# LV2 UI Extension # Copyright 2009-2011 David Robillard # Copyright 2006-2008 Lars Luthman # # Permission to use, copy, modify, and/or distribute this software for any # purpose with or without fee is hereby granted, provided that the above # copyright notice and this permission notice appear in all copies. # # THIS SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED "AS IS" AND THE AUTHOR DISCLAIMS ALL WARRANTIES # WITH REGARD TO THIS SOFTWARE INCLUDING ALL IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF # MERCHANTABILITY AND FITNESS. IN NO EVENT SHALL THE AUTHOR BE LIABLE FOR # ANY SPECIAL, DIRECT, INDIRECT, OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES OR ANY DAMAGES # WHATSOEVER RESULTING FROM LOSS OF USE, DATA OR PROFITS, WHETHER IN AN # ACTION OF CONTRACT, NEGLIGENCE OR OTHER TORTIOUS ACTION, ARISING OUT OF # OR IN CONNECTION WITH THE USE OR PERFORMANCE OF THIS SOFTWARE. @prefix doap: . @prefix foaf: . @prefix lv2: . @prefix owl: . @prefix rdf: . @prefix rdfs: . @prefix ui: . @prefix xsd: . a owl:Ontology ; owl:imports ; rdfs:seeAlso ; lv2:documentation """

This extension defines an interface that can be used in LV2 plugins and hosts to create UIs for plugins. The UIs are similar to plugins and reside in shared object files in an LV2 bundle. UIs are associated with a plugin in RDF using the triples:

@prefix ui: <http://lv2plug.in/ns/extensions/ui#> .

<http://my.plugin>   ui:ui     <http://my.pluginui> .
<http://my.pluginui> a         ui:GtkUI ;
                     ui:binary <myui.so> .

where <http://my.plugin> is the URI of the plugin, <http://my.pluginui> is the URI of the plugin UI and <myui.so> is the relative URI to the shared object file.

While it is possible to have the plugin UI and the plugin in the same shared object file it is probably a good idea to keep them separate so that hosts that don't want UIs don't have to load the UI code. A UI MUST specify its class in the RDF data (ui:GtkUI in the above example). The class defines what type the UI is, e.g. what graphics toolkit it uses. Any type of UI class can be defined separately from this extension.

It is possible to have multiple UIs for the same plugin, or to have the UI for a plugin in a different bundle from the actual plugin - this way people other than the plugin author can write plugin UIs independently without editing the original plugin bundle.

Note that the process that loads the shared object file containing the UI code and the process that loads the shared object file containing the actual plugin implementation are not necessarily the same process (and not even necessarily on the same machine). This means that plugin and UI code can not use singletons and global variables and expect them to refer to the same objects in the UI and the actual plugin. The function callback interface defined in this header is the only method of communication between UIs and plugin instances (extensions may define more, though this is discouraged unless absolutely necessary since the significant benefits of network transparency and serialisability are lost).

Since the LV2 specification itself allows for extensions that may add new functionality that could be useful to control with a UI, this extension allows for meta-extensions that can extend the interface between the UI and the host. These extensions mirror the extensions used for plugins - there are required and optional "features" that you declare in the RDF data for the UI:

<http://my.pluginui> lv2:requiredFeature <http://my.feature> .
<http://my.pluginui> lv2:optionalFeature <http://my.feature> .

The rules for a UI with a required or optional feature are identical to those of lv2:Plugin instances: if a UI declares a feature as required, the host is NOT allowed to load it unless it supports that feature; and if it does support a feature, it MUST pass an appropriate LV2_Feature struct to the UI's instantiate() method. These features may be used to specify how to pass specific types of data between the UI and the plugin port buffers (see LV2UI_Write_Function for details).

UIs written to this specification do not need to be threadsafe - the functions defined below may only be called in the same thread the UI main loop is running in.

Note that this UI extension is NOT a lv2:Feature. There is no way for a plugin to know whether the host that loads it supports UIs or not, and the plugin must always work without the UI (although it may be rather useless unless it has been configured using the UI in a previous session). From the plugin perspective, control from a UI is the same as control from anywhere else (e.g. the host, the user): via ports.

A UI does not have to be a graphical widget, it could just as well be a server listening for OSC input or an interface to some sort of hardware device, depending on the RDF class of the UI.

""" . ui:UI a rdfs:Class , owl:Class ; rdfs:label "LV2 UI" ; rdfs:comment "A UI for an LV2 plugin" . ui:GtkUI a rdfs:Class , owl:Class ; rdfs:subClassOf ui:UI ; rdfs:comment """ A UI where the LV2_Widget is a pointer to a Gtk+ 2.0 compatible GtkWidget, and the host guarantees that the Gtk+ library has been initialised and the Glib main loop is running before a UI of this type is instantiated.""" . ui:Qt4UI a rdfs:Class , owl:Class ; rdfs:subClassOf ui:UI ; rdfs:comment """ A UI where the LV2_Widget is a pointer to a Qt4 compatible QWidget, and the host guarantees that the Qt4 library has been initialised and the Qt4 main loop is running before a UI of this type is instantiated.""" . ui:X11UI a rdfs:Class , owl:Class ; rdfs:subClassOf ui:UI ; rdfs:comment """ A UI where the LV2_Widget is an X11 window ID. Note this is actually an integer, i.e. the LV2_Widget is not a pointer to an X11 window ID, but should be itself taken as an integer value.""" . ui:makeSONameResident a lv2:Feature ; owl:deprecated "true"^^xsd:boolean ; lv2:documentation """

DEPRECATED

This feature was intended to support UIs that link against toolkit libraries which may not be unloaded during the lifetime of the host. This is better achieved by using the appropriate flags when linking the UI, e.g. gcc -Wl,nodelete.

""" . ui:noUserResize a lv2:Feature ; lv2:documentation """

If a UI requires this feature it indicates that it does not make sense to let the user resize the main widget, and the host should prevent that. This feature may not make sense for all UI types. The data pointer for the LV2_Feature for this feature should always be set to NULL.

""" . ui:fixedSize a lv2:Feature ; lv2:documentation """

If a UI requires this feature it indicates the same thing as ui:noUserResize, and additionally it means that the UI will not resize the main widget on its own - it will always remain the same size (e.g. a pixmap based GUI). This feature may not make sense for all UI types. The data pointer for the LV2_Feature for this feature should always be set to NULL.

""" . ui:parent a lv2:Feature ; lv2:documentation """

The parent for the UI.

This feature can be used to pass a parent (e.g. a widget, container, canvas, etc.) the UI should be a child of. The format of data pointer of this feature is determined by the UI type, and is generally the same type as the LV2_Widget the UI would return (e.g. for a GtkUI the data would be a pointer to a GtkWidget which is a GtkContainer). This is particularly useful for cross-toolkit embedding, where the parent often must be known at construction time for embedding to work correctly. UIs should not require this feature unless it is absolutely necessary for them to work at all.

""" . ui:PortNotification a rdfs:Class , owl:Class ; rdfs:subClassOf [ a owl:Restriction ; owl:onProperty ui:plugin ; owl:someValuesFrom lv2:Plugin ; owl:cardinality 1 ; rdfs:comment """ A PortNotification MUST have exactly one ui:plugin which is a lv2:Plugin. """ ] ; lv2:documentation """

A port notification. This describes which ports the host must send notifications to the UI about. The port can be specific by index, using the ui:portIndex property, or symbol, using the lv2:symbol property. Since port indices are not guaranteed to be stable between different revisions (or even instantiations) of a plugin, symbol is recommended, and index may only be used by UIs shipped in the same bundle as the plugin.

A ui:PortNotification MUST have either a ui:portIndex or a lv2:symbol to indicate which port it refers to.

""" . ui:portNotification a rdf:Property , owl:ObjectProperty ; rdfs:domain ui:UI ; rdfs:range ui:PortNotification ; lv2:documentation """

Indicates that a UI should receive notification (via LV2UI_Descriptor::port_event()) when a particular port's value changes.

For example:

eg:ui
    a ui:GtkUI ;
    ui:portNotification [
        ui:plugin eg:plugin ;
        lv2:symbol "gain" ;
        ui:protocol ui:floatProtocol
    ] .
""" . ui:plugin a rdf:Property , owl:ObjectProperty ; rdfs:domain ui:PortNotification ; rdfs:range lv2:Plugin ; rdfs:comment """ The plugin a portNotification applies to. """ . ui:portIndex a rdf:Property , owl:DatatypeProperty ; rdfs:domain ui:PortNotification ; rdfs:range xsd:decimal ; rdfs:comment """ The index of the port a portNotification applies to. """ . ui:notifyType a rdf:Property ; rdfs:domain ui:PortNotification ; lv2:documentation """

Indicates a particular type that the UI should be notified of. In the case of ports where several types of data can be present (e.g. event ports), this can be used to indicate that only a particular type of data should cause notification. This is useful where port traffic is very dense, but only a certain small number of events are actually of interest to the UI.

""" . ui:resize a lv2:Feature ; lv2:documentation """

A feature that allows the UI to notify the host about its current size, or request a size change. This feature corresponds to the LV2UI_Resize struct, which should be passed with the URI LV2_UI__resize. This struct may also be provided by the UI as extension data using the same URI, in which case it is used by the host to request that the UI change its size.

""" . ui:portMap a lv2:Feature ; lv2:documentation """

A feature for accessing the index of a port by symbol. This makes it possible to implement and distribute UIs separately from the plugin binaries they control. This feature corresponds to the LV2UI_Port_Index struct, which should be passed with the URI LV2_UI__portIndex.

""" . ui:touch a lv2:Feature ; lv2:documentation """

A feature to notify the host that the user has grabbed a particular port control. This is useful for automation, so the host can allow the user to take control of a port, even if that port would otherwise be automated (much like grabbing a physical morotised fader). It can also be used for MIDI learn or in any other situation where the host needs to do something with a particular control and it would be convenient for the user to select it directroy from the plugin UI. This feature corresponds to the LV2UI_Touch struct, which should be passed with the URI LV2_UI__touch.

""" . ui:PortProtocol a rdfs:Class ; rdfs:subClassOf lv2:Feature ; rdfs:label "Port protocol" ; lv2:documentation """

A PortProtocol defines a method to communicate port data between a UI and plugin.

Any PortProtocol MUST define:

Port Type Which plugin port types the buffer type is valid for.
Feature Data What data (if any) should be passed in the LV2_Feature.

Any PortProtocol for an output port MUST define:

Update Frequency When the host should call port_event().
Update Format The format of the data in the buffer passed to port_event().
Options The format of the options passed to subscribe() and unsubscribe().

Any PortProtocol for an input port MUST define:

Write Format The format of the data in the buffer passed to write_port().
Write Effect What happens when the UI calls write_port().

For an example, see ui:floatProtocol or ui:peakProtocol.

PortProtocol is a subclass of lv2:Feature, so UIs use lv2:optionalFeature and lv2:requiredFeature to specify which PortProtocols they want to use.

""" . ui:floatProtocol a ui:PortProtocol ; rdfs:label "Floating point value" ; lv2:documentation """

A protocol for transferring single floating point values. The rules for this protocol are:

Port Type lv2:ControlPort
Feature Data None.
Update Frequency The host SHOULD call port_event() as soon as possible when the port value has changed, but there are no timing guarantees.
Update Format A single float.
Options None.
Write Format A single float.
Write Effect The host SHOULD set the port to the received value as soon as possible, but there is no guarantee that run() actually sees this value.
""" . ui:peakProtocol a ui:PortProtocol ; rdfs:label "Peak measurement for a period of audio" ; lv2:documentation """

This port protocol defines a way for the host to send continuous peak measurements of the audio signal at a certain port to the UI. The intended use is visualisation, e.g. an animated meter widget that shows the level of the audio input or output.

A contiguous sequence of audio samples for which a peak value has been computed is called a measurement period.

The rules for this protocol are:

Port Type lv2:AudioPort
Feature Data None.
Update Frequency The host SHOULD call port_event() at regular intervals. The measurement periods used for calls to port_event() for the same port SHOULD be contiguous (i.e. the measurement period for one call should begin right after the end of the measurement period for the previous call ends) unless the UI has removed and re-added the port subscription between those calls. However, UIs MUST NOT depend on either the regularity of the calls or the contiguity of the measurement periods; hosts may change the call rate or skip calls for performance or other reasons. Measurement periods for different calls to port_event() for the same port MUST NOT overlap.
Update Format A single LV2UI_Peak_Data object.
Options None.
Write Format None.
Write Effect None.
""" .