USEPIPES

   1 An approach for reading and encoding taken in abcde is the use of Unix pipes.
   2
   3 By this way, a program sends as output what another programs expects as input,
   4 without writing the information in the hard disk.
   5
   6 For it to work with abcde, a ripper must send the data of the CD tracks which
   7 are ripped to the standard output, while sending the information and error
   8 messages to another "stream", so that the encoder does not get confused. This
   9 second stream is called "standard error".
  10
  11 The encoder program needs to be able to encode the information send to it by
  12 reading from the standard input (which is what the ripper sends to the standard
  13 output).
  14
  15 Usually Unix/Linux programs deal with the standard input/output by using the
  16 special file name "-", as in the following example:
  17
  18 cdripper -o - | audioencoder -i - -o file.ext
  19
  20 The "cdripper" program uses the flag "-o" to identify the file it will output
  21 the data to. For the "audioencoder" program to be able to read the output
  22 through a Unix pipe (the "|" symbol), the output needs to be sent to the
  23 standard output using the "-" special filename.
  24
  25 Once the output has been pipped to "audioencoder" we use the same special
  26 filename to read the information as input with the "-i" flag and output it to
  27 "file.ext" with the "-o" flag.
  28
  29 Keep in mind that the example above is only that, an example, and every ripper
  30 and encoder differs from in each other in the way they interact with pipes.
  31
  32 For one reason, not all the rippers and encoders are supported by abcde: the
  33 author (or the users) have not included support for them.
  34
  35 If you plan to use a ripper or encoder which is not supported, you need to know
  36 how to use the ripper/encoder. For example, cdparanoia just uses "-" as the
  37 output filename and works. The program used to decode FLAC files (yes, abcde
  38 supports "ripping" from a FLAC file :) uses "-c ".
  39
  40 To add support for a ripper called "cdripper" which uses the "-" special flag
  41 for outputting to the standard output, you need to open the config file (either
  42 /etc/abcde.conf or ~/.abcde.conf) and add the line:
  43
  44 PIPERIPPER_cdripper="-"
  45
  46 For an encoder called "audioencoder" which uses "--stdin" to read the pipe
  47 input, you need to add:
  48
  49 PIPE_audioencoder="--stdin"
  50
  51 Of course, you should try your configuration and report it so that it can be
  52 included in future versions of abcde.
  53
  54 If you are familiar with POSIX shell programing, please open "abcde" and take a
  55 look at the lines below the one marked with "###USEPIPESSUPPORT###".
  56
  57 Thanks for your time!