[mythtv] $1,000 offer for a Myth front-end socket control

[michael.anderson at plutohome.com]

Yes, this task is completed.  Chris finished the code, we sent him the
money, and his code works great.  I think he's committing it to the main
Myth branch.


> Michael,
>     did you get any takers for your $1000 offer?
>
> Personally, I'd have just used some/all of the existing "jump points" that
> are in myth (a keystroke that takes you to a specific/known location/view)
> in conjunction with lircd as a socket listner daemon for stuffing
> extra/following key-strokes.       Stuffing key strokes works, so long as
> you know with certainty what your starting point was (hence the jump
> point/s).
>
> Anyway, are you still looking for somone to do it?   If so, let me know,
> and
> let me know a timeframe.   I'd expect I could do it within a month,
> probably
> less.   (  My C++ is a bit rusty). ... but my C is less rusty....  to be
> honest, my perl is light-years ahead of them both.  (yes, I've written
> daemon/s reliably in perl before) ... if you are interested in some of my
> prior work have a look at http://netreg.sf.net
> <BLOCKED::http://netreg.sf.net>   v2 was almost entirely my work - written
> for, and implemented by Griffith University, Brisbane, Queensland,
> Australia.  (and still in use 2+ years later).
>
> Buzz.
>
>
>
>   _____
>
> From: mythtv-dev-bounces at mythtv.org [mailto:mythtv-dev-bounces at mythtv.org]
> On Behalf Of Michael Anderson
> Sent: Saturday, 10 December 2005 5:57 AM
> To: mythtv-dev at mythtv.org
> Subject: [mythtv] $1,000 offer for a Myth front-end socket control
>
>
>
> I am supposed to present a client with PVR options for their set-top box,
> both open source like Myth and VDR, and closed, proprietary ones we
> license.
> We would like to present a Myth-solution, but cannot because we never
> found
> a way to send the Myth front-end commands directly, such as over a socket.
> It seems LIRC and other programs that want to control Myth just simulate
> keystrokes (ie send an 'up' key when it's time to change the channel).
> We've done this too, but the end-result is pretty unusable; we can't
> definitely make the EPG appear when the user hits the 'EPG' button on his
> remote, we can only send a keypress which, depending on what's onscreen,
> may
> or may not have the desired effect.
>
>
>
> I've done similar things with other open source projects, and it's usually
> a
> trivial task, like a day or two.  There's probably just 1 place where an
> interceptor or hook needs to go that opens a socket and listens for
> commands, and relays those commands back into the Myth frontend.  And we
> already have socket classes to encapsulate all that work.  But I know
> nothing about Myth front-end's architecture and have some other deadlines,
> so I got approval to offer $1,000 to anybody who would do it.  Hopefully
> with Myth it's also just a day or two for someone who knows where to put
> those hooks.  Details are:
>
>
>
> ---------DELIVERABLE-----------
>
> We would provide the 'client app': a C++ console app (ie no X), compilable
> with gcc on Linux 2.6 kernel that contains a class with function stubs for
> each of the commands to be implemented below.  The developer can type the
> commands in the console to make the app call the function stubs.  We
> assume
> responsibility for giving you this client app.  The deliverable is: a)
> adding the code to Myth front end so that it allows this external client
> app
> to communicate commands and get status info directly, likely by listening
> on
> a socket, and b) adding the code to the client app to connect to whatever
> Myth front end is running on the current box and implementing the function
> stubs.  The end result is you can run Myth front end (it's sitting at the
> menu), and you can run this new client app, which will say something like
> 'connected to Myth front end', and then you can type into the client app
> 'goto EPG' and the EPG appears, and 'goto normal tv' and 'tune to channel
> 50', 'set playback speed=pause', and Myth will be on channel 50 with
> paused
> video.  Again, we will give you the client app that accepts the commands
> from the console, parses them, and calls the appropriate functions.  We
> already have a c++ class that handles socket communications if you wish to
> use it.
>
>
>
> ---------PAYMENT TERMS-------------
>
> Payment terms: $500 via your choice of paypal, IKobo, or U.S. check as
> soon
> as you can show that you know how to do it, by providing a client app and
> Myth front end where the client app can connect to Myth and do 1 thing,
> jump
> directly to the EPG or live tv no matter what Myth's current state,
> without
> using keyboard stuffing.  There's no need to provide source code at this
> point-just show that you know how to do it.  The other $500 paid
> immediately
> when it's done and we are able to send the commands listed below and have
> Myth execute them regardless of the front end's current state.  Any code
> for
> Myth must be submitted back under the GPL license, of course, so this same
> mechanism can be used for tighter integration with LIRC.
>
>
>
> --------------Commands to be implemented----------------
>
>
>
> Tune to Specific Channel
>
> Channel Up/Down
>
> Goto time code
>
> Set Playback Speed (ie 4x, -1x rewind, 0x pause, 1/4x, etc.)
>
> Goto Mode or Menu (parameter is the menu: ie goto EPG menu, goto 'normal
> viewing tv', goto 'recorded tv options', goto 'setup screen')
>
> Play a given file/recording
>
> Get Current Timecode (including indicating if it's time lapse tv or live
> tv)
>
> Get Current Status (ie live tv, time lapse tv, etc., and what mode is
> active: epg, tv viewing, etc.
>
> Move OSD (move highlight up/down/left/right, page u/d/l/r, hit enter -
> same
> thing like simulating keypresses)
>
> Goto input on TV Tuner card
>
> Jump to beginning of ring buffer
>
> Jump to live TV
>
>
>
> Eventually the other Myth commands should be supported, and that can be
> discussed later, but this is enough for me to make my demo.
>
>
>
> You can email replies back to this list or directly to michael.anderson
> [at]
> plutohome [dot] com
>
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