# PyRadio

Command line internet radio player.

![PyRadio](https://members.hellug.gr/sng/pyradio/pyradio.png)

## Table of Contents
<!-- vim-markdown-toc Marked -->

* [Features](#features)
* [Requirements](#requirements)
* [Installation](#installation)
* [Command line options](#command-line-options)
* [Controls](#controls)
    * [Global shortcuts](#global-shortcuts)
    * [Customizing key bindings](#customizing-key-bindings)
* [HTML help](#html-help)
* [PyRadio Modes](#pyradio-modes)
    * [Secondary Modes](#secondary-modes)
    * [Tiling manager modes](#tiling-manager-modes)
* [Config file](#config-file)
    * [The package config file](#the-package-config-file)
    * [The user config file](#the-user-config-file)
* [About Playlist files](#about-playlist-files)
    * [Defining and using Groups](#defining-and-using-groups)
    * [Integrating new stations](#integrating-new-stations)
    * [Specifying a playlist to load (command line)](#specifying-a-playlist-to-load-(command-line))
    * [Autoloading playlists](#autoloading-playlists)
    * [Managing playlists (within PyRadio)](#managing-playlists-(within-pyradio))
    * [Managing foreign playlists](#managing-foreign-playlists)
    * [Playlist history](#playlist-history)
    * [Playlist validation support](#playlist-validation-support)
* [Stations history](#stations-history)
* [Search function](#search-function)
    * [Fuzzy Search](#fuzzy-search)
* [Line editor](#line-editor)
    * [CJK characters support](#cjk-characters-support)
* [Moving stations around](#moving-stations-around)
* [Specifying stations' encoding](#specifying-stations-encoding)
    * [Station by station encoding declaration](#station-by-station-encoding-declaration)
    * [Global encoding declaration](#global-encoding-declaration)
* [Player detection / selection](#player-detection-/-selection)
    * [Changing player mid-session](#changing-player-mid-session)
        * [Specifying a station's preferred player](#specifying-a-stations-preferred-player)
    * [Specifying a station's Referer URL](#specifying-a-stations-referer-url)
        * [Note about MPlayer](#note-about-mplayer)
        * [Referer support in the playlist](#referer-support-in-the-playlist)
    * [Extra Player Parameters](#extra-player-parameters)
        * [Using the Configuration Window](#using-the-configuration-window)
* [Player connection protocol](#player-connection-protocol)
    * [Visual reminder](#visual-reminder)
* [Player default volume level](#player-default-volume-level)
    * [MPV](#mpv)
    * [MPlayer](#mplayer)
    * [VLC](#vlc)
* [Station volume](#station-volume)
    * [How it Works](#how-it-works)
* [Buffering](#buffering)
* [Displaying Station Info](#displaying-station-info)
* [Copying and pasting - Registers](#copying-and-pasting---registers)
* [Favorites playlist](#favorites-playlist)
* [Displaying the Current Time](#displaying-the-current-time)
    * [Configuration](#configuration)
* [PyRadio Themes](#pyradio-themes)
* [Recording stations](#recording-stations)
* [Mouse support](#mouse-support)
* [Title logging](#title-logging)
    * [Tagging a title](#tagging-a-title)
* [Online radio directory services](#online-radio-directory-services)
* [Desktop Notifications](#desktop-notifications)
* [Desktop File](#desktop-file)
    * [Specifying the terminal to use](#specifying-the-terminal-to-use)
        * [Specifying PyRadio parameters](#specifying-pyradio-parameters)
* [Session Locking](#session-locking)
    * [Session unlocking](#session-unlocking)
* [Update notification](#update-notification)
* [OS Media Controls integration](#os-media-controls-integration)
* [Remote Control Server](#remote-control-server)
    * [Remote Control Client](#remote-control-client)
* [Playing a station in the terminal](#playing-a-station-in-the-terminal)
* [Text-to-Speech Support](#text-to-speech-support)
* [Debug mode](#debug-mode)
* [Reporting bugs](#reporting-bugs)
* [Packaging PyRadio](#packaging-pyradio)

<!-- vim-markdown-toc -->

## Features

**PyRadio** provides the following features:

 - vi like keys in addition to arrows and special keys
 - [RadioBrowser](radio-browser.md) support
 - Remote Control Server
 - [OS media controls](os-media-controls.md) (MPRIS, SMTC, Now Playing)
 - Multiple playlist support
 - [M3U playlist](m3u.md) support
 - vi like station registers
 - Theming support
 - Station editor (add/edit) with [CJK characters support](#cjk-characters-support)
 - Configuration editor
 - Search function
 - Customizable key bindings
 - Playlist validation support
 - Easy installation / updating
 - Runs on Linux, macOS and Windows

and much more...

## Requirements
* python 3.8+
    - setuptools
    - wheel
    - requests
    - dnspython
    - psutil
    - rich
    - python-dateutil
    - netifaces

* dbus-next on linux, required to enable [MPRIS](os-media-controls.md#platform-support-linux)
* MPV, MPlayer or VLC installed and in your path
* MKVToolNix (cli files) to insert tags, chapters and cover to recordings (optional, if MPV or VLC is to be used, but mandatory in the case of MPlayer)

Linux users will have to install a [resource opener](https://wiki.archlinux.org/title/default_applications#Resource_openers) package, a utility to open directories, html pages, etc. **PyRadio** will look for *xdg-open*, *gio*, *mimeopen*, *mimeo* or *handlr*, in that order of detection. If a different *resource opener* is used, one can declare it in the **Configuration Window**.

<!-- Changelog -->

## Installation

The best way to install **PyRadio** is via a distribution package, if one exists (*Arch Linux* and derivatives can install [any of these packages](https://aur.archlinux.org/packages/?K=pyradio) from the AUR, *FreeBSD* users will find it in the [ports](https://www.freshports.org/audio/py-pyradio/), etc.).

In any other case you will have to [build it from source](build.md).

**Note:** Please avoid installing **PyRadio** via **pip**. I (user [s-n-g](https://github.com/s-n-g) @ github) am not the creator of this project, nor do I maintain it on [The Python Package Index (PyPI)](https://pypi.org/project/pyradio/). As a result, the version available there is outdated and I cannot provide any support for it. \
\
Furthermore, please refrain from using any third-party packaging methods, such as **Snap** or **AppImage**. I am not affiliated with these services or projects, and I cannot guarantee the functionality or version of **PyRadio** provided through them. Additionally, I am unable to offer support for any issues related to these packaging methods.

## Command line options

```
# pyradio -h
Usage: pyradio [-h] [-c CONFIG_DIR] [-p [STATION_NUMBER]] [-x] [-u PLAYER]
               [-l] [-lt] [-sds] [-sd] [-od] [-pc] [-d]
               [--d-player-input D_PLAYER_INPUT] [-ul] [-us] [-U] [-R] [-V]
               [--mpris] [-ls] [-s PLAYLIST] [-tlp] [-t THEME] [--show-themes]
               [--no-themes] [--write-theme IN_THEME OUT_THEME,]
               [--terminal TERMINAL] [--terminal-param ...] [-oc] [-sc] [-cc]
               [-gc] [-r] [-or] [-lr] [-mkv MKV_FILE] [-scv PNG_FILE] [-srt]
               [-ach] [--headless IP_AND_PORT] [--address] [-fd]
               [-cvt CONVERT] [--validate [{mark,drop}]] [--threads THREADS]
               [--timeout TIMEOUT] [--max-per-host MAX_PER_HOST] [--with-date]
               [--no-color] [--quiet] [-o OUTPUT] [-y] [-lm LIMIT]

Curses based Internet Radio Player

General options:
  -h, --help            Show this help message and exit
  -c, --config-dir CONFIG_DIR
                        Use specified configuration directory instead of the
                        default one. PyRadio will try to create it, if it does
                        not exist. Not available on Windows.
  -p, --play [STATION_NUMBER]
                        Start and play.The value is num station or empty for
                        random.
  -x, --external-player
                        Play station in external player. Can be combined with
                        --play.
  -u, --use-player PLAYER
                        Use specified player. A comma-separated list can be
                        used to specify detection order. Supported players:
                        mpv, mplayer, vlc.
  -l, --list            List of available stations in a playlist.
  -lt, --log-titles     Log titles to file.
  -sds, --show-dirs     Print all the directories used by PyRadio and exit.
  -sd, --show-config-dir
                        Print config directory [CONFIG DIR] location and exit.
  -od, --open-config-dir
                        Open config directory [CONFIG DIR] with default file
                        manager.
  -pc, --print-config   Print PyRadio config.
  -d, --debug           Start PyRadio in debug mode.
  --d-player-input D_PLAYER_INPUT
                        When -d is used, this option will not log player input
                        (value = 0), log accepted input (value = 1) or raw
                        input (value = 2).
  -ul, --unlock         Remove sessions' lock file.
  -us, --update-stations
                        Update "stations.csv" (if needed).
  -U, --update          Update PyRadio.
  -R, --uninstall       Uninstall PyRadio.
  -V, --version         Display version information.

Isolated environment:
  --mpris               Install "dbus-next" in the isolated environment and
                        ensure it remains available after updates. This is
                        required for MPRIS support.

Playlist selection:
  -ls, --list-playlists
                        List of available playlists in config dir.
  -s, --stations PLAYLIST
                        Load the specified playlist instead of the default
                        one. PLAYLIST can be the path to a CSV or an M3U file,
                        the name (without extension) of a CSV or an M3U file
                        which is in the station's folder, or the number which
                        corresponds to a file presented at the output of the
                        -ls command line parameter.
  -tlp, --toggle-load-last-playlist
                        Toggle autoload last opened playlist.

Themes:
  -t, --theme THEME     Use specified theme.
  --show-themes         Show Internal and System Themes names.
  --no-themes           Disable themes (use default theme).
  --write-theme IN_THEME OUT_THEME,
                        Write an Internal or System Theme to themes directory.

Terminal selection:
  --terminal TERMINAL   Use this terminal for Desktop file instead of the
                        auto-detected one. Use "none" to reset to the default
                        terminal or "auto" to reset to the auto-detected one.
  --terminal-param ...  Use this as PyRadio parameter in the Desktop File.
                        Please make sure the parameters are at the end of the
                        command line. For example: pyradio --terminal kitty
                        --terminal-param "-p3 -t light".

Cache:
  -oc, --open-cache     Open the Cache folder.
  -sc, --show-cache     Show Cache contents.
  -cc, --clear-cache    Clear Cache contents.
  -gc, --get-cache      Download source code, keep it in the cache and exit.

Recording stations:
  -r, --record          Turn recording on (not available for VLC player on
                        Windows).
  -or, --open-recordings
                        Open the Recordings folder.
  -lr, --list-recordings
                        List recorded files.
  -mkv, --mkv-file MKV_FILE
                        Specify a previously recorded MKV file to be used with
                        one of the following options. The MKV_FILE can either
                        be an absolute or a relative path, or a number
                        provided by the -lr command line paremater. If it is a
                        relative path, it should be found in the current or in
                        the Recordings directory.
  -scv, --set-mkv-cover PNG_FILE
                        Add or change the cover image of a previously recorded
                        MKV file. PNG_FILE can either be an absolute or a
                        relative path. If relative, it should be found in the
                        current or in the Recordings directory.
  -srt, --export-srt    Export a previously recorded MKV file chapters to an
                        SRT file. The file produced will have the name of the
                        input file with the "mkv" extension replaced by "srt".
  -ach, --add-chapters  Add (or replace) chapter markers to a previously
                        recorded MKV file. The chapters file will be a SRT
                        file, much like the one produced by the previous
                        command line parameter.

Headless operation:
  --headless IP_AND_PORT
                        Start in headless mode. IP_AND_PORT can be a) auto
                        (use localhost:11111), b) localhost:XXXXX (access the
                        web server through localhost), c) lan:XXXXX (access
                        the web server through the LAN) or d) IP_ADDRESS:XXXX
                        (the IP_ADDRESS must be already assigned to one of the
                        network interfaces). XXXXX can be any port number
                        above 1025. Please make sure it is different than the
                        one set in the configuration file.
  --address             Show remote control server address.
  -fd, --free-dead-headless-server
                        Use this if your headless server has terminated
                        unexpectedly, and you cannot start a new one (you get
                        a message that it is already running).

m3u playlist handling:
  -cvt, --convert CONVERT
                        Convert CSV (PyRadio playlist) to M3U and vise-versa,
                        based on the file extension of CONVERT. If there's no
                        file extension, .csv is assumed. Accepts -y, -o, -lm
                        (general options). With -o: provides the output file
                        for the CSV to M3U conversion. If not specified, the
                        same path (including the name) as the CONVERT
                        parameter is used, replacing .csv with .m3u. The file
                        extension .m3u will be automatically added if not
                        specified. With -lm: specify maximum number of
                        stations in an M3U file (default is 10,000, 0 disables
                        it, effectively accepting any number of entries).

Playlist validation:
  Validate playlists given with --convert. Requires a CSV file or an M3U
  file or URL as input.

  --validate [{mark,drop}]
                        Validate a playlist (CSV or M3U). If no value is
                        given, defaults to "mark". Options: mark: mark failed
                        stations with [X], drop: save working and failed
                        stations separately
  --threads THREADS     Number of parallel threads to use when checking
                        stations (default: 5).
  --timeout TIMEOUT     Timeout in seconds for each station request (default:
                        5).
  --max-per-host MAX_PER_HOST
                        Maximum concurrent requests per host (default: 2).
                        Prevents server banning by throttling requests to the
                        same host.
  --with-date           Add timestamp to output filenames. Useful for
                        scheduled checks to preserve history.
  --no-color            Disable colored output. Useful for logging or when
                        running in non-interactive environments.
  --quiet               Reduce verbosity (suppress per-station output). Only
                        show summary and errors.

General options:
  -o, --output OUTPUT   Output file path (see specific commands for default
                        behavior).
  -y, --yes, --force    Assume yes to all prompts (dangerous: overwrites files
                        without confirmation, etc.).
  -lm, --limit LIMIT    Use LIMIT as a maximim value of accected items.

```

## Controls

The following list shows a **default** key bindings list used within the program.


                      Main window                                      Playlists window                   Themes window
    -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Up/Down/j/k/
    PgUp/PgDown       Change station selection                         Change station playlist            Change station theme
    g                 Jump to first station                            Jump to first playlist             Jump to first theme
    <n>G              Jump to n-th / last station                      Jump to n-th / last playlist       Jump to n-th / last theme
    H M L             Jump to the top / middle bottom of the list      [Valid]                            -
    P                 Jump to playing station                          Jump to playing playlist           -
    Enter/Right/l     Play selected station                            Open selected playlist             Apply selected theme
    ^N / ^P           Play next/previous station                       -                                  -
    r                 Select and play a random station                 Re-read playlists from disk        -
    Space/Left/h      Stop/start playing selected station              -                                  -
    Space             -                                                -                                  Apply theme and make it default
    -/+ or ,/.        Change volume                                    [Valid]                            [Valid]
    m                 Mute / unmute player                             [Valid]                            [Valid]
    v                 Save volume (not applicable for vlc)             [Valid]                            [Valid]
    *                 Add station to favorites                         -                                  -
    o s R             Open / Save / Reload playlist                    -                                  -
    a A               Add / append a new station                       -                                  -
    e                 Edit current station                             -                                  -
    E                 Change station's encoding                        -                                  -
    DEL,x             Delete selected station                          -                                  -
    O                 Open RadioBrowser                                -                                  -
    < >               Browse the Stations history list                 -                                  -
    t T               Load theme / Toggle transparency                 [Valid]                            [Valid]
    c                 Open Configuration window.                       -                                  -
    | (vertical       Enable / disable recording
       line or
       pipe symbol)
    / n N             Search, go to next / previous result             [Valid]                            [Valid]
    f                 Open Fuzzy Search                                [Valid]                            [Valid]
    J                 Create a jump tag
    <n>^U <n>^D       Move station up / down.                          -                                  -
    ' \ y             Get into Registers, Extra Commands               y (yank) is not applicable         -
                      and Yank modes, respectively
    z                 Toggle "Force http connections"                  -                                  -
    Z                 Display the "Extra Player Parameter" window      -                                  -
    ?                 Show keys help                                   [Valid]                            [Valid]
    #                 Redraw window                                    [Valid]                            [Valid]
    Esc/q             Quit                                             -                                  -
    Esc/q/Left/h      -                                                Cancel / close window              Cancel / close window

The same logic applies to all **PyRadio** windows.

**Note:** When inserting numbers (either to jump to a station or to move a station), the number will be displayed at the right bottom corner of the window, suffixed by a "*G*", i.e. pressing *35* will display *[35G]*.

**Note:** When tagging a station position for a move action (by pressing "**J**"), the position will be displayed at the right bottom corner of the window, suffixed by a "*J*", i.e. pressing "*J*" on position *35* will display *[35J]*.


### Global shortcuts

Some of the functions provided by **PyRadio** will always be available to the user. These functions are:

| Shortcut                       |   Function            |Shortcut                       |   Function            |
|--------------------------------|-----------------------|-------------------------------|-----------------------|
| **\+** / **\-** and **,** / **\.** | adjust volume         |**W**                          | toggle title logging |
| **m**                          | mute player           |**w**                          | like a station        |
| **v**                          | save volume           |**^N** / **^P** [1] [2]|play next / previous station|
| **T**                          | toggle transparency   |**<** / **>** [1]             | play next / previous station history entry|

Every window in **PyRadio** will respect these shortcuts, even the ones with a "*Press any key to...*" message.

When focus is on a "*Line editor*", all shortcuts will work when preceded by a "**\\**".

**Notes**

[1] Function not available when in **Playlist** and **Registers** mode. More info on *PyRadio's modes* below.

[2] Function not available in the **RadioBrowser** Search window.

### Customizing key bindings

**PyRadio** provides the possibility to customize the key bindings above.

Just open the configuration window and navigate to **Keyboard Shortcuts**. Please do read the help screen provided therein (press "*?" to get to it).

## HTML help

While in **PyRadio** main window, one can open the HTML (offline) help using "**\\h**".

This is just a helper function for windows users who cannot use the man pages, but is still available for all platforms.

## PyRadio Modes

**PyRadio** has the following primary modes:

1. The **Main** mode, which is the one you get when you open the program, showing you a list of stations (a playlist), that you can play and edit; this is why it is also called the **editing mode**. All other modes derive from this one, and it's the mode you have to get to in order to terminate the program.

2. The **Playlist** mode, which you can open by pressing "**o**". Then you can open, create, paste a station, etc.

3. The **Registers** mode. This is identical to the "*Playlist*" mode, but instead of displaying playlists, it displays register. You can enter this mode by pressing "**''**" (two single quotes) and exit from it by pressing "**Esc**" or "**q**". You can also press "**'**" (single quote) to get to the **Playlist** mode and back.

4. The **Register Main** mode, which is identical to the "*Main*" mode, except it displays the content of a **named** register.

5. The **Listening** mode, which is intended to be used when you want **PyRadio** to just play your favorite station and not take up too much space. It is ideal for tilling window manager use, as the whole TUI can be reduced all the way down to a single line (displaying the "*Status Bar*"). In this mode, adjusting, muting and saving the volume are the only action available. To get **PyRadio** back to normal operation one would just resize its window to a reasonable size (7 lines vertically, or more).

### Secondary Modes

A set of **secondary modes** is also available (a secondary mode works within a primary one):

1. The **Extra Commands** mode, which gives you access to extra commands. You can enter this mode by pressing "**\\**" (backslash). Then a backslash is displayed at the bottom right corner of the window.

2. The **Yank (Copy)** mode, which is used to copy stations to **registers**. You can enter this mode by pressing "**y**". Then a "*y*" is displayed at the bottom right corner of the window.

3. The **Open Register** mode, which is used to open a register or get into the *Registers* mode. You can enter this mode by pressing "**'**" (single quote). Then a single quote is displayed at the bottom right corner of the window.

4. The **Paste** mode, which is available in the *Station editor* window only. It is designed to help the user paste a URL (and optionally a station's name). Why you might ask... Well, the *Station editor* normally treats the "*?*" and "*\\*" characters as special characters (actually commands). So, if a URL which contains these characters (more frequently the "*?*" character) is pasted it will be corrupted unless the **Paste** mode is enabled.

The functions available through the *secondary modes* are content dependent, so you can see what command is available by pressing "**?**" while within a secondary mode. Pressing any other key will exit the secondary mode.

### Tiling manager modes

These modes are specifically designed to be used with tiling window managers, trying to face a rapid reduction of window height or width (or both).

1. The **Limited Height** mode, which is automatically enabled when the window height gets below 8 lines.

    - In this mode, only a limited information is visible and if playback is on, the volume is the only thing that can be adjusted (or muted) and saved. This is the **Limited display**.

2. The **Limited Width** mode, which is automatically enabled when the window width get below certain limits:

    - When the width gets below 40 columns, all windows will be closed and the main window will be the only visible one (either displaying stations, playlists or registers).

    - When the width gets below 20 columns, the **Limited display** will be activated.

![PyRadio reduced to the "Limited display"](https://members.hellug.gr/sng/pyradio/pyradio-limited-display.jpg)

**Note:** These two modes do not work on Windows, either 7 or 10. The "*Console*"window will shrink as desired, but will not always notify **PyRadio** about it, so results will vary.

## Config file

**PyRadio** upon its execution will first read its *package* configuration file and then will try to read the *user* configuration file. If an error occurs while parsing it, an error message will be displayed and **PyRadio** will terminate.

### The package config file

The *package* configuration file contains the program's **default** parameters. These are the player to use, the playlist to load etc.

It is heavily commented (as you can see [here](..//pyradio/config)), so that it can be used as a template in order to manual create the *user* configuration file.

One can also get the configuration file with the **active parameter values** (i.e. after changed by the *user* config file), by executing the command:

    pyradio -pc

### The user config file

This file (typically *~/.config/pyradio/config*) is created by **PyRadio** when needed.

It will contain only the parameters whose value is different to the one set in the *package* configuration file.

One can easily edit it manually, though. The best practice to do so is by executing **PyRadio** with the **-ocd** command line option, which will open the configuration directory in your file manager, and then edit (or create it) it using your preferable text editor. Don't forget you can get the list of parameters by executing **pyradio -pc**.

The file can also be altered while **PyRadio** is running by pressing "**c**", which will open the "**Configuration window**". This window presents all **PyRadio** options and provide the way to change them and finally save them by pressing "**s**".

In any case, **PyRadio** will save the file before exiting (or in case Ctrl-C is pressed) if needed (e.g. if a config parameter has been changed during its execution).

If saving the configuration file fails, **PyRadio** will create a back up file and terminate. When restarted, **PyRadio** will try to restore previously used settings from the said back up file.

## About Playlist files

**PyRadio** reads the stations to use from a CSV file, where each line contains two columns, the first being the **station name** and the second being the **stream URL**.

Optionally, a number of more columns can be used.

- The third column will define the **Encoding** used by the station (more on this at [Specifying stations' encoding](#specifying-stations-encoding)).

- The fourth column will set an **Icon URL**, to be used when displaying [Desktop Notifications](#desktop-notifications).

- The fifth column is the **Profile** to be used with this station. \
\
If a profile is set for the station, a "**[P]**" will be displayed at the left top corner of the window when the station starts playing.

- The sixth column will determine whether **Buffering** will be used (more on this at [Buffering](#buffering)).

- The seventh column will determine whether the station will be forced to be using **http** instead of https (more on this at [Player connection protocol](#player-connection-protocol)).

- The eight column defines the **Volume** value to be used (more on this at [Station volume](#station-volume)).

- The ninth column will define the **Referer** to be used (more on this at [Specifying a station's Referer URL](#specifying-a-stations-referer-url)).

- The last column will define the **Player** to be used (more on this at [Specifying a station's preferred station](#specifying-a-stations-preferred-player)).

**PyRadio** will by default load the user's stations file (e.g. *~/.config/pyradio/stations.csv*) to read the stations from. If this file is not found, it will be created and populated with a default set of stations.

**Note:** Older versions used to use **~/.pyradio** as default stations file. If this file is found, it will be copied to use's config directory (e.g. **~/.config/pyradio**) and renamed to **stations.csv** or if this file exists, to **pyradio.csv**. In this case, this file will be the default one.

### Defining and using Groups

In order to better organize stations within a (large) playlist, **PyRadio** supports *Groups*.

A *Group* is defined as a normal "station" entry, whose URL field is a hyphen ("**-**"). For example, the following will define a **Group Header** for a *Group* called **Blues**.

    Blues,-

A **Group Header** entry does not define a station, and subsequently cannot stat a playback session. Other that that, it can be moved, copied, deleted, etc, just like any other playlist entry.

To add a **Group Header**, just press "**a**", fill in the name and type a "**-**" in the *URL* field.

Navigation among **Groups** can be achieved by:

| Key             | Description                                          |
|-----------------|------------------------------------------------------|
| **^E** / **^Y** | Go to next / previous **Group**                      |
| **^G**          | Display a list of existing **Groups** to select from |


### Integrating new stations

When the package's "*stations.csv*" files is updated, the changes it has will not automatically appear in the user's stations file.

**PyRadio** will display a message asking the user to either update the file, ignore the changes for this version or postpone his decision for the next time **PyRadio** will be executed.

![PyRadio stations update](https://members.hellug.gr/sng/pyradio/pyradio-stations-update.png)

This update can be disabled permanently by setting the configuration option "_auto\_update\_stations_" to _False_ in the user's configuration file.

Either way, the user can always manually update his **stations file**, by issuing the following command:

```
pyradio -us
```

If changes have been applied, a message resembling the following will appear:

```
Reading config...
Updating "stations.csv"
Last updated version: 0.9.2
 Last synced version: None
  From version: 0.9.2
    +/- updating: "Reggae Dancehall (Ragga Kings)"
    +++   adding: "Groove Salad Classic (Early 2000s Ambient)"
    +++   adding: "n5MD Radio (Ambient and Experimental)"
    +++   adding: "Vaporwaves [SomaFM]"
    +++   adding: "The Trip: [SomaFM]"
    +++   adding: "Heavyweight Reggae"
    +++   adding: "Metal Detector"
    +++   adding: "Synphaera Radio (Space Music)"

Summary
    +++ added   :  7
    +/- updated :  1
    --- deleted :  0
```

If the file is already up to date, the following message will be displayed:

```
Reading config...
Updating "stations.csv"
Last updated version: 0.9.2
 Last synced version: 0.9.2
Already synced: "stations.csv"
```

### Specifying a playlist to load (command line)

**PyRadio** will normally load its default playlist file, as described above, upon its execution. A different file can be loaded when the **-s** command line option is used.

The **-s** option will accept:

* a relative or absolute file name.
* the name of a playlist file which is already in its configuration directory.
* the number of a playlist file, as provided by the **-ls** command line option.

**Note:** **PyRadio** can also open an **M3U** file using this option; the program will actually convert the **M3U** file to a **CSV** and load this file instead. One can use its absolute path, its name or its playlist number as described bellow.

Examples:

To load a playlist called "**blues.csv**", one would use the command:

    pyradio -s /path/to/blues.csv

If this file was saved inside **PyRadio**'s configuration directory, one could use the following command:

    pyradio -s blues

To use the playlist number, one would execute the commands:

    $ pyradio -ls

           Playlists found in "/home/user/.config/pyradio"
           ┏━━━━┳━━━━━━━━━━━━┳━━━━━━━━━┳━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━┓
           ┃  # ┃ Name       ┃    Size ┃ Date                     ┃
           ┡━━━━╇━━━━━━━━━━━━╇━━━━━━━━━╇━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━┩
           │  1 │ hip-hop    │ 6.41 KB │ Mon Nov  7 18:17:47 2022 │
           │  2 │ party      │ 1.94 KB │ Fri Nov 29 10:49:39 2021 │
           │  3 │ stations   │ 5.30 KB │ Sat Jul 18 23:32:04 2022 │
           │  4 │ huge       │ 1.94 MB │ Wed Oct 23 11:05:09 2019 │
           │  5 │ blues      │ 5.30 KB │ Thu Jul 16 16:30:51 2020 │
           │  6 │ rock (m3u) │ 2.56 KB │ Fri Jan 10 00:20:07 2023 │
           │  7 │ pop        │ 1.01 KB │ Fri Sep 18 00:06:51 2020 │
           └────┴────────────┴─────────┴──────────────────────────┘

    $ pyradio -s 5

**Note:** The default playlist to load can also be set in **PyRadio**'s [configuration file](#config-file), parameter **default_playlist** (default value is **stations**).

### Autoloading playlists

As already stated, **PyRadio** will normally load its default playlist (called "**stations**") upon startup.

This behavior can be then changed in two ways:

1. Changing the default playlist.

    This is accomplished using the "**Def. playlist**" configuration option (optionally along with the "**Def. station**" option).

2. Always loading the last used playlist at startup.

    This is accomplished using the "**Open last playlist**" configuration option.

    In this case, the last used playlist will be opened the next time **PyRadio** will be executed, trying to restore the previously selected station or starting playback.

    This option will take precedence before the "**Def. playlist**" configuration option (if it is used) and the "**-s**" ("**--stations**") command line option.

**Note:** When the "**Open last playlist**" configuration option is set, all playlist operations will be performed to the last opened playlist. In order to use the "**-a**" ("**--add**") or "**-l**" ("**--list**") command line options along with the "**-s**" ("**--stations**") command line option, the "**-tlp**" ("**--toggle-load-last-playlist**") option can be used to temporarily deactivate autoloading.

### Managing playlists (within PyRadio)

Once **PyRadio** has been loaded, one can perform a series of actions on the current playlist and set of playlists saved in its configuration directory.

Currently, the following actions are available:

Pressing "**a**" or "**A**" will enable you to add a new station (either below the currently selected station or at the end of the list), while "**e**" will edit the currently selected station. All of these actions will open the "*Station editor*".

If you just want to change the encoding of the selected station, just press "**E**". If the station is currently playing, playback will be restarted so that the encoding's change takes effect (hopefully correctly displaying the station/song title).

Then, when this is done, you can either save the modified playlist, by pressing "**s**", or reload the playlist from disk, by pressing "**R**". A modified playlist will automatically be saved when **PyRadio** exits (or Ctrl-C is pressed).

One thing you may also want to do is remove a station from a playlist, e.g. when found that it not longer works. You can do that by pressing "**DEL**" or "**x**". The deleted station is copied to the **unnamed register** (refer to section [Copying and pasting - Registers](#copying-and-pasting---registers) for more information).

Finally, opening another playlist is also possible. Just press "**o**" and you will be presented with a list of saved playlists to choose from. These playlists must be saved beforehand in **PyRadio**'s configuration directory.

While executing any of the previous actions, you may get confirmation messages (when opening a playlist while the current one is modified but not saved, for example) or error messages (when an action fails). Just follow the on screen information, keeping in mind that a capital letter as an answer will save this answer in **PyRadio**'s configuration file for future reference.

### Managing foreign playlists

A playlist that does not reside within the program's configuration directory is considered a "**foreign**" playlist. This playlist can only be opened by the "**-s**" command line option.

When this happens, **PyRadio** will offer you the choice to copy the playlist in its configuration directory, thus making it available for manipulation within the program.

If a playlist of the same name already exists in the configuration directory, the "**foreign**" playlist will be time-stamped. For example, if a "**foreign**" playlist is named "*stations.csv*", it will be named "*2019-01-11_13-35-47_stations.csv*" (provided that the action was taken on January 11, 2019 at 13:35:47).

### Playlist history

**PyRadio** will keep a history of all the playlists opened (within a given session), so that navigating between them is made easy.

In order to go back to the previous playlist, the user just has to press "**\\\\**" (double backslash). To get to the first playlist "**\\]**" (backslash - closing square bracket) can be used.

Going forward in history is not supported.

### Playlist validation support


**PyRadio** provides a powerful playlist validation system, with multi-threading support and host-aware throttling for both **CSV** and **M3U** playlists. 

More info: [PyRadio Playlist Validation Guide](validate_playlist.md)

## Stations history

Playing several stations, sometimes among different playlists, and returning to them is sometimes a tedious operation.

This problem is addressed with the "**Station history**" functionality, which is actually a list of stations which have been played back.

The user can go back and forth in this list using the "**<**" and "**>**" keys.

The list is not saved between sessions (restarting the program will lead to an empty list). When an "**online service** is used (e.g. **RadioBrowser**) the list is reseted with every search that is performed.

## Search function

On any window presenting a list of items (stations, playlists, themes) a **search function** is available by pressing "**/**".

The *Search Window* supports normal and extend editing and in session history.

One can always get help by pressing the "**?**" key.

After a search term has been successfully found (search is case insensitive), next occurrence can be obtained using the "**n**" key and previous occurrence can be obtained using the "**N**" key.

All search widgets provide a "*search history*" function; pressing the **Up** or **Down** arrow will cycle through previously used search terms (maximum number remembered is 20). Pressing **^X** will remove an item from the history.

### Fuzzy Search

On any window presenting a list of stations or playlists pressing "**f**" (default key) will open the **Fuzzy Search** window. It displays a live-updating list of stations and narrows the results down as you type.

## Line editor

**PyRadio** "*Search function*" and "*Station editor*" use a *Line editor* to permit typing and editing stations' data.

One can always display help by pressing "**?**", but that pauses a drawback; one cannot actually have a "**?**" withing the string.

To do that, one would have to use the backslash key "**\\**" and then press "**?**".

To sum it all up:

1. Press "**?**" to get help.
2. Press "**\\?**" to get a "**?**".
3. Press "**\\\\**" to get a "**\\**".

When in *Station editor*, the **Line editor** recognizes an extra mode: **Paste mode**.

This mode is enabled by pressing "**\\p**" and gets automatically disabled when the focus moves off the line editors.

This mode is designed to directly accept the "*?*" and "*\\*" characters (which are normally used as commands indicators). This makes it possible to easily paste a station's name and URL, especially when the "*?*" and "*\\*" characters exist in them; it is very common to have them in URLs.

### CJK characters support

The *Line editor* supports the insertion of [CJK Unified Ideographs](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CJK_Unified_Ideographs), as described on [CJK Unified Ideographs (Unicode block)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CJK_Unified_Ideographs_(Unicode_block)) also known as URO, abbreviation of Unified Repertoire and Ordering. These characters, although encoded as a single code-point (character), actually take up a 2-character space, when rendered on the terminal.

A depiction of the editor's behavior can be seen at this image:

![CJK Characters on PyRadio](https://members.hellug.gr/sng/pyradio/pyradio-editor.jpg)

## Moving stations around

Rearranging the order of the stations in the playlist is another feature **PyRadio** offers.

All you have to do is specify the *source* station (the station to be moved) and the position it will be moved to (*target*).

There are three way to do that:

1. Press **Ctrl-U** or **Ctrl-D** to move the current station up or down.
2. Type a station number and press **Ctrl-U** or **Ctrl-D** to move the current station there.
3. Go to the position you want to move a station to, and press "**J**". This will *tag* this position (making it the *target* of the move). Then go to the station you want to move and press **Ctrl-U** or **Ctrl-D** to move it there.

## Specifying stations' encoding

Normally, stations provide information about their status (including the title of the song playing, which **PyRadio** displays) in Unicode (**utf-8** encoded). Therefore, **PyRadio** will use **utf-8** to decode such data, by default.

In an ideal world that would be the case for all stations and everything would be ok and as far as **PyRadio** is concerned, songs' titles would be correctly displayed. Unfortunately, this is not the case.

A lot of stations encode and transmit data in a different encoding (typically the encoding used at the region the come from). The result in **PyRadio** would be that a song title would be incorrectly displayed, not displayed at all, or trying to displaying it might even break **PyRadio**'s layout.

**Note:** **vlc** will not work in this case; it presumably tries to decode the said data beforehand, probably using **utf-8** by default, and when it fails, it provides a "**(null)**" string, instead of the actual data. So, you'd better not use **vlc** if such stations are in your playlists.

**PyRadio** addresses this issue by allowing the user to declare the encoding to use either in a station by station mode or globally.

### Station by station encoding declaration

As previously stated, a **PyRadio**'s playlist can optionally contain a third column (in addition to the station name and station URL columns), which declares the station's encoding.

So, when a **non-utf-8** encoded station is inserted in a playlist, its encoding can also be declared along with its other data. The drawback of this feature is that an encoding must be declared for **all stations** (so that the **CSV** file structure remains valid). To put it simple, since one station comprises the third column, all stations must do so as well.

This may seem intimidating (and difficult to achieve), but it's actually really simple; just add a "**,**" character at the end of the line of each station that uses the default encoding. In this way, all stations comprise the third column (either by declaring an actual encoding or leaving it empty).

Example:

Suppose we have a playlist with one **utf-8** encoded station:

    Station1,Station1_URL

Now we want to add "**Station2**" which is **iso-8859-7** (Greek) encoded.

Since we know **all stations** must comprise the third (encoding) column, we add it to the existing station:


    Station1,Station1_URL,

Finally, we insert the new station to the playlist:


    Station1,Station1_URL,
    Station2,Station2_URL,iso-8859-7

**Note:**
Using the **-a** command line option will save you all this trouble, as it will automatically take care of creating a valid **CSV** file. Alternatively, you can change the selected station's encoding by pressing "**E**" while in **PyRadio**.

### Global encoding declaration

**PyRadio**'s configuration file contains the parameter **default_encoding**, which by default is set to **utf-8**.

Setting this parameter to a different encoding, will permit **PyRadio** to successfully decode such stations.

This would be useful in the case where most of your stations do not use **utf-8**. Instead of editing the playlist and add the encoding to each and every affected station, you just set it globally.

## Player detection / selection

**PyRadio** is basically built around the existence of a valid media player it can use. Thus, it will auto detect the existence of its supported players upon its execution.

Currently, it supports MPV, MPlayer and VLC, and it will look for them in that order. If none of them is found, the program will terminate with an error.

Users can alter this default behavior by using the **-u** command line option. This option will permit the user either to specify the player to use, or change the detection order.

Example:

    pyradio -u vlc

will instruct **PyRadio** to use VLC; if it is not found, the program will terminate with an error.

    pyradio -u vlc,mplayer,mpv

will instruct **PyRadio** to look for VLC, then MPlayer and finaly for MPV and use whichever it finds first; if none is found, the program will terminate with an error.

The default player to use can also be set in **PyRadio**'s [configuration file](#config-file), parameter **player** (default value is **mpv, mplayer, vlc**), using the "*Configuration Window*", through which **extra player parameters** can be set.

### Changing player mid-session

If the user faces a playback problem with a given station, chances are that a different player will successfully play it.

Pressing "**\\m**" will bring up the "*Switch Media Player*" window, where a different player can be activated.

If **recording is on** while using the previously activated player, it will remain on with the newly activated one. This actually means that the recording will stop when the old player is stopped and resumed when the new player is activated (creating a new recorder file). There is just one exception to that; selecting **VLC** is not possible on **Windows**, since **VLC** does not support recording on this platform.

**Note:** The activated player will not be saved; **PyRadio** will still use the player defined at its config next time it is executed.

#### Specifying a station's preferred player

Some stations may perform better —offering more stable playback, faster starts, or improved compatibility— when played with a specific audio player.

**PyRadio** allows you to define a **preferred player** for individual stations **directly within** the playlist file.

When such a preference is set, **PyRadio** will automatically activate the specified player and use it to start playback for that station. If the player in not installed, the default player will be used instead.

**Note:** A station with a defined player will **always** use that player, regardless of the session's default player or any player changes made during the session.

### Specifying a station's Referer URL

Although **PyRadio** is meant to be a radio station player, it can also be used to listen to video stations transmitting m3u8 playlists (HTTP Live Streaming or HLS).

The thing with these transmissions is that usually a **Referer URL** has to be provided so that the connection does not fail.

**PyRadio** now does support the declaration of a **Referer URL** for individual stations; it does it in an "anorthodox" way, but it is available and it works.

So, let us imagine that a station called "*My video station*" has been added to a playlist. The user tries to play it but it fails; the referer URL is missing.

To rectify the situation, a file containing the referer URL would have to be saved in the config directory: its name must be the name of the station as it is in the playlist, followed by the "**.referer.txt**" extension.

In our example above, the file will have to be named:

**"My video station.referer.txt"**

#### Note about MPlayer

This will unfortunately not work with **MPlayer**.

It seems it will not use the **Referer** provided, as shown in the following part of the command execution output:

```
[tcp @ 0x7f4a42c7fa60]Successfully connected to XX.XX.XXX.XX port 443
[https @ 0x7f4a42c7fa60]request: GET /live/XXXXXXXX.m3u8 HTTP/1.1
User-Agent: Lavf/60.16.100
Accept: */*
Range: bytes=0-
Connection: close
Host: XXXXXX-XXXXXXXXX.XXXXXX.XXX.XXX.XX
Icy-MetaData: 1

[https @ 0x7f4a42c7fa60]HTTP error 403 Forbidden
```

#### Referer support in the playlist

As of v. **0.9.3.11.5**, support for the referer in the playilist has been implemented.

In this case, if a referer file is found for a station, **PyRadio** will:

1. update the station info in the playlist
2. mark the playlist as **modified**
3. remove the referer file
4. inform the user so that he saves the playlist

**Note:** At this point, inserting the referer from **PyRadio** TUI has not yet been implemented. \
\
One can either use the referer file method described above, or just manually edit the playlist file and add it using the following format:

    Station Name,Station URL,,,,,,Referer URL

Please note the number of commas inserted after the *Station URL*.

### Extra Player Parameters

All three supported players can accept a significant number of "*command line options*", which are well documented and accessible through man pages (on linux and MacOs) or the documentation (on Windows).

**PyRadio** uses some of these parameters in order to execute and communicate with the players. In particular, the following parameters are in use **by default**:

| Player  | Parameters                                                                                    |
|---------|-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| mpv     | --no-video, --quiet, --input-ipc-server, --input-unix-socket, --playlist, --profile           |
| mplayer | -vo, -quiet, -playlist, -profile                                  |
| vlc     | -Irc, -vv<br>**Windows only:** --rc-host, --file-logging, --logmode, --log-verbose, --logfile |

**Note:** The user should not use or change the above player parameters. Failing to do so, may render the player ***unusable***.

**PyRadio** provides a way for the user to add extra parameters to the player, either by a command line option, or the "*Configuration Window*" (under "*Player:*").

#### Using the Configuration Window

When the user uses the configuration window (shown in the following image), he is presented with an interface which will permit him to select the player to use with **PyRadio** and edit its extra parameters.

![PyRadio Player Selection Window](https://members.hellug.gr/sng/pyradio/pyradio-player-selection.jpg)

For each of the supported players the existing profiles (not for *VLC*) and existing extra parameters will be displayed.

The user can add ("**a**") a new parameter, edit ("**e**") an existing set and delete ("**x**" or "**DEL**") one; profiles cannot be edited or deleted, though.

## Player connection protocol

Most radio stations use plain old http protocol to broadcast, but some of them use https.

Experience has shown that playing a **https** radio station depends on the combination of the station's configuration and the player used.

If such a station fails to play, one might as well try to use **http** protocol to connect to it.

**PyRadio** provides a way to instruct the player used to do so; the "*Force http connections*" configuration parameter. If it is *False* (the default), the player will use whatever protocol the station proposes (either **http** or **https**). When changed to **True**, all connections will use the **http** protocol.

When the selected player is initialized (at program startup), it reads this configuration parameter and acts accordingly.

If the parameter has to be changed mid-session (without restarting the program), one would press "**z**" to display the "*Connection Type*" window, where the parameter's value can be set as desired.

**Note:** Changes made using the "*Connection Type*" window are not stored; next time the program is executed, it will use whatever value the configuration parameter holds. Furthermore, changing the configuration stored value, will not affect the "working" value of the parameter.

### Visual reminder

When this option is activated, either through the config or the keyboard, a "*[http forced (z)]*"message appears on the top right corner of the window, as shown in the following image.

![http force](https://members.hellug.gr/sng/pyradio/http-force.jpg)

The "**z**" in parenthesis is just a hint to remind the user that he can change the behavior by pressing "**z**".

As the window shrinks in width, the message becomes a "*[h]*"; when it shrinks even more, it disappears completely.

## Player default volume level

All players, when started, use their saved (or default) volume level to play any multimedia content. Fortunately, this is not the case with VLC.

This introduces a problem to **PyRadio**: every time a user plays a station (i.e restarts playback), even though he may have already set the volume to a desired level, the playback starts at the player's default level.

The way to come around it, is to save the desired volume level in a way that it will be used by the player whenever it is restarted.

This is done by typing "**v**" right after setting a desired volume level.

### MPV

MPV uses profiles to customize its behavior.

**PyRadio** defines a profile called "**[pyradio]**" in MPV's configuration file (e.g. *~/.config/mpv/mpv.conf*). This profile will be used every time playback is started.

Example:

    volume=100

    [pyradio]
    volume=50

### MPlayer

MPlayer uses profiles to customize its behavior as well.

**PyRadio** defines a profile called "**[pyradio]**" in MPV's configuration file (e.g. *~/.mplayer/config*). This profile will be used every time playback is started.


Example:

    volume=100

    [pyradio]
    softvol=1
    softvol-max=300
    volstep=1
    volume=50

**Note:** Starting with **PyRadio v. 0.8.9**, *mplayer*'s default profile will use its internal mixer to adjust its volume; this is accomplished using the "*softvol=1*" and "*softvol-max=300*" lines above. The user may choose to remove these lines from the config (to activate system-wide volume adjustment) or add them to the config (in case the profile was created by an older **PyRadio** version).

### VLC

Although **VLC** can use a local configuration file, there seems to be no reliable way of defining the playback volume in it.

In the past, **VLC** would just use any volume setting it had saved from a previous execution, but now it is possible to save the volume it will use when executed by **PyRadio**.

This means that **VLC** will start and connect to a station, use whatever volume level it's stored for it and then **PyRadio** will reset the volume to the desired one (as saved within **PyRadio**).

The volume will be saved is a file called *vlc.conf* and reside withing the *data* directory, inside **PyRadio**'s configuration folder.

## Station volume

Stations in a playlist can come from various sources, each with its own default volume level. This often results in inconsistent playback volume, forcing the user to adjust **PyRadio**'s volume every time a new station starts.

While using a volume normalization tool could solve this, it may not always be desirable or feasible.

**PyRadio** offers a better alternative: *station volume*.

With this feature, each station can have a specific volume value saved along with its name and URL. When the station is played, that volume is automatically applied.

Though the user needs to manually set and save the ideal volume for each station (based on their own audio setup), this provides a consistent and reliable solution over time.

To set a station’s volume, start playing it, adjust the volume to the desired level, and press "**\\v**". This will silently save the updated volume to the playlist on disk.

If you want to temporarily ignore all station volume settings, press "**\\V**". This will disable volume overrides for the current session only; the setting will reset the next time **PyRadio** is launched.

When a station’s volume setting is active, a "**[V]**" indicator appears in the top-left corner of the window. If station volume has been disabled, you’ll see "**[v]**" instead. This is illustrated in the image below:

![PyRadio Station Volume](https://members.hellug.gr/sng/pyradio/station-volume.png)

### How it Works

Both **MPV** and **MPlayer** use *profiles* to configure playback options.

When station volume is enabled, **PyRadio** creates a temporary profile named **pyradio-volume** by copying the selected base profile. It then updates the volume field in this profile to match the station’s saved volume. This custom profile is then used to launch the player.

Naturally, this means the player’s user configuration file must be read, parsed, modified, and saved — which may introduce a slight delay, particularly on slower systems.

**VLC**, on the other hand, does not support profiles. In this case, **PyRadio** simply applies the station’s volume directly, overriding the global volume setting.

## Buffering

**PyRadio** provides stream buffering options for all supported players.

Please refer to this document for more info: [PyRadio Buffering](buffering.md).

## Displaying Station Info

When a connection to a radio station has been established, the station starts sending audio data for the user to listen to.

Well, that's obvious, right?

Yes, but this is just half of the story.

The station actually also sends identification data, audio format data, notifications, etc. Part of this non-audio data transmitted by a station is the title of the song currently playing; this is why we can have this data displayed at the bottom of the screen.

Now, not all stations send the whole set of data; most send their name, website, genre and bit rate, for example, but some may omit the website or the genre.

**PyRadio** can receive, decode and display this data, and even help the user to identify an unknown station. This is the way to do it:

After a connection to a station has been established (after playback has started), just press "**i**" to display the station's info.

The window that appears includes the "*Playlist Name*" (the station name we have in the playlist) and the "*Reported Name*" (the name the station transmitted to us) among other fields; an example can bee seen here:

![PyRadio Station Info Window](https://members.hellug.gr/sng/pyradio/pyradio-station-info.jpg)

If these two names are not identical, the user can press "**r**" to rename the station in the playlist using the "*Reported Name*". This way an unknown station (when only the URL is known) can be correctly identified (after being inserted in a playlist with a dummy station name).

## Copying and pasting - Registers

**PyRadio** takes the concept of **registers** from [vim](https://www.vim.org), and adapts their function to its own needs. So this is how it all works.

There are 36 named registers (name is **a-z**, **0-9**) and one unnamed register.

* **Named registers** are actually files that contain stations and can be opened and edited as regular playlist files. There are some differences in handling them: they are accessible either individually or using a special window, they are automatically saved, and writing errors are ignored. The later means that registers should not be regarded as normal playlist files that can be safely saved and used forever; this is true as long as there's no problem with writing to them; if a writing error occurs they may get overwritten or emptied. To permanently save a register, on would **rename** it to a normal playlist file.

* The **unnamed register** holds just one station (the one that has been copied or added to a register or deleted from a playlist), and it is the one used when pasting to a register or a playlist. One can see its contents by pressing "**\u**".

To **copy** a station to a register one would press "**y**" and:

* one of "**a-z**", "**0-9**" to add it to the corresponding *named* register. The *unnamed* register is also populated.

* **ENTER** to add it to the *unnamed* register.

To **open** a *named* register, one would press "**'**" (single quote) and:

* one of "**a-z**", "**0-9**" to open the corresponding register.

* "**'**" (single quote) to open the "*Registers window*", so that a register can be selected.

To **rename** a *named* register, one would press "**\\r**" either in the "*Registers window*" or while editing the register.

To **clear a named register**, one would press "**\\c**" either in the "*Registers window*" or while editing the register.

To **clear all registers**, one would press "**\\C**" either in the "*Registers window*" or while editing a playlist or a register.

To **paste** the *unnamed* register to a playlist or register, one would press:

* "**p**" while editing a playlist or register.

* "**\\p**" while editing a playlist or register. This would open the "*Paste selection*" window.

* "**\\p**" in the "*Playlist Selection* or the "*Registers*" window.

## Favorites playlist

Pressing "*" (asterisk) in **Main Mode** will add the selected station to the **favorites** playlist.

If the station is already there, it will either be updated if its name has been changed, for example, or will be ignored, to avoid creating duplicate entries.

The **favorites** playlist, residing in the configuration folder, is a normal playlist in any other respect, which can be subsequently opened, edited, deleted even, as any other playlist.

## Displaying the Current Time 

The **Clock** feature allows you to display the current time in the bottom left corner of the window. This can be helpful for keeping track of time while using the application.

You can easily toggle the clock display by pressing `"\t"`.

### Configuration 

The configuration window has a group labeled "**Clock**, which presents the following options:

- The "*Display on startup*" option determines whether the clock is displayed when the application starts. Set it to `True` to show the clock at startup, or leave it as `False` (the default) to hide it.

- You can choose how the time is displayed using the "*Time format*" option. Here are the available formats:

| Value | Format Description                          |
|-------|---------------------------------------------|
| 0     | 24-hour format, with seconds                |
| 1     | 24-hour format, no seconds (**default**)    |
| 2     | 12-hour format, with AM/PM and seconds      |
| 3     | 12-hour format, no AM/PM, with seconds      |
| 4     | 12-hour format, with AM/PM, no seconds      |
| 5     | 12-hour format, no AM/PM, no seconds        |

By default, the **Clock** is turned off, with the default format set to "*HH:MM*" (value **1**). Enabling the clock will introduce a few additional threads, which may make **PyRadio** slightly heavier than usual.

## PyRadio Themes

**PyRadio** supports **CSS themes**; it comes with a number of predefined ones and can use external programs that can provide automatically created and updated themes.

To set a theme you just press "**t**" and

- select a theme and press the **Right Arrow** to activate it.

- when you have found a theme you like, press **Space** to make it the default one.

To get more info about using and creating a **PyRadio theme**, please refer to [this page](themes.md).


## Recording stations

**PyRadio** supports recording of stations, as much as this feature is provided by the players it supports.


___

**Berfore you continue, read this!**

Generally, recording a radio streaming broadcast is considered legit, if the recording is to be used for personal use only (i.e. to listen to the broadcast at a later time).

Distributing such a recording, is illegal. Broadcasting it is also illegal. Its reproduction before an audience is also illegal. In some countries/regions, it is also illegal to split or tag the songs in the recording.

Please make sure you are informed about this topic, about what the law considers illegal at your country/region, **before using this feature!**

**You have been warned!**

**PyRadio**, its creator and maintainers do not condone any behavior that involves online piracy or copyright violation. This feature is provided strictly for personal use, and to utilize another requested feature: **pausing and resuming** playback.

___

Please refer to [this page](recording.md) to read more about his feature.

## Mouse support

Being a console application, **PyRadio** was never intended to work with a mouse.

Furthermore, when using the mouse on a console application, the result is highly dependent on the terminal used and the way it implements mouse support.

Having said that, and since the question of using the mouse with **PyRadio** has been risen, basic mouse support has been implemented; starting, stopping and muting the player, scrolling within the playlist and adjusting the player's volume is now possible using the mouse.

All one has to do is enable mouse support in the "*Config Window*".

Then, the mouse can be used as follows:

| Action           | Result                                                     |
|------------------|------------------------------------------------------------|
| **Click**        | Change selection                                           |
| **Double click** | Start / stop the player                                    |
| **Middle click** | Toggle player muting<br>(does not work with all terminals) |
| **Wheel**        | Scroll up / down or adjust volume                          |
| **Shift-Wheel**  | Adjust volume<br>(does not work with all terminals)        |

**Note:** The **Wheel** can be configured to adjust the player's volume instead of its default scrolling function through the "*Adjust volume*" configuration option. Then, **BShift-Wheel** will scroll through the playlist. This is useful if **Shift-Wheel** does not work, or one is accustomed to using the wheel for volume control.

## Title logging

Version **0.8.9.17** adds to **PyRadio** the ability to log the titles displayed at the bottom of its window, in a log file, for reference.

The logger, which is a special kind of *debug logger*, but works independently from the "*debug*" function, is actually a [Rotating File Handler](https://docs.python.org/3/library/logging.handlers.html#logging.handlers.RotatingFileHandler), configured to write up to 5 files of around 50KB each (parameters **maxBytes=50000** and **backupCount=5**).

The way this works, according to the documentation, is that one "can use the **maxBytes** and **backupCount** values to allow the file to rollover at a predetermined size. When the size is about to be exceeded, the file is closed and a new file is silently opened for output. Rollover occurs whenever the current log file is nearly **maxBytes** in length… When **backupCount** is non-zero, the system will save old log files by appending the extensions ‘.1’, ‘.2’ etc., to the filename. For example, with a backupCount of 5 and a base file name of **app.log**, you would get *app.log*, *app.log.1*, *app.log.2*, up to *app.log.5*. The file being written to is always **app.log**. When this file is filled, it is closed and renamed to *app.log.1*, and if files *app.log.1*, *app.log.2*, etc. exist, then they are renamed to *app.log.2*, *app.log.3* etc. respectively.

The function can be enabled:

1. using the `-lt` (`--log-titles`) command line option, or
2. by pressing "**W**" while in the **Main**, the **Playlist** or the **Register** mode.

The titles are written in a file called *pyradio-titles.log* which is located in the **Recordings Directory**.

Log file sample:

```
Apr 18 (Mon) 13:12 | >>> Station: Lounge (Illinois Street Lounge - SomaFM)
Apr 18 (Mon) 13:12 |     Jack Costanzo - La Cumparsa, Harlem Nocturne
Apr 18 (Mon) 13:14 |     Don Baker Trio - Third Man Theme
Apr 18 (Mon) 13:16 |     Gillian Hills - Un Petit Baiser
```

### Tagging a title

An extra functionality is made possible because of "*titles' logging*": tagging a title (a kind of "liking" a song).

The idea is that when users play a station and hear a song, they may like and want to look it up later. With this functionality, they can tag the song (make a note in the log file) for later.

To tag a title, one has to press the "**w**" key.

Then, if title logging is already enabled, the log file will show up an entry like the example below:

    Apr 18 (Mon) 13:39 |     Tom Russell - Bus Station
    Apr 18 (Mon) 13:40 |     Tom Russell - Bus Station (LIKED)

If title logging is disabled, it will be temporarily turned on only for the tagging of that song:

    Apr 18 (Mon) 15:38 | === Logging started
    Apr 18 (Mon) 15:38 | >>> Station: Folk (Folk Forward - SomaFM)
    Apr 18 (Mon) 15:38 |     Lord Huron - Lullaby
    Apr 18 (Mon) 15:38 |     Lord Huron - Lullaby (LIKED)
    Apr 18 (Mon) 15:38 | === Logging stopped

## Online radio directory services

**PyRadio** supports the following *Online radio directory services*:

- [RadioBrowser](https://www.radio-browser.info/)

    This is a community driven effort (like wikipedia) with the aim of collecting as many internet radio and TV stations as possible.

    Read more at [PyRadio RadioBrowser Implementation](radio-browser.md)

To access supported services, just press "**O**" (capital "*o*") at the program's main window.

## Desktop Notifications

**PyRadio** can provide Desktop Notifications if a notification daemon is already present (on Linux and BSD), or via **Windows Notification Service** (**WNS**).

If enabled, **PyRadio** will display:

1. The playlist name, when playback starts.
2. Song info (as provided by the radio station).
3. Connection failure messages.
4. Player crash messages.

To find out more about configuring this feature, please refer to [Desktop Notification](desktop-notification.md).

## Desktop File

**PyRadio** will install a Desktop File under **~/.local/share/applications**.

**Note:** The system wide Desktop File will probably be under **/usr/share/applications** or **/usr/local/share/applications**.

By default, this Desktop File will add a "**PyRadio**" entry under the "**Internet**" category (or menu), and will execute **PyRadio** no matter if the directory it resides in is the PATH or not, using the **default** terminal that the system uses.

In case of a local installation, when a system wide installation also exists, the entry will display "**PyRadio - Local**" to distinguish itself from the system wide "**PyRadio**" one.

**Note:** If the TERMINAL variable is set, the Desktop File will use that instead.

### Specifying the terminal to use

If a specific terminal has to be used, using the **--terminal** command line option is the way to go:

    pyradio --terminal kitty

This command will set the terminal in the Desktop file, so that:

    Exec=kitty -e pyradio

To have **PyRadio** try to find a suitable terminal, execute:

    pyradio --terminal auto

To restore the original functionality (specifying no terminal):

    pyradio --terminal none

#### Specifying PyRadio parameters

If a **PyRadio** parameter has to be present in the Desktop File, use the **--terminal-param** command line option:

    pyradio --terminal none --terminal-param "-p 3"

This command will use no specific terminal and will pass the "**-p 3**" (play station No 3 automatically) parameter to **PyRadio**. Just make sure that the parameter is at the end of the command line.

## Session Locking

**PyRadio** uses session locking, which actually means that only the first instance executed within a given session will be able to write to the configuration file.

Subsequent instances will be "*locked*". This means that the user can still play stations, load and edit playlists, load and test themes, but any changes will **not** be recorded in the configuration file.

### Session unlocking

If for any reason **PyRadio** always starts in "*locked mode*", one can **unlock** the session, using the "*--unlock*" command line option.

## Update notification

**PyRadio** will periodically (once every 10 days) check whether a new version has been released.

If so, a notification message will be displayed, informing the user about it and asking to proceed with updating the program (provided this is not a distribution package).

**Note:** Packages coming from a distribution repository will display no notification; it's up to the distro to update / uninstall **PyRadio**, as stated in [Packaging PyRadio](packaging.md).

## OS Media Controls integration

**PyRadio** can integrate with the operating system’s media control system.

For more information, please refer to [the relevant page](os-media-controls.md).


## Remote Control Server

**PyRadio** can be controlled remotely using normal http requests either form the command line (with *curl* for example) or from a browser.

For more information, please refer to [the relevant page](server.md).

If you'd like to set up a "headless" **PyRadio** operation for your linux box, please refer to the [Headless](headless.md) page.

### Remote Control Client

**PyRadio** comes with its own client, which will make it easier to communicate with the **Remote Control Server**.

For more information, please refer to [the relevant page](client.md).

## Playing a station in the terminal

A user request [Shortcut to quit pyradio and launch standalone player (e.g. mpv) with currently selected station](https://github.com/coderholic/pyradio/issues/252) lead to the possibility to use any player in the terminal.

This action will be triggered by pressing "*X*".

After the player stops, **PyRadio** will stop as well.

**Note:** On Windows, **mpv** and **VLC** will open a new player window instead of executing in the terminal.

In addition, a command line parameter has been added "*-x*" ("*--exteranl-player*") which when used in conjuction with the "*-p*" ("*--play*") command line parameter, will instruct **PyRadio** to play a station and terminate after the playback stops.

## Text-to-Speech Support

**PyRadio** now features comprehensive Text-to-Speech (TTS) support, providing auditory feedback for an enhanced radio streaming experience. This intelligent system delivers contextual information about station navigation, playback status, and system events.

More info about the implementation and status at the [relevant page](tts.md).

## Debug mode

Adding the "**-d**" option to the command line will instruct **PyRadio** to enter *Debug mode*, which means that it will print debug messages to a file. This file will always reside in the user's home directory and will be named *pyradio.log*.

In case of a bug or a glitch, please include this file to the issue you will [open at github](https://github.com/coderholic/pyradio/issues).

## Reporting bugs

When a bug is found, please do report it by [opening an issue at github](https://github.com/coderholic/pyradio/issues), as already stated above.

In you report you should, at the very least, state your **pyradio version**, **python version** and **method** of installation (built from source, AUR, snap, whatever).

It would be really useful to include **~/pyradio.log** in your report.

To create it, enter the following commands in a terminal:

    $ rm ~/pyradio.log
    $ pyradio -d

Then try to reproduce the bug and exit **pyradio**.

Finally, include the file produced in your report.

## Packaging PyRadio

If you are a packager and would like to produce a package for your distribution please do follow [this mini guide](packaging.md).
