bluez adapter api StartDiscovery timeout

Question

I am trying to write some code, which can scan for nearby bluetooth devices. I think it is a bit complicated to understand, so i am asking for help.

To start with I will explain my scenario. I know from the bluez adapter API (https://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/bluetooth/bluez.git/tree/doc/adapter-api.txt), that i can call a method on dbus, which is taking no parameters to start scanning for devices. that method is called "StartDiscovery". I dont know if it would be a proper way to this asynchronously? And im also unsure about the function

g_main_loop_run()

I need to use it for the method to keep scanning for devices, but i dont know what the proper way is to stop the loop again.

Here is my code, assume that a GDBusProxy is obtained

start_discover_variant = g_dbus_proxy_call_sync(proxy,"StartDiscovery", NULL, G_DBUS_CALL_FLAGS_NONE, -1, NULL, &error);
if (start_discover_variant == NULL)
{
    syslog(LOG_ERR, "%s", error->message);
    g_error_free(error);
    g_assert_no_error(error);
}

sleep(20);

stop_discover_variant = g_dbus_proxy_call_sync(proxy,"StopDiscovery", NULL, G_DBUS_CALL_FLAGS_NONE, -1, NULL, &error);
if (stop_discover_variant == NULL)
{
    syslog(LOG_ERR, "%s", error->message);
    g_error_free(error);
    g_assert_no_error(error);
}
g_variant_unref(stop_discover_variant);

As you can see i implemented a 20 second sleep, but since it can run asynchronously, maybe some kind of timeout signal can be used instead, or is the sleep function ok?

Answer 1

From your sample code I understand that you stopping the scanning after 20 seconds, which is not asynchronous. Asynchronous means you need to take decision based on external or internal events. This can be POSIX signal/timer (using timer_create) or any events.

If you are sure about using timed/timeout based stop, better use "timer_create" in Linux or any other timer based operations. If you want to stop scanning based on scanned devices, then you can use callback for "StartDiscovery" results.

Here is the complete example of listing the devices after scanning using GDBUS (but not proxy). The same example can be extended using proxy.

/*
 * bluez_adapter_scan.c - Scan for bluetooth devices
 *  - This example scans for new devices after powering the adapter, if any devices
 *    appeared in /org/hciX/dev_XX_YY_ZZ_AA_BB_CC, it is monitered using "InterfaceAdded"
 *    signal and all the properties of the device is printed
 *  - Scanning continues to run until any device is disappered, this happens after 180 seconds
 *    automatically if the device is not used.
 * gcc `pkg-config --cflags glib-2.0 gio-2.0` -Wall -Wextra -o ./bin/bluez_adapter_scan ./bluez_adapter_scan.c `pkg-config --libs glib-2.0 gio-2.0`
 */
#include <glib.h>
#include <gio/gio.h>

GDBusConnection *con;
static void bluez_property_value(const gchar *key, GVariant *value)
{
    const gchar *type = g_variant_get_type_string(value);

    g_print("\t%s : ", key);
    switch(*type) {
        case 'o':
        case 's':
            g_print("%s\n", g_variant_get_string(value, NULL));
            break;
        case 'b':
            g_print("%d\n", g_variant_get_boolean(value));
            break;
        case 'u':
            g_print("%d\n", g_variant_get_uint32(value));
            break;
        case 'a':
        /* TODO Handling only 'as', but not array of dicts */
            if(g_strcmp0(type, "as"))
                break;
            g_print("\n");
            const gchar *uuid;
            GVariantIter i;
            g_variant_iter_init(&i, value);
            while(g_variant_iter_next(&i, "s", &uuid))
                g_print("\t\t%s\n", uuid);
            break;
        default:
            g_print("Other\n");
            break;
    }
}

static void bluez_device_appeared(GDBusConnection *sig,
                const gchar *sender_name,
                const gchar *object_path,
                const gchar *interface,
                const gchar *signal_name,
                GVariant *parameters,
                gpointer user_data)
{
    (void)sig;
    (void)sender_name;
    (void)object_path;
    (void)interface;
    (void)signal_name;
    (void)user_data;

    GVariantIter *interfaces;
    const char *object;
    const gchar *interface_name;
    GVariant *properties;

    g_variant_get(parameters, "(&oa{sa{sv}})", &object, &interfaces);
    while(g_variant_iter_next(interfaces, "{&s@a{sv}}", &interface_name, &properties)) {
        if(g_strstr_len(g_ascii_strdown(interface_name, -1), -1, "device")) {
            g_print("[ %s ]\n", object);
            const gchar *property_name;
            GVariantIter i;
            GVariant *prop_val;
            g_variant_iter_init(&i, properties);
            while(g_variant_iter_next(&i, "{&sv}", &property_name, &prop_val))
                bluez_property_value(property_name, prop_val);
            g_variant_unref(prop_val);
        }
        g_variant_unref(properties);
    }
    return;
}

#define BT_ADDRESS_STRING_SIZE 18
static void bluez_device_disappeared(GDBusConnection *sig,
                const gchar *sender_name,
                const gchar *object_path,
                const gchar *interface,
                const gchar *signal_name,
                GVariant *parameters,
                gpointer user_data)
{
    (void)sig;
    (void)sender_name;
    (void)object_path;
    (void)interface;
    (void)signal_name;

    GVariantIter *interfaces;
    const char *object;
    const gchar *interface_name;
    char address[BT_ADDRESS_STRING_SIZE] = {'\0'};

    g_variant_get(parameters, "(&oas)", &object, &interfaces);
    while(g_variant_iter_next(interfaces, "s", &interface_name)) {
        if(g_strstr_len(g_ascii_strdown(interface_name, -1), -1, "device")) {
            int i;
            char *tmp = g_strstr_len(object, -1, "dev_") + 4;

            for(i = 0; *tmp != '\0'; i++, tmp++) {
                if(*tmp == '_') {
                    address[i] = ':';
                    continue;
                }
                address[i] = *tmp;
            }
            g_print("\nDevice %s removed\n", address);
            g_main_loop_quit((GMainLoop *)user_data);
        }
    }
    return;
}

static void bluez_signal_adapter_changed(GDBusConnection *conn,
                    const gchar *sender,
                    const gchar *path,
                    const gchar *interface,
                    const gchar *signal,
                    GVariant *params,
                    void *userdata)
{
    (void)conn;
    (void)sender;
    (void)path;
    (void)interface;
    (void)userdata;

    GVariantIter *properties = NULL;
    GVariantIter *unknown = NULL;
    const char *iface;
    const char *key;
    GVariant *value = NULL;
    const gchar *signature = g_variant_get_type_string(params);

    if(g_strcmp0(signature, "(sa{sv}as)") != 0) {
        g_print("Invalid signature for %s: %s != %s", signal, signature, "(sa{sv}as)");
        goto done;
    }

    g_variant_get(params, "(&sa{sv}as)", &iface, &properties, &unknown);
    while(g_variant_iter_next(properties, "{&sv}", &key, &value)) {
        if(!g_strcmp0(key, "Powered")) {
            if(!g_variant_is_of_type(value, G_VARIANT_TYPE_BOOLEAN)) {
                g_print("Invalid argument type for %s: %s != %s", key,
                        g_variant_get_type_string(value), "b");
                goto done;
            }
            g_print("Adapter is Powered \"%s\"\n", g_variant_get_boolean(value) ? "on" : "off");
        }
        if(!g_strcmp0(key, "Discovering")) {
            if(!g_variant_is_of_type(value, G_VARIANT_TYPE_BOOLEAN)) {
                g_print("Invalid argument type for %s: %s != %s", key,
                        g_variant_get_type_string(value), "b");
                goto done;
            }
            g_print("Adapter scan \"%s\"\n", g_variant_get_boolean(value) ? "on" : "off");
        }
    }
done:
    if(properties != NULL)
        g_variant_iter_free(properties);
    if(value != NULL)
        g_variant_unref(value);
}

static int bluez_adapter_call_method(const char *method)
{
    GVariant *result;
    GError *error = NULL;

    result = g_dbus_connection_call_sync(con,
                         "org.bluez",
                    /* TODO Find the adapter path runtime */
                         "/org/bluez/hci0",
                         "org.bluez.Adapter1",
                         method,
                         NULL,
                         NULL,
                         G_DBUS_CALL_FLAGS_NONE,
                         -1,
                         NULL,
                         &error);
    if(error != NULL)
        return 1;

    g_variant_unref(result);
    return 0;
}

static int bluez_adapter_set_property(const char *prop, GVariant *value)
{
    GVariant *result;
    GError *error = NULL;

    result = g_dbus_connection_call_sync(con,
                         "org.bluez",
                         "/org/bluez/hci0",
                         "org.freedesktop.DBus.Properties",
                         "Set",
                         g_variant_new("(ssv)", "org.bluez.Adapter1", prop, value),
                         NULL,
                         G_DBUS_CALL_FLAGS_NONE,
                         -1,
                         NULL,
                         &error);
    if(error != NULL)
        return 1;

    g_variant_unref(result);
    return 0;
}

int main(void)
{
    GMainLoop *loop;
    int rc;
    guint prop_changed;
    guint iface_added;
    guint iface_removed;

    con = g_bus_get_sync(G_BUS_TYPE_SYSTEM, NULL, NULL);
    if(con == NULL) {
        g_print("Not able to get connection to system bus\n");
        return 1;
    }

    loop = g_main_loop_new(NULL, FALSE);

    prop_changed = g_dbus_connection_signal_subscribe(con,
                        "org.bluez",
                        "org.freedesktop.DBus.Properties",
                        "PropertiesChanged",
                        NULL,
                        "org.bluez.Adapter1",
                        G_DBUS_SIGNAL_FLAGS_NONE,
                        bluez_signal_adapter_changed,
                        NULL,
                        NULL);

    iface_added = g_dbus_connection_signal_subscribe(con,
                            "org.bluez",
                            "org.freedesktop.DBus.ObjectManager",
                            "InterfacesAdded",
                            NULL,
                            NULL,
                            G_DBUS_SIGNAL_FLAGS_NONE,
                            bluez_device_appeared,
                            loop,
                            NULL);

    iface_removed = g_dbus_connection_signal_subscribe(con,
                            "org.bluez",
                            "org.freedesktop.DBus.ObjectManager",
                            "InterfacesRemoved",
                            NULL,
                            NULL,
                            G_DBUS_SIGNAL_FLAGS_NONE,
                            bluez_device_disappeared,
                            loop,
                            NULL);

    rc = bluez_adapter_set_property("Powered", g_variant_new("b", TRUE));
    if(rc) {
        g_print("Not able to enable the adapter\n");
        goto fail;
    }

    rc = bluez_adapter_call_method("StartDiscovery");
    if(rc) {
        g_print("Not able to scan for new devices\n");
        goto fail;
    }

    g_main_loop_run(loop);
    rc = bluez_adapter_call_method("StopDiscovery");
    if(rc)
        g_print("Not able to stop scanning\n");
    g_usleep(100);

    rc = bluez_adapter_set_property("Powered", g_variant_new("b", FALSE));
    if(rc)
        g_print("Not able to disable the adapter\n");
fail:
    g_dbus_connection_signal_unsubscribe(con, prop_changed);
    g_dbus_connection_signal_unsubscribe(con, iface_added);
    g_dbus_connection_signal_unsubscribe(con, iface_removed);
    g_object_unref(con);
    return 0;
}

You can find more information about this example here. You can use "bluez_device_appeared" to decide to stop discovery or timer based if no devices appeared for X seconds.

You function can only call "StartDiscovery" and arm the timer using "timer_settime" by having callback in "struct sigevent sev.sigev_notify_function = stop_discovery_cb_handler;"

With this you can avoid sleeping in actual function and leave the callback to stop discovery.