-Instructions to code your own VLC Lua scripts.
+Instructions to code your own VLC Lua scripts and extensions
$Id$
1 - About Lua
=============
-Lua documenation is available on http://www.lua.org . The reference manual
-is very usefull: http://www.lua.org/manual/5.1/ .
+Lua documentation is available on http://www.lua.org/ . The reference manual
+is very useful: http://www.lua.org/manual/5.1/ .
VLC uses Lua 5.1
All the Lua standard libraries are available.
+
2 - Lua in VLC
==============
-3 types of VLC Lua scripts can currently be coded:
- * Playlist (see playlist/README.txt)
- * Art fetcher (see meta/README.txt)
- * Interface (see intf/README.txt)
+Several types of VLC Lua scripts can currently be coded:
+ * Playlist and websites parsers (see playlist/README.txt)
+ * Art fetchers (see meta/README.txt)
+ * Interfaces (see intf/README.txt)
* Extensions (see extensions/README.txt)
* Services Discovery (see sd/README.txt)
in the user's local share directory (~/.local/share/vlc/lua/... on linux),
then in the global VLC lua/{playlist,meta,intf}/ directory.
+
3 - VLC specific Lua modules
============================
-All VLC specifc modules are in the "vlc" object. For example, if you want
+All VLC specifics modules are in the "vlc" object. For example, if you want
to use the "info" function of the "msg" VLC specific Lua module:
vlc.msg.info( "This is an info message and will be displayed in the console" )
Note: availability of the different VLC specific Lua modules depends on
the type of VLC Lua script your are in.
-Access lists
-------------
-local a = vlc.acl(true) -> new ACL with default set to allow
-a:check("10.0.0.1") -> 0 == allow, 1 == deny, -1 == error
-a("10.0.0.1") -> same as a:check("10.0.0.1")
-a:duplicate() -> duplicate ACL object
-a:add_host("10.0.0.1",true) -> allow 10.0.0.1
-a:add_net("10.0.0.0",24,true) -> allow 10.0.0.0/24 (not sure)
-a:load_file("/path/to/acl") -> load ACL from file
-
Configuration
-------------
config.get( name ): Get the VLC configuration option "name"'s value.
config.set( name, value ): Set the VLC configuration option "name"'s value.
+config.datadir(): Get the VLC data directory.
+config.userdatadir(): Get the user's VLC data directory.
+config.homedir(): Get the user's home directory.
+config.configdir(): Get the user's VLC config directory.
+config.cachedir(): Get the user's VLC cache directory.
+
+config.datadir_list( name ): Get the list of possible data directories in
+ order of priority, appended by "name"
Dialog
------
-local d = vlc.dialog( "My VLC Extension" ): Create a new UI dialog, with a human-readble title: "My VLC Extension"
+local d = vlc.dialog( "My VLC Extension" ): Create a new UI dialog, with a human-readable title: "My VLC Extension"
d:show(): Show this dialog.
d:hide(): Hide (but not close) this dialog.
-d:close(): Close and delete this dialog.
-d:del_widget( widget ): Delete 'widget'. It disappears from the dialog and repositionning may occur.
+d:delete(): Close and delete this dialog.
+d:set_title( title ): set the title of this dialog.
+d:update(): Update the dialog immediately (don't wait for the current function to return)
+d:del_widget( widget ): Delete 'widget'. It disappears from the dialog and repositioning may occur.
-In the following functions, you can always add some optional parameters: col, row, col_span, row_span.
+In the following functions, you can always add some optional parameters: col, row, col_span, row_span, width, height.
They define the position of a widget in the dialog:
- row, col are the absolute positions on a grid of widgets. First row, col are 1.
- 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.
+- width and height are size hints (in pixels) but may be discarded by the GUI module
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.
-d:add_button( text, func, ... ): Create a button with caption "text" (string). When clicked, call function "func". func is a string.
+d:add_button( text, func, ... ): Create a button with caption "text" (string). When clicked, call function "func". func is a function reference.
d:add_label( text, ... ): Create a text label with caption "text" (string).
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).
d:add_text_input( text, ... ): Create an editable text field, in order to read user input.
http( host, port, [cert, key, ca, crl]): create a new HTTP (SSL) daemon.
local h = vlc.httpd( "localhost", 8080 )
-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.
-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.
+h:handler( url, user, password, callback, data ) -- add a handler for given url. If user and password are non nil, they will be used to authenticate connecting clients. 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.
+h:file( url, mime, user, password, 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. callback will be called to handle connections. The callback function takes 2 arguments: data and request. It returns the reply as a string.
h:redirect( url_dst, url_src ): Redirect all connections from url_src to url_dst.
Input
-----
input.is_playing(): Return true if input exists.
-input.add_subtitle(url): Add a subtitle to the current input
+input.add_subtitle(url): Add a subtitle file (by path) to the current input
input.item(): Get the current input item. Input item methods are:
:uri(): Get item's URI.
:name(): Get item's name.
.played_abuffers
.lost_abuffers
-MD5
----
-md5( str ): return the string's hash
-md5(): create an md5 object with the following methods:
- :add( str ): add a string to the hash
- :end_(): finish hashing
- :hash(): return the hash
-
Messages
--------
msg.dbg( [str1, [str2, [...]]] ): Output debug messages (-vv).
msg.err( [str1, [str2, [...]]] ): Output error messages.
msg.info( [str1, [str2, [...]]] ): Output info messages.
-Misc
-----
+Misc (Interfaces only)
+----------------------
+----------------------------------------------------------------
+/!\ NB: this namespace is ONLY usable for interfaces.
+---
+----------------------------------------------------------------
misc.version(): Get the VLC version string.
misc.copyright(): Get the VLC copyright statement.
misc.license(): Get the VLC license.
-misc.datadir(): Get the VLC data directory.
-misc.userdatadir(): Get the user's VLC data directory.
-misc.homedir(): Get the user's home directory.
-misc.configdir(): Get the user's VLC config directory.
-misc.cachedir(): Get the user's VLC cache directory.
+misc.action_id( name ): get the id of the given action.
-misc.datadir_list( name ): FIXME: write description ... or ditch function
- if it isn't usefull anymore, we have datadir and userdatadir :)
+misc.mdate(): Get the current date (in microseconds).
+misc.mwait(): Wait for the given date (in microseconds).
-misc.mdate(): Get the current date (in milliseconds).
-misc.mwait(): Wait for the given date (in milliseconds).
-
-misc.lock_and_wait(): Lock our object thread and wait for a wake up signal.
-
-misc.should_die(): Returns true if the interface should quit.
misc.quit(): Quit VLC.
Net
---
+----------------------------------------------------------------
+/!\ NB: this namespace is ONLY usable for interfaces and extensions.
+---
+----------------------------------------------------------------
net.url_parse( url, [option delimiter] ): Parse URL. Returns a table with
fields "protocol", "username", "password", "host", "port", path" and
"option".
net.listen_tcp( host, port ): Listen to TCP connections. This returns an
object with an accept and an fds method. accept is blocking (Poll on the
- fds with the net.POLLIN flag if you want to be non blockin).
+ fds with the net.POLLIN flag if you want to be non blocking).
The fds method returns a list of fds you can call poll on before using
the accept method. For example:
local l = vlc.net.listen_tcp( "localhost", 1234 )
net.close( fd )
end
end
+net.connect_tcp( host, port ): open a connection to the given host:port (TCP).
net.close( fd ): Close file descriptor.
net.send( fd, string, [length] ): Send data on fd.
net.recv( fd, [max length] ): Receive data from fd.
-net.poll( { fd = events }, [timeout in seconds] ): Implement poll function.
- Retruns the numbers of file descriptors with a non 0 revent. The function
- modifies the input table to { fd = revents }. See "man poll".
+net.poll( { fd = events } ): Implement poll function.
+ Returns the numbers of file descriptors with a non 0 revent. The function
+ modifies the input table to { fd = revents }. See "man poll". This function
+ is not available on Windows.
net.POLLIN/POLLPRI/POLLOUT/POLLRDHUP/POLLERR/POLLHUP/POLLNVAL: poll event flags
-net.fd_read( fd, [max length] ): Read data from fd.
-net.fd_write( fd, string, [length] ): Write data to fd.
+net.read( fd, [max length] ): Read data from fd. This function is not
+ available on Windows.
+net.write( fd, string, [length] ): Write data to fd. This function is not
+ available on Windows.
net.stat( path ): Stat a file. Returns a table with the following fields:
.type
.mode
object.input(): Get the current input object.
object.playlist(): Get the playlist object.
object.libvlc(): Get the libvlc object.
+object.aout(): Get the audio output object.
+object.vout(): Get the video output object.
-object.find( object, type, mode ): Find an object of given type. mode can
- be any of "parent", "child" and "anywhere". If set to "parent", it will
- look in "object"'s parent objects. If set to "child" it will look in
- "object"'s children. If set to "anywhere", it will look in all the
- objects. If object is unset, the current module's object will be used.
- Type can be: "libvlc", "playlist", "input", "decoder",
- "vout", "aout", "packetizer", "generic".
- This function is deprecated and slow and should be avoided.
-object.find_name( object, name, mode ): Same as above except that it matches
- on the object's name and not type. This function is also slow and should
- be avoided if possible.
+object.find( object, type, mode ): Return nil. DO NOT USE.
OSD
---
osd.icon( type, [id] ): Display an icon on the given OSD channel. Uses the
default channel is none is given. Icon types are: "pause", "play",
"speaker" and "mute".
-osd.message( string, [id] ): Display text message on the given OSD channel.
+osd.message( string, [id], [position], [duration] ): Display the text message on
+ the given OSD channel. Position types are: "center", "left", "right", "top",
+ "bottom", "top-left", "top-right", "bottom-left" or "bottom-right". The
+ duration is set in microseconds.
osd.slider( position, type, [id] ): Display slider. Position is an integer
from 0 to 100. Type can be "horizontal" or "vertical".
osd.channel_register(): Register a new OSD channel. Returns the channel id.
osd.channel_clear( id ): Clear OSD channel.
-osd.menu.show(): Show the OSD menu.
-osd.menu.hide(): Hide the OSD menu.
-osd.menu.prev(): Select previous/left item.
-osd.menu.next(): Select next/right item.
-osd.menu.up(): Move selection up.
-osd.menu.down(): Move selection down.
-osd.menu.activate(): Activate/validate current selection.
Playlist
--------
playlist.prev(): Play previous track.
playlist.next(): Play next track.
-playlist.skip( n ): Skip n tracs.
+playlist.skip( n ): Skip n tracks.
playlist.play(): Play.
playlist.pause(): Pause.
playlist.stop(): Stop.
playlist.clear(): Clear the playlist.
playlist.repeat_( [status] ): Toggle item repeat or set to specified value.
playlist.loop( [status] ): Toggle playlist loop or set to specified value.
-playlist.random( [status] ): Toggle playlsit random or set to specified value.
+playlist.random( [status] ): Toggle playlist random or set to specified value.
playlist.goto( id ): Go to specified track.
playlist.add( ... ): Add a bunch of items to the playlist.
The playlist is a table of playlist objects.
example: .options = { "fullscreen" }
.duration: stream duration in seconds (OPTIONAL)
.meta: custom meta data (OPTIONAL, meta data)
- A .meta field is a table of custom meta categories which
- each have custom meta properties.
- example: .meta = { ["Google video"] = { ["docid"] = "-5784010886294950089"; ["GVP version"] = "1.1" }; ["misc"] = { "Hello" = "World!" } }
+ A .meta field is a table of custom meta key value pairs.
+ example: .meta = { ["GVP docid"] = "-5784010886294950089", ["GVP version] = "1.1", Hello = "World!" }
Invalid playlist items will be discarded by VLC.
playlist.enqueue( ... ): like playlist.add() except that track isn't played.
-playlist.get( [what, [tree]] ): Get the playist.
+playlist.get( [what, [tree]] ): Get the playlist.
If "what" is a number, then this will return the corresponding playlist
item's playlist hierarchy. If it is "normal" or "playlist", it will
return the normal playlist. If it is "ml" or "media library", it will
return the media library. If it is "root" it will return the full playlist.
If it is a service discovery module's name, it will return that service
discovery's playlist. If it is any other string, it won't return anything.
- Else it will return the fullplaylist.
+ Else it will return the full playlist.
The second argument, "tree", is optional. If set to true or unset, the
playlist will be returned in a tree layout. If set to false, the playlist
will be returned using the flat layout.
Each playlist item returned will have the following members:
+ .item: The input item.
.id: The item's id.
- .flags: a table with the following members if the corresponing flag is
+ .flags: a table with the following members if the corresponding flag is
set:
.save
.skip
.duration: (-1 if unknown)
.nb_played:
.children: A table of children playlist items.
+playlist.search( name ): filter the playlist items with the given string
+playlist.current(): return the current input item id
+playlist.sort( key ): sort the playlist according to the key.
+ Key must be one of the followings values: 'id', 'title', 'title nodes first',
+ 'artist', 'genre', 'random', 'duration',
+ 'title numeric' or 'album'.
+playlist.status(): return the playlist status: 'stopped', 'playing', 'paused' or 'unknown'.
+playlist.delete( id ): check if item of id is in playlist and delete it. returns -1 when invalid id.
+playlist.move( id_item, id_where ): take id_item and if id_where has children, it put it as first children,
+ if id_where don't have children, id_item is put after id_where in same playlist. returns -1 when invalid ids.
FIXME: add methods to get an item's meta, options, es ...
-SD
---
+Services discovery
+------------------
+
+Interfaces and extensions can use the following SD functions:
+
sd.get_services_names(): Get a table of all available service discovery
modules. The module name is used as key, the long name is used as value.
sd.add( name ): Add service discovery.
sd.remove( name ): Remove service discovery.
sd.is_loaded( name ): Check if service discovery is loaded.
-sd.add_item( ... ): Add an item to the service discovery.
- The item object has the same members as the one in playlist.add().
- Returns the input item.
+
+Services discovery scripts can use the following SD functions:
+
sd.add_node( ... ): Add a node to the service discovery.
The node object has the following members:
.title: the node's name
.arturl: the node's ArtURL (OPTIONAL)
+ .category: the node's category (OPTIONAL)
+sd.add_item( ... ): Add an item to the service discovery.
+ The item object has the same members as the one in playlist.add() along with:
+ .category: the item's category (OPTIONAL)
+ Returns the input item.
+sd.remove_item( item ): remove the item.
n = vlc.sd.add_node( {title="Node"} )
n:add_subitem( ... ): Same as sd.add_item(), but as a subitem of n.
-n:add_node( ... ): Same as sd.add_node(), but as a subnode of n.
+n:add_subnode( ... ): Same as sd.add_node(), but as a subnode of n.
+
+d = vlc.sd.add_item( ... ) Get an item object to perform following set operations on it:
+d:set_name(): the item's name in playlist
+d:set_title(): the item's Title (OPTIONAL, meta data)
+d:set_artist(): the item's Artist (OPTIONAL, meta data)
+d:set_genre(): the item's Genre (OPTIONAL, meta data)
+d:set_copyright(): the item's Copyright (OPTIONAL, meta data)
+d:set_album(): the item's Album (OPTIONAL, meta data)
+d:set_tracknum(): the item's Tracknum (OPTIONAL, meta data)
+d:set_description(): the item's Description (OPTIONAL, meta data)
+d:set_rating(): the item's Rating (OPTIONAL, meta data)
+d:set_date(): the item's Date (OPTIONAL, meta data)
+d:set_setting(): the item's Setting (OPTIONAL, meta data)
+d:set_url(): the item's URL (OPTIONAL, meta data)
+d:set_language(): the item's Language (OPTIONAL, meta data)
+d:set_nowplaying(): the item's NowPlaying (OPTIONAL, meta data)
+d:set_publisher(): the item's Publisher (OPTIONAL, meta data)
+d:set_encodedby(): the item's EncodedBy (OPTIONAL, meta data)
+d:set_arturl(): the item's ArtURL (OPTIONAL, meta data)
+d:set_trackid(): the item's TrackID (OPTIONAL, meta data)
Stream
------
stream( url ): Instantiate a stream object for specific url.
+memory_stream( string ): Instantiate a stream object containing a specific string.
+ Those two functions return the stream object upon success and nil if an
+ error occurred, in that case, the second return value will be an error message.
s = vlc.stream( "http://www.videolan.org/" )
s:read( 128 ) -- read up to 128 characters. Return 0 if no more data is available (FIXME?).
function returns as many variables as it had arguments.
strings.encode_uri_component( [uri1, [uri2, [...]]] ): Encode a list of URI
components. This function returns as many variables as it had arguments.
+strings.make_uri( path, [scheme] ): Convert a file path to a URI.
strings.resolve_xml_special_chars( [str1, [str2, [...]]] ): Resolve XML
special characters in a list of strings. This function returns as many
variables as it had arguments.
strings.convert_xml_special_chars( [str1, [str2, [...]]] ): Do the inverse
operation.
+strings.from_charset( charset, str ): convert a string from a specified
+ character encoding into UTF-8.
Variables
---------
+var.inherit( object, name ): Find the variable "name"'s value inherited by
+ the object. If object is unset, the current module's object will be used.
var.get( object, name ): Get the object's variable "name"'s value.
-var.set( object, name, value ): Set the object's variable "name" to "value".
var.get_list( object, name ): Get the object's variable "name"'s value list.
1st return value is the value list, 2nd return value is the text list.
+var.set( object, name, value ): Set the object's variable "name" to "value".
var.create( object, name, value ): Create and set the object's variable "name"
- to "value". Created vars can be of type float, string or bool.
-
-var.add_callback( object, name, function, data ): Add a callback to the
- object's "name" variable. Callback functions take 4 arguments: the
- variable name, the old value, the new value and data.
-var.del_callback( object, name, function, data ): Delete a callback to
- the object's "name" variable. "function" and "data" must be the same as
- when add_callback() was called.
+ to "value". Created vars can be of type float, string, bool or void.
+ For a void variable the value has to be 'nil'.
+
var.trigger_callback( object, name ): Trigger the callbacks associated with the
object's "name" variable.
-var.command( object name, name, argument ): Issue "object name"'s "name"
- command with argument "argument".
-var.libvlc_command( name, arguement ): Issue libvlc's "name" command with
+var.libvlc_command( name, argument ): Issue libvlc's "name" command with
argument "argument".
+var.inc_integer( name ): Increment the given integer.
+var.dec_integer( name ): Decrement the given integer.
+var.count_choices( name ): Return the number of choices.
+var.toggle_bool( name ): Toggle the given boolean.
+
Video
-----
video.fullscreen( [status] ):
Volume
------
+volume.get(): Get volume.
volume.set( level ): Set volume to an absolute level between 0 and 1024.
256 is 100%.
-volume.get(): Get volume.
volume.up( [n] ): Increment volume by n steps of 32. n defaults to 1.
volume.down( [n] ): Decrement volume by n steps of 32. n defaults to 1.
+Win
+---
+This module is only available on Windows builds
+win.console_init(): Initialize the windows console.
+win.console_wait([timeout]): Wait for input on the console for timeout ms.
+ Returns true if console input is available.
+win.console_read(): Read input from the windows console. Note that polling and
+ reading from stdin does not work under windows.
+
+XML
+---
+xml = vlc.xml(): Create an xml object.
+reader = xml:create_reader( stream ): create an xml reader that use the given stream.
+reader:read(): read some data, return -1 on error, 0 on EOF, 1 on start of XML
+ element, 2 on end of XML element, 3 on text
+reader:name(): name of the element
+reader:value(): value of the element
+reader:next_attr(): next attribute of the element
+
+The simplexml module can also be used to parse XML documents easily.
projects / vlc / blobdiff