::iocp::btTop, Main, Index
The iocp_bt package implements Bluetooth support and is loaded as
package require iocp_bt
The commands are broken into the following namespaces:
| ::iocp::bt | Core commands for Bluetooth communication. |
| ::iocp::bt::sdr | Commands for handling Bluetooth service discovery records. |
| ::iocp::bt::names | Commands for mapping Bluetooth UUIDs and names. |
Note the current limitations:
- Only client-side communication is implemented in this release. Server-side functionality will be added in some future release based on demand.
- Only RFCOMM channels are supported. There is no support for L2CAP or other protocols as these are not exposed at the Win32 API level.
- Bluetooth LE is not currently supported.
This documentation is a reference for the package. For an introductory guide, see the tutorials.
Device discoverybt, Top, Main, Index
Remote Bluetooth devices are discovered through devices command. It is generally recommended that a new device inquiry be initiated with the -inquire option when using this command as otherwise newly reachable devices will not be discovered. The device printn command will print the information related to each device in human-readable form.
Bluetooth radios on the local system can be enumerated with the radios command. There is however rarely a need to do this as it is not required for a establishing a Bluetooth connection.
Service discoverybt, Top, Main, Index
A device will generally host multiple services. The device services commands will retrieve information about the services advertised by the device. This information is in the form of service discovery records. Commands for parsing these records are contained in the sdr namespace.
Services and service classes are identified with UUID's. Most commands will however accept mnemonics for services defined in the standard as they are easier to remember than the UUID's. The names::print command will print the list of mnemonics and the corresponding UUID's.
Connection establishmentbt, Top, Main, Index
Establishing a Bluetooth connection involves the following steps.
First, the device name has to be mapped to its physical address. Unlike the TCP sockets in Tcl, Bluetooth sockets require physical addresses to be specified as device names are ambiguous. The device addresses command can be used to obtain the physical addresses corresponding to a name. Note that there can be multiple devices with the same name so the command returns a list of addresses, one per device. When the list contains more than one address, generally the user needs to be prompted to pick one though below we just assume there is a single address in the list.
set addrs [iocp::bt::device addresses "APN Phone"] set addr [lindex $addrs 0]
Next, the port the service is listening on needs to be resolved with the device port command. In the example below, OBEXObjectPush is the service of interest.
set port [iocp::bt::service port $addr OBEXObjectPush]
Finally, a connection is established to the service using the socket command.
set so [iocp::bt::socket $addr $port]
Other commands in the namespace provide supporting functions such as device and service discovery.
Commandsbt, Top, Main, Index
device [::iocp::bt]bt, Top, Main, Index
A command ensemble.
Description
The ensemble supports the following subcommands:
| address | Returns a Bluetooth address for a given name. |
| addresses | Returns a list of Bluetooth addresses for a given name. |
| port | Resolve the port for a Bluetooth service running over RFCOMM. |
| Prints device information in human-readable form to stdout. | |
| printn | Prints device information in human-readable form to stdout. |
| remove | Removes cached authentication information for a device from the system cache. |
| service_references | Retrieve service discovery records that refer to a specified service. |
| services | Retrieve the service discovery records for top level services advertised by a device. |
Refer to the documentation of each subcommand for details.
device address [::iocp::bt]bt, Top, Main, Index
Returns a Bluetooth address for a given name.
Parameters
name | Name of device of interest. |
args | Options to control device enquiry. See devices. |
Description
If a device has multiple addresses, the command may return any one them. If no addresses are found for the device, an error is raised.
Return value
Returns a Bluetooth address for a given name.
device addresses [::iocp::bt]bt, Top, Main, Index
Returns a list of Bluetooth addresses for a given name.
Parameters
name | Name of device of interest. |
args | Options to control device enquiry. See devices. |
Return value
Returns a list of Bluetooth addresses for a given name.
device port [::iocp::bt]bt, Top, Main, Index
Resolve the port for a Bluetooth service running over RFCOMM.
Parameters
device | Bluetooth address or name of a device. If specified as a name, it must resolve to a single address. |
service_class | UUID or name of service class of interest. Note the service name cannot be used for lookup. |
Description
In case multiple services of the same service class are available on the device, the port for the first one discovered is returned.
Return value
Returns the port number for the service or raises an error if it cannot be resolved.
device print [::iocp::bt]bt, Top, Main, Index
Prints device information in human-readable form to stdout.
Parameters
devinfo | A device information record as returned by the devices command. |
device printn [::iocp::bt]bt, Top, Main, Index
Prints device information in human-readable form to stdout.
Parameters
dinfolist | A list of device information records as returned by the devices command. |
detailed | If a true value, detailed information about the device is printed. If false (default), only the address and name are printed in compact form. Optional, default false. |
device remove [::iocp::bt]bt, Top, Main, Index
Removes cached authentication information for a device from the system cache.
Parameters
device | Bluetooth address or name of a device. if specified as a name, it must resolve to a single address. |
Description
The command will raise an error if $device is a name that cannot be resolved.
device service_references [::iocp::bt]bt, Top, Main, Index
Retrieve service discovery records that refer to a specified service.
Parameters
device | Bluetooth address or name of a device. If specified as a name, it must resolve to a single address. |
service | The UUID of a service or service class or its mnemonic. |
Description
The command will return all service discovery records that contain an attribute referring to the specified service. The returned service discovery records should be treated as opaque and accessed through the service record decoding commands.
Return value
Returns a list of service discovery records.
device services [::iocp::bt]bt, Top, Main, Index
Retrieve the service discovery records for top level services advertised by a device.
Parameters
device | Bluetooth address or name of a device. If specified as a name, it must resolve to a single address. |
Description
The command will return all service discovery records that reference the PublicBrowseRoot service class. This is not necessarily all the services on the device, only those the device advertises as the top-level services.
The returned service discovery records should be treated as opaque and accessed through the service record decoding commands.
Return value
Returns a list of service dscovery records.
devices [::iocp::bt]bt, Top, Main, Index
Discover Bluetooth devices.
Parameters
-authenticated | Filter for authenticated devices. |
-connected | Filter for connected devices. |
-inquire | Issue a new inquiry. Without this option, devices that are not already known to the system will not be discovered. |
-remembered | Filter for remembered devices. |
-timeout MS | Timeout for the inquiry in milliseconds. Defaults to 10240ms. Ignored if -inquire is not specified. |
-unknown | Filter for unknown devices. |
Description
Each device information element is returned as a dictionary with the following keys:
| Authenticated | Boolean value indicating whether the device has been authenticated. |
| Address | Bluetooth address of the devicec. |
| Class | Device class as a numeric value. |
| Connected | Boolean value indicating whether the device is connected. |
| DeviceClasses | Human readable list of general device class categories. |
| LastSeen | Time when device was last seen. The format is a list of year, month, day, hour, minutes, seconds and milliseconds. |
| LastUsed | Time when device was last used. The format is a list of year, month, day, hour, minutes, seconds and milliseconds. |
| MajorClassName | Human readable major device class name. |
| MinorClassName | Human readable minor device class name. |
| Name | Human readable name of the device. |
| Remembered | Boolean value indicating whether the device is connected. |
The filtering options may be specified to limit the devices returned. If none are specified, all devices are returned.
Return value
Returns a list of device information dictionaries.
radio [::iocp::bt]bt, Top, Main, Index
A command ensemble.
Description
The ensemble supports the following subcommands:
| configure | Gets or modifies a radio configuration. |
| devices | Discover devices accessible through the specified radio. |
| info | Get detailed information about a radio on the system. |
Refer to the documentation of each subcommand for details.
radio configure [::iocp::bt]bt, Top, Main, Index
Gets or modifies a radio configuration.
Parameters
radio | The address or name associated with a radio on the system. |
args | See below. |
Description
If no arguments are given to the command, it returns the current values of all options in the form of a dictionary.
If exactly one argument is given, it must be the name of an option and the command returns the value of the option.
Otherwise, the arguments must be a list of option name and values. The radio's options are set accordingly. The command returns an empty string for this case. Note that in case of raised exceptions the state of the radio options is indeterminate.
Return value
Returns an option value, a dictionary of options and values, or an empty string.
radio devices [::iocp::bt]bt, Top, Main, Index
Discover devices accessible through the specified radio.
Parameters
radio | Name or address of Bluetooth radio. |
args | Passed on to devices |
Description
This command has the same functionality as the devices command except that it restricts discovery only to those devices accessible through the specified radio.
Return value
Returns a list of device information dictionaries. See devices for the dictionary format.
radio info [::iocp::bt]bt, Top, Main, Index
Get detailed information about a radio on the system
Parameters
radio | The address or name associated with a radio on the system. If unspecified or the empty string, information about the first radio found is returned. Optional, default "". |
Description
The returned dictionary has the following keys:
| Address | The Bluetooth address of the radio. |
| Name | Name assigned to the local system as advertised by the radio. |
| Class | Device class as a numeric value. |
| DeviceClasses | Human readable list of general device class categories. |
| Subversion | Integer value whose interpretation is manufacturer-specific. |
| Manufacturer | Integer identifier assigned to the manufacturer. |
| MajorClassName | Human readable major device class name. |
| MinorClassName | Human readable minor device class name. |
Return value
Returns a dictionary containing information about the radio.
radios [::iocp::bt]bt, Top, Main, Index
Enumerate Bluetooth radios on the local system.
Parameters
detailed | If true, detailed information about each radio is returned. If false (default), only the radio addresses are returned. Optional, default false. |
Description
When $detailed is passed as a boolean false value, a list of radio addresses is returned.
When $detailed is passed as a boolean true value, each element of the returned list contains the following keys:
| Address | The Bluetooth address of the radio. |
| Name | Name assigned to the local system as advertised by the radio. |
| Class | Device class as a numeric value. |
| DeviceClasses | Human readable list of general device class categories. |
| Subversion | Integer value whose interpretation is manufacturer-specific. |
| Manufacturer | Integer identifier assigned to the manufacturer. |
| MajorClassName | Human readable major device class name. |
| MinorClassName | Human readable minor device class name. |
Return value
Returns a list of radio addresses or radio information elements.
socket [::iocp::bt]bt, Top, Main, Index
Returns a client Bluetooth RFCOMM channel.
Parameters
args | See below. |
Description
The command takes the form
socket ?-async? device port
where device is the Bluetooth hardware address of the remote device and port is the RFCOMM port (channel). The -async option has the same effect as in the Tcl socket command. It returns immediately without waiting for the connection to complete.
Once the connection is established, Bluetooth channel operation is identical to that of Tcl sockets except that half closes are not supported.
The returned channel must be closed with the Tcl close or chan close command.
Return value
Returns a client Bluetooth RFCOMM channel.