CAM handling refactored; multiple recordings with one CAM; automatic CAM selection

PLUGINS.html

@@ -6,7 +6,7 @@
 
 <center><h1>The VDR Plugin System</h1></center>
 
-<center><b>Version 1.4.1</b></center>
+<center><b>Version 1.5.0</b></center>
 <p>
 <center>
 Copyright &copy; 2006 Klaus Schmidinger<br>
@@ -14,6 +14,10 @@ Copyright &copy; 2006 Klaus Schmidinger<br>
 <a href="http://www.cadsoft.de/vdr">www.cadsoft.de/vdr</a>
 </center>
 <p>
+<!--X1.5.0--><table width=100%><tr><td bgcolor=#FF0000>&nbsp;</td><td width=100%>
+Important modifications introduced in version 1.5.0 are marked like this.
+<!--X1.5.0--></td></tr></table>
+<p>
 VDR provides an easy to use plugin interface that allows additional functionality
 to be added to the program by implementing a dynamically loadable library file.
 This interface allows programmers to develop additional functionality for VDR completely
@@ -72,6 +76,9 @@ structures and allows it to hook itself into specific areas to perform special a
 <li><a href="#Devices">Devices</a>
 <li><a href="#Audio">Audio</a>
 <li><a href="#Remote Control">Remote Control</a>
+<!--X1.5.0--><table width=100%><tr><td bgcolor=#FF0000>&nbsp;</td><td width=100%>
+<li><a href="#Conditional Access">Conditional Access</a>
+<!--X1.5.0--></td></tr></table>
 </ul>
 </ul>
 
@@ -1727,6 +1734,7 @@ selecting which channel it shall tune to:
 
 <p><table><tr><td bgcolor=#F0F0F0><pre>
 virtual bool ProvidesSource(int Source) const;
+virtual bool ProvidesTransponder(const cChannel *Channel) const;
 virtual bool ProvidesChannel(const cChannel *Channel, int Priority = -1, bool *NeedsDetachReceivers = NULL);
 virtual bool SetChannelDevice(const cChannel *Channel, bool LiveView);
 </pre></td></tr></table><p>
@@ -2038,5 +2046,42 @@ Put(uint64 Code, bool Repeat = false, bool Release = false);
 
 The other parameters have the same meaning as in the first version of this function.
 
+<!--X1.5.0--><table width=100%><tr><td bgcolor=#FF0000>&nbsp;</td><td width=100%>
+<a name="Conditional Access"><hr><h2>Conditional Access</h2>
+
+<center><i><b>Members only!</b></i></center><p>
+
+Pay TV providers usually encrypt their broadcasts, so that only viewers who
+have the proper smart card can watch them. Such a smart card needs to be inserted
+into a CAM (Conditional Access Module), which in turn goes into a CI (Common
+Interface) slot.
+<p>
+VDR's mechanisms for supporting Conditional Access are mainly the two classes
+<tt>cCiAdapter</tt> and <tt>cCamSlot</tt>. A <tt>cCiAdapter</tt> handles exactly
+one CI, and can provide several CAM slots, represented by the appropriate
+number of <tt>cCamSlot</tt> objects.
+<p>
+In order to decrypt a particular channel, a <tt>cCiAdapter</tt> with a <tt>cCamSlot</tt>
+that contains the necessary CAM will be assigned to a <tt>cDevice</tt>, and exactly
+one of its CAM slots will be activated. Whether or not a <tt>cCiAdapter</tt> can
+be assigned to a particular device depends on the hardware implementation.
+Some devices (like the Siemens/Technotrend DVB cards) are hardwired with their
+CI adapters, so the <tt>cCiAdapter</tt> for these can only be used with one device.
+Other hardware implementations may allow CI adapters and devices to be connected
+through some sort of matrix switch. When trying to decrypt an encrypted channel,
+VDR will automatically select a useful combination of device and CAM slot.
+<p>
+If a plugin implements a derived <tt>cCiAdapter</tt>, it has to implement
+several low level functions that handle the actual data transfer (see <tt>dvbci.c</tt>
+for example). The decision whether the adapter can actually be assigned to different
+devices is made in the function
+
+<p><table><tr><td bgcolor=#F0F0F0><pre>
+virtual bool Assign(cDevice *Device, bool Query = false);
+</pre></td></tr></table><p>
+
+See the description of this function in <tt>ci.h</tt> for details.
+<!--X1.5.0--></td></tr></table>
+
 </body>
 </html>