Python properly and effectively obtaining DBUS object path (e.g. /org/bluez/dev_XX_XX_XX_XX_XX_XX/playerY)

Question

I would like to get the device path for bluez-based A2DP bluetooth player that I am creating. I am stuck implementing Play/Pause/Next/Previous commands efficiently, because the dbus availability and player path changes depending on the media player you choose. Furthermore, bluez sometimes decides to send a lot of useless information (for me) such as playlist details that makes the payload bigger for my application to handle. So the goal here is to obtain /org/bluez/dev_XX_XX_XX_XX_XX_XX/playerY when a function is called.

def update_player():
    manager = dbus.Interface(self.bus.get_object("org.bluez", "/"), "org.freedesktop.DBus.ObjectManager")
    objects = manager.GetManagedObjects()
    player_path = getFromDict(objects,[self.devicepath,"org.bluez.MediaControl1", "Player"])

When I try to change the media player, or bluez sends some logs (so 5% of the time in general), dbus org.freedesktop.DBus.ObjectManager receives a lot of information which makes manager.GetManagedObjects() get stuck for 10~20 seconds.

Is there a way of determining bluez object path without having to receive the entire org.freedesktop.DBus.ObjectManager objects; or Is there a way to just limit the amount of message sent by bluez. I really would like to get the object path efficiently. Any help is greately appreciated.

EDIT: Although I did not test it in the embedded system that had the problem with ObjectManager being populated, thanks to Partiban's great suggestion, I was able to use InterfacesAdded and some regex in order to match the path I needed.

self.bus.add_signal_receiver(self.objectPathHandler, 
    bus_name="org.bluez",
    dbus_interface="org.freedesktop.DBus.ObjectManager",
    signal_name="InterfacesAdded",
    path_keyword="path")

def objectPathHandler(self, interface, changed, path):
    iface = interface[interface.rfind(".") + 1:]
    #print("InterfacesAdded: {}; changed: {}; path {}".format(iface, changed, path))
    self.playerpath = re.findall('/org/bluez/hci[0-9]/dev_[\dA-F]{2}_[\dA-F]{2}_[\dA-F]{2}_[\dA-F]{2}_[\dA-F]{2}_[\dA-F]{2}/player[0-9]+', iface)[0]
    print "Object path:"
    print self.playerpath

def update_player(self):
    print "Updating player"
    if self.devicepath != "None" and self.playerpath != "None":
    if self.playerpath:
        self.connected = 1
        self.getPlayer (self.playerpath)
        player_properties = self.player.GetAll(PLAYER_IFACE, dbus_interface="org.freedesktop.DBus.Properties")

Answer 1

You should not be using org.freedesktop.DBus.ObjectManager.GetManagedObjects to get the object path every time. This GetManagedObjects is meant to get existing or previously available interface and it's details when your application starts.

For example, assuming Bluez is started and 1 end device is connected. Later your application starts, during init/start of your application you may need to get all the available/connected devices, so you can use GetManagedObjects to get it.

For the purpose of runtime creation of interfaces, object path you should rely on signals InterfacesAdded and InterfacesRemoved of the objectmanager.

I don't have examples in python, but the below example in C typically does the StartDiscovery and monitor for new devices using signals. So you adapt to similar example in python using signals. The below example is just for clarity purpose (more details on this example is here in Linumiz).

/*
 * bluez_adapter_scan.c - Scan for bluetooth devices
 *  - This example scans for new devices after powering the adapter, if any devices
 *    appeared in /org/hciX/dev_XX_YY_ZZ_AA_BB_CC, it is monitered using "InterfaceAdded"
 *    signal and all the properties of the device is printed
 *  - Scanning continues to run until any device is disappered, this happens after 180 seconds
 *    automatically if the device is not used.
 * gcc `pkg-config --cflags glib-2.0 gio-2.0` -Wall -Wextra -o ./bin/bluez_adapter_scan ./bluez_adapter_scan.c `pkg-config --libs glib-2.0 gio-2.0`
 */
#include <glib.h>
#include <gio/gio.h>

GDBusConnection *con;
static void bluez_property_value(const gchar *key, GVariant *value)
{
    const gchar *type = g_variant_get_type_string(value);

    g_print("\t%s : ", key);
    switch(*type) {
        case 'o':
        case 's':
            g_print("%s\n", g_variant_get_string(value, NULL));
            break;
        case 'b':
            g_print("%d\n", g_variant_get_boolean(value));
            break;
        case 'u':
            g_print("%d\n", g_variant_get_uint32(value));
            break;
        case 'a':
        /* TODO Handling only 'as', but not array of dicts */
            if(g_strcmp0(type, "as"))
                break;
            g_print("\n");
            const gchar *uuid;
            GVariantIter i;
            g_variant_iter_init(&i, value);
            while(g_variant_iter_next(&i, "s", &uuid))
                g_print("\t\t%s\n", uuid);
            break;
        default:
            g_print("Other\n");
            break;
    }
}

static void bluez_device_appeared(GDBusConnection *sig,
                const gchar *sender_name,
                const gchar *object_path,
                const gchar *interface,
                const gchar *signal_name,
                GVariant *parameters,
                gpointer user_data)
{
    (void)sig;
    (void)sender_name;
    (void)object_path;
    (void)interface;
    (void)signal_name;
    (void)user_data;

    GVariantIter *interfaces;
    const char *object;
    const gchar *interface_name;
    GVariant *properties;

    g_variant_get(parameters, "(&oa{sa{sv}})", &object, &interfaces);
    while(g_variant_iter_next(interfaces, "{&s@a{sv}}", &interface_name, &properties)) {
        if(g_strstr_len(g_ascii_strdown(interface_name, -1), -1, "device")) {
            g_print("[ %s ]\n", object);
            const gchar *property_name;
            GVariantIter i;
            GVariant *prop_val;
            g_variant_iter_init(&i, properties);
            while(g_variant_iter_next(&i, "{&sv}", &property_name, &prop_val))
                bluez_property_value(property_name, prop_val);
            g_variant_unref(prop_val);
        }
        g_variant_unref(properties);
    }
    return;
}

#define BT_ADDRESS_STRING_SIZE 18
static void bluez_device_disappeared(GDBusConnection *sig,
                const gchar *sender_name,
                const gchar *object_path,
                const gchar *interface,
                const gchar *signal_name,
                GVariant *parameters,
                gpointer user_data)
{
    (void)sig;
    (void)sender_name;
    (void)object_path;
    (void)interface;
    (void)signal_name;

    GVariantIter *interfaces;
    const char *object;
    const gchar *interface_name;
    char address[BT_ADDRESS_STRING_SIZE] = {'\0'};

    g_variant_get(parameters, "(&oas)", &object, &interfaces);
    while(g_variant_iter_next(interfaces, "s", &interface_name)) {
        if(g_strstr_len(g_ascii_strdown(interface_name, -1), -1, "device")) {
            int i;
            char *tmp = g_strstr_len(object, -1, "dev_") + 4;

            for(i = 0; *tmp != '\0'; i++, tmp++) {
                if(*tmp == '_') {
                    address[i] = ':';
                    continue;
                }
                address[i] = *tmp;
            }
            g_print("\nDevice %s removed\n", address);
            g_main_loop_quit((GMainLoop *)user_data);
        }
    }
    return;
}

static void bluez_signal_adapter_changed(GDBusConnection *conn,
                    const gchar *sender,
                    const gchar *path,
                    const gchar *interface,
                    const gchar *signal,
                    GVariant *params,
                    void *userdata)
{
    (void)conn;
    (void)sender;
    (void)path;
    (void)interface;
    (void)userdata;

    GVariantIter *properties = NULL;
    GVariantIter *unknown = NULL;
    const char *iface;
    const char *key;
    GVariant *value = NULL;
    const gchar *signature = g_variant_get_type_string(params);

    if(g_strcmp0(signature, "(sa{sv}as)") != 0) {
        g_print("Invalid signature for %s: %s != %s", signal, signature, "(sa{sv}as)");
        goto done;
    }

    g_variant_get(params, "(&sa{sv}as)", &iface, &properties, &unknown);
    while(g_variant_iter_next(properties, "{&sv}", &key, &value)) {
        if(!g_strcmp0(key, "Powered")) {
            if(!g_variant_is_of_type(value, G_VARIANT_TYPE_BOOLEAN)) {
                g_print("Invalid argument type for %s: %s != %s", key,
                        g_variant_get_type_string(value), "b");
                goto done;
            }
            g_print("Adapter is Powered \"%s\"\n", g_variant_get_boolean(value) ? "on" : "off");
        }
        if(!g_strcmp0(key, "Discovering")) {
            if(!g_variant_is_of_type(value, G_VARIANT_TYPE_BOOLEAN)) {
                g_print("Invalid argument type for %s: %s != %s", key,
                        g_variant_get_type_string(value), "b");
                goto done;
            }
            g_print("Adapter scan \"%s\"\n", g_variant_get_boolean(value) ? "on" : "off");
        }
    }
done:
    if(properties != NULL)
        g_variant_iter_free(properties);
    if(value != NULL)
        g_variant_unref(value);
}

static int bluez_adapter_call_method(const char *method)
{
    GVariant *result;
    GError *error = NULL;

    result = g_dbus_connection_call_sync(con,
                         "org.bluez",
                    /* TODO Find the adapter path runtime */
                         "/org/bluez/hci0",
                         "org.bluez.Adapter1",
                         method,
                         NULL,
                         NULL,
                         G_DBUS_CALL_FLAGS_NONE,
                         -1,
                         NULL,
                         &error);
    if(error != NULL)
        return 1;

    g_variant_unref(result);
    return 0;
}

static int bluez_adapter_set_property(const char *prop, GVariant *value)
{
    GVariant *result;
    GError *error = NULL;

    result = g_dbus_connection_call_sync(con,
                         "org.bluez",
                         "/org/bluez/hci0",
                         "org.freedesktop.DBus.Properties",
                         "Set",
                         g_variant_new("(ssv)", "org.bluez.Adapter1", prop, value),
                         NULL,
                         G_DBUS_CALL_FLAGS_NONE,
                         -1,
                         NULL,
                         &error);
    if(error != NULL)
        return 1;

    g_variant_unref(result);
    return 0;
}

int main(void)
{
    GMainLoop *loop;
    int rc;
    guint prop_changed;
    guint iface_added;
    guint iface_removed;

    con = g_bus_get_sync(G_BUS_TYPE_SYSTEM, NULL, NULL);
    if(con == NULL) {
        g_print("Not able to get connection to system bus\n");
        return 1;
    }

    loop = g_main_loop_new(NULL, FALSE);

    prop_changed = g_dbus_connection_signal_subscribe(con,
                        "org.bluez",
                        "org.freedesktop.DBus.Properties",
                        "PropertiesChanged",
                        NULL,
                        "org.bluez.Adapter1",
                        G_DBUS_SIGNAL_FLAGS_NONE,
                        bluez_signal_adapter_changed,
                        NULL,
                        NULL);

    iface_added = g_dbus_connection_signal_subscribe(con,
                            "org.bluez",
                            "org.freedesktop.DBus.ObjectManager",
                            "InterfacesAdded",
                            NULL,
                            NULL,
                            G_DBUS_SIGNAL_FLAGS_NONE,
                            bluez_device_appeared,
                            loop,
                            NULL);

    iface_removed = g_dbus_connection_signal_subscribe(con,
                            "org.bluez",
                            "org.freedesktop.DBus.ObjectManager",
                            "InterfacesRemoved",
                            NULL,
                            NULL,
                            G_DBUS_SIGNAL_FLAGS_NONE,
                            bluez_device_disappeared,
                            loop,
                            NULL);

    rc = bluez_adapter_set_property("Powered", g_variant_new("b", TRUE));
    if(rc) {
        g_print("Not able to enable the adapter\n");
        goto fail;
    }

    rc = bluez_adapter_call_method("StartDiscovery");
    if(rc) {
        g_print("Not able to scan for new devices\n");
        goto fail;
    }

    g_main_loop_run(loop);
    rc = bluez_adapter_call_method("StopDiscovery");
    if(rc)
        g_print("Not able to stop scanning\n");
    g_usleep(100);

    rc = bluez_adapter_set_property("Powered", g_variant_new("b", FALSE));
    if(rc)
        g_print("Not able to disable the adapter\n");
fail:
    g_dbus_connection_signal_unsubscribe(con, prop_changed);
    g_dbus_connection_signal_unsubscribe(con, iface_added);
    g_dbus_connection_signal_unsubscribe(con, iface_removed);
    g_object_unref(con);
    return 0;
}

In this example of scanning of devices using StartDiscovery I have used both the signals InterfaceRemoved and InterfaceAdded to demonstrate. So when new devices appeared on /org/hciX/, bluez_device_appeared is called and removal happens in the same way.

If you have more then one bluetooth adapter connected, you can filter them under g_dbus_connection_signal_subscribe by specifying the adapters path e.g as /org/bluez/hciX.

All the DBUS based daemons use signals to notify the clients on the bus, so we see lots messaged on the bus. So we need to subscribe based on the exact need. This filter is applied at dbus daemon level and messages are forwarded.

To add MediaControl1 interface of bluez is outdated and deprecated. All new applications should use MediaPlayer as defined here.