midialsa.lua - the ALSA library, plus some interface functions

This module offers a Lua interface to the ALSA library. It translates into Lua the Python modules alsaseq.py and alsamidi.py by Patricio Paez; it also offers some functions to translate events from and to the format used in Peter Billam's MIDI.lua Lua module and Sean Burke's MIDI-Perl CPAN module.

This module is in turn translated also into a call-compatible Perl CPAN module: MIDI::ALSA

As from version 1.15, note durations are in seconds rather than milliseconds, for consistency with the timestamps. This introduces a backward incompatibility which only affects you if are putting together your own alsaevents without using the noteevent() function. In the worst case you have to detect versions:

Functions based on those in alsaseq.py: client(), connectfrom(), connectto(), disconnectfrom(), disconnectto(), fd(), id(), input(), inputpending(), output(), start(), status(), stop() and syncoutput()

Functions based on those in alsamidi.py: noteevent(), noteonevent(), noteoffevent(), pgmchangeevent(), pitchbendevent(), controllerevent(), chanpress() and sysex()

Functions to interface with MIDI.lua: alsa2scoreevent() and scoreevent2alsa()

Functions to to get the current ALSA status: listclients(), listnumports(), listconnectedto(), listconnectedfrom() and parse_address()

Create an ALSA sequencer client with zero or more input or output ports, and optionally a timing queue. ninputports and noutputports are created if the quantity requested is between 1 and 64 for each. If createqueue = true, it creates a queue for stamping the arrival time of incoming events and scheduling future start times of outgoing events.

For full ALSA functionality, the name should contain only letters, digits, underscores, equal-signs or spaces, and should contain at least one letter.

Unlike in the alsaseq.py Python module, it returns success or failure.

Connect from src_client:src_port to my inputport. Each input port can connect from more than one client. The input() function will receive events from any intput port and any of the clients connected to each of them. Events from each client can be distinguished by their source field.

Unlike in the alsaseq.py Python module, it returns success or failure.

Unlike in the alsaseq.py Python module, if src_client is a string and src_port is undefined, then parse_address(src_client) automatically gets invoked. This allows you to refer to the src_client by name, for example connectfrom(inputport,'Virtual:1') will connect from port 1 of the 'Virtual Raw MIDI' client.

Connect my outputport to dest_client:dest_port. Each outputport can connect to more than one client. Events sent to an output port using the output() funtion will be sent to all clients that are connected to it using this function.

Unlike in the alsaseq.py Python module, it returns success or failure.

Unlike in the alsaseq.py Python module, if dest_client is a string and dest_port is undefined, then parse_address(dest_client) automatically gets invoked. This allows you to refer to the dest_client by name, for example connectto(outputport,'Roland XV-2020') will connect to port 0 of the 'Roland XV-2020' client.

Disconnect the connection from the remote src_client:src_port to my inputport.

Returns success or failure.

Unlike in the alsaseq.py Python module, if src_client is a string and src_port is undefined, then parse_address(src_client) automatically gets invoked. This allows you to refer to the src_client by name, for example disconnectfrom(inputport,'Virtual:1') will disconnect from port 1 of the 'Virtual Raw MIDI' client.

Disconnect the connection from my outputport to the remote dest_client:dest_port.

Returns success or failure.

Unlike in the alsaseq.py Python module, if dest_client is a string and dest_port is undefined, then parse_address(dest_client) automatically gets invoked. This allows you to refer to the dest_client by name, for example disconnectto(outputport,'Virtual:2') will disconnect to port 2 of the 'Virtual Raw MIDI' client.

Return fileno of sequencer.

Return the client number, or 0 if the client is not yet created.

Wait for an ALSA event in any of the input ports and return it. ALSA events are returned as an array with 8 elements: {type, flags, tag, queue, time, source, destination, data} Unlike in the alsaseq.py Python module, the time element is in floating-point seconds. The last three elements are also arrays: source = { src_client, src_port } destination = { dest_client, dest_port } data = { varies depending on type } The source and destination arrays may be useful within an application for handling events differently according to their source or destination. The event-type constants, beginning with SND_SEQ_, are available as module variables. The data array is mostly as documented in http://alsa-project.org/alsa-doc/alsa-lib/seq.html

For NOTE events, the elements are { channel, pitch, velocity, unused, duration }

where the duration is in floating-point seconds (unlike in the alsaseq.py Python module where it is in milliseconds).

For SYSEX, the data array has just one element: the byte-string, including any F0 and F7 bytes.

For most other events, the elements are { channel, unused,unused,unused, param, value } The channel element is always 0..15

In the SND_SEQ_EVENT_PITCHBEND event the value element is from -8192..+8191 (not 0..16383). If a connection terminates, then input() returns, and the next event will be of type SND_SEQ_EVENT_PORT_UNSUBSCRIBED Note that if the event is of type SND_SEQ_EVENT_PORT_SUBSCRIBED or SND_SEQ_EVENT_PORT_UNSUBSCRIBED, then that message has come from the System, and its dest_port tells you which of your ports is involved. But its src_client and src_port do not tell you which other client connected or disconnected; you'll need to use listconnectedfrom() or listconnectedto() to see what's happened.

Returns the number of bytes available in the input buffer. Use before input() to check whether an event is ready to be read.

Send an ALSA-event to an output port. The format of the event is as discussed in input() above. The event will be output immediately either if no queue was created in the client or if the queue parameter is set to ALSA.SND_SEQ_QUEUE_DIRECT, and otherwise it will be queued and scheduled. The source is an array with two elements: {src_client, src_port}, specifying the local output-port from which the event will be sent. If only one output-port exists, all events are sent from it. If two or more exist, the src_port determines which to use. The smallest available port-number (as created by client() ) will be used if src_port is less than it, and the largest available will be used if src_port is greater than it. The destination is an array with two elements: {dest_client, dest_port}, specifying the remote client/port to which the event will be sent. If dest_client is zero, (as generated by scoreevent2alsa() or noteevent() ), or is the same as the local client (as generated by input() ), then the event will be sent to all clients that the local port is connected to (see connectto() and listconnectedto() ). But if you set dest_client to a remote client, then the event will be sent to that dest_client:dest_port and nowhere else. It is possible to send an event to a destination to which there is no connection, but it's not usually the right thing to do. Normally, you should set up a connection, to allow the underlying RawMIDI ports to remain open while playing; otherwise, ALSA will reset the port after every event. If the queue buffer is full, output() will wait until space is available to output the event. Use status() to know how many events are scheduled in the queue. If no queue has been started, a SND_SEQ_EVENT_NOTE event can only emerge as a SND_SEQ_EVENT_NOTEON, since a queue is necessary in order to schedule the corresponding NOTEOFF.

Start the queue. It is ignored if the client does not have a queue.

Return { status, time, events } of the queue. Status: 0 if stopped, 1 if running. Time: current time in seconds. Events: number of output events scheduled in the queue. If the client does not have a queue the value {0,0,0} is returned. Unlike in the alsaseq.py Python module, the time element is in floating-point seconds.

Stop the queue. It is ignored if the client does not have a queue.

Wait until output events are processed.

Returns an ALSA-event-array, ready to be scheduled by output() . Unlike in the alsaseq.py Python module, the start and duration elements are in floating-point seconds.

Returns an ALSA-event-array, ready to be scheduled by output() . If start is not used, the event will be sent directly. Unlike in the alsaseq.py Python module, if start is provided, the event will be scheduled in a queue. The start element, when provided, is in floating-point seconds.

Returns an ALSA-event-array, ready to be scheduled by output() . If start is not used, the event will be sent directly. Unlike in the alsaseq.py Python module, if start is provided, the event will be scheduled in a queue. The start element, when provided, is in floating-point seconds.

Returns an ALSA-event-array for a patch_change to be sent by output() . If start is not used, the event will be sent directly; if start is provided, the event will be scheduled in a queue. Unlike in the alsaseq.py Python module, the start element, when provided, is in floating-point seconds.

Returns an ALSA-event-array to be sent by output() . The value is from -8192 to 8191. If start is not used, the event will be sent directly; if start is provided, the event will be scheduled in a queue. Unlike in the alsaseq.py Python module, the start element, when provided, is in floating-point seconds. (Note that fluidsynth uses a different convention, in which the value is from 0 to 16383 and 8192 represents the central position.)

Returns an ALSA-event-array to be sent by output() . If start is not used, the event will be sent directly; if start is provided, the event will be scheduled in a queue. Unlike in the alsaseq.py Python module, the start element, when provided, is in floating-point seconds.

Returns an ALSA-event-array to be sent by output() . If start is not used, the event will be sent directly; if start is provided, the event will be scheduled in a queue. Unlike in the alsaseq.py Python module, the start element, when provided, is in floating-point seconds.

Returns an ALSA-event-array to be sent by output() . If start is not used, the event will be sent directly; if start is provided, the event will be scheduled in a queue. The string should start with your Manufacturer ID, but should not contain any of the F0 or F7 bytes, they will be added automatically; indeed the string must not contain any bytes with the top-bit set.

Returns an event in the millisecond-tick score-format used by the MIDI.lua and MIDI.py modules, based on the score-format in Sean Burke's MIDI-Perl CPAN module. See: MIDI.html#events Since it combines a note_on and a note_off event into one note event, it will return nil when called with the note_on event; the calling loop must therefore detect nil and not, for example, try to index it.

Returns an ALSA-event-array to be scheduled in a queue by output() . The input is an event in the millisecond-tick score-format used by the MIDI.lua and MIDI.py modules, based on the score-format in Sean Burke's MIDI-Perl CPAN module. See: MIDI.html#events. For example:

ALSA.output(ALSA.scoreevent2alsa{'note',4000,1000,0,62,110})

Some events in a .mid file have no equivalent real-time-midi event, which is the sort that ALSA deals in; these events will cause scoreevent2alsa() to return nil. Therefore if you are going through the events in a midi score converting them with scoreevent2alsa() , you should check that the result is not nil before doing anything further.

Returns a table with the client-numbers as key and the descriptive strings of the ALSA client as value :

local clientnumber2clientname = ALSA.listclients()

Returns a table with the client-numbers as key and how many ports they are running as value, so if a client is running 4 ports they will be numbered 0..3

local clientnumber2howmanyports = ALSA.listnumports()

Returns an array of three-element arrays { {outputport, dest_client, dest_port}, } with the same data as might have been passed to connectto() , or which could be passed to disconnectto() .

Returns an array of three-element arrays { {inputport, src_client, src_port}, } with the same data as might have been passed to connectfrom() , or which could be passed to disconnectfrom() .