Table of Contents
cda - Compact disc digital audio player utility
cda [-dev device] [-batch] [-online | -offline] [-debug level#] command
Cda is a program that allows the use of the CD-ROM or CD-R drive
as a full-featured stereo compact-disc player from the shell command line.
It can be used interactively in line mode or visual (screen) mode, or
as a script-driven utility. This is a companion utility to xmcd, a Motif-based
CD audio player application for the X window system. Cda uses the same configuration
and support files as xmcd.
Most of the features found on "real" CD players
are available in cda, such as shuffle and repeat, and track programming
functions. Multi-disc changers are also supported.
The Gracenote CDDB(tm)
Music Recognition Service(sm) feature is supported by cda, which allows
the CD artist/title and track titles, and other information associated
with the loaded CD to be displayed. This release of cda supports the enhanced
CDDB2(tm) service on selected platforms, and offers a much richer content
than the "classic" CDDB. Moreover, CDDB2-supplied information is now in UTF-8
data format, providing full localization support. See LOCALIZATION below.
No capability is provided to add, modify or submit CDDB entries in cda.
You must use the X-based xmcd(1)
utility (or another CDDB-enabled application
with the apprpriate features) for that purpose.
On systems with more than
one CD-ROM or CD-R drive, multiple invocations of cda can be used to operate
each drive independently.
Cda is designed to be easy to use, with particular
care taken to make all output easily parsable by other programs.
The internal
architecture of cda is designed to be easily portable to many UNIX operating
system variants, and adaptable to the myriad of CD-ROM drives available.
Cda supports the following options:
- -dev device
- Specifies the path
name to the raw CD-ROM device. If this option is not used, the default device
to be used is the first drive set up with the xmcd configuration program
(See below).
- -batch
- Signifies that cda should run in batch mode. This suppresses
all interaction with the user (i.e., will not prompt the user to type anything).
Batch mode is not meaningful in visual mode.
- -online, -offline
- Forces the
cda client to enable or disable Internet access. If this option is not
specified, then the default is configured via the internetOffline parameter
in the common.cfg file. In offline mode, CDDB lookup will only be done from
the local cache.
- -debug level#
- Causes verbose debugging diagnostics to be
displayed on stderr. Note that if you are running in visual mode, the stderr
output should be redirected to a file, or the debug information will corrupt
the screen. The level specifies the type of debugging messages desired:
1 General debugging
2 Device I/O debugging
4 CD information debugging
You may add the values together to enable multiple debugging types (i.e.,
A value of 3 turns on both General and Device I/O debugging).
Cda
supports the following commands:
- on
- Start the cda daemon.
- off
- Terminate
the cda daemon.
- disc <load | eject | prev | next | disc#>
- Load or eject the CD,
or change discs on a multi-disc changer.
- lock <on | off>
- Enable/disable the
CD disc lock. When locked, the CD cannot be ejected using the CD-ROM front-panel
eject button.
- play [track# [mm:ss]]
- Start playback. If the track# is used,
the playback starts from the specified track. The optional mm:ss argument
specifies the minutes and seconds offset into the track from where to start
playback.
- pause
- Pauses the playback. Use cda play to resume playback.
- stop
- Stop the plaback.
- track <prev | next>
- Proceed to the previous or the next track.
This command is only valid when playback is already in progress.
- index
<prev | next>
- Proceed to the previous or the next index. This command is only
valid when playback is already in progress.
- program [clear | save | track#
...]
- If no argument is specified, this command displays the current program
play sequence, if any. The clear argument will cause the current program
to be cleared. The save argument will save the current program, so that
a future load of the same CD will automatically get the program sequence.
To define a new program, specify a list of track numbers separated by spaces.
To start program play, use the play command. You cannot define a new program
while shuffle mode is enabled.
- shuffle <on | off>
- Enable/disable shuffle play
mode. When shuffle is enabled, cda will play the CD tracks in a random
order. You can use this command only when audio playback is not in progress.
Also, you must clear any program sequence before enabling shuffle.
- repeat
<on | off>
- Enable/disable the repeat mode.
- volume [value#]
- If no argument is
specified, this command displays the current audio volume setting. If a
value is used, then the audio volume level is set to the specified value.
The valid range is 0 to 100.
- balance [value#]
- If no argument is specified,
this command displays the current balance control setting. If a value is
used, then the balance is set to the specified value. The valid range is
0 to 100, where 0 is full left, 50 is center and 100 is full right.
- route
[stereo | reverse | mono-l | mono-r | mono | value#]
- If no argument is specified,
this command displays the current channel routing setting. Otherwise, to
set the routing, use one of the appropriate keywords or a value as follows:
0 Normal stereo
1 Reverse stereo
2 Mono-L
3 Mono-R
4 Mono-L+R
- status [cont [secs#]]
- Display the current disc status, disc number, track
number, index number, time, modes, and repeat count. If the cont argument
is specified, then the display will run continuously until the user types
the interrupt character (typically Delete or Ctrl-C). The optional secs
sub-argument is the display update time interval. The default is 1 second.
- toc [offsets]
- Display the CD Table of Contents. The disc artist/title and
track titles associated with the current disc, queried from CDDB, is also
shown. If the disc has associated notes or credits, an asterisk (*) is
displayed after the genre description. Similarly, if a track has associated
notes or credits, an asterisk is displayed after the track title.
If the
CDDB server cannot determine an exact match for your CD, but found a list
of possible matches, then the user will be prompted to select from that
list. If batch mode is active (i.e., the -batch option is used), then no such
prompt will occur.
If the offsets argument is used, then the track times
are the absolute offsets from the start of the CD. Otherwise, the times
shown are the track lengths.
- extinfo [track#]
- Display extended information
associated with the current CD, if available from CDDB. If the CD is currently
playing, then extended information associated with the playing track is
also displayed. If a track number is used in the argument, then the extended
information of the specified track is shown instead.
- notes [track#]
- Display
disc notes information text associated with the current CD, if available
from CDDB. If the CD is currently playing, then the track notes information
associated with the playing track is also displayed. If a track number
is used in the argument, then the track notes information text of the specified
track is shown instead.
- on-load [autolock | noautolock | none | spindown | autoplay]
- Display, enable or disable options when a CD is loaded. The autolock option
causes the caddy or disc tray to be automatically locked, The spindown
option will cause the CD to stop after loading to conserve the laser and
motor. The autoplay option will cause the CD to automatically start playing
after loading. The none, spindown and autoplay options are mutually-exclusive.
If no argument is used, then the current settings are displayed.
- on-exit
[none | autostop | autoeject]
- Display, enable or disable options when the
cda daemon exits. The autostop option will cause cda to stop playback,
and the autoeject option will cause cda to eject the CD. Use none to cancel
these options. If no argument is used, then te current settings are displayed.
- on-done [autoeject | noautoeject | autoexit | noautoexit]
- Display, enable or
disable options when cda is done with playback. The autoeject option causes
the cda daemon to eject the CD. The autoexit option will cause the cda
daemon to exit. If no argument is used, then the current settings are displayed.
- on-eject [autoexit | noautoexit]
- Display, enable or disable options when
cda ejects a CD. The autoexit option will cause the cda daemon to exit
after ejecting the CD. If no argument is used, then the current settings
are displayed.
- changer [multiplay | nomultiplay | reverse | noreverse]
- Display,
enable or disable multi-disc changer options. The multiplay option specifies
that cda plays all discs in sequence. The nomultiplay option will cause
cda to stop after the current disc is done. The reverse option implies multiplay,
except that the disc order is reversed. If no argument is used, then the
current settings are displayed.
- device
- Displays the CD-ROM and device information.
- version
- Displays the cda version and copyright information.
- cddbreg
- Invoke
dialog to register with Gracenote in order to access the CDDB2 service.
This command can be used to do the initial registration, as well as to
change or update user registration information. This function is not available
with the "classic" CDDB service.
- cddbhint
- Ask Gracenote to send the password
hint via e-mail. This is used in case you forget the CDDB user password.
The password and password hint are both initially set via the cddbreg
command. This function is not available with the "classic" CDDB service.
- debug [level#]
- Show, or set the debug level. If set, verbose debugging
diagnostics will be printed on stderr of the terminal that the cda daemon
is started from. If this is the same terminal that is running cda in visual
mode, the debug information will corrupt the screen. See the description
of the -debug option above for supported debug levels.
- visual
- Enter an interactive,
screen-oriented visual mode. All other cda commands can also be invoked
within this mode.
See xmcd(1)
for a description of
the device configuration requirements.
WARNING: If cda is not correctly
configured, you may cause cda to deliver commands that are not supported
by your CD-ROM drive. Under some environments this may lead to system hang
or crash.
Start the cda daemon with the cda on command (or the
F1 (o)
function in visual mode). This reserves the CD-ROM device and initializes
the program for further commands. All other cda functions will not work
unless the cda daemon is running. The other cda commands should be self
explanatory.
The off command (or the F1 (o)
function in visual mode) can
be used to terminate the cda daemon and release the CD-ROM drive for use
by other software.
If the cda visual command is used, it enters
a screen-oriented visual mode. In this mode, the status and other information
available is continuously displayed and updated on the screen, and virtually
all functions are available via a single key stroke.
A minimum screen size
of 80 columns by 24 rows is recommended for the visual mode.
Visual mode
uses the curses screen library to control the screen. It is essential that
the TERM environment variable reflect the current terminal type, which
ideally should have 8 (or more) function keys. Since function key definitions
in terminfo descriptions are often unreliable, alphabetic key alternatives
are also available.
The screen is divided into two windows: an information
window and a status window. According to context, the information window
displays a help screen, device and version information, disc information
and table of contents, or extended information about the track. This window
is scrollable if it overflows its allotted screen area. The status window
consists of the last few lines of the screen, enclosed in a box. The first
line contains the program list, or track number and offset together with
volume, balance and stereo/mono information. The remaining lines contain
the function keys (with their alphabetic synonymns) and the functions they
invoke. These functions are highlighted when they are on, making it easy
to see the current state.
Screen annotation and online help make operation
self explanatory, but for reference, a list of commands follows. Alphabetic
key alternatives to function keys are given in parenthesis.
- ?
- Display help
screen. Dismiss this screen by pressing the space bar.
- F1 (o)
- On/Off. Start
or stop the cda daemon.
- F2 (j)
- Load or eject the CD.
- F3 (p)
- Play, pause or
unpause.
- F4 (s)
- Stop.
- F5 (k)
- Enable/disable the CD caddy lock. When locked,
the CD cannot be ejected using the CD-ROM front-panel eject button.
- F6 (u)
- Shuffle/Program. Pressing this key cycles through three states: normal,
shuffle and program. In shuffle mode, the tracks of the CD will be played
in random order. On entering program mode, cda will prompt for a space
or comma separated list of track numbers, representing a desired playing
order. The list should be terminated by carriage return. An empty list returns
cda to normal mode. Shuffle and program mode cannot be engaged unless a
CD is loaded but not playing or paused.
- F7 (e)
- Enable/disable repeat mode.
- F8 (q)
- Terminate the visual mode. If the cda daemon is running, a reminder
of the fact is given and it is allowed to continue. The CD-ROM drive will
continue operating in the same state. Cda may be invoked again in either
visual or line mode when required.
- D/d
- Change to the previous/next disc
on multi-disc changes.
- Cursor left/right (C/c)
- Previous/next track. This is
only valid if playback is already in progress.
- </>
- Proceed to the previous/next
index mark. This is only valid if playback is already in progress.
- Cursor
up/down (^/v)
- Scroll the information portion of the screen up or down. It
may be scrolled up only until the last line is on the top line of the screen,
and may not be scrolled down beyond the initial position. The initial scroll
position is restored when different information is displayed, (e.g., when
switching to or from the help information).
- +/-
- Increase or decrease volume
by 5%.
- l/r
- Move balance 5% to left or right.
- Tab
- Successive depressions of
this key change the mode from stereo to mono, mono right, mono left, reverse
stereo, and back to normal stereo.
- <n> [mins secs]
- Proceed to track n at mins
minutes and secs seconds from the start. If mins secs is not given, start
at the beginning of track n.
- ^l/^r
- Control-l or control-r repaints the screen.
This is useful if the screen has been corrupted (e.g., by operator messages
sent by the wall(1M)
command).
The Gracenote CDDB(tm) Music
Recognition Service(sm) feature is supported by cda, which allows you to
display the disc artists/title, track titles, and other information about
the CD or tracks via the toc, extinfo and notes commands of cda. In visual
mode, this information is displayed automatically if available. You cannot
add, modify or submit CDDB information via cda. For more details about CDDB,
see xmcd(1)
and the CDDB file that comes with this release.
The
CDDB2-supplied data, in UTF-8 data format, is displayed without modification
in cda.
If you desire to view data in languages other than English or the
ISO-8859 family of European languages, you may need to configure your display
terminal to display the appropriate fonts (if the terminal has such capabilities).
Terminal font configuration is device-dependent, OS-dependent and beyond
the scope of this document. Please see your display terminal's documentation
(or in the case of a computer graphics console, the operating system's console
font related documentation for information.
Not all CD-ROM drives support
all features that appear on cda. For example, some drives do not support
a software-driven volume control. On these drives the cda volume and balance
commands may have no effect, or may simply change the volume between full
mute and maximum. Similarly, the lock, disc, index, and route commands of
cda may not have any effect on drives that do not support the appropriate
functionality.
$HOME/.cddb2/*
$HOME/.xmcdcfg/*
XMCDLIB/cdinfo/*
XMCDLIB/config/config.sh
XMCDLIB/config/common.cfg
XMCDLIB/config/device.cfg
XMCDLIB/config/.tbl/*
XMCDLIB/config/*
XMCDLIB/help/*
BINDIR/cda
MANDIR/cda.1
/tmp/.cdaudio/*
Xmcd/cda web site: http://www.amb.org/xmcd/
Gracenote web site: http://www.cddb.com/
Xmmix web site: http://www.amb.org/xmmix/
xmcd(1)
, xmmix(1)
, X(1)
,
Xmcd's README and INSTALL files
Ti Kan (xmcd@amb.org)
AMB Research Laboratories, Sunnyvale, CA, U.S.A.
Cda also contains code contributed by several dedicated individuals. See
the ACKS file in the cda distribution for information.
Comments, suggestions, and bug reports are always welcome.
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