vlc-http-controller

An ExpressJS that starts VLC (VideoLAN) and presents a controller as HTTP endpoints.

The project builds on running VLC in "interactive RC mode". Read more here: https://wiki.videolan.org/Documentation:Modules/rc/

When the server runs, it launches a "remote control" interface at localhost. If can, however, also be address by any other program or script using standard HTTP protocol.

BEWARE: Some of the functions require callbacks (e.g. "get_time", "get_length", "playlist" and more), and I have written some promise-based code to await these before sending a response to the HTTP request. HOWEVER, this assumes that VLC handles these functions in a queue using FIFO, and that they're not running synchronously. I haven't stress tested this nor read documentation, so it might cause errors in the values that are returned.

Requirements

Requires NodeJS, ExpressJS, VLC and some media to play.

It should be able to run on a small computer, e.g. a Raspberry PI or similar, and thereby provide basic mediaplayer functionality.

Tested on Ubuntu.

How to configure

Use "library.json" to specify your media library.

Each media object requires a unique ID, a title (to be displayed) and the path of the media (accessible to VLC).

How to run

Run

node index.js

Then visit:

http://localhost:3000

where the "remote control" is live.

Otherwise use routes directly as specified in index.js

VLC Commands (as output by 'help')

+----[ CLI commands ]
| add XYZ  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . add XYZ to playlist
| enqueue XYZ  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . queue XYZ to playlist
| playlist . . . . . . . . . . . . .  show items currently in playlist
| search [string]  . .  search for items in playlist (or reset search)
| delete [X] . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . delete item X in playlist
| move [X][Y]  . . . . . . . . . . . . move item X in playlist after Y
| sort key . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . sort the playlist
| sd [sd]  . . . . . . . . . . . . . show services discovery or toggle
| play . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . play stream
| stop . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . stop stream
| next . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  next playlist item
| prev . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  previous playlist item
| goto, gotoitem . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  goto item at index
| repeat [on|off]  . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  toggle playlist repeat
| loop [on|off]  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  toggle playlist loop
| random [on|off]  . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  toggle playlist random
| clear  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  clear the playlist
| status . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . current playlist status
| title [X]  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . set/get title in current item
| title_n  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  next title in current item
| title_p  . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  previous title in current item
| chapter [X]  . . . . . . . . . . . . set/get chapter in current item
| chapter_n  . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  next chapter in current item
| chapter_p  . . . . . . . . . . . .  previous chapter in current item
| 
| seek X . . . . . . . . . . . seek in seconds, for instance `seek 12'
| pause  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  toggle pause
| fastforward  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . set to maximum rate
| rewind . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . set to minimum rate
| faster . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  faster playing of stream
| slower . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  slower playing of stream
| normal . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  normal playing of stream
| rate [playback rate] . . . . . . . . . .  set playback rate to value
| frame  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . play frame by frame
| fullscreen, f, F [on|off]  . . . . . . . . . . . . toggle fullscreen
| info [X] . .  information about the current stream (or specified id)
| stats  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  show statistical information
| get_time . . . . . . . . .  seconds elapsed since stream's beginning
| is_playing . . . . . . . . . . . .  1 if a stream plays, 0 otherwise
| get_title  . . . . . . . . . . . . . the title of the current stream
| get_length . . . . . . . . . . . .  the length of the current stream
| 
| volume [X] . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  set/get audio volume
| volup [X]  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  raise audio volume X steps
| voldown [X]  . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  lower audio volume X steps
| achan [X]  . . . . . . . . . . . .  set/get stereo audio output mode
| atrack [X] . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . set/get audio track
| vtrack [X] . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . set/get video track
| vratio [X] . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  set/get video aspect ratio
| vcrop, crop [X]  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  set/get video crop
| vzoom, zoom [X]  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  set/get video zoom
| vdeinterlace [X] . . . . . . . . . . . . . set/get video deinterlace
| vdeinterlace_mode [X]  . . . . . . .  set/get video deinterlace mode
| snapshot . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . take video snapshot
| strack [X] . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  set/get subtitle track
| 
| vlm  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  load the VLM
| description  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  describe this module
| help, ? [pattern]  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  a help message
| longhelp [pattern] . . . . . . . . . . . . . . a longer help message
| lock . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  lock the telnet prompt
| logout . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  exit (if in a socket connection)
| quit . . . . . . . .  quit VLC (or logout if in a socket connection)
| shutdown . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  shutdown VLC