Features
========
-configurable audio streaming software
-~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
- para_server streams binary audio data (mp3/ogg files) over
- local or remote networks. It contains two built-in streamers:
- the http streamer and the ortp streamer.
-
- para_audiod runs on the client side and connects to
- para_server. The audio stream is read back and sent through
- any of paraslash's filters (mp3 decoder, ogg vorbis decoder,
- volume normalizer,...) and the resulting stream is written to
- an external program's standard in, usually an audio player,
- like para_play that uses alsa. It is possible to grab the
- stream at any position in the filter chain.
-
- The receiving/filtering software is also available as
- standalone command line tool: para_recv grabs the http or ortp
- stream and writes to stdout; para_filter reads from stdin,
- converts the stream according to the given --filter command
- line options and writes the transformed stream to stdout.
-
-configurable audio file selectors:
-~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
- There are three audio file selectors (aka "database tools")
- available:
-
- - random
- - plm (playlist manager)
- - mysql
-
- The first two of these are rather simple, and they are always
- supported. They allow streaming of randomly selected files
- or files given by a playlist respectively.
-
- The (optional) mysql selector is more involved. It manages
- statistics on your audio files and audio file selection is
- done by sending a user-defined sql-query to the mysql server.
- This allows rather sophisticated configurations and is
- explained in detail in README.mysql.
-
- It is possible to switch between all supported selectors at
- any time.
-
-small memory footprint:
-~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
- paraslash is lightweight. The stripped binary of para_server
- with all its features compiled in (mysql/random dbtool,
- mp3/ogg support, http/ortp support) is about 110K on i386
- under Linux. para_audiod is even smaller.
-
-command line interface, including shell:
-~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
- para_client without arguments starts interactive (shell)
- mode. Otherwise, command is sent to para_server directly
- and output is dumped to stdout. This can be used by any
- scripting language to produce user interfaces with very little
- programming effort.
-
-authentication/encryption via openssl:
-~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
- All connections between para_server and para_client are
- encrypted by default. For each user of paraslash you must
- create a public/secret key pair for authentication/encryption.
-
-various user interfaces and utilities:
-~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
- o para_gui. Curses based interface, displays information in a
- curses window and can be used to easily control para_server
- and para_audiod.
-
- o para_sdl_gui. Shows pictures (on a per song basis) and
- other information about the current audio file. Can be used
- as a screen saver.
-
- o para_krell. A gkrellm2 plugin that shows small pics and is
- able to launch 27 different commands by clicking on the image.
-
- o para_slider. User-friendly stream creator for people who
- don't like their keyboard.
-
- o para_dbadm. Simple curses interface for changing attributes.
-
- o para_fade. Simple volume fader and alarm clock.
+------------------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+ * Linux and Mac OS support
+ * mp3, oggvorbis, aac(m4a) support
+ * local or remote http, dccp, and ortp network audio streaming
+ * volume normalizer
+ * stream grabbing at any point in the filter chain
+ * stand-alone command line receiver/decoder/normalizer/player
+ * sophisticated audio file selectors (mysql, random, playlist)
+ * small memory footprint
+ * command line interface for easy scripting in high-level languages
+ * RSA user authentication
+ * encrypted communications
+ * GPL licensed
+ * written in C
+ * well documented
+ * complete API-Reference
+ * easily extendable due to the modular design
+ * various user interfaces and utilities:
+ * para_gui. Curses based interface to easily control server and
+ client
+ * para_sdl_gui. Shows images on a per song basis and can be used
+ as a screen saver.
+ * para_krell. A gkrellm2 plugin
+ * para_slider. User-friendly stream creator
+ * para_dbadm. Simple curses interface for changing attributes.
+ * para_fade. volume fader and alarm clock.