rpourzia / lirconian

A pure Python implementation of the Lirc irsend program.

Lirconian (previously PythonLircClient)

This is a new and independent implementation of the Lirc irsend(1) program. It offers a Python API and a command line interface. The command line interface is almost, but not quite, compatible with irsend. Instead, it is organized as a program with subcommands.

There are some other subtile differences from irsend:

• subcommands have been renamed, and must be lower case,
• send-once has been renamed to send; only takes one command (irsend takes several),
• send-stop (renamed to stop) without arguments uses the remote and the command from the last send-start command (API only; not from the command line),
• list has been replaced by the two subcommands remotes (listing remotes), and commands, listing the commands in a given remote,
• no need to give dummy empty arguments for some commands,
• The --count argument to send is argument to the subcommand.
• the code in commands (previously list remote) is suppressed, unless -c is given,
• port number must be given with the --port (-p) argument; hostip:portnumber is not recognized,
• verbose option --verbose (-v); echos all communication with the Lirc server,
• selectable timeout with --timeout (-t) option,
• better error messages

It does not depend on anything but standard Python libraries.

Both Python2 and Python3 are supported. It does not depend on anything but standard Python libraries. (The minimal versions are believed to be 2.7 and 3.2 respectively; however, this has not been tested.)

For a GUI Lirc client, look at IrScrutinizer. For a Java version, look at JavaLircClient.

Usage:

usage: lirconian [-h] [-a host] [-d path] [-p port] [-t s] [-V] [-v]
           sub-commands ...

Program to send IR codes and commands to a Lirc server.

positional arguments:
  sub-commands
send                Send one command
start               Start sending one command until stopped
stop                Stop sending the command from send-start
remotes             Inquire the list of remotes
commands            Inquire the list of commands in a remote
input-log           Set input logging
driver-option       Set driver option
simulate            Fake the reception of IR signals
transmitters        Set transmitters
version             Inquire version of the Lirc server. (Use "--version"
            for the version of this program.)

optional arguments:
  -h, --help            show this help message and exit
  -a host, --address host
            IP name or address of lircd host. Takes preference
            over --device.
  -d path, --device path
            Path name of the lircd socket
  -p port, --port port  Port of lircd, default 8765
  -t s, --timeout s     Timeout in seconds
  -V, --version         Display version information for this program
  -v, --verbose         Have the communication with the Lirc server echoed

Difference to the "Python bindings for Lirc"

The current Lirc release contains "Python bindings". It "requires lirc, including header files, installed". It is not pure Python, requiring a C module to be installed. Its use is thus mainly to allow the use of the Lirc programs from a Python environment.

In contrast, the program and API presented here are pure Python. It runs on every host supporting Python, regardless of the presence of Lirc. (The possibly exception (depending on the Python implementation), is the the Unix Domain Socket version.)