[pulseaudio-discuss] [RFC] API for setting (default) port

[Tanu Kaskinen]

On Wed, 2015-05-13 at 09:29 +0200, David Henningsson wrote:
> Since many years ago we have an API for setting default source/sink.
> 
> Our default routing today is more port centric. So our UIs (at least the 
> unity/gnome one) has developed ways around this, so that when a port is 
> selected it first selects the right profile if needed.
> 
> The problem is that in this world it's becoming more difficult to detect 
> what the user actually wants, when the result is a chain of API calls. E 
> g, if we first get a "set profile" call, we're not certain whether this 
> is the user wanting to change the profile for the currently active port, 
> or if this is the first part of a transition to a new port.

This problem description isn't really detailed enough for me to
understand what you're trying to solve.

> To overcome this problem, we should have some new API enabling the UI to 
> set the port directly. E g like this:
> 
>    pa_set_card_port(card, port, profile, bool default)
> 
> If "profile" is NULL, PA is free to choose the most fitting profile.
> If default is true, it will not only set the port, but also set the 
> default sink/source.
> (Card and port must be set.)
> 
> This looks to me like a perquisite for better port-based routing. (And 
> then we must get the UIs to actually use it, too.) But I'm not sure if 
> this interferes with e g Tanu's long time routing plans.
> What do you think?

>From your description the only genuinely new functionality would be the
ability to tell the server to activate a port without choosing the
profile explicitly. Is that correct? That certainly wouldn't conflict
with any of my plans.

-- 
Tanu