USBHIDACTION(1)         FreeBSD General Commands Manual        USBHIDACTION(1)

NAME
     usbhidaction - perform actions according to USB HID controls

SYNOPSIS
     usbhidaction [-diev] -c config-file -f device [-p pidfile] [-t tablefile]
                  arg ...

DESCRIPTION
     The usbhidaction utility can be used to execute commands when certain
     values appear on HID controls.  The normal operation for this program is
     to read the configuration file and then become a daemon and execute
     commands as the HID items specify.  If a read from the HID device fails,
     the program dies; this will make it die when the USB device is unplugged.

     The options are as follows:

     -d      Toggle the daemon flag.

     -e      Instruct usbhidaction to die early.  Useful when specified with
             multiple verbose options to see how files are parsed.

     -i      Ignore HID items in the configuration file that do not exist in
             the device.

     -v      Be verbose, and do not become a daemon.

     -c config-file
             Specify a path name for the configuration file.

     -t tablefile
             Specify a path name for the HID usage table file.

     -f device
             Specify a path name for the device to operate on.  If device is
             numeric, it is taken to be the USB HID device number.  If it is a
             relative path, it is taken to be the name of the device under
             /dev.  An absolute path is taken to be the literal device
             pathname.

     -p pidfile
             Specify an alternate file in which to store the process ID.

     The configuration file will be re-read if the process gets a SIGHUP
     signal.

CONFIGURATION
     The configuration file has a very simple format.  Each line describes an
     action; if a line begins with a whitespace, it is considered a
     continuation of the previous line.  Lines beginning with `#' are
     considered as comments.

     Each line has four parts: a name of a USB HID item, a value for that
     item, a debounce value, and an action.  There must be whitespace between
     the parts.

     The item names are similar to those used by usbhidctl(1).

     The value is simply a numeric value.  When the item reports this value,
     the action will be performed.  If the value is `*', it will match any
     value.

     The debounce value is an integer not less than 0.  The value of 0
     indicates that no debouncing should occur.  A value of 1 will only
     execute the action when the state changes.  Values greater than one
     specify that an action should be performed only when the value changes by
     that amount.

     The action is a normal command that is executed with system(3).  Before
     it is executed some substitution will occur: `$n' will be replaced by the
     nth argument on the command line, `$V' will be replaced by the numeric
     value of the HID item, `$N' will be replaced by the name of the control,
     and `$H' will be replaced by the name of the HID device.

FILES
     /usr/share/misc/usb_hid_usages      The HID usage table.

     /var/run/usbaction.pid              The default location of the PID file.

EXAMPLES
     The following configuration file can be used to control a pair of Philips
     USB speakers with the HID controls on the speakers.

           # Configuration for various Philips USB speakers
           Consumer:Volume_Increment                1 0 mixer -f $1 vol +1
           Consumer:Volume_Decrement                1 0 mixer -f $1 vol -1
           # mute not supported
           #Consumer:Mute                           1 0 mixer -f $1 mute
           Consumer:Channel_Top.Microsoft:Base_Up   1 0 mixer -f $1 bass +1
           Consumer:Channel_Top.Microsoft:Base_Down 1 0 mixer -f $1 bass -1

     A sample invocation using this configuration would be

           usbhidaction -f /dev/uhid1 -c conf /dev/mixer1

     The following example controls the mixer volume using a Logitech Wingman.
     Notice the debounce of 1 for buttons and 5 for the slider.

           Button:Button_1   1 1   mixer vol +10
           Button:Button_2   1 1   mixer vol -10
           Generic_Desktop:Z * 5   mixer vol `echo $V | awk '{print int($$1/255*100)}'`

SEE ALSO
     usbhidctl(1), usbhid(3), uhid(4), usb(4)

HISTORY
     The usbhidaction command first appeared in NetBSD 1.6.  The usbhidaction
     command appeared in FreeBSD 5.1.

FreeBSD 13.1-RELEASE-p6        October 28, 2020        FreeBSD 13.1-RELEASE-p6