[mythtv] [PLUGIN] Key binding editor (MythControls)

[Michael T. Dean]

Micah F. Galizia wrote:

>On Thu, 2005-05-05 at 09:41 -0400, J. Donavan Stanley wrote:
>  
>
>>Micah F. Galizia wrote:
>>
>>>That sounds like an excuse to me!  Correct me if I am wrong, but to use
>>>LIRC, every single app you want to use already has to have added support
>>>for the LIRC client libraries.  If they can support LIRC, then why not
>>>the Linux input layer?
>>>      
>>>
>>You are wrong. ;)
>>
>>The path of least resistance for using remotes is to use the irxevent
>>application that's included with lirc.  This allows ANY application
>>(that accepts X events for input) to receive remote input as though it
>>had been entered with a keyboard. This allows for all kinds of
>>applications to be used without hassle.
>>
>OK, fine.  But I still think that the Linux input layer is better.  Its
>already there, it works well with any remote I have ever owned, and it
>works without X.
>  
>
Then, instead of configuring my remote for all programs in one file 
(~/.lircrc, to which ~/.mythtv/lircrc is linked), I can change 
keybindings in MythTV to fit my remote using MythWeb or your keybinding 
editor; I can change xine keybindings using ~/.xine/keymap; I can change 
MPlayer keybindings using ~/.mplayer/input.conf; and I can change my 
window manager's and all my other applications's keybindings using their 
configuration files (or--shudder at the thought--GUI configuration wizards).

And I only have to make sure that the keys issued by my remote make 
sense for all the applications.  For example, my Play and Pause buttons 
issue a 'P' in MythTV--I use them both as play toggles; but in xine, 
Play and Pause are not toggles--they're two distinct commands--so I need 
two different keys for them (which is impossible to do both ways with a 
keyboard--but not with LIRC) so I have to change my MythTV setup...  
And, since I can't rely on the application-specific default keybindings, 
I have to change the keybindings for all my apps, so all the time I've 
invested in learning the default keybindings for xine, MPlayer, etc was 
wasted; and once I learn the new bindings, I either have to ensure all 
my computers have the same keybindings specified (to make it possible to 
use the apps on other non-Myth computers without remotes) or remember 
when to use which set of keybindings--and I'm out of luck when using 
someone else's computer.

So, there are good reasons for using LIRC.  As a matter of fact, I use 
an ATI Remote Wonder, but I configured it with LIRC (the much-harder 
way) instead of as a keyboard for exactly these reasons.  IMHO, LIRC 
allows remote control configuration to be much more flexible--for those 
of us willing to learn to use it.

Mike