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indigo_7.3_documentation:plugin_scripting_tutorial [2019/09/27 16:27] – [Shared Classes and Methods in Python Files (Python Modules)] jayindigo_7.3_documentation:plugin_scripting_tutorial [2025/04/14 20:10] (current) – external edit 127.0.0.1
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 +====== Indigo Scripting Tutorial ======
 +===== Talking to the Indigo Server =====
 +
 +The [[plugin_guide#Indigo Plugin Host|Indigo Plugin Host (IPH)]] provides a python scripting and plugin environment, which makes controlling the Indigo Server easy via the high-level python language (the official python web site has [[http://docs.python.org/tutorial/|great python tutorials]]). Every plugin automatically runs inside its own Indigo Plugin Host process, but you can also start the IPH in an interactive mode to directly communicate with the Indigo Server. It is a great way to experiment with Indigo's python environment, which is available to both python scripts run by Indigo and the plugin architecture.
 +
 +To launch the Terminal utility application (inside //''/Applications/Utilities/''//) in an Indigo shell mode choose the ''**Plugins->Open Scripting Shell**'' menu item.
 +
 +===== Example Code Snippets =====
 +
 +Below are some example you can copy/paste directly into the IPH window opened when following the directions above. Keep in mind these are only examples, so be sure and read over the full [[object_model_reference|Indigo Object Model (IOM) Reference]].
 +
 +<color red>Note:</color> For simplicity some of the samples below specify objects based on name (//''"office desk lamp"''//). However, the preferred lookup mechanism is to use the **object's ID** which can be retrieved by **control-clicking on the object name** in Indigo's Main Window. By using the ID you ensure the object will be found even if its name is changed.
 +
 +==== Device Examples ====
 +
 +===Turn on the device "office desk lamp":===
 +<code>
 +indigo.device.turnOn(1234567890) # Preferred, where the number is the ID of "office desk lamp"
 +# OR the less preferred way because it will break if you rename the device
 +indigo.device.turnOn("office desk lamp")
 +</code>
 +===Duplicate the device "office desk lamp":===
 +<code>
 +indigo.device.duplicate(1234567890, duplicateName="office desk lamp2") # where the number is the ID of "office desk lamp"
 +</code>
 +===In 4 seconds turn on the device "office desk lamp" for 2 seconds:===
 +<code>
 +indigo.device.turnOn(1234567890, duration=2, delay=4) # where the number is the ID of "office desk lamp"
 +</code>
 +===Turn off all devices:===
 +<code>
 +indigo.device.allOff()
 +</code>
 +
 +===Count the number of device modules:===
 +<code>
 +indigo.devices.len()
 +</code>
 +
 +===Count the number of dimmable device modules:===
 +<code>
 +indigo.devices.len(filter="indigo.dimmer")
 +</code>
 +
 +===Count the number of devices defined by all of our plugin types:===
 +<code>
 +indigo.devices.len(filter="self")
 +</code>
 +
 +===Count the number of irBlaster type devices defined by our plugin:===
 +<code>
 +indigo.devices.len(filter="self.irBlaster")
 +</code>
 +
 +===Get the on state of a device if it has the onState property (uses Python's hasattr() introspection method):===
 +<code>
 +lamp = indigo.devices[1234567890] # where the number is the ID of "office desk lamp"
 +if hasattr(lamp, 'onState'):
 + isOn = lamp.onState
 +</code>
 +===Get the class of a device (uses Python's %%__class__%% property):===
 +<code>
 +lamp = indigo.devices[1234567890] # where the number is the ID of "office desk lamp"
 +if lamp.__class__ == indigo.DimmerDevice:
 + theBrightness = lamp.brightness
 +</code>
 +===Turn on a light only if it's been off for longer than 1 minute:===
 +<code>
 +from datetime import datetime
 +lamp = indigo.devices[91776575] # ID of "Hallway light"
 +timeDelta = datetime.now() - lamp.lastChanged
 +if not lamp.onState and timeDelta.seconds > 60:
 +        indigo.device.turnOn(91776575) # ID of "Hallway light"
 +</code>
 +=== Access a custom device state ===
 +<code>
 +# get the device
 +dev = indigo.devices[23989834]  # Some custom device
 +# access the state through the states property, use the key
 +# that's displayed in the Custom States tile on the main window
 +# when you have a custom device selected
 +print dev.states["someDeviceStateKey"]
 +
 +# show all the device states (use unicode() to print special chars correctly):
 +print unicode(dev.states)
 +</code>
 +==== Variable Examples ====
 +
 +=== Create a new Indigo variable named fooMonster, change its value multiple times, and delete it: ===
 +<code>
 +newVar = indigo.variable.create("fooMonster", "default value")
 +indigo.variable.updateValue(newVar, "asleep")
 +indigo.variable.updateValue(newVar, "awake")
 +indigo.variable.delete(newVar)
 +</code>
 +
 +=== Getting a variable object and using its value: ===
 +<code>myVar = indigo.variables[123]
 +if myVar.value == "true":
 +    indigo.server.log("The variable had a value of 'true'")
 +</code>
 +
 +
 +=== Duplicating a variable: ===
 +<code>
 +indigo.variable.duplicate("fooMonster", duplicateName="fooMonsterSister")
 +</code>
 +
 +=== Using a variable value in an HTTP GET ===
 +
 +<code>
 +myVar = indigo.variables[1893500335] # always use variable ID rather than name
 +import urllib, urllib2
 +urllib2.urlopen("http://example.com/foo/bar?param=%s" % urllib.urlencode(myVar.value))
 +</code>
 +=== Setting a variable to Python types ===
 +
 +Since Indigo variable values are always unicode strings, you have to convert anything that's not a string. It's safest to use the unicode() method:
 +
 +<code>
 +myAsciiString = "ASCII String"
 +indigo.variable.updateValue(1234567, value=myAsciiString)
 +
 +myUnicodeString = u"éçø"
 +indigo.variable.updateValue(1234567, value=myUnicodeString)
 +
 +myInteger = 1
 +indigo.variable.updateValue(1234567, value=unicode(myInteger))
 +
 +myFloat = 1.0
 +indigo.variable.updateValue(1234567, value=unicode(myFloat))
 +
 +myList = ["one", 2, "three", 4]
 +indigo.variable.updateValue(1234567, value=unicode(myList))
 +
 +myDictionary = {"first":1, "second":"two", "third":3, "fourth":"four"}
 +indigo.variable.updateValue(1234567, value=unicode(myDictionary))
 +</code>
 +
 +Any Python object that can be converted to a unicode string can then be inserted into an Indigo variable. <color red>Note</color>: conversions of this type are often one way: you can't necessarily automatically recreate the Python object from the string created by the unicode() method. For primitive types like numbers it may work, but for complex Python types like lists and dictionaries it will not. If you want to use Indigo to store a string representation of some complex Python data types, you can use JSON to encode them into strings then later decode them back into their respective Python objects:
 +
 +<code>
 +import simplejson as json
 +myList = ["one", 2, "three", 4]
 +myDictionary = {"first":1, "second":"two", "third":3, "fourth":"four", "myList":myList}
 +indigo.variable.updateValue(1234567, value=json.dumps(myDictionary))
 +# string will be something like: '{"second": "two", "myList": ["one", 2, "three", 4], "fourth": "four", "third": 3, "first": 1}'
 +myNewDictionary = json.loads(indigo.variables[1234567].value)
 +#myNewDictionary is now the same as myDictionary
 +myNewDictionary["myList"]
 +# results in: ['one', 2, 'three', 4]
 +</code>
 +
 +Custom Python classes that you create can implement the %%__unicode__(self)%% method. Take this simple example:
 +
 +<code>
 +class myCustomClass:
 +  def __init__(self):
 +   self.a=1
 +   self.b=2
 +  def __unicode__(self):
 +    outputString = u"a:%i, b:%i" % (self.a, self.b)
 +    return outputString
 +</code>
 +
 +If you have an instance of that class, then you can create a string representation of the class to insert into an Indigo variable:
 +
 +<code>
 +cl = myCustomClass()
 +indigo.variable.updateValue(1234567, value=unicode(cl))
 +# the value of the variable in Indigo will look like this: 'a:1, b:2' not including the quotes
 +</code>
 +
 +For further information on Python classes, [[http://www.diveintopython.net/object_oriented_framework/index.html| check out this great tutorial]].
 +==== Date and Time Examples ====
 +
 +=== Get the current server time: ===
 +<code>
 +indigo.server.getTime()
 +</code>
 +
 +===Calculate the sunset time in 1 week:===
 +<code>
 +import datetime
 +one_week = indigo.server.getTime().date() + datetime.timedelta(days=7)
 +indigo.server.calculateSunset(one_week)
 +</code>
 +
 +==== Action Group Examples ====
 +
 +===Execute Action Group 12345678:===
 +<code>
 +indigo.actionGroup.execute(12345678)
 +</code>
 +
 +
 +==== Log Examples ====
 +
 +===Log to the Indigo Event Log window all the attributes/properties of the device "office desk lamp":===
 +<code>
 +lamp = indigo.devices["office desk lamp"]
 +indigo.server.log("{}: \n{}".format(lamp.name, str(lamp)))
 +</code>
 +
 +===Print the last 5 Event Log entries:===
 +<code>
 +logList = indigo.server.getEventLogList(lineCount=5)
 +print(logList)
 +</code>
 +
 +==== Folder Examples ====
 +
 +===Iterate over a list of all device folders===
 +<code>
 +for folder in indigo.devices.folders:
 + print "Folder id: %s name: %s, remoteDisplay: %s" % (folder.id,folder.name,folder.remoteDisplay)
 +</code>
 +
 +===Create a trigger folder named "My Triggers" and if it exists just return the existing one===
 +<code>
 +try:
 + myFolder = indigo.triggers.folder.create("My Triggers")
 +except ValueError, e:
 + if e.message == "NameNotUniqueError":
 + # a folder with that name already exists so just get it
 + myFolder = indigo.triggers.folders["My Triggers"]
 + else:
 + # you'll probably want to do something else to make myFolder a valid folder
 + myFolder = None
 +</code>
 +
 +===Make a folder visible in remote clients (IWS, Indigo Touch, etc.)===
 +<code>
 +indigo.devices.folder.displayInRemoteUI(123, value=True)
 +</code>
 +
 +===Getting the folder a device is in===
 +<code>
 +lamp = indigo.devices["office desk lamp"]
 +# An object that's not in a folder will have a folder id of 0, which isn't a valid folder
 +# so we need to make sure it's a valid folder ID first
 +if lamp.folderId != 0:
 + lampsFolder = indigo.devices.folders[lamp.folderId]
 +else:
 + lampsFolder = None
 +</code>
 +
 +==== Miscellaneous Examples ====
 +
 +===Get a list of all serial ports, excluding any Bluetooth ports:===
 +<code>
 +indigo.server.getSerialPorts(filter="indigo.ignoreBluetooth")
 +</code>
 +
 +=== Sending emails ===
 +<code># Simple Example
 +indigo.server.sendEmailTo("[email protected]", subject="Subject Line Here", body="Some longish text for the body of the email")
 +
 +# Putting a variable's data into the subject and body
 +theVar = indigo.variables[928734897]
 +theSubject = "The value of %s" % (theVar.name)
 +theBody = "The value of %s is now %s" % (theVar.name, theVar.value)
 +indigo.server.sendEmailTo("[email protected]", subject=theSubject, body=theBody)
 +
 +# Putting device data into the subject and body
 +theDevice = indigo.devices[980532604]
 +theSubject = "Summary of %s" % (theDevice.name)
 +theBody = "%s is %s\n%s is %s" % ("onState", str(theDevice.onState), "lastChanged", str(theDevice.lastChanged))
 +indigo.server.sendEmailTo("[email protected]", subject=theSubject, body=theBody)
 +</code>
 +
 +===== Starting the host from an existing terminal window =====
 +
 +If you already have a Terminal shell running, you can launch it directly. To start the IPH in interactive mode just execute the following inside the Terminal:
 +
 +<code>/usr/local/indigo/indigo-host</code>
 +
 +{{pluginhost_prompt.png?nolink|Plugin Host Prompt Image}}
 +
 +As shown, the IPH will automatically connect to the IndigoServer running on the same Mac and will show the server's version information. Additionally, you'll notice that Indigo Server logs the connection of the interactive shell plugin. Add /usr/local/indigo/ to the PATH in your shell (in ~/.bashrc) and you won't have to specify the full path.
 +
 +Next, let's tell the Indigo Server to log a message to the Event Log window (again, via the Terminal application):
 +<code>indigo.server.log("Hello world!")</code>
 +
 +{{pluginhost_helloworld.png?nolink|Plugin Host Hello World Image}}
 +===== Connecting Remotely over SSH =====
 +
 +If you have SSH configured so you can remotely connect to your Mac running the Indigo Server, then you can use SSH to start the IPH interactively anywhere using the syntax:
 +
 +<code>ssh username@indigo_mac_ipaddr -t /usr/local/indigo-host</code>
 +
 +===== What Else Can it Do? =====
 +
 +The IPH gives you full access to the [[object_model_reference|Indigo Object Model (IOM)]] providing access to create/edit/delete/control Indigo objects, as well as several Indigo [[server_commands|utility functions]], [[insteon_specific_commands|INSTEON device commands]], and [[x10_specific_commands|X10 device commands]]. Access to all of this functionality is provided by the indigo module automatically loaded and included in any python scripts run by the IPH (including interactive IPH sessions like we are using here).
 +
 +===== Executing Indigo Commands Directly =====
 +
 +In addition to communicating interactively with Indigo via the shell, you can also send direct python commands to Indigo via the IPH. For example, to get the current brightness of the device "office lamplinc":
 +
 +<code>indigo-host -e 'return indigo.devices["office lamplinc"].brightness'</code>
 +
 +Or to toggle the device "office lamplinc" three times:
 +
 +<code>indigo-host -e '
 +indigo.device.toggle("office lamplinc")
 +indigo.device.toggle("office lamplinc")
 +indigo.device.toggle("office lamplinc")
 +'</code>
 +
 +Note when your commands are executed the indigo module is already loaded and connected and you can execute standard python code (loops, conditionals, etc.).
 +
 +//Caveat:// Each call creates a new IPH (indigo-host) process which must establish a connection to the Indigo Server. Although this is relatively fast, calling it multiple times a second is not recommended.
 +
 +===== Executing Indigo Python Files =====
 +
 +The IPH can also be used to execute Indigo python (.py) files, like this:
 +
 +<code>indigo-host -x '/SomeFolder/indigo_script.py'</code>
 +
 +//Caveat:// Each call creates a new IPH (indigo-host) process which must establish a connection to the Indigo Server. Although this is relatively fast, calling it multiple times a second is not recommended.
 +
 +===== Executing AppleScript =====
 +
 +Often times, you may find yourself wanting to execute an AppleScript from Python. You want to send some parameters to the AppleScript and you want to get results back in some format. There's a pretty straight-forward way to do this that [[http://www.indigodomo.com/blog/2017/09/09/future-applescript-and-indigo/|we've described in this blog post]].
 +
 +This is a great pattern for calling AppleScripts from Python, and may help alleviate some of the pain of the Mac OS X “application isn't running” bug (error -600).
 +===== Shared Classes and Methods in Python Files (Python Modules) =====
 +
 +You may install Python modules/libraries in a special location to make them available to Indigo scripts and plugins, but not to generic Python. This is particularly useful if the module/library includes references to the IOM (since it will only be loaded by processes that know about the indigo module). This location is:
 +
 +///Library/Application Support/Perceptive Automation/Indigo 7.3/Scripts/Attachments//
 +
 +Of course, you can do the same thing with Python using a built-in mechanism that Python provides if you want the module/library to be available to any Python shell. There is a folder in the Library folder at the top level of your boot disk that is very similar to the Attachments folder:
 +
 +///Library/Python/2.7/site-packages//
 +
 +Any Python files in this directory that define methods and/or classes will be available to any Python script whenever the interpreter is loaded (note that it's the Library directory at the top level of your boot disk, not the one in your user folder). These are referred to as Python modules.
 +
 +So, you can create files of classes, functions, etc. you want to share between all Python scripts using these mechanisms. If you add/change something in that directory while the Indigo Server is running, you'll need to tell the server to reload - select the ''**Plugins->Reload Libraries and Attachments**'' menu item and Indigo will restart the Python interpreter (which will cause your module to be reloaded).
 +
 +Files added to the generic module location can also import the entire IOM - IF the script that's actually running is started by Indigo. Here's a simple script that you can use that will safely import the IOM and will show a specific error when used from a Python script that's not started by Indigo:
 +
 +<code>"""
 +indigo_attachments.py
 +
 +In this file you can insert any methods and classes that you define.
 +They will be shared by all Python scripts - you can even import the
 +IOM (as shown below) but if you do then you'll only be able to import
 +this script in Python processes started by Indigo. If you don't need
 +the IOM then skip the import and it'll work in any Python script
 +no matter where it's run from.
 +"""
 +
 +try:
 +    import indigo
 +except ImportError:
 +    print "The indigo module can only be used by scripts started from within Indigo"
 +    raise ImportError
 +from datetime import datetime
 +
 +def log(message, label=None):
 +    # Create a log line with the date/timestamp prepended in MM/DD/YYYY HH:MM:SS format
 +    log_line ="%s %s" % (datetime.today().strftime("%x %X"), message)
 +    # Write the log line with the label. If you didn't pass in a label
 +    # then the default label will be used.
 +    indigo.server.log(log_line, type=label)
 +</code>
 +
 +Then, when you want to use any of the classes/methods in the file, just import the file and go:
 +
 +<code>import indigo_attachments
 +indigo_attachments.log("Here's a special sort of log message", label="My Custom Label")</code>
 +
 +What you'll see in the Event Log:
 +
 +<code>  My Custom Label                 01/15/16 10:20:39 Here's a special sort of log message</code>
 +
 +If you try to run this script in a normal python session, you'll see the print statement followed by the ImportError:
 +
 +<code>MyMac:testdir jay$ python2.7 testHandlerCall.py
 +The indigo module can only be used by scripts started from within Indigo
 +Traceback (most recent call last):
 +  File "testHandlerCall.py", line 3, in <module>
 +    import indigo_attachments
 +  File "/Users/USERNAME/Library/Python/2.7/site-packages/indigo_attachments.py", line 14, in <module>
 +    raise ImportError
 +ImportError</code>
 +===== Scripting Indigo Plugins =====
 +
 +Indigo plugins are also scriptable. Because plugin-defined devices look almost identical to built-in devices, you can get (but not set) state information from them (see [[#device examples]] above for a lot of examples). You can also get some of the other properties for a plugin. Most importantly you can execute plugin-defined actions, which is how you'd set their state values.
 +
 +The first step is to get an instance of the plugin:
 +
 +<code>iTunesId = "com.perceptiveautomation.indigoplugin.itunes" # supplied by the plugin's documentation
 +iTunesPlugin = indigo.server.getPlugin(iTunesId)</code>
 +
 +This will **always** return to you a plugin object, defined with the following properties:
 +
 +|  pluginDisplayName  | The name displayed to users in the clients  |
 +|  pluginId  | The ID of the plugin (same as was passed to the getPlugin() method above)  |
 +|  pluginSupportURL  | The URL supplied by the plugin that points to its user documentation  |
 +|  pluginVersion  | The version number specified by the plugin  |
 +
 +There are also a couple of methods defined by this object.
 +
 +|<code>isEnabled()</code>| This method will return //''True''// if the plugin is enabled (running), //''False''// otherwise  |
 +|<code>executeAction(actionId, deviceId, props)</code>| This is the method that actually executes the action. //''actionId''// is the unique action id. //''deviceId''// is the id of the device that the action on which the action will perform (if it requires a device). //''props''// is a dictionary of properties that the action needs to process correctly. See the plugin's documentation for a description of what you need to pass in to execute actions.  |
 +|<code>restart(waitUntilDone=True)</code>| This method will restart the plugin if it's already running. Pass the optional parameter ''//waitUntilDone=False//'' if you don't want to block while the plugin restarts (waitUntilDone defaults to ''//True//'' if it's no parameters are passed). If you're a plugin developer and you want to restart the plugin from within itself you should pass that parameter.  |
 +
 +Plugin developers should [[indigo_7.3_documentation:plugin_guide#actionsxml|test and document their plugin actions]] to make sure that the necessary information is available to scripters.
 +
 +==== Examples ====
 +
 +=== iTunes Toggle Play State ===
 +
 +<code>itunesId = "com.perceptiveautomation.indigoplugin.itunes"
 +itunesPlugin = indigo.server.getPlugin(itunesId)
 +if itunesPlugin.isEnabled():
 + itunesPlugin.executeAction("playPause", deviceId=135305663)</code>
 +
 +=== iTunes Set Volume to 50 ===
 +
 +<code>itunesId = "com.perceptiveautomation.indigoplugin.itunes"
 +itunesPlugin = indigo.server.getPlugin(itunesId)
 +if itunesPlugin.isEnabled():
 + itunesPlugin.executeAction("setVolume", deviceId=135305663, props={'volume':50})</code>
 +
 +=== Pause iTunes and Speak NOAA Weather ===
 +
 +<code>itunesId = "com.perceptiveautomation.indigoplugin.itunes"
 +itunesPlugin = indigo.server.getPlugin(itunesId)
 +if itunesPlugin.isEnabled():
 + myWeatherStation = indigo.devices[1798384204]
 + outsideTemp = myWeatherStation.states['temperatureF']
 + currentCondition = myWeatherStation.states['currentCondition']
 + spokenString = "The current temperature is %s degrees. Current condition is %s." % (outsideTemp, currentCondition)
 + itunesPlugin.executeAction("pauseAndSay", deviceId=135305663, props={'message':spokenString})</code>
 +
 +=== Restart a Plugin ===
 +
 +There may be instances where you want to restart a plugin. This is how you do that:
 +
 +<code>itunesId = "com.perceptiveautomation.indigoplugin.itunes"
 +itunesPlugin = indigo.server.getPlugin(itunesId)
 +if itunesPlugin.isEnabled():
 + itunesPlugin.restart()</code>
 +
 +
 +===== =====
 +
 +Check the various plugin documentation for the necessary information and more examples.