist.loop( [status] ): Toggle playlist loop or set to specified value.
258 playlist.random( [status] ): Toggle playlist random or set to specified value.
259 playlist.goto( id ): Go to specified track.
260 playlist.add( ... ): Add a bunch of items to the playlist.
261 The playlist is a table of playlist objects.
262 A playlist object has the following members:
263 .path: the item's full path / URL
264 .name: the item's name in playlist (OPTIONAL)
265 .title: the item's Title (OPTIONAL, meta data)
266 .artist: the item's Artist (OPTIONAL, meta data)
267 .genre: the item's Genre (OPTIONAL, meta data)
268 .copyright: the item's Copyright (OPTIONAL, meta data)
269 .album: the item's Album (OPTIONAL, meta data)
270 .tracknum: the item's Tracknum (OPTIONAL, meta data)
271 .description: the item's Description (OPTIONAL, meta data)
272 .rating: the item's Rating (OPTIONAL, meta data)
273 .date: the item's Date (OPTIONAL, meta data)
274 .setting: the item's Setting (OPTIONAL, meta data)
275 .url: the item's URL (OPTIONAL, meta data)
276 .language: the item's Language (OPTIONAL, meta data)
277 .nowplaying: the item's NowPlaying (OPTIONAL, meta data)
278 .publisher: the item's Publisher (OPTIONAL, meta data)
279 .encodedby: the item's EncodedBy (OPTIONAL, meta data)
280 .arturl: the item's ArtURL (OPTIONAL, meta data)
281 .trackid: the item's TrackID (OPTIONAL, meta data)
282 .options: a list of VLC options (OPTIONAL)
283 example: .options = { "fullscreen" }
284 .duration: stream duration in seconds (OPTIONAL)
285 .meta: custom meta data (OPTIONAL, meta data)
286 A .meta field is a table of custom meta categories which
287 each have custom meta properties.
288 example: .meta = { ["Google video"] = { ["docid"] = "-5784010886294950089"; ["GVP version"] = "1.1" }; ["misc"] = { "Hello" = "World!" } }
289 Invalid playlist items will be discarded by VLC.
290 playlist.enqueue( ... ): like playlist.add() except that track isn't played.
291 playlist.get( [what, [tree]] ): Get the playlist.
292 If "what" is a number, then this will return the corresponding playlist
293 item's playlist hierarchy. If it is "normal" or "playlist", it will
294 return the normal playlist. If it is "ml" or "media library", it will
295 return the media library. If it is "root" it will return the full playlist.
296 If it is a service discovery module's name, it will return that service
297 discovery's playlist. If it is any other string, it won't return anything.
298 Else it will return the full playlist.
299 The second argument, "tree", is optional. If set to true or unset, the
300 playlist will be returned in a tree layout. If set to false, the playlist
301 will be returned using the flat layout.
302 Each playlist item returned will have the following members:
304 .flags: a table with the following members if the corresponding flag is
314 .duration: (-1 if unknown)
316 .children: A table of children playlist items.
318 FIXME: add methods to get an item's meta, options, es ...
322 sd.get_services_names(): Get a table of all available service discovery
323 modules. The module name is used as key, the long name is used as value.
324 sd.add( name ): Add service discovery.
325 sd.remove( name ): Remove service discovery.
326 sd.is_loaded( name ): Check if service discovery is loaded.
327 sd.add_item( ... ): Add an item to the service discovery.
328 The item object has the same members as the one in playlist.add().
329 Returns the input item.
330 sd.add_node( ... ): Add a node to the service discovery.
331 The node object has the following members:
332 .title: the node's name
333 .arturl: the node's ArtURL (OPTIONAL)
335 n = vlc.sd.add_node( {title="Node"} )
336 n:add_subitem( ... ): Same as sd.add_item(), but as a subitem of n.
337 n:add_node( ... ): Same as sd.add_node(), but as a subnode of n.
341 stream( url ): Instantiate a stream object for specific url.
342 memory_stream( string ): Instantiate a stream object containing a specific string.
343 Those two functions return the stream object upon success and nil if an
344 error occurred, in that case, the second return value will be an error message.
346 s = vlc.stream( "http://www.videolan.org/" )
347 s:read( 128 ) -- read up to 128 characters. Return 0 if no more data is available (FIXME?).
348 s:readline() -- read a line. Return nil if EOF was reached.
349 s:addfilter() -- add a stream filter. If no argument was specified, try to add all automatic stream filters.
353 strings.decode_uri( [uri1, [uri2, [...]]] ): Decode a list of URIs. This
354 function returns as many variables as it had arguments.
355 strings.encode_uri_component( [uri1, [uri2, [...]]] ): Encode a list of URI
356 components. This function returns as many variables as it had arguments.
357 strings.resolve_xml_special_chars( [str1, [str2, [...]]] ): Resolve XML
358 special characters in a list of strings. This function returns as many
359 variables as it had arguments.
360 strings.convert_xml_special_chars( [str1, [str2, [...]]] ): Do the inverse
362 strings.iconv( str1 to, str2 from, str ): use vlc_iconv to convert string
363 from encoding to another
367 var.get( object, name ): Get the object's variable "name"'s value.
368 var.set( object, name, value ): Set the object's variable "name" to "value".
369 var.get_list( object, name ): Get the object's variable "name"'s value list.
370 1st return value is the value list, 2nd return value is the text list.
371 var.create( object, name, value ): Create and set the object's variable "name"
372 to "value". Created vars can be of type float, string or bool.
374 var.add_callback( object, name, function, data ): Add a callback to the
375 object's "name" variable. Callback functions take 4 arguments: the
376 variable name, the old value, the new value and data.
377 var.del_callback( object, name, function, data ): Delete a callback to
378 the object's "name" variable. "function" and "data" must be the same as
379 when add_callback() was called.
380 var.trigger_callback( object, name ): Trigger the callbacks associated with the
381 object's "name" variable.
383 var.command( object name, name, argument ): Issue "object name"'s "name"
384 command with argument "argument".
385 var.libvlc_command( name, argument ): Issue libvlc's "name" command with
390 video.fullscreen( [status] ):
391 * toggle fullscreen if no arguments are given
392 * switch to fullscreen 1st argument is true
393 * disable fullscreen if 1st argument is false
397 vlm(): Instanciate a VLM object.
400 v:execute_command( "new test broadcast" ) -- execute given VLM command
402 Note: if the VLM object is deleted and you were the last person to hold
403 a reference to it, all VLM items will be deleted.
407 volume.set( level ): Set volume to an absolute level between 0 and 1024.
409 volume.get(): Get volume.
410 volume.up( [n] ): Increment volume by n steps of 32. n defaults to 1.
411 volume.down( [n] ): Decrement volume by n steps of 32. n defaults to 1.