[mythtv-users] MythTV remote control with Telnet, Perl, and PerlTk

[Jerome Yuzyk]

I watch TV while I work at my computer. I used to keep my MCE remote next to 
my mouse, because it is easier than reaching over to the MythTV keyboard. I 
have been getting annoyed by having it in the way, because I use it a lot 
when watching sports - gotta love that 30-second skip at every play-stop 
whistle during {C,N}FL Football games - it's like watching game tape. Plus I 
only use a small fraction of the buttons on the remote, and there are a 
couple functions it doesn't support so I have to use the keyboard anyway. The 
keyboard is black, part of the package when I got the machine and MythTV 
coming on 2 years of 24/7 next week. I've put white Post-It(TM) tape on the 
keys I use the most to help find them easily.

For a short while I wanted a programmable remote, but still, that's another 
gizmo in the way with too many buttons. Since I'm at my computer, and using 
the mouse anyway, I wanted a mousable remote, on the computer I'm usually 
working on. So call me lazy...

I looked at a few alternatives: one from the command line, one through a 
browser, and one using Flash. They didn't fit my ad hoc and particular 
requirements, so I lived with it until I upgraded to 0.21. Then I tried out 
the Telnet interface, and found it to be pretty reliable and even better when 
connected up with Perl for some logic. I wrote about that a couple Fridays 
ago. 

Now that I had a reliable way to control the MythTV box remotely I needed a 
mousable interface. An interface that would be readily available from any of 
my virtual desktops and not be very big. My KDE menu provided me with one - I 
made a menu folder and put an entry for each call to the script. I only made 
entries for my most-common functions because it was a pain to do. And I still 
wanted a better interface - something widgety - a small panel I could put in 
the corner of the screen. 

I figured Perl/Tk would do the job - all I wanted were a bunch of buttons on a 
panel. So after an hour or so while I watched our local football team pull 
defeat from the jaws of victory I learned enough to make a panel with a 
vertical stack of (14 at the moment, but I see the need for others now that 
it works, and that's going to get ugly) buttons for the functions I use most, 
activated from a system tray button which could really use a remote-control 
icon (if I could find one).

Yes, a tall strip of buttons, while functional, is not so pretty, or easy to 
use. So, back to the Tk docs to find a better layout, and a grid seems to 
provide what I need. Another hour or so while I watch the Singapore Grand 
Prix and I'm liking it! I have a panel that's laid out like the customizable 
remote I envisioned. Not fully developed yet, and tailored to my specific 
idea of what I want, but functional enough to make it through a few football 
games, the news, a few other shows, and allowing me to leave my physical 
remote out of the way.

The CLI script is 205 lines, the simple Tk script is 159 lines and the Tk grid 
script is 176 lines. They both use Perl modules that I think are in the base 
package. They could probably be used with just a little modification in any 
other environment that has Perl and Tk. It's all proof-of-concept (read: 
incomplete, undocumented but good enough for me now) but you may want to have 
a look or try it out as a basis for making your own. Maybe even good enough to 
make it into /contribs some day. Enjoy!

    http://www.bss.ab.ca/mythtv/MythRemote_TelnetPerlTk_20080929.zip