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Example Application

Now that we've covered most of the basics of Buttplug, here's an example of a simple application. This application provides a simple interfaces for the following workflow:

  • Scan for Devices
  • List connected devices
  • Allow the user to choose a device
  • Allow the user to send a generic event to the chosen device

While most interaction will Buttplug will usually be more complicated or context specific than this, this example ties together all of the components of the client into a simple program.

using Buttplug.Client;
using Buttplug.Client.Connectors.WebsocketConnector;
using Buttplug.Core;
using System;
using System.Collections.Generic;
using System.Linq;
using System.Threading.Tasks;

namespace ApplicationExample
{
internal class Program
{
private static async Task WaitForKey()
{
Console.WriteLine("Press any key to continue.");
while (!Console.KeyAvailable)
{
await Task.Delay(1);
}
Console.ReadKey(true);
}

private static async Task RunExample()
{
// Now that we've seen all of the different parts of Buttplug, let's
// put them together in a small program.
//
// This program will:
// - Create an websocket connector
// - Scan, this time using real Managers, so we'll see devices
// (assuming you have them hooked up)
// - List the connected devices for the user
// - Let the user select a device, and trigger some sort of event on
// that device (vibration, thrusting, etc...).

// As usual, we start off with our connector setup. We really don't
// need access to the connector this time, so we can just pass the
// created connector directly to the client.
var client = new ButtplugClient("Example Client");

// Whenever a client connects, it asks the server for a list of devices
// that may already be connected. Therefore we'll want to set up our
// device handlers before we connect, so we can see what devices may
// already be connected to the server.
void HandleDeviceAdded(object aObj, DeviceAddedEventArgs aArgs)
{
Console.WriteLine($"Device connected: {aArgs.Device.Name}");
}

client.DeviceAdded += HandleDeviceAdded;

void HandleDeviceRemoved(object aObj, DeviceRemovedEventArgs aArgs)
{
Console.WriteLine($"Device connected: {aArgs.Device.Name}");
}

client.DeviceRemoved += HandleDeviceRemoved;

// Now we can connect.
await client.ConnectAsync(new ButtplugWebsocketConnector(new Uri("ws://127.0.0.1:12345")));


// The structure here is gonna get a little weird now, because I'm
// using method scoped functions. We'll be defining our scanning
// function first, then running it just to find any devices up front.
// Then we'll define our command sender. Finally, with all of that
// done, we'll end up in our main menu

// Here's the scanning part. Pretty simple, just scan until the user
// hits a button. Any time a new device is found, print it so the
// user knows we found it.
async Task ScanForDevices()
{
Console.WriteLine("Scanning for devices until key is pressed.");
Console.WriteLine("Found devices will be printed to console.");
await client.StartScanningAsync();
await WaitForKey();

// Stop scanning now, 'cause we don't want new devices popping up anymore.
await client.StopScanningAsync();
}

// Scan for devices before we get to the main menu.
await ScanForDevices();

// Now we define the device control menus. After we've scanned for
// devices, the user can use this menu to select a device, then
// select an action for that device to take.
async Task ControlDevice()
{
// Controlling a device has 2 steps: selecting the device to
// control, and choosing which command to send. We'll just list
// the devices the client has available, then search the device
// message capabilities once that's done to figure out what we
// can send. Note that this is using the Device Index, which is
// assigned by the device manager and may not be sequential
// (which is why we can't just use an array index).

// Of course, if we don't have any devices yet, that's not gonna work.
if (!client.Devices.Any())
{
Console.WriteLine("No devices available. Please scan for a device.");
return;
}

var options = new List<uint>();

foreach (var dev in client.Devices)
{
Console.WriteLine($"{dev.Index}. {dev.Name}");
options.Add(dev.Index);
}
Console.WriteLine("Choose a device: ");
if (!uint.TryParse(Console.ReadLine(), out var deviceChoice) ||
!options.Contains(deviceChoice))
{
Console.WriteLine("Invalid choice");
return;
}

var device = client.Devices.First(dev => dev.Index == deviceChoice);

// Now that we've gotten a device, we need to choose an action
// for that device to take. For sake of simplicity, right now
// we'll just use the 3 generic commands available:
//
// - Vibrate
// - Rotate
// - Linear (stroke/oscillate)
//
// Each device supported by the Buttplug C# library supports at
// least one of these 3 commands, so we know that the user will
// always have some option.

Console.WriteLine("Choose an action:");
Console.WriteLine("1. Vibrate");
Console.WriteLine("2. Oscillate");
Console.WriteLine("3. Rotate");
Console.WriteLine("4. Linear");
Console.WriteLine("5. Get Battery Level");

if (!uint.TryParse(Console.ReadLine(), out var cmdChoice) ||
cmdChoice == 0 || cmdChoice > 5)
{
Console.WriteLine("Invalid choice, try again.");
return;
}

// We've got a device, and a command to take on that device.
// Let's do this thing. For each command we'll either run at a
// speed, then stop, or move to a position, then back again. To
// ensure that we don't have to deal with concurrent commands
// (again, for sake of example simplicity, real world situations
// are gonna be far more dynamic than this), we'll just block
// while this action is happening.
//
// We'll wrap each of our commands in a ButtplugDeviceException
// try block, as a device might be disconnected between the time
// we enter the command menu and send the command, and we don't
// want to crash when that happens.
if (cmdChoice == 1)
{
Console.WriteLine(
$"Running all vibrators of {device.Name} at 50% for 1s.");
try
{
await device.VibrateAsync(0.5);
await Task.Delay(1000);
await device.VibrateAsync(0);
}
catch (Exception e)
{
Console.WriteLine($"Problem vibrating: {e}");
}
}
else if (cmdChoice == 2)
{
Console.WriteLine(
$"Running all oscillators of {device.Name} at 50% for 1s.");
try
{
await device.OscillateAsync(0.5);
await Task.Delay(1000);
await device.OscillateAsync(0);
}
catch (Exception e)
{
Console.WriteLine($"Problem oscillating: {e}");
}
}
else if (cmdChoice == 3)
{
Console.WriteLine($"Rotating {device.Name} at 50% for 1s.");
try
{
await device.RotateAsync(0.5, true);
await Task.Delay(1000);
await device.RotateAsync(0, true);
}
catch (Exception e)
{
Console.WriteLine($"Problem rotating: {e}");
}
}
else if (cmdChoice == 4)
{
Console.WriteLine(
$"Oscillating linear motors of {device.Name} from 20% to 80% over 3s");
try
{
await device.LinearAsync(1000, 0.2);
await Task.Delay(1100);
await device.LinearAsync(1000, 0.8);
await Task.Delay(1100);
await device.LinearAsync(1000, 0.2);
await Task.Delay(1100);
}
catch (Exception e)
{
Console.WriteLine($"Problem moving linearly: {e}");
}
}
else if (cmdChoice == 5)
{
Console.WriteLine(
$"Checking battery level of {device.Name}");
try
{
Console.WriteLine($"Battery Level: {await device.BatteryAsync()}");
}
catch (Exception e)
{
Console.WriteLine($"Problem getting battery level: {e}");
}
}
}

// And finally, we arrive at the main menu. We give the user the
// choice to scan for more devices (in case they forgot to turn them
// on earlier or whatever), run a command on a device, or just quit.
while (true)
{
Console.WriteLine("1. Scan For More Devices");
Console.WriteLine("2. Control Devices");
Console.WriteLine("3. Quit");
Console.WriteLine("Choose an option: ");
if (!uint.TryParse(Console.ReadLine(), out var choice) ||
(choice == 0 || choice > 3))
{
Console.WriteLine("Invalid choice, try again.");
continue;
}

switch (choice)
{
case 1:
await ScanForDevices();
continue;
case 2:
await ControlDevice();
continue;
case 3:
return;

default:

// Due to the check above, we'll never hit this, but eh.
continue;
}
}

// That's it! A full buttplug program. It doesn't do much, but with
// the right toys, the right commands, and a user that doesn't
// possibly mind getting lube on their keyboard, this program could
// possibly get someone off.
//
// Mission Accomplished.
}

private static void Main()
{
// Setup a client, and wait until everything is done before exiting.
RunExample().Wait();
}
}
}