Application that allows visitors to the light show website to request songs. In addition, displaying temperature, current song, and other information about the show on the website.
Once your account is approved, create a project.
Within that project, create Consumer Key (aka API Key), Consumer Secret (aka API Secret), Access Token and Access Secret.
Also within that project, update the App Permissions to "Read and Write". By default, permissions are "Read",
which does not permit posting tweets.
Add the key, secrets, and token that you got from your Twitter developer account to the appsettings.json file.
See the Configuration section
for explainations and details.
Create a system service that will run the applicaton on startup.
Reboot your Raspberry Pi
Once the Pi has come back online, log in and check the log file to confirm that the monitor has started.
If there any messages that state "400 error" or similar, double check that your Twitter credentials are correct.
System Service
This application is designed to be run as a system service. Below are the steps to install or
remove it.
Create System Service
To install the system service, run the below commands. Note that the commands are designed to be ran from
the directory that you have copied the application files to.
To see the output from the logs, visit the Troubleshooting section.
Configuration
To get started, copy the appsettings.template.json file to a file named appsettings.json.
Then update the JSON file to have the values that you would like. Failure to copy
this file, will result in the application not running and errors being logged.
The appsettings.json file has multiple configuration values in it. Each of the sections below describe
what values are expected in the file and how to configure them accordingly.
Logging
To change the logging done by the application, you may lower or raise the logging level. By default,
only Information or higher severity messages are logged. We suggest that Debug logging not be turned
on unless you are experiencing a recurring problem.
List each of the Falcon Player instances that you want to be monitored. The first instance is considered
to the primary instance. This instance should be set to master or standalone within
the Falcon Player settings. Each additional instance will be treated as a remote instance.
When no hosts are listed in this section, this will default to "http://localhost".
"FppHosts": [
"http://localhost/"
],
Twitter Credentials
This section holds the values to access the Twitter API. Visit the
Twitter for Developers page to sign up and get the needed keys and tokens.
You will need to get a Consumer Key (aka API Key), Consumer Secret (aka API Secret), Access Token and Access Secret
for this section.
When no value is provided for any of the properties, the application will experience issues and
stop running. Errors will show up in the application log.
AlarmUsernames should be the name of the Twitter account(s) that can be mentioned if
there is an issue with the show (e.g. Raspberry Pi having high CPU temperature). Value needs to include
the at (@) symbol. Each Twitter handle should be listed as a separate item in this file.
When no value has been provided, then alerts will show up as public tweets instead of mentions.
MaxCpuTemperatureC should be the threshold that has to be reached before a high temperature alert is triggered.
In warmer climates, you will want to set this value higher to prevent false alerts.
This value needs to be in degrees Celsius. Per the Raspberry Pi documentation, 60 to 65
degrees Celsius is close to the safe upper operating limit of the Pi.
When no value has been provided, this will default to 60.0 degrees.
MaxAlarmsPerHour is the number alarms that you will be notified about within an hour. Once this threshold
has been reached, you will not be notified again until the next hour. The alarms will still be reported
in the application log. To receive infinite alerts, set this value to 0.
When no value has been provided, this will default to 3 alerts per hour.
Example appsettings.json File
Once you have finished updating the appsettings.json file, it should look similar to the example below.
An exception may occur and written in the log if the Wifi or ethernet connection has not been established before the first run.
Confirm in the log that HttpRequestException is not repeating in the logs after 2 or 3 attempts. If the
message continues to appear, double check your Wifi or ethernet connection to the internet.
System Service Output / Log
To see the logged output from the system service, login to FPP via SSH and run the command:
journalctl -u falconpitwitter -b
If an error occurs in the application, the exception message will show here.
Issue Queue
Additional bugs that you discover should be reported to the project
Issues Queue.
FAQs (Frequently Asked Questions)
Tweeting Song Information
This application calls the Falcon Pi Player API to get the meta data for the song that is current playing.
Then it uses that information to compose a tweet. If the song that is playing does not have ID3 tag
information entered, then will not display part or all of the song data. If you need to add the song
meta data to the file, you can use a program like
Audacity to do so.
Tweeting Alarms (or Alerts)
The application calls the Falcon Pi Player API to get the current temperature of the Raspberry Pi.
If it is above the threshold that is specified in the appsettings.json
file, then it will send a tweet
that mentions the users specified in the appsettings.json
file a message to let them know if the
current temperature.
How frequently are checks done?
Songs are checked every 15 seconds to see if it has changed. If the same song is playing from the
previous check, then no tweet is posted.
Vitals are checked every 15 minutes. Alarms are based on the settings that you have defined in the
configuration file.
I don't want certain playlists to post song information. How do I accomplish this?
Any playlist that has "offline" or "testing" (case insensitive) in the name of it, will not post
the song information to
Twitter. The vitals alarms can still be triggered when "offline" or "testing" playlists are active.
Where is the source code?
Source code for this project is hosted on
Github. The latest release
can also be downloaded from here.
"Are you connected to internet? HttpRequest Exception occured" shows in the log. What does this mean?
This means that your Falcon Pi Player instance attempted to connect to the internet or another device but
was not able to do so. Double check your network and internet connection to ensure that data can be sent.
Also double check your configuration file as the hostname(s) may be incorrect or mistyped.
Why did you build a standalone application instead of an FPP plugin?
I work as a software developer primarily building web-based applications in C#.
Based on what I have seen, most (if not all) of the FPP plugins are build with PHP. While I do know PHP and
have worked with it in the past, I chose to go with building a C# application.
as it gave me an opportunity to use my existing skills and
expand them by applying them to something different than what I am used to.
I have a question not answered. Where do I ask it?
added the below to the readme.
System Requirements
In order to use Falcon Pi Twitter, you will need to have
Installation Steps
System Service
This application is designed to be run as a system service. Below are the steps to install or remove it.
Create System Service
To install the system service, run the below commands. Note that the commands are designed to be ran from the directory that you have copied the application files to.
Remove System Service
To uninstall the system service, run the below commands
System Service Logs
To see the output from the logs, visit the Troubleshooting section.
Configuration
To get started, copy the
appsettings.template.jsonfile to a file namedappsettings.json. Then update the JSON file to have the values that you would like. Failure to copy this file, will result in the application not running and errors being logged. The appsettings.json file has multiple configuration values in it. Each of the sections below describe what values are expected in the file and how to configure them accordingly.Logging
To change the logging done by the application, you may lower or raise the logging level. By default, only Information or higher severity messages are logged. We suggest that Debug logging not be turned on unless you are experiencing a recurring problem.
FppHosts
List each of the Falcon Player instances that you want to be monitored. The first instance is considered to the primary instance. This instance should be set to
masterorstandalonewithin the Falcon Player settings. Each additional instance will be treated as a remote instance. When no hosts are listed in this section, this will default to "http://localhost".Twitter Credentials
This section holds the values to access the Twitter API. Visit the Twitter for Developers page to sign up and get the needed keys and tokens. You will need to get a Consumer Key (aka API Key), Consumer Secret (aka API Secret), Access Token and Access Secret for this section.
When no value is provided for any of the properties, the application will experience issues and stop running. Errors will show up in the application log.
Monitoring
AlarmUsernamesshould be the name of the Twitter account(s) that can be mentioned if there is an issue with the show (e.g. Raspberry Pi having high CPU temperature). Value needs to include the at (@) symbol. Each Twitter handle should be listed as a separate item in this file. When no value has been provided, then alerts will show up as public tweets instead of mentions.MaxCpuTemperatureCshould be the threshold that has to be reached before a high temperature alert is triggered. In warmer climates, you will want to set this value higher to prevent false alerts. This value needs to be in degrees Celsius. Per the Raspberry Pi documentation, 60 to 65 degrees Celsius is close to the safe upper operating limit of the Pi. When no value has been provided, this will default to 60.0 degrees.MaxAlarmsPerHouris the number alarms that you will be notified about within an hour. Once this threshold has been reached, you will not be notified again until the next hour. The alarms will still be reported in the application log. To receive infinite alerts, set this value to0. When no value has been provided, this will default to 3 alerts per hour.Example appsettings.json File
Once you have finished updating the appsettings.json file, it should look similar to the example below.
Troubleshooting
Exception on First Run
An exception may occur and written in the log if the Wifi or ethernet connection has not been established before the first run. Confirm in the log that
HttpRequestExceptionis not repeating in the logs after 2 or 3 attempts. If the message continues to appear, double check your Wifi or ethernet connection to the internet.System Service Output / Log
To see the logged output from the system service, login to FPP via SSH and run the command:
If an error occurs in the application, the exception message will show here.
Issue Queue
Additional bugs that you discover should be reported to the project Issues Queue.
FAQs (Frequently Asked Questions)
Tweeting Song Information
This application calls the Falcon Pi Player API to get the meta data for the song that is current playing. Then it uses that information to compose a tweet. If the song that is playing does not have ID3 tag information entered, then will not display part or all of the song data. If you need to add the song meta data to the file, you can use a program like Audacity to do so.
Tweeting Alarms (or Alerts)
The application calls the Falcon Pi Player API to get the current temperature of the Raspberry Pi. If it is above the threshold that is specified in the appsettings.json file, then it will send a tweet that mentions the users specified in the appsettings.json file a message to let them know if the current temperature.
How frequently are checks done?
Songs are checked every 15 seconds to see if it has changed. If the same song is playing from the previous check, then no tweet is posted.
Vitals are checked every 15 minutes. Alarms are based on the settings that you have defined in the configuration file.
I don't want certain playlists to post song information. How do I accomplish this?
Any playlist that has "offline" or "testing" (case insensitive) in the name of it, will not post the song information to Twitter. The vitals alarms can still be triggered when "offline" or "testing" playlists are active.
Where is the source code?
Source code for this project is hosted on Github. The latest release can also be downloaded from here.
"Are you connected to internet? HttpRequest Exception occured" shows in the log. What does this mean?
This means that your Falcon Pi Player instance attempted to connect to the internet or another device but was not able to do so. Double check your network and internet connection to ensure that data can be sent. Also double check your configuration file as the hostname(s) may be incorrect or mistyped.
Why did you build a standalone application instead of an FPP plugin?
I work as a software developer primarily building web-based applications in C#. Based on what I have seen, most (if not all) of the FPP plugins are build with PHP. While I do know PHP and have worked with it in the past, I chose to go with building a C# application. as it gave me an opportunity to use my existing skills and expand them by applying them to something different than what I am used to.
I have a question not answered. Where do I ask it?
Please file an issue on the repo with your comment, question, or bug report. You may also send a message to the developer or the HP Light Show account.