Media Controller

PUBLISHED 28 Jul 2019

You can establish communication between a media control server and a media control client. You can send commands from the client to the server, and the client can request updated metadata and playback information from the server.

The main media controller features include:

Updating and retrieving playlist

You can create a playlist on the server side, and then retrieve that information on the client side.
Updating and retrieving information
You can update the playback information on the server side, and then retrieve that information on the client side.

The media control server provides current information about the registered application that you can send to the client.

When the client requests the information, the media control server updates the state information of an active application before transferring the data. If the application is not running when the client request arrives, the media control server transfers the latest information.
Sending and processing commands
You can send a command on the client side, and then process the command on the server side.
Setting and getting playback capability
You can set the playback capability on the server side, and then get that capability on the client side.
Media control metadata properties
You can set the metadata on the server side, and then get that metadata on the client side.

Prerequisites

To enable your application to use the media controller functionality:

The application has to request permission by adding the following privilege to the tizen-manifest.xml file:
- To use the Tizen.Multimedia.Remoting.MediaController [1] class:
```
<privileges>
   <privilege>http://tizen.org/privilege/mediacontroller.client</privilege>
</privileges>
```
- To use the Tizen.Multimedia.Remoting.MediaControlServer [2] class:
```
<privileges>
   <privilege>http://tizen.org/privilege/mediacontroller.server</privilege>
</privileges>
```
To use the methods and properties of the Tizen.Multimedia.Remoting.MediaController [1], Tizen.Multimedia.Remoting.MediaControllerManager [3], and Tizen.Multimedia.Remoting.MediaControlServer [2] classes, include the Tizen.Multimedia.Remoting [4] namespace in your application:
```
using Tizen.Multimedia.Remoting;
```
Start the media control server using the Start() methods of the Tizen.Multimedia.Remoting.MediaControlServer [2] class:
```
MediaControlServer.Start();
```
Create a new instance of the Tizen.Multimedia.Remoting.MediaControllerManager [3] class and retrieve the currently-active controllers and select one:
```
var mediaControllerManager = new MediaControllerManager();
var mediaController = mediaControllerManager.GetActiveControllers().First();
```
When server is no longer needed, stop the media control server using the Stop() method of the Tizen.Multimedia.Remoting.MediaControlServer [2] class:
```
MediaControlServer.Stop();
```

Creating and Retrieving Playlist

To create a playlist from the server side and retrieve it on the client side, follow these steps:

To create a playlist from the server side, create a new instance of the Tizen.Multimedia.Remoting.MediaControlPlaylist [5] class:

var playlist = new MediaControlPlaylist("MyFavorite");

You can also create playlist with Metadata using the following code:

var playlist = new MediaControlPlaylist("MyFavoriate",
    new Dictionary<string, MediaControlMetadata>()
    {
        {"Song1", new MediaControlMetadata() {Author = "Someone"} },
        {"Song2", new MediaControlMetadata()}
    }
);

To retrieve the playlist and metadata information on the client side, use the following code:

mediaController.PlaylistUpdated += (s, e) =>
{
    Log.Info("MC", $"Updated mode : {e.Mode}, Name : {e.Name}, Title : {e.Playlist.GetMetadata("IDX1").Title}");
};

Updating and Retrieving Information

To update the playback information on the server side and to retrieve it on the client side, follow these steps:

To update the playback information on the server side, use SetPlaybackState(), SetInfoOfCurrentPlayingMedia() methods of the Tizen.Multimedia.Remoting.MediaControlServer [2] class:
```
MediaControlServer.SetPlaybackState(MediaControlPlaybackState.Playing, currentPosition);
MediaControlServer.SetInfoOfCurrentPlayingMedia("MyFavorite", "IDX1");
```
To retrieve the playback information on the client side, use GetPlaybackState(), or GetPlaybackPosition() methods of the Tizen.Multimedia.Remoting.MediaController [1] class:
```
Log.info("MC", $"Playback state is {mediaController.GetPlaybackState()}, index is {mediacontroller.GetIndexOfCurrentPlayingMedia()}");
```

Sending and Processing Commands

To send a command from the client and to process it on the server side, follow these steps:

To send a command on the client side, use the RequestAsync() method of the Tizen.Multimedia.Remoting.MediaController [1] class:
```
mediaController.RequestAsync(new PlaybackCommand(MediaControlPlaybackCommand.Play));
```

To process the received command on the server side, add an event handler to the PlaybackActionCommandReceived event of the Tizen.Multimedia.Remoting.MediaControlServer [2] class:

MediaControlServer.PlaybackActionCommandReceived += (s, e) =>
{
    Log.Info("MC", $"e.Command.Action : {e.Command.Action}");

    MediaControlServer.Response(e.Command, (int)ErrorCode.None);
}

To send a search command from the client and to process it on the server side, follow these steps:

To send a search command on the client side, use the RequestAsync() method of the Tizen.Multimedia.Remoting.MediaController [1] class:

var searchCondition = new MediaControlSearchCondition(MediaControlContentType.Image,
    MediaControlSearchCategory.Artist, "GD", null);

mediaController.RequestAsync(new SearchCommand(searchCondition));

To process the received search command on the server side, add an event handler to the SearchCommandReceived event of the Tizen.Multimedia.Remoting.MediaControlServer [2] class:

MediaControlServer.SearchCommandReceived += (s, e) =>
{
    foreach (var condition in e.Command.Conditions)
    {
        Log.Info("MC", $"{condition.Category}, {condition.ContentType}, {condition.Keyword}");
    }

    MediaControlServer.Response(e.Command, (int)ErrorCode.None);
};

To send a custom command from the server and to process it on the client side, follow these steps:

To send a search command on the server side, use the RequestAsync() method of the Tizen.Multimedia.Remoting.MediaControlServer [2] class:
```
MediaControlServer.RequestAsync(new CustomCommand("CustomAction"));
```
To process the received custom command on the client side, add an event handler to the CustomCommandReceived event of the Tizen.Multimedia.Remoting.MediaController [1] class:
```
mediaController.CustomCommandReceived += (s, e) =>
{
    Log.Info("MC", $"{ e.Command.Action}");

    mediaController.Response(e.Command, (int)ErrorCode.None);
};
```

Setting and Getting Playback Capability

To get playback capability from the client and to set it on the server side, follow these steps:

To set playback capability on the server side, use the SetPlaybackCapability() method of the Tizen.Multimedia.Remoting.MediaControlServer [2] class:
```
MediaControlServer.SetPlaybackCapability(MediaControlPlaybackCommand.FastForward, MediaControlCapabilitySupport.NotSupported);
```
To get playback capability on the client side, use the GetPlaybackCapability() method of the Tizen.Multimedia.Remoting.MediaController [1] class:
```
var playCommandCapability = mediaController.GetPlaybackCapability(MediaControlPlaybackCommand.Play);
```

Setting and Getting Media Control Metadata

To get metadata from the client and to set it on the server side, follow these steps:

To set metadata on the server side, use the SetMetadata() method of the Tizen.Multimedia.Remoting.MediaControlServer [2] class:
```
MediaControlServer.SetMetadata(new MediaControlMetadata
{
    Title = "Song1",
    Artist = "Someone"
});
```
To get metadata on the client side, use the GetMetadata() method of the Tizen.Multimedia.Remoting.MediaController [1] class:
```
var metadata = mediaController.GetMetadata();
```

The following table lists all the media control metadata properties the client can request from the server:

Table: Media control metadata properties

Property	Description
`Title`	Title of the latest content in the media control server
`Artist`	Artist of the latest content in the media control server
`Album`	Album name of the latest content in the media control server
`Author`	Author of the latest content in the media control server
`Genre`	Genre of the latest content in the media control server
`Duration`	Duration of the latest content in the media control server
`Date`	Date of the latest content in the media control server
`Copyright`	Copyright of the latest content in the media control server
`Description`	Description of the latest content in the media control server
`TrackNumber`	Track number of the latest content in the media control server
`AlbumArtPath`	Album art of the latest content in the media control server
`Season`	Season information of the latest content in the media control server
`Episode`	Episode information of the latest content in the media control server
`Resolution`	Resolution of the latest content in the media control server