RTSP/RTP streaming server in Perl!

[amir]

I am writing a RTSP streaming media server in Perl! :-) However, I am not able to find any thing about RTSP or RTP in Perl whatsoever, at least no server-side implementations, code, or hints/tips.

I've read RFC 2326 (get it here) on the RTSP protocol, which by the way is very similar to HTTP/1.1. I cannot get RealPlayer or QuickTime player to talk to my server! The server fork()s on incoming requests and is HTTP/1.1-compliant as well as minimally RTSP/1.0-compliant. I am able to recieve data from the RTSP client, but when I send a reply, the clients just hang there, waiting for something... Currently, I am sending replies in several print() statement, would I need to send everything in a buffer?

So, in RTSP terms, the RealPlayer client sends an OPTIONS request for a particular file, and then hangs. The QuickTime client sends a DESCRIBE request for a file, but both clients don't respond to my server's reply message!

I guess my question is quite vague, but I would appreciate any help, tips, comments, pointers, etc. to lead me in the right direction to writing this server.

Thanks,
Amir

[t0mas]

There is a small utility called rtsp-ping at http://www.dnalounge.com/backstage/src/realproducer/rtsp-ping.

It is written in perl, so you would be able to modify the code to print what the client actually gets from your server. Maybe it's not what you think you're sending.


/brother t0mas

[z3d]

Have you checked out the Darwin streaming server from Apple? True, it is intended for Quicktime, not RealMedia, but since both utilize rtsp it might be worth looking at. If I remember right, their server implementation is written entirely in perl (hence my posting).

---


"I have never written bad code. There are merely unanticipated features."

[rdfield]

Have you set 'autoflush' on your IO handle? (see perlipc)

rdfield

[amir]

select(STDOUT);
$| = 1;

Will the above code do the trick for autoflushing my socket filehandle?

[rdfield]

Nope. That'll autoflush STDOUT: replace STDOUT with whatever name you've given your socket handle, and add select(STDOUT); after the $| = 1; which will reset the default filehandle.

rdfield