vim:ts=4:et:tw=72

$Id: README,v 1.5 2007/02/24 22:54:42 jcs Exp $

blueping

by joshua stein [email protected] http://jcs.org/

blueping is a simple command-line utility for mac os x (>=10.4) that "pings" a bluetooth device in a loop, optionally executing programs when the device is reachable (within range) and/or not reachable (out of range).

blueping is released under a bsd license.

the following options are available:

-d MAC  (required) the mac address of the device, in the format
        01-23-45-67-89-01 or 012345678901.  can be found by opening
        the system bluetooth preferences and locating the "device
        address" of the device.

        the device must be paired and configured prior to using it
        with blueping.

-e PROG (optional) a string to execute when the device enters range
        and is reachable.  passed directly to sh(1).

-i NUM  (optional) the interval, in seconds, to ping the device.
        the default is 15 seconds.  not recommended to be under 5
        seconds.

-v      (optional) be verbose and log to STDOUT.  specify this
        option twice to be even more verbose.

-x PROG (optional) a string to execute when the device exits range
        and is no longer reachable.  passed directly to sh(1).

examples of usage:

when i walk away carrying my cell phone, lock the screen:

    blueping -d 00-14-9a-d8-10-18 -v -x "/System/Library/Frameworks/ScreenSaver.framework/Resources/ScreenSaverEngine.app/Contents/MacOS/ScreenSaverEngine"

when my cell phone comes into range, run a helper script that checks
the last time that iSync completed and if it has been over a certain
amount of days, launch iSync and auto-synchronize:

    blueping -d 00-14-9a-d8-10-18 -v -e "/Users/jcs/bin/blueping-isync"

when i walk away carrying my cell phone, pause itunes, then unpause
it when i return:

    blueping -d 00-14-9a-d8-10-18 -v \
        -e "osascript -e 'tell application "'"iTunes"'" to play'" \
        -x "osascript -e 'tell application "'"iTunes"'" to pause'"