Module to play specific audio files from the web on demand Web interface Cut Line Feature Requests

03/26/06

I would like to see a module that allows you to define certain extensions or codes (e.g. *30) so that they
will do the following:

- Play ringing tone to the caller

- Download an audio file from a specific fixed location OR extract the location URL from a "podcast"
XML file and download that audio file (but, in the case of a podcast file, don't download the file again if
we already have it from a previous call and it hasn't been updated - just play the one we previously
downloaded).

- When a new file is completely downloaded, call sox to convert the file to a format asterisk is capable of
playing (if necessary)

- answer the call (stop the ringing tone)

- play the file to the caller

- hangup

- Delete the file, unless it's a podcast file in which case save it (until a newer one is available to overwrite
it) because someone else may want to hear it.

When I first started playing with Asterisk, I did it this way (this does NOT work anymore, because of
some change in how Asterisk 2.7 handles shell scripts):

In extensions_custom.conf:

exten => *30,1,ringing

Then in getmsnbc.sh (don't laugh too hard, it was my first Linux script and it took me hours to write, but
in the end it worked, although it probably does some things that don't need to be done):

if [ -a /var/lib/asterisk/batch/msnbc.xml ]
then
mv -f /var/lib/asterisk/batch/msnbc.xml
/var/lib/asterisk/batch/msnbc2.xml
fi
/usr/bin/curl -s
http://podcast.msnbc.com/audio/podcast/MSNBC-Headlines.xml
> /var/lib/asterisk/batch/msnbc.xml
if cmp -s /var/lib/asterisk/batch/msnbc.xml
/var/lib/asterisk/batch/msnbc2.xml
then
exit 0
else
grep -m 1 "http://podcast.msnbc.com/audio/podcast/vh"
/var/lib/asterisk/batch/msnbc.xml | sed 's/^[
\t]*<link>/\/usr\/bin\/curl -s /;s/<\/link>/ >
\/tmp\/msnbc.mp3\nexit 0\n/' >
/var/lib/asterisk/batch/msnbcurl.sh
chmod 744 /var/lib/asterisk/batch/msnbcurl.sh
/var/lib/asterisk/batch/msnbcurl.sh
fi
exit 0
Yes, this really did write a second shell script, then jumped into it. Sorry but as I say, this was my first
attempt at trying to make a shell script. In Asterisk@Home 2.4 it would execute both scripts, and only
then return to exten => *30,3,Wait(1) But in 2.7 it seems to fire off the shell script and continue blindly
on, without waiting for the script to finish. The scripts themselves still work, but A@H doesn't wait for
them to finish.

So, in the module it should ask for these things:

The extension number you want to assign this to (could be a * code also)

The full path and filename of the audio file or podcast (xml format) file.

Select ("radio button") whether it's a direct link to an audio file or a podcast XML file (if this can't be
determined automatically - note that podcasts do not always use a file with an XML extension, so you
can't necessarily go by extension)

And, for XML-format files, the XML tag containing the path to the actual file. This could be a little tricky
because, for example, in this case you're looking for the tag "<enclosure url=" but the data you want is
INSIDE the tag, such as this:

<enclosure
url="http://podcast.msnbc.com/audio/podcast/vh-03-25-2006-161811.mp3"
length="108239" type="audio/mpeg"/>

Point is, you need some way to explicitly declare where to look in the file for the URL of the file to
download and play. I am led to believe "<enclosure url=" is a normal tag for a podcast BUT I can imagine
that in some other cases the desired URL would be bracketed by specific tags (not part of the tag itself).
Also there may be times when you might want to extract a URL from a regular HTML page.

Bonus points for allowing playback of formats other than MP3. TRIPLE bonus points if you manage to
play the dreaded WMA format and its ilk.

Note we are NOT talking about playing STREAMING audio here, though that could certainly be another
option. These are for things like one or two minute newscasts, weather reports or whatever. Just an idea
(since it's much easier to pick up a phone and punch in a few digits than to go to a computer, fire up a
web browser, find what you want to listen to, and try to launch it).