[mythtv] [PLUGIN] Key binding editor (MythControls)
Michael T. Dean
mtdean at thirdcontact.com
Thu May 5 16:18:00 UTC 2005
Micah F. Galizia wrote:
>On Thu, 2005-05-05 at 09:41 -0400, J. Donavan Stanley wrote:
>
>
>>Micah F. Galizia wrote:
>>
>>>That sounds like an excuse to me! Correct me if I am wrong, but to use
>>>LIRC, every single app you want to use already has to have added support
>>>for the LIRC client libraries. If they can support LIRC, then why not
>>>the Linux input layer?
>>>
>>>
>>You are wrong. ;)
>>
>>The path of least resistance for using remotes is to use the irxevent
>>application that's included with lirc. This allows ANY application
>>(that accepts X events for input) to receive remote input as though it
>>had been entered with a keyboard. This allows for all kinds of
>>applications to be used without hassle.
>>
>OK, fine. But I still think that the Linux input layer is better. Its
>already there, it works well with any remote I have ever owned, and it
>works without X.
>
>
Then, instead of configuring my remote for all programs in one file
(~/.lircrc, to which ~/.mythtv/lircrc is linked), I can change
keybindings in MythTV to fit my remote using MythWeb or your keybinding
editor; I can change xine keybindings using ~/.xine/keymap; I can change
MPlayer keybindings using ~/.mplayer/input.conf; and I can change my
window manager's and all my other applications's keybindings using their
configuration files (or--shudder at the thought--GUI configuration wizards).
And I only have to make sure that the keys issued by my remote make
sense for all the applications. For example, my Play and Pause buttons
issue a 'P' in MythTV--I use them both as play toggles; but in xine,
Play and Pause are not toggles--they're two distinct commands--so I need
two different keys for them (which is impossible to do both ways with a
keyboard--but not with LIRC) so I have to change my MythTV setup...
And, since I can't rely on the application-specific default keybindings,
I have to change the keybindings for all my apps, so all the time I've
invested in learning the default keybindings for xine, MPlayer, etc was
wasted; and once I learn the new bindings, I either have to ensure all
my computers have the same keybindings specified (to make it possible to
use the apps on other non-Myth computers without remotes) or remember
when to use which set of keybindings--and I'm out of luck when using
someone else's computer.
So, there are good reasons for using LIRC. As a matter of fact, I use
an ATI Remote Wonder, but I configured it with LIRC (the much-harder
way) instead of as a keyboard for exactly these reasons. IMHO, LIRC
allows remote control configuration to be much more flexible--for those
of us willing to learn to use it.
Mike
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