Skip to content

Instantly share code, notes, and snippets.

@egorf
Created March 22, 2016 10:30
Show Gist options
  • Save egorf/66d88056a9d703928f93 to your computer and use it in GitHub Desktop.
Save egorf/66d88056a9d703928f93 to your computer and use it in GitHub Desktop.
Bluetoothctl wrapper in Python
# ReachView code is placed under the GPL license.
# Written by Egor Fedorov (egor.fedorov@emlid.com)
# Copyright (c) 2015, Emlid Limited
# All rights reserved.
# If you are interested in using ReachView code as a part of a
# closed source project, please contact Emlid Limited (info@emlid.com).
# This file is part of ReachView.
# ReachView is free software: you can redistribute it and/or modify
# it under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by
# the Free Software Foundation, either version 3 of the License, or
# (at your option) any later version.
# ReachView is distributed in the hope that it will be useful,
# but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
# MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. See the
# GNU General Public License for more details.
# You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License
# along with ReachView. If not, see <http://www.gnu.org/licenses/>.
import time
import pexpect
import subprocess
import sys
class BluetoothctlError(Exception):
"""This exception is raised, when bluetoothctl fails to start."""
pass
class Bluetoothctl:
"""A wrapper for bluetoothctl utility."""
def __init__(self):
out = subprocess.check_output("rfkill unblock bluetooth", shell = True)
self.child = pexpect.spawn("bluetoothctl", echo = False)
def get_output(self, command, pause = 0):
"""Run a command in bluetoothctl prompt, return output as a list of lines."""
self.child.send(command + "\n")
time.sleep(pause)
start_failed = self.child.expect(["bluetooth", pexpect.EOF])
if start_failed:
raise BluetoothctlError("Bluetoothctl failed after running " + command)
return self.child.before.split("\r\n")
def start_scan(self):
"""Start bluetooth scanning process."""
try:
out = self.get_output("scan on")
except BluetoothctlError, e:
print(e)
return None
def make_discoverable(self):
"""Make device discoverable."""
try:
out = self.get_output("discoverable on")
except BluetoothctlError, e:
print(e)
return None
def parse_device_info(self, info_string):
"""Parse a string corresponding to a device."""
device = {}
block_list = ["[\x1b[0;", "removed"]
string_valid = not any(keyword in info_string for keyword in block_list)
if string_valid:
try:
device_position = info_string.index("Device")
except ValueError:
pass
else:
if device_position > -1:
attribute_list = info_string[device_position:].split(" ", 2)
device = {
"mac_address": attribute_list[1],
"name": attribute_list[2]
}
return device
def get_available_devices(self):
"""Return a list of tuples of paired and discoverable devices."""
try:
out = self.get_output("devices")
except BluetoothctlError, e:
print(e)
return None
else:
available_devices = []
for line in out:
device = self.parse_device_info(line)
if device:
available_devices.append(device)
return available_devices
def get_paired_devices(self):
"""Return a list of tuples of paired devices."""
try:
out = self.get_output("paired-devices")
except BluetoothctlError, e:
print(e)
return None
else:
paired_devices = []
for line in out:
device = self.parse_device_info(line)
if device:
paired_devices.append(device)
return paired_devices
def get_discoverable_devices(self):
"""Filter paired devices out of available."""
available = self.get_available_devices()
paired = self.get_paired_devices()
return [d for d in available if d not in paired]
def get_device_info(self, mac_address):
"""Get device info by mac address."""
try:
out = self.get_output("info " + mac_address)
except BluetoothctlError, e:
print(e)
return None
else:
return out
def pair(self, mac_address):
"""Try to pair with a device by mac address."""
try:
out = self.get_output("pair " + mac_address, 4)
except BluetoothctlError, e:
print(e)
return None
else:
res = self.child.expect(["Failed to pair", "Pairing successful", pexpect.EOF])
success = True if res == 1 else False
return success
def remove(self, mac_address):
"""Remove paired device by mac address, return success of the operation."""
try:
out = self.get_output("remove " + mac_address, 3)
except BluetoothctlError, e:
print(e)
return None
else:
res = self.child.expect(["not available", "Device has been removed", pexpect.EOF])
success = True if res == 1 else False
return success
def connect(self, mac_address):
"""Try to connect to a device by mac address."""
try:
out = self.get_output("connect " + mac_address, 2)
except BluetoothctlError, e:
print(e)
return None
else:
res = self.child.expect(["Failed to connect", "Connection successful", pexpect.EOF])
success = True if res == 1 else False
return success
def disconnect(self, mac_address):
"""Try to disconnect to a device by mac address."""
try:
out = self.get_output("disconnect " + mac_address, 2)
except BluetoothctlError, e:
print(e)
return None
else:
res = self.child.expect(["Failed to disconnect", "Successful disconnected", pexpect.EOF])
success = True if res == 1 else False
return success
if __name__ == "__main__":
print("Init bluetooth...")
bl = Bluetoothctl()
print("Ready!")
bl.start_scan()
print("Scanning for 10 seconds...")
for i in range(0, 10):
print(i)
time.sleep(1)
print(bl.get_discoverable_devices())
@barbiscp
Copy link

Hello,

Thank you very much for this code.
I am using python3 and there are some errors to compile it.
Is it possible to get this wrapper for python3?

Thanks in advance

@otoomey
Copy link

otoomey commented May 16, 2017

Why do you have to wait after sending a pair or connect request to bluetoothctl? It returns instantly, as far as I can see, and pexpect.expect() will wait for the result anyway.

@manumj4
Copy link

manumj4 commented Feb 21, 2018

I'm getting this error.... how can i resolve it...

Traceback (most recent call last):
File "/home/pi/Desktop/bluetoothctl.py", line 190, in
bl = Bluetoothctl()
File "/home/pi/Desktop/bluetoothctl.py", line 38, in init
out = subprocess.check_output("rfkill unblock bluetooth", shell = True)
File "/usr/lib/python2.7/subprocess.py", line 573, in check_output
raise CalledProcessError(retcode, cmd, output=output)
CalledProcessError: Command 'rfkill unblock bluetooth' returned non-zero exit status 1

@DuoBelt
Copy link

DuoBelt commented Mar 9, 2018

... thank you, it's very helpful :)

@taufeeq-a
Copy link

I appreciate for sharing :).

I am unable to figure out to pair end device which has pin-code and no GUI. If you can give any suggestion it would be helpful.

@WayneKeenan
Copy link

For error: CalledProcessError: Command 'rfkill unblock bluetooth' returned non-zero exit status 1

change line 42:
out = subprocess.check_output("PATH=/usr/sbin:$PATH; rfkill unblock bluetooth", shell = True)

@WayneKeenan
Copy link

@taufeeq25 typically such a device has a hardcoded default pin, e.g. 0000, 1234 etc. then once paired some devices accept a command to set a custom one, if desired.

@DevKumarChandil
Copy link

How to stop the scan. I copied the function of start scan and modified it for the "scan off" command but it does not work and throws an exception.

def stop_scan(self):
"""Stop bluetooth scanning process."""
try:
out = self.get_output("scan off")
except Exception, e:
print(e)
return None

@chadi8
Copy link

chadi8 commented Jun 6, 2018

Hello thanks for the code,
but when i run agent on , there is a pairing code that will be sent to the phone and then how can i confrim the pairing code from the raspberry pi ?
any suggestions would be appreciated !!

@castis
Copy link

castis commented Feb 15, 2019

@Zontex
Copy link

Zontex commented Apr 16, 2019

Hi @egor,
Is there any chance you could enable RSSI as JSON field as well? so it will be like:
{"name":"Example","mac_address":"00:00:00:00:00","RSSI":"100"} ? that would help for distance determination.
Thanks in Advance.

@dutroctu
Copy link

Thanks alot. It saves my time.

Sign up for free to join this conversation on GitHub. Already have an account? Sign in to comment