3 Paraslash is an acronym for
5 Play, archive, rate and stream large audio sets happily
7 It contains the following programs:
9 - para_server (obligatory):
11 This server listens on a tcp port and accepts commands such as
12 play, stop, pause, next from authenticated clients.
14 For audio streaming, at least one of the three supported senders
15 of para_server must be activated:
17 The http sender is recommended for public streams that can
18 be played by any player like mpg123, xmms, winamp...
20 The dccp sender is experimental and requires kernel support
21 for the rather new datagram congestion control protocol.
23 The ortp sender is recommended for LAN streaming and for
24 private streams that require authentication.
26 It is possible to activate more than one sender simultaneously.
27 All senders have the same set of commands that allow to
28 control the access permissions of the stream.
30 para_server needs an "audio file selector" to work, mainly
31 to determine which song to stream next. There are three
32 selectors available: random, playlist and mysql. The former
33 chooses audio files randomly and playlist can handle, well,
34 playlists. Both are always supported.
36 The optional mysql selector connects to a mysql server which
37 holds information on your audio files. It has several unusual
38 features, see README.mysql for details.
40 - para_client (obligatory):
42 The client program to connect to para_server.
44 - para_recv (optional)
46 A command line http/dccp/rtp stream grabber.
48 - para_filter (optional)
50 A filter program that converts from stdin and writes to
51 stdout. This one is independent from the rest of paraslash,
52 so it might be useful also for different purposes.
54 para_filter combines an mp3 decoder an oggvorbis decoder
55 and a volume normalzer. New filters can be added easily due
56 to the modular design. If more than one filter is specified,
57 the given filters are 'piped' together in-memory, i.e. without
58 calling any of the read(2)/write(2)/select(2) etc. functions.
60 - para_write (obligatory)
62 A modular audio stream writer. It supports a simple file
63 writer output plugin and an optional wav/raw player for alsa.
64 Debian package: libasound2-dev
66 - para_audiod (optional, but recommended):
68 The local daemon that collects information from para_server. It
69 starts an appropriate receiver, filter and player as soon
70 as para_server announces the availability (and the type) of
71 an audio stream. para_audiod listens on a local socket and
72 sends status information about para_server and para_audiod
73 to local clients on request.
75 - para_audioc (optional, but recommended)
77 The client program which talks with para_audiod. Used to
78 control para_audiod, to receive status info, or to grab the
79 stream at any point in the filter chain.
81 para_audioc (hence para_audiod) is needed by para_gui,
82 para_sdl_gui and para_krell, see below.
84 - para_gui (optional):
86 Themable ncurses-based gui. It calls para_audioc and presents
87 the obtained information in an ncurses window. para_gui
88 provides key-bindings for the most common commands and new
89 key-bindings can be added easily.
91 - para_sdl_gui (optional):
93 SDL-based gui. Similar to para_gui but presents its output
94 in an X window (fullscreen mode is also available) and can
95 display jpg images on a per song basis. para_sdl_gui provides
96 an input prompt to enter arbitrary commands. However, it
97 can also be used non-interactively (e.g. as a screen saver)
100 - para_krell (optional, only useful in conjunction with the mysql selector):
102 A plugin for gkrellm which shows small pictures of the
103 current song. It allows you to launch 27 different commands
104 by clicking in different areas of its picture (9 small squares
107 - para_fade (optional):
109 A (Linux-only) alarm clock and volume-fader.
111 - para_dbadm (optional, only useful in conjunction with the mysql selector):
113 Very simple curses-based frontend which uses libmenu. Useful
114 for quickly changing the attributes of the current song
115 (e.g. from para_gui as an external command).
117 - para_slider (optional, only useful in conjunction with the mysql selector):
119 A small X application which shows a scrollbar for each
120 attribute defined in the mysql database. It creates a stream
121 definition from the values of the scrollbars. This allows
122 to smoothly change the mood of the given stream without any
125 - bash_completion (optional):
127 A small bash script for inclusion in ~/.bashrc. It gives you
128 command line completion for some paraslash commands.
134 - gcc, the gnu compiler collection (shipped with distro): gcc-3.3
135 or newer is required.
137 - openssl (needed by server, client): usually shipped with
138 distro, but you might have to install the "development"
141 http://www.openssl.org/
143 - software mixing, e.g. ALSA and the direct mixing plugin (dmix)
145 If you want to use the mysql-based audio file selector, you also need
151 These are usually shipped with the distro but probably not installed
154 The mp3 decoder of para_filter is based on libmad:
156 http://www.underbit.com/products/mad/
158 If you prefer to use the libmad package provided by your distributor,
159 make sure to install the corresponding development package as well.
161 If you want to stream ogg vorbis files you'll need:
163 - libogg, libvorbis, libvorbisfile, and a command line ogg vorbis
164 decoder, e.g. para_filter or ogg123.
166 http://www.xiph.org/downloads/
168 Debian packages: libogg-dev libvorbis-dev
170 Note that para_audiod still works even if neither mp3 nor ogg support
171 was compiled in. You'll have to use the --no_default_filters option
172 in this case (and e.g. "mpg123 -" as the stream write command).
174 If you intend to use the optional ortp streamer:
178 http://www.linphone.org/ortp/
181 For the optional SDL-based gui, the following packages must be installed:
183 - X (usually shipped with distro)
187 - libSDL (usually shipped with distro)
189 http://www.libsdl.org/index.php
193 http://www.libsdl.org/projects/SDL_image/
195 For para_slider, the zero memory widget library is neccessary. Get it at
197 http://www710.univ-lyon1.fr/~exco/ZMW/
199 Finally, para_krell needs
207 http://members.dslextreme.com/users/billw/gkrellm/gkrellm.html
211 Distribution of paraslash is covered by the GNU GPL. See file COPYING.
215 Author: Andre Noll <maan@systemlinux.org>
216 Comments and bug reports are welcome.