Presence Service D-Bus API

PresenceService DBus API

There are 4 conceptual "objects":

• PresenceService - manages and provides a query API for Buddy, Service, and Activity objects
• Buddy - represents another laptop somewhere on the network that you can communicate with
• Service - represents some specific resource on the network, published by a buddy
• Activity - represents a logical collection of services, in which one or more buddies participate

PresenceService Object

Signals

• buddyAppeared (buddy object path)
• buddyDisappeared (buddy object path)
• serviceAppeared (service object path)
• serviceDisappeared (service object path)
• activityAppeared (activity object path)
• activityDisappeared (activity object path)

Methods

• getAllServices()
  • Gets all services the PS knows about
  • Returns: array of service object paths
• getAllServicesOfType(type)
  • Gets all services the PS knows about, filtered by a specific service type
  • Returns: array of service object paths
• getAllActivities()
  • Gets all activities the PS knows about
  • Returns: array of activity object paths
• getActivity(id)
  • Gets a specific activity
  • Returns: activity object path
• getAllBuddies()
  • Gets all buddies the PS knows about
  • Returns: array of buddy object paths
• getBuddyByName(name)
  • Gets a specific buddy, searching on the buddy's name
  • Returns: the buddy object path of the requested buddy, or an error if the buddy does not exist
• getBuddyByAddress(address)
  • Gets a specific buddy, searching on the buddy's IP address
  • Returns: the buddy object path of the requested buddy, or an error if the buddy does not exist
• getOwner()
  • Gets the owner buddy, representing the owner of this laptop
  • Returns: the buddy object path of the owner (always present)
• shareActivity(activityId, serviceType, properties, address, port, domain)
  • Announces an activity on the network
  • Returns: service object path representing the new share service for this activity
• joinActivity(activity object path, serviceType)
  • given a known activity and activity's flagship service type, announce that this laptop has joined a particular activity
  • Returns: success or failure as a boolean
• registerService(name, serviceType, properties, address, port, domain)
  • Announces the availability of a non-Activity-related service. Low level and should not generally be used unless really needed.
  • Returns: service object path representing the new service

Buddy Object

Signals

Refered objects passed in signals are specific to this buddy only.

• iconChanged ()
• serviceAppeared (service object path)
• serviceDisappeared (service object path)
• joinedActivity (activity object path)
• leftActivity (activity object path)

Methods

• getProperties()
  • Gets all the general properties of the buddy
  • Returns: a dbus dict of buddy properties, like nickname, realname, IP address, whether or not this buddy is the laptop owner, etc
• getIcon()
  • Gets the buddy's icon pixbuf data
  • Returns: a character array containing the byte stream of the icon data
• getBuddyService(type)
  • Gets one service of a specific type. Only one service of each type may be offered by each buddy for each activity. i.e., services are unique within the scope of both a buddy and an activity
  • Returns: service object path, or error if no service of the requested type existed
• getBuddyActivities()
  • Gets all activities in which this buddy is currently participating
  • Returns: array of activity object paths

Service Object

Signals

(none)

Methods

• getProperties()
  • Gets all the service's properties
  • Returns: a dbus dict of properties (name, type, activityId, port, published address, source address, domain)
• getPublishedValue(key)
  • Gets a single value from the service's advertisement's DNS TXT record
  • Returns: the value as a dbus string

Activity Object

Signals

• buddyJoined (buddy object path)
• buddyLeft (buddy object path)
• serviceAppeared (service object path)
• serviceDisappeared (service object path)

Methods

• getId()
  • Gets the activity's ID
  • Returns: string representing the activity's ID
• getActivityServices()
  • Gets all services that exist within the scope of this activity
  • Returns: array of service object paths
• getActivityServicesOfType(type)
  • Gets all services of a specified type that exist within the scope of this activity
  • Returns: array of service object paths
• getActivityBuddies()
  • Gets all buddies who are currently participating in this activity
  • Returns: array of buddy object paths