NAME
plugger - a streaming multimedia plugin for UNIX netscape
pluggerrc - configure file for plugger
DESCRIPTION
Plugger is a Netscape plugin which can show many types of multimedia inside your Netscape. To accomplish this, Plugger uses external programs such as xanim, mtv, timidity and tracker.
For up-to-date information on Plugger, see the plugger home page: http://www.hubbe.net/~hubbe/plugger.html
CONFIGURE FILE
You can configure plugger by changing the file pluggerrc which can be located in any of the following directories:
$HOME/.netscape/
/etc/pluggerrc
The format of pluggerrc is very simple. The general layout is to have one or more lines describing mime-types followed by one or more lines describing commands used to handle those mime-types. Lines beginning with # are considered comments and are ignored. Here is a simple example:
video/mpeg; mpeg; Mpeg video
video/quicktime; qt; Mpeg video
: xanim +W$window -Zr +q +Ze +f $file
audio/mpeg2: mp2: MPEG audio
audio/x-mpeg2: mp2: MPEG audio
audio/mpeg3: mp3: MPEG audio
audio/x-mpeg3: mp3: MPEG audio
audio/mpeg: mpa,abs,mpega: MPEG audio
audio/x-mpeg: mpa,abs,mpega: MPEG audio
stream, preload: mpg123 -q -b 128 -
many: splay -t 200 $file
many: amp -b 200 -q $file
Each line describing a mime type has three fields:
mime type ; extensions ; description
- mime type
-
The mime type is the standardized name for the content type you want Plugger to handle. This must be the same type as the web server claims the file to be, or Plugger will not be used for that file, regardless of the extension.
- extensions
-
This is a comma separated list of extensions that should be associated with this particular mime type. The extensions are only used when a web server does not report what type of file it is, or when loading files directly from disk.
- description
-
This is the description that shows up in about:plugins and in the application preferences section in Netscape.
Lines that describe what command to use for a mime type must begin with a whitespace and have two fields:
flags : command
- flags
-
This is a comma-separated list of flags which tells plugger how to handle this particular application. See below for further details.
- command
-
This is a command which is sent to /bin/sh when handling this mime type.
FINDING THE RIGHT COMMAND
When Plugger is called from netscape, it looks through the configuration file and tries to find a matching mime type. For an application to be chosen it has to fulfill certain criteria, it has to exist, and it must match the flags given to plugger.
When it does, it tries to figure out which command to use. If the input is streamable, it looks through all the commands for that particular mime type to see if it can find an application that has the stream flag. If it cannot find a streaming application it downloads the file and tries again. Note that Plugger will check the first word of the command and search your $PATH for that command. If that command is not found Plugger will go to the next line in your pluggerrc.
FLAGS
- repeat
-
This indicates that the command uses the $repeat variable. If this flag is set, Plugger will only start the application once.
- loop
-
This indicates that the application loops forever. If the <EMBED> tag used to start Plugger indicated that the file should not loop forever, the command on this line will not be used.
- stream
-
This indicates that this command takes input on stdin. Plugger will attempt to stream data as it is being downloaded and send it to the application. Note that streaming applications can also be used to play files and data which is already in your netscape cache.
- preload
-
This flag is only meaningful in when used together with the stream flag. It tells plugger to preload a buffer with 40000 bytes of data before starting to play the file. If the buffer runs out, Plugger will stop sending data to the application until the buffer is full again. This is usually a good thing for streaming sound.
- many
-
This indicates that the application can accept several files on the command line. Using this option can reduce clicks, choppiness and machine load, but it is never required.
- ignore_errors
-
This options tells Plugger to ignore the exit status of the application.
- exits
-
This option tells Plugger that the application exits, but should not be restarted. This can be used with applications which automatically forks into the background.
VARIABLES
Plugger gives some variables to /bin/sh when starting the application, these variables are:
- $repeat
-
This variable contains how many times the file should be played. Applications which use this variable should also set the repeat flag.
- $window
-
This is the X window Netscape has given the plugin. This can be used with applications such as xanim to display graphics inside the netscape window.
- $file
-
This is the file to play. This variable is not set if the application uses the stream flag. It may also be more than one file if you use the many flag.
BUGS
You have to remove ~/.netscape/plugin-list after changing the configuration, or nothing will happen. This is a netscape bug, not a Plugger bug.
Netscape 3.x will not play anything for <EMBED> tags for which height or width are zero. This too is a Netscape bug.
AUTHOR
Fredrik Hübinette, [email protected]