vlc-client

vlc-client manages a VLC media player instance through it's RC interface.

Installation

Add this line to your application's Gemfile:

gem 'vlc-client'

And then execute:

$ bundle

Or install it yourself as:

$ gem install vlc-client

Usage

Create a client and connect to a running VLC media player instance.


#Expects a VLC media player running on 192.168.1.10:9999
#e.g. vlc --extraintf rc --rc-host 192.168.1.10:9999

vlc = VLC::Client.new('192.168.1.10', 9999)
# => "#<VLC::Client:0x0000000229c370 @server=#<VLC::Server:0x0000000229c6e0 @headless=false, @port=9999, @host=\"192.168.1.10\", @pid=10514>, @self_managed=true, @connection=#<VLC::Connection:0x0000000229c258 @port=9999, @host=\"192.168.1.10\", @socket=#<TCPSocket:fd 5>>>"

vlc.connect
# => true

vlc.play('http://example.org/media.mp3') #play media
# => true

vlc.playing?
# => true

vlc.fullscreen
# => true
#...

Create a self managed client/server system.

Most of the time we want a local client/server VLC media player system


vlc = VLC::System.new #A local VLC client/server system where a local VLC installation is automaticaly managed
# => "#<VLC::System:0x00000001bbb1a0 @client=#<VLC::Client:0x00000001bbade0 @server=#<VLC::Server:0x00000001bbb178 @headless=false, @port=9595, @host=\"localhost\", @pid=11225>, @connection=#<VLC::Connection:0x00000001bbacc8 @port=9595, @host=\"localhost\", @socket=#<TCPSocket:fd 5>>>>"

vlc.connected? #auto_connect
# => true

vlc.play('http://example.org/media.mp3')
# => true

vlc.progress
# => 1 #%
#...

#Technically this is the same as
vlc = VLC::Client.new(VLC::Server.new('localhost', 9595, false))
# => "#<VLC::Client:0x000000011de128 @server=#<VLC::Server:0x000000011de380 @headless=false, @port=9595, @host=\"localhost\", @pid=12656>, @connection=#<VLC::Connection:0x000000011de038 @port=9595, @host=\"localhost\", @socket=#<TCPSocket:fd 5>>>"

Get local VLC server lifecycle management control


vlc = VLC::System.new('127.0.0.1', 9999, auto_start: false)
# => "#<VLC::System:0x00000001695f68 @client=#<VLC::Client:0x0000000169d718 @server=#<VLC::Server:0x00000001695ec8 @headless=false, @port=9999, @host=\"127.0.0.1\", @pid=VLC::NullObject>, @connection=#<VLC::Connection:0x0000000169d588 @port=9999, @host=\"127.0.0.1\", @socket=VLC::NullObject>>>"

vlc.server.running?
# => false

vlc.server.start
# => 12672

vlc.connect
# => true

Reference

reference

Notice

vlc-client has been tested on linux but it should work on any VLC installation as long as the command line is responsive for vlc and cvlc calls. On Mac OSX these are not available by default. They can be created with:

ln -s /Applications/VLC.app/Contents/MacOS/VLC /usr/local/bin/vlc
ln -s /Applications/VLC.app/Contents/MacOS/VLC /usr/local/bin/cvlc

VLC media player 2.0.3 seems to ship with a bug that invalidates YouTube streaming. Please use VLC 2.0.4 or later. The last tested version is VLC media player 2.1.2 Rincewind

Contributing

Fork it
Create your topic branch (git checkout -b my-topic-branch)
Add/change specs for your unimplemented feature or bug fix
Make sure specs fail by running bundle exec rake spec. If not return to step 3
Hack it
Make sure specs pass (bundle exec rake spec). If not return to step 5
Edit the documentation so it is coherent with your feature or fix. Run bundle exec rake yard to review
Commit changes (git commit -am 'Add some feature/fix') and push to the branch (git push origin my-topic-branch)
Submit a pull request for your branch.