placebo input server
Placebo Input is a java based joystick/input server/client. Basically it takes input from any joystick or gamepad and sends it in a very simple protocol described below. I started this project because i'm looking into working with UAVs and would like to be able to transmit controller data over a network. This project uses the jinput library for the controllers. This application can work in server or client mode.
The server / client can be started from the command line.
Each controller is given a number starting at zero. When using the --use option this is the device id you will provide.
Listing out controllers
You are able to use the --use option several times to specify multiple controllers. With the use command you must also specify --connect or --listen this will determine if the application is going to wait for connections or connect to another application listening for connections.
Serving a controller
As i mentioned earlier the protocol is rather simple, when first connected
the server sends a series of comma seperated messages which describe the
controllers being served, and assigns them each an id. The two types of
messages that appear in the header are "ID" messages and "CO" messages.
ID messages define a controller with an id, an example ID message would
look like this.
openstatic.org,ID,0,X-box Controller,Stick,17
the parts of the message are..
(source host),(message type),(controller id),(controller name),(controller type),(# of components)