When running xbmcswift2 from the command line, there are two commands available, create and run. create is a script that will create the basic scaffolding and necessary files for an XBMC addon and personalize it by asking you a few questions. run enables you to debug your addon on the command line.
To see the command line help, simply execute xbmcswift2 -h. Both of the commands are explained further below.
To create a new addon, change your current working directory to a location where you want your addon folder to be created. Then execute xbmcswift2 create. After answering a few questions, you should have the basic addon structure in place.
When running an addon on the command line, there are three different run modes available, once, interactive, and crawl.
There is also a second positional argument, url, which is optional. By default, xbmcswift2 will run the root URL of your addon (a path of ‘/’), e.g. plugin://plugin.video.academicearth/. This is the same default URL that XBMC uses when you first enter an addon. You can gather URLs from the output of xbmcswift2.
The options -q and -v decrease and increase the logging level.
Note
To enable running on the command line, xbmcswift2 attempts to mock a portion of the XBMC python bindings. Certain functions behave properly like looking up strings. However, if a function has not been implemented, xbmcswift2 lets the function call pass silently to avoid exceptions and allow the plugin to run in a limited fashion. This is why you’ll often see WARNING log messages when running on the command line.
If you plan on using the command line to develop your addons, you should always import the xbmc modules from xbmcswift2:
from xbcmswift2 import xbmcgui
xbmcswift2 will correctly import the proper module based on the environment. When running in XBMC, it will import the actual modules, and when running on the command line it will import mocked modules without error.
Executes the addon once then quits. Useful for testing when used with the optional url argument.:
$ xbmcswift2 run once # you can omit the once argument as it is the default
------------------------------------------------------------
# Label Path
------------------------------------------------------------
[0] Subjects (plugin://plugin.video.academicearth/subjects/)
------------------------------------------------------------
$ xbmcswift2 run once plugin://plugin.video.academicearth/subjects/
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# Label Path
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[ 0] ACT (plugin://plugin.video.academicearth/subjects/http%3A%2F%2Fwww.academicearth.org%2Fsubjects%2Fact/)
[ 1] Accounting (plugin://plugin.video.academicearth/subjects/http%3A%2F%2Fwww.academicearth.org%2Fsubjects%2Faccounting/)
[ 2] Algebra (plugin://plugin.video.academicearth/subjects/http%3A%2F%2Fwww.academicearth.org%2Fsubjects%2Falgebra/)
[ 3] Anthropology (plugin://plugin.video.academicearth/subjects/http%3A%2F%2Fwww.academicearth.org%2Fsubjects%2Fanthropology/)
[ 4] Applied CompSci (plugin://plugin.video.academicearth/subjects/http%3A%2F%2Fwww.academicearth.org%2Fsubjects%2Fapplied-computer-science/)
...
Allows the user to step through their addon using an interactive session. This is meant to mimic the basic XBMC interface of clicking on a listitem, which then brings up a new directory listing. After each listing is displayed the user will be prompted for a listitem to select. There will always be a .. option to return to the previous directory (except for the initial URL).:
$ xbmcswift2 run interactive
------------------------------------------------------------
# Label Path
------------------------------------------------------------
[0] Subjects (plugin://plugin.video.academicearth/subjects/)
------------------------------------------------------------
Choose an item or "q" to quit: 0
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
# Label Path
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
[ 0] .. (plugin://plugin.video.academicearth/)
[ 1] ACT (plugin://plugin.video.academicearth/subjects/http%3A%2F%2Fwww.academicearth.org%2Fsubjects%2Fact/)
[ 2] Accounting (plugin://plugin.video.academicearth/subjects/http%3A%2F%2Fwww.academicearth.org%2Fsubjects%2Faccounting/)
[ 3] Algebra (plugin://plugin.video.academicearth/subjects/http%3A%2F%2Fwww.academicearth.org%2Fsubjects%2Falgebra/)
[ 4] Anthropology (plugin://plugin.video.academicearth/subjects/http%3A%2F%2Fwww.academicearth.org%2Fsubjects%2Fanthropology/)
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Choose an item or "q" to quit: 1
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
# Label Path
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
[0] .. (plugin://plugin.video.academicearth/subjects/)
[1] ACT - Science Test Prep (plugin://plugin.video.academicearth/courses/http%3A%2F%2Fwww.academicearth.org%2Fcourses%2Fact-science-test-prep/)
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Used to crawl every available path in your addon. In between each request the user will be prompted to hit Enter to continue.:
$ xbmcswift2 run crawl 2>/dev/null
------------------------------------------------------------
# Label Path
------------------------------------------------------------
[0] Subjects (plugin://plugin.video.academicearth/subjects/)
------------------------------------------------------------
Enter to continue or "q" to quit
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
# Label Path
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
[ 0] ACT (plugin://plugin.video.academicearth/subjects/http%3A%2F%2Fwww.academicearth.org%2Fsubjects%2Fact/)
[ 1] Accounting (plugin://plugin.video.academicearth/subjects/http%3A%2F%2Fwww.academicearth.org%2Fsubjects%2Faccounting/)
[ 2] Algebra (plugin://plugin.video.academicearth/subjects/http%3A%2F%2Fwww.academicearth.org%2Fsubjects%2Falgebra/)
[ 3] Anthropology (plugin://plugin.video.academicearth/subjects/http%3A%2F%2Fwww.academicearth.org%2Fsubjects%2Fanthropology/)
[ 4] Applied CompSci (plugin://plugin.video.academicearth/subjects/http%3A%2F%2Fwww.academicearth.org%2Fsubjects%2Fapplied-computer-science/)
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Enter to continue or "q" to quit
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
# Label Path
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
[ 0] A Cultural and Scientific Survey of the Eye and Vision (plugin://plugin.video.academicearth/courses/http%3A%2F%2Fwww.academicearth.org%2Fcourses%2Fa-cultural-and-scientific-survey-of-the-eye-and-vision/)
[ 1] Autism and Related Disorders (plugin://plugin.video.academicearth/courses/http%3A%2F%2Fwww.academicearth.org%2Fcourses%2Fautism-and-related-disorders/)
[ 2] Biology (plugin://plugin.video.academicearth/courses/http%3A%2F%2Fwww.academicearth.org%2Fcourses%2Fbiology/)
[ 3] Core Science - Biochemistry I (plugin://plugin.video.academicearth/courses/http%3A%2F%2Fwww.academicearth.org%2Fcourses%2Fcore-science---biochemistry-i/)
[ 4] Darwin's Legacy (plugin://plugin.video.academicearth/courses/http%3A%2F%2Fwww.academicearth.org%2Fcourses%2Fdarwins-legacy/)
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Enter to continue or "q" to quit