The Manager Object

There is only ever a single instance of this object. The manager object exposes two D-Bus interfaces:

Contents

• The Manager Object

  • com.intel.dLeynaServer.Manager

    • Methods

      • GetServers() -> ao

      • GetVersion() -> s

      • Release()

      • SetProtocolInfo(s ProtocolInfo) -> void

      • PreferLocalAddresses(b Prefer) -> void

      • Rescan() -> void

    • Properties

    • Signals

      • FoundServer(o)

      • LostServer(o)

1. com.intel.dLeynaServer.Manager

2. org.freedesktop.DBus.Properties

com.intel.dLeynaServer.Manager

Methods

The interface com.intel.dLeynaServer.Manager contains six methods. Descriptions of each of these methods along with their D-Bus signatures are given below.

GetServers() -> ao

GetServers takes no parameters and returns an array of D-Bus object paths. Each of these paths reference a D-Bus object that represents a single DMS.

GetVersion() -> s

Returns the version number of dleyna-server-service

Release()

Indicates to dleyna-server-service that a client is no longer interested in its services. Internally, dleyna-server-service maintains a reference count. This reference count is increased when a new client connects. It is decreased when a client quits. When the reference count reaches 0, dleyna-server-service exits. A call to Release also decreases the reference count. Clients should call this method if they intend to keep running but they have no immediate plans to invoke any of dleyna-server-service’s methods. This allows dleyna-server-service to quit, freeing up system resources.

SetProtocolInfo(s ProtocolInfo) -> void

Informs dleyna-server-service of the mime types and network protocols supported by the client.

The explanation behind this function is a little complex. DMSs often support a feature call transcoding. This allows them to publish each media item they manage in a number of different formats. This is useful as not all devices support the same set of media formats and codecs. For example, a DMS might publish two separate URLS for a video file. The first URL might point to the file in its original format, e.g., to an ogg vorbis file. The second URL however, could point to a MP4 encoded version of the same file. The second URL might be preferable if viewing the file on a mobile device. In short, SetProtocolInfo allows clients to specify the formats that they would like to receive media content in. This function should be called by all MediaPlayers. Doing so, will ensure that dleyna-server-service only returns compatible URLs via the org.gnome.MediaItem2 interface. For more information see the section on MediaServer2Spec below.

The Protocol info field is a comma separated list of protocol info values. Each protocol info value consists of 4 fields separated by colons. Unfortunately, the format is too complex to describe in this document. The reader is referred to the UPnP Connection Manager Service Template document [CM2] and the DLNA Guidelines [DLNA] where it is described extensively. However, an example protocol info value is presented below, to give the reader an idea of what such a string might look like.

“http-get::audio/mp4:DLNA.ORG_PN=AMR_WBplus,http-get::image/jpeg:DLNA.ORG_PN=JPEG_MED”

The protocol info value above indicates that the client supports the retrieval, via HTTP, and the playback of audio MP4 and JPEG files.

PreferLocalAddresses(b Prefer) -> void

Indicates whether local addresses should be prioritized or not. DMSs tend to make their services available on multiple interfaces. If a DMP and a DMS are running on the same device, the DMP will have the option of communicating with the DMS over the loopback or the LAN. By default dleyna-server-service will return loopback addresses to clients running on the same device. This is not very helpful for DMCs who need non-local addresses to pass to renderers running on other devices. DMCs should therefore call this function with the value FALSE before requesting any URLs from any servers.

Rescan() -> void

Forces a rescan for DMSs on the local area network. This is useful to detect DMSs which have shut down without sending BYE messages or to discover new DMSs which for some reason were not detected when either they, or the device on which dLeyna-server runs, was started or joined the network. New in version 0.0.2.

Properties

The com.intel.dLeynaServer.Manager interface exposes information via a number of D-Bus properties. These properties are described below:

Name	Type	m/o 1	Description
NeverQuit	b	m	True if the service always stay in memory running. False if the service quit when the last client disconnects
WhiteListEntries	as	m	The list of entries that compose the white list used to filter the networks. An Entry could be an interface name (eth0), an ip address (127.0.0.1) or a SSID (MyWiFi)
WhiteListEnabled	b	m	True if the Network Filtering is active

A org.freedesktop.DBus.Properties.PropertiesChanged signal is emitted when these properties change. These properties can be changed using the Set() method of org.freedesktop.DBus.Properties interface.

Signals

The com.intel.dLeynaServer.Manager interface also exposes two signals.

FoundServer(o)

Is generated whenever a new DMS is detected on the local area network. The signal contains the path of the newly discovered server.

LostServer(o)

Is generated whenever a DMS is shutdown. The signal contains the path of the server which has just been shutdown.

Footnotes

1

m/o indicates whether the property is optional or mandatory.