minishift-python

Python library for interfacing with the minishift.

Installation

>>> pip install minishift-python

or, to install from source:

>>> git clone https://github.com/arachnidlabs/minishift-python.git
>>> cd minishift-python
>>> sudo setup.py install

Usage

>>> import minishift
>>> width = 64
>>> vid, pid = 0x04d8, 0xf517
>>> ms = minishift.Minishift(minishift.MCP2210Interface(vid, pid), width)
>>> ms.canvas.write_text(0, "Hello world")
>>> ms.update()

you can also create your own canvas instead of using the built-in one:

>>> canvas = minishift.Canvas(width)
>>> x = canvas.write_text(0, "Test")
>>> canvas[x, 0] = 1  # Set the bottom pixel on the line after the text to 1
>>> ms.update(canvas)

and scrolling is supported with 'infinite' canvases that expand as needed:

>>> canvas = minishift.Canvas()
>>> canvas.write_text(0, "This is a message that's far too long for a display.")
>>> for slice in canvas.scroll():
>>>     ms.update(slice)
>>>     time.sleep(0.05)

HTTP Interface

The minishift module provides a daemon that exposes a simple HTTP interface for controlling a chain of minishifts. To run it:

$ python -m minishift.minishiftd <width>

Where width is the width in pixels of your minishift chain. Run python -m minishift.minishiftd --help for command line arguments, which include -d to run as a daemon, and -p to bind to a specified host and port (the default is port 8000).

Once the daemon is running, you can make GET or POST requests to the /set URI to change what's displayed on the minishift. For example:

$ curl -G http://localhost:8000/set --data-urlencode "text=Test!"

Displays "Test!" left-aligned on the minishift. To display scrolling text, specify the 'interval' parameter, in seconds per scroll step:

$ curl -G http://localhost:8000/set --data-urlencode "text=To be or not to be, that is the question" -d "interval=0.05"

And to scroll something a specified number of times before clearing the display, specify the 'times' parameter:

$ curl -G http://localhost:8000/set --data-urlencode "text=To be or not to be, that is the question" -d interval=0.05 -d times=2