libhid README
=============

libhid is (c) 2003-2007 by
  Martin F. Krafft <libhid@pobox.madduck.net>
  Charles Lepple <clepple+libhid@ghz.cc>
  Arnaud Quette <arnaud.quette@free.fr> && <arnaud.quette@mgeups.com>
and distributed under the terms of the GNU General Public License v2.
See the file ./COPYING in the source distribution for more information.

Revision: $Id: README 331 2007-04-25 12:52:22Z clepple-guest $

Please send bugreports to <libhid-discuss@lists.alioth.debian.org>

Introduction
------------

libhid is a rewrite of libHID[0] and aims to provide the same functionality
from a more organised framework. It aims to provide a layer of abstraction for
accessing HID-class devices over USB or serial lines (similar to what libusb
provides for the base USB protocol).

0. http://www.ghz.cc/~clepple/libHID/doc/html/

libhid has been designed because it is needed in two other projects
(libphdigets and nut). As such, it does not have a complete featureset yet but
is rather a work in progress (alpha state). We invite everyone to contribute
or get in touch with us for additional features.

Please find more information on the project website:

  http://libhid.alioth.debian.org

You are welcome to sign up with the libhid mailing list at
  
  http://lists.alioth.debian.org/mailman/listinfo/libhid-discuss

for support.

Configuration
-------------

To configure the package, you will need the following software. In parentheses
are the versions used by the developers. Previous versions may work, but are
not supported.

libhid needs libusb version 0.1.8beta or newer. It does not work with libusb
1.0 at this moment. The following two Debian packages provide the needed
software:

  - libusb-0.1-4 (1:0.1.8-17)
  - libusb-dev (1:0.1.8-17)

The libusb home page is here: http://libusb.sourceforge.net/

If you want to build the swig python existension, you will need swig 1.3 
installed. The following two Debian packages provide it:

  - libswig1.3.22 (1.3.22-3)
  - swig (1.3.22-3)

The SWIG homepage is here: http://www.swig.org/

To create man pages for the included utility programs, you need xsltproc and
the DocBook stylesheets.

  - xsltproc (1.1.12-5)
  - docbook-xsl (1.66.1-1)

Lastly, to compile the API documentation, you need doxygen, which is in the
following Debian package:

  - doxygen (1.2.15-2)

Once these are installed, the package can be configured and compiled.
Configuration happens as follows:

  $ ./configure [args]

where [args] is a space-separated list of the following:

  --prefix=/usr/local       installs the software under /usr/local
  --enable-debug            enables debugging symbols in the library
  --enable-maintainer-mode  enables automatic regeneration of configure and
                            Makefile scripts
  --disable-shared          only creates a library object for static
                            linking, which shortens compile time. generally,
                            this is not necessary.
More options are available. Consult the `./configure --help` output.

For most purposes, it suffices to issue the following command:
  
  $ ./configure --enable-debug

The recommended way to install the software requires you to issue the following
command:
  
  $ ./configure --enable-debug --prefix=/usr/local/stow/libhid

Following the configuration, the package can be build and installed as usual:

  $ make
  $ su           # if needed
  # make install

Help wanted
-----------

Note that the library is not (yet) complete and it's not thoroughly tested.
However, given the effort and grief we went through in writing it, we would
like to make it available to folks, get people to test it, and hopefully have
some peeps submit improvements. If you have any suggestions, please write to
us at the mailing list mentioned above.

It's not yet documented, although the usage should be fairly straight
forward. We are hoping that someone steps forward and offers to document the
work. It generally results in better documentation, when it's not written by
the authors.

Furthermore, we are always looking for people willing to help out. In
particular, we would love to find someone willing to maintain the website.
We are also looking to rewrite the MGE HIDParser and implement new
functionality. If you are interested, please contact us at the libhid-discuss
mailing list address above.

Credits
-------

The original library was written by Charles Lepple and Arnaud Quette. Martin
Krafft later joined and led the rewrite.

The library uses the HIDParser framework made available by MGE[1].

1. http://www.mgeups.com/opensource/projects/hidparser.htm

Usage
-----

The library supports pkg-config. Thus, to compile with the library,

  #include <hid.h>

and in your Makefile:

  CPPFLAGS += `pkg-config libhid --cflags`
  LDFLAGS += `pkg-config libhid --libs`

If using automake, use the AM_* versions of the two variables. See
test/test_libhid.c and its Makefile.am for more details.

Have fun.