README.md
# Taskbar Tray Application for `LittleBrother`
## Overview
`LittleBrotherTaskbar` is a simple application which can be installed into the tray of the window manager
to display the remaining play time of the current user.
## Contact
The taskbar does not have a homepage of its own. It is sharing `LittleBrother`'s homepage. Visit the project
at [Facebook](https://www.facebook.com/littlebrotherdebian) or write comments to little-brother(at)web.de.
## Screenshots
The following screenshots show the display of `LittleBrotherTaskbar` when optional play time is not active.
These are the corresponding screenhots when optional play time is active.
## Change History
See [here](https://github.com/marcus67/little_brother_taskbar/blob/master/CHANGES.md)
## GitHub Status
<A HREF="https://github.com/marcus67/little_brother_taskbar">
<IMG SRC="https://img.shields.io/github/forks/marcus67/little_brother_taskbar.svg?label=forks"></A>
<A HREF="https://github.com/marcus67/little_brother_taskbar/stargazers">
<IMG SRC="https://img.shields.io/github/stars/marcus67/little_brother_taskbar.svg?label=stars"></A>
<A HREF="https://github.com/marcus67/little_brother_taskbar/watchers">
<IMG SRC="https://img.shields.io/github/watchers/marcus67/little_brother_taskbar.svg?label=watchers"></A>
<A HREF="https://github.com/marcus67/little_brother_taskbar/issues">
<IMG SRC="https://img.shields.io/github/issues/marcus67/little_brother_taskbar.svg"></A>
<A HREF="https://github.com/marcus67/little_brother_taskbar/pulls">
<IMG SRC="https://img.shields.io/github/issues-pr/marcus67/little_brother_taskbar.svg"></A>
## Continuous Integration Status Overview
| Status | Master | Release |
|:------------------- |:------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ |:------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| CircleCI | <A HREF="https://circleci.com/gh/marcus67/little_brother_taskbar/tree/master"><IMG SRC="https://img.shields.io/circleci/project/github/marcus67/little_brother_taskbar/master.svg?label=master"></A> | <A HREF="https://circleci.com/gh/marcus67/little_brother_taskbar/tree/release"><IMG SRC="https://img.shields.io/circleci/project/github/marcus67/little_brother_taskbar/release.svg?label=release"></A> |
| Test Coverage | <A HREF="https://codecov.io/gh/marcus67/little_brother_taskbar/branch/master"><IMG SRC="https://img.shields.io/codecov/c/github/marcus67/little_brother_taskbar.svg?label=master"></A> | <A HREF="https://codecov.io/gh/marcus67/little_brother_taskbar/branch/release"><IMG SRC="https://img.shields.io/codecov/c/github/marcus67/little_brother_taskbar/release.svg?label=release"></A> |
| Snyk Vulnerability | <a href="https://snyk.io/test/github/marcus67/little_brother_taskbar?targetFile=requirements.txt"><img src="https://snyk.io/test/github/marcus67/little_brother_taskbar/badge.svg?targetFile=requirements.txt" alt="Known Vulnerabilities" data-canonical-src="https://snyk.io/test/github/marcus67/little_brother_taskbar?targetFile=requirements.txt" style="max-width:100%;"></a> | not available |
| Snyk Package Health | not available | [](https://snyk.io/advisor/python/little-brother-taskbar) |
| Codacy Code Quality | <a href="https://www.codacy.com/app/marcus67/little_brother_taskbar?utm_source=github.com&utm_medium=referral&utm_content=marcus67/little_brother_taskbar&utm_campaign=Badge_Grade"><img src="https://api.codacy.com/project/badge/Grade/f1fc3b113b95438189da9032ecf03b34"/></a> | not available |
| Code Climate | <a href="https://codeclimate.com/github/marcus67/little_brother_taskbar/maintainability"><img src="https://api.codeclimate.com/v1/badges/2e41f6ccb536eb5073d4/maintainability" /></a> | not available |
Note: The vulnerability status is derived from the Python PIP packages found in `requirements.txt`.
## Features
`LittleBrotherTaskbar` has the following features:
* Shows the status (remaining play time) of a user monitored by
[LittleBrother](https://github.com/marcus67/little_brother) on Linux and Windows systems.
* Plays spoken notifications about the status:
* Session length upon login
* Reason why login is denied
* Warnings about impending logout
* Reason why user will be logged out
* As of version 0.1.18 (see [feature issue](https://github.com/marcus67/little_brother_taskbar/issues/30)):
* Shows the remaining "optional time" that a user can use to extend her time
* Provides buttons to extend the session time (that is to request a time extension)
## Prerequisites
`LittleBrotherTaskbar` requires an active installation of [LittleBrother](https://github.com/marcus67/little_brother).
The taskbar client will contact the master process of `LittleBrother`. Also, some Linux packages have to be
installed to enable the compilation of the Python PIP package `wxPython`. See the installation instructions below.
In case you want to use the MP3 speech generation for notification messages you have to install the PIP package
[python-google-speak](https://pypi.org/project/python-google-speak/).
## Tested Distributions
| Distribution | Version | Comments | Most Recent Test |
| ------------ | ------------- | ---------------------------------------------------------------------- | ---------------- |
| Debian | testing | | 15.AUG.2021 |
| Ubuntu | 19.3 | | 08.AUG.2020 |
## Quick Install
This guide will take you through the steps required to install, configure, and run the `LittleBrotherTaskbar`
application on your system.
### YouTube Video
<A HREF="https://youtu.be/vLqho7oRNi4"> </A>
There are more videos related to `LittleBrother` and `LittleBrotherTaskbar` available at
the [LittleBrother](https://github.com/marcus67/little_brother) homepage.
### Install the Software
`LittleBrotherTaskbar` is available as a Python3 [PIP package](https://pypi.org/project/little-brother-taskbar/). Make
sure you have the Debian packages
* `libgtk-3-dev`
* `libpulse-dev`
installed on your system. Also, the required library `wxPython` cannot be compiled successfully with some versions of
the `setuptools`. Version `40.8.0` seems to work fine. Issue
pip3 install setuptools==40.8.0
to install exactly this version. Then type
pip3 install little-brother-taskbar
to install the latest version of the taskbar. If you want to install a specific version use
pip3 install little-brother-taskbar==[VERSION]
instead with `[VERSION]` replaced by the specific version.
**Note**: Compiling the `wxPython` library takes a LONG time. Depending on the speed of your system, compilation
times of up to 15 minutes are not unusual. So, please, be patient!
### Speech Generation and Output
In order to use the speech generation for notification messages, issue the command
pip3 install python-google-speak
and use the `--speech-engine` command line option (see below). Also, install the Debian package `mpg123`:
apt-get install mpg123
### Configure the Software
In its simplest setting the tool just needs to be started with the URL of the LittleBrother master API, e.g.
run_little_brother_taskbar --server-url=http://[HOSTNAME]:[PORT]
with `[HOSTNAME]` being the host where the LittleBrother master process is running and `[PORT]` being its port.
## Extended Command Line Configuration
The tool recognizes the following extra options:
* `--username [NAME]`: Set the username to `[NAME]`. If the option is not given the tool will try to derive the
login name from the environment variable `USER`. If no user can be found, the tool will fail.
* `--locale [LOCALE]`: Set the locale to `[LOCALE]`, e.g. `en_US`. Note that this locale is only used until the
taskbar receives the first status from the LittleBrother master since status contains the locale configured for
the user.
* `--config [FILENAME]`: Read the configuration file `[FILENAME]`. If this option is not given the tool
will try to read the file `~/.config/LittleBrotherTaskbar.conf`.
See [this file](https://github.com/marcus67/little_brother_taskbar/blob/master/etc/LittleBrotherTaskbar.conf)
for an example.
* `--loglevel [LEVEL]`: Set the log level to `DEBUG`, `INFO`, `WARNING`, or `ERROR`.
* `--speech-engine [ENGINE]`: Activate and select the speech engine to speak messages for the monitored user.
Possible values for `[ENGINE]` are: `google`
(preferred; which requires PIP package [python-google-speak](https://pypi.org/project/python-google-speak/)) or
`external` (which requires the Debian package [festival](https://packages.debian.org/stretch/festival) and
possibly some more configuration)
## Installing LittleBrotherTaskbar as a StartUp Application
Once you have succeeded starting the tool on the command line (see above) it makes sense to install the tool as
a startup application in your desktop environment. Most environments allow you to configure the applications which
are automatically started upon logging into the desktop. Below you will find screenshots to guide you through the
installation on a 19.3 Ubuntu system using the Mate Desktop.
* From the main menu choose the entry `Control Center`. In the upcoming window click on `Startup Applications`.
* Click on `Add` and enter your statement into the `Command` field. Chose a name and optionally set a comment.
* Click on `Add+` and and on `Close`.
* Logout out of the desktop and login in again to test. If successful you should see the LittleTaskBar icon in the
tray.
## Installing LittleBrotherTaskbar on a Windows System
On a Windows system some additional configuration needs to be done most of which relates to the audio playback. Since
the tool `mpg123` is not available and the default Windows Media player is a little difficult to handle from the command
line it is recommended to install the media player [vlc](https://en.vlc.de/).
### Configuration of the video player
If the file `%userprofile/.config/LittleBrotherTaskbar.conf` does not exist yet, create it with a text editor and
add the following lines:
[AudioHandler]
audio_player=mpg123
mpg123_binary=C:\Program Files\VLC Plus Player\vlc.exe
play_command_pattern={binary} --intf dummy {filename}
We are *abusing* the `mpg123` driver to configure the `vlc` binary. The path in `mpg123_binary` may have to be adapted
to your specific installation of `vlc`. The option `--intf dummy` will force `vlc` to start without a GUI frontend.
### Choosing the Python version
As of June 2022, the module `wxPython` is only available as a pre-compiled package for Python 3.9 and older. On a
Python 3.10 system you will have to compile the module yourself which can be **a real nuisance** on any system and
is **definitely so on Windows**. So, if you do not have any other need for a Python 3.10 interpreter it is strongly
recommended to use Python 3.9.
## Troubleshooting
So, you went through all of the above but `LittleBrotherTaskbar` does not seem to work? Maybe this
[troubleshooting page](https://github.com/marcus67/little_brother_taskbar/blob/master/TROUBLESHOOTING.md) can help you.
## Configuration
Most settings of the application can be configured using the configuration dialog which reached using the right
mouse click on the tray icon:
The configuration will be saved to (and subsequently loaded from) the file `~/.config/LittleBrotherTaskbar.conf`.
## Caveats
### Issue Lists
The application `LittleBrotherTaskbar` is far from perfect. Issues are listed on GitHub
(see [here](https://github.com/marcus67/little_brother_taskbar/issues)). Feel free to open new issues if you have
any trouble with installing and/or running the application.
### Missing Tray Icon on Modern Desktops (e.g. Gnome)
The application `little_brother_taskbar` uses the [wxPython](https://www.wxpython.org/) package to interact with the
XWindows system including
the system tray functionality. Unfortunately, the specification for the latter varies across the windows managers and
their versions. In modern versions of Gnome, for example, the tray icons provided by wxPython are no longer supported.
However, there is a Gnome extension called [TopIcons Plus](https://extensions.gnome.org/extension/1031/topicons/)
which can be installed using a Debian package which shows all "old-fashioned"
tray icons in the modern Gnome toolbar at the top of the screen.
Follow these steps:
* As `root` open a shell and install the extension:
apt-get install gnome-shell-extension-top-icons-plus
* Log out of the X session.
* Log into a new X session as the monitored user using the Gnome Desktop.
* Verify that there is at least the Little-Brother icon visible in the top center toolbar.
This extension may actually make other icons of installed applications visible which are using the old tray API.
Be prepared for a surprise.
## Internationalization
The application uses the PIP package `Flask-Babel` to provide internationalization for the web frontend, Currently,
the following languages are supported/prepared (in the order they were made available):
| Flag | Language | Locale | Status | Translation provided by |
| ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| ------------- | ------ | -------------- | ---------------------------|
|  | English | en | Up-to-date | Marcus Rickert |
|  | German | de | Up-to-date | Marcus Rickert |
|  | Italian | it | Up-to-date | Albano Battistella |
|  | Dutch | nl | 0.1.10 | Simone & Lex |
|  | Finnish | fi | 0.1.10 | Iisakki Kosonen |
|  | Turkish | tr | 0.1.10 | Selay Dogan |
|  | Russian | ru | 0.1.10 | J. Moldawski |
|  | Japanese | ja | 0.1.10 | Arik M. |
|  | Bangla | bn | 0.1.10 | Rownak Jyoti Zaman |
|  | French | fr | 0.1.11 | Albano Battistella |
|  | Thai | th | 0.1.10 | Busaba Kramer |
|  | Spanish | es | 0.1.10 | Ruth Wucherpfennig-Krömer |
|  | Lithuanian | lt | In preparation | N.N. |
|  | Croatian | hr | In preparation | N.N. |
Note that the spoken messages are provided by the `LittleBrother` master process. Check
[here](https://github.com/marcus67/little_brother) for the availability of desired foreign language.
### Sample Screenshots
### Sample Speech Audio Files
* [Sample 1 in Dutch](https://raw.githubusercontent.com/marcus67/little_brother_taskbar/master/doc/speech-sample-nl-1.mp3)
* [Sample 2 in Dutch](https://raw.githubusercontent.com/marcus67/little_brother_taskbar/master/doc/speech-sample-nl-2.mp3)
* [Sample 1 in Italian](https://raw.githubusercontent.com/marcus67/little_brother_taskbar/master/doc/speech-sample-it-1.mp3)
* [Sample 2 in Italian](https://raw.githubusercontent.com/marcus67/little_brother_taskbar/master/doc/speech-sample-it-2.mp3)
* [Sample 1 in Finnish](https://raw.githubusercontent.com/marcus67/little_brother_taskbar/master/doc/speech-sample-fi-1.mp3)
* [Sample 2 in Finnish](https://raw.githubusercontent.com/marcus67/little_brother_taskbar/master/doc/speech-sample-fi-2.mp3)
* [Sample 1 in Turkish](https://raw.githubusercontent.com/marcus67/little_brother_taskbar/master/doc/speech-sample-tr-1.mp3)
* [Sample 2 in Turkish](https://raw.githubusercontent.com/marcus67/little_brother_taskbar/master/doc/speech-sample-tr-2.mp3)
* [Sample 1 in Russian](https://raw.githubusercontent.com/marcus67/little_brother_taskbar/master/doc/speech-sample-ru-1.mp3)
* [Sample 2 in Russian](https://raw.githubusercontent.com/marcus67/little_brother_taskbar/master/doc/speech-sample-ru-2.mp3)
* [Sample 1 in Japanese](https://raw.githubusercontent.com/marcus67/little_brother_taskbar/master/doc/speech-sample-ja-1.mp3)
* [Sample 2 in Japanese](https://raw.githubusercontent.com/marcus67/little_brother_taskbar/master/doc/speech-sample-ja-2.mp3)
* [Sample 1 in Bangla](https://raw.githubusercontent.com/marcus67/little_brother_taskbar/master/doc/speech-sample-bn-1.mp3)
* [Sample 2 in Bangla](https://raw.githubusercontent.com/marcus67/little_brother_taskbar/master/doc/speech-sample-bn-2.mp3)
* [Sample 1 in French](https://raw.githubusercontent.com/marcus67/little_brother_taskbar/master/doc/speech-sample-fr-1.mp3)
* [Sample 2 in French](https://raw.githubusercontent.com/marcus67/little_brother_taskbar/master/doc/speech-sample-fr-2.mp3)
* [Sample 1 in Thai](https://raw.githubusercontent.com/marcus67/little_brother_taskbar/master/doc/speech-sample-th-1.mp3)
* [Sample 2 in Thai](https://raw.githubusercontent.com/marcus67/little_brother_taskbar/master/doc/speech-sample-th-2.mp3)
* [Sample 1 in Danish](https://raw.githubusercontent.com/marcus67/little_brother_taskbar/master/doc/speech-sample-da-1.mp3)
* [Sample 2 in Danish](https://raw.githubusercontent.com/marcus67/little_brother_taskbar/master/doc/speech-sample-da-2.mp3)
* [Sample 1 in Spanish](https://raw.githubusercontent.com/marcus67/little_brother_taskbar/master/doc/speech-sample-es-1.mp3)
* [Sample 2 in Spanish](https://raw.githubusercontent.com/marcus67/little_brother_taskbar/master/doc/speech-sample-es-2.mp3)
Your help with translations is greatly appreciated. Please, contact the author if you are interested in providing
a translation. You do not necessarily have to clone this repository or be familiar with Python to do so.
## Credits
* Thanks to all the people maintaining the wonderful script language [Python](https://www.python.org/)
and the libraries on [PyPi](https://pypi.org/).
* The country flags were taken from [www.countryflags.com](https://www.countryflags.com/).
* See the section about on internalization for credits regarding the translations.
* The site [www.mehr-schulferien.de](https://www.mehr-schulferien.de) maintains the vacation metadata for
Germany.
* The configuration dialog was generated using [wxGlade](https://github.com/wxGlade/wxGlade).
* People contributing by providing pull requests:
* [Albano Battistella](https://github.com/albanobattistella) for providing Italian and French translations