With the Simple Orca Plugin System (SOPS) you can extend the functionality of the Orca screen reader. It offers the possibility to add plug-ins in nearly any programming language in an easy way. The settings for the plug-ins are controlled via the filename.
To setup the plug-in system for the current user, run:
This will create the directory ~/.config/SOPS and its subdirectories and enable three plugins: plugin_manager, workspacenumber and clipboard.
To open the plug-in manager use orca+ctrl+p
while Orca is running. It can be used to activate, deactivate, install or configure plug-ins. Orca gets re-started automatically after closing the plug-in manager.
/usr/share/SOPS/
. It contains the default plug-ins, the documentation,the plugin loader and the administration tools:~/.config/SOPS/plugins-available/
~/.config/SOPS/plugins-enabled/
The tools are located in the "tools" folder beneath the installation directory. The following command enables/activates a plug-in, but you have to rename the filename to create a shortcut and pass a command to the plug-in:
The command to disable and unload a plug-in is:
Both commands basically just create or delete links in ~./.config/SOPSP/plugins-enabled
and make the plug-ins executable. You have to configure the plug-ins manually. Restart Orca to reload the plug-ins after changes.
You can find some fully predefined example plugins in: /usr/share/SOPS/examples
and others in: /usr/share/SOPS/plugins
The shortcut, plug-in type and preference of a plug-in are controlled by its filename. The descriptive part of the filename has to be separated from the preferences part with __-__
. The commands, modifier and the key has to be separated by __+__
.
There are two different ways to run a plug-in:
If none of those are present. the plug-in won't load. There are some more #Commands to control the behavior of a plug-in.
With modifiers you can set different shortcut combinations for a key
. You always have to press the Orca-modifier. The order of the three modifier keys do not matter:
control
is the modifier for the ctrl
key on the keyboardshift
is the modifier for the shift
key on the keyboardalt
is the modifier for the alt
key on the keyboardkey_<key>
defines the basic shortcut that is used for the plug-in, maybe together with the defined modifiers (example_plugin__-__key_d.sh
uses orca+d
).Only a few combinations of modifiers are valid. Those are predefined by Orca. Valid combinations are:
alt
i.e. description__-__alt__+__key_y.sh
control
i.e. description__-__control__+__key_b.sh
shift
i.e. description__-__shift__+__key_c.sh
control + alt
i.e. description__-__control__+__alt__+__key_w.py
shift + alt
i.e. description__-__shift__+__alt__+__key_y.sh
As key_<key>
you can use any alphanumerical key.
Preferences for plug-ins are called commands. A command defines the action to pass to the plug-in. With commands you control the behaviour of the plug-ins. You may add more than one command. The order of the commands do not matter. You can use them for all kinds of plug-ins.
startnotify
announces "start <description>" before the plug-in is executed. It is useful as feedback for plug-ins with longer progress times. (all plug-ins)stopnotify
announces "finish <description>". This is useful as feedback for plug-ins with no output. (all plugins)blockcall
do not start the plug-in in a thread. Be careful, as this locks Orca until the plug-in is finished. By default, plug-ins each run in a dedicated thread. (all plug-ins)error
announces returned errors. (all plug-ins)supressoutput
ignores the output of STDOUT. This is useful for plugins that may have a UI and do not pass output to STDOUT. (sub process plug-in only)parameters_<parameter1> [parameter2] [parameter3]...
passes the parameters to the plug-in. (sub process plug-in only)exec
run the plug-in once while loading it. Mostly useful as advanced-plug-in. (all plug-ins)loadmodule
does not load as a sub process plug-in but loads it as advanced plug-in. (advanced plug-in only)Plugin name__-__startnotify__+__control__+__alt__+__key_n.sh
Run with orca+ctrl+alt+n
and announce the start of the process.PluginName__-__error__+__stopnotify__+__shift__+__key_y.py
Run with orca+shift+m
and announce the finishing. Does also read occurring errors .Plugin_Name__-__key_m.py
Run with orca+m
Plugin_Name__-__exec.py
Run once at starting Orca.Basically there are two different types of plug-ins.
Sub process plug-ins are simple plug-ins of a default type. They may be any type of application or script that writes to STDOUT or STDERR. Orca executes the plug-in, reads from STDOUT/ STDERR and announces the result to the user, when the defined shortcut is pressed or the plug-in is executed via exec
while starting the screen reader.
key_<key>
or exec
have to be defined in the filename.Say "Hello World when pressing orca+y
: Filename:Hello_world__-__key_y.sh
Those type of plug-ins are loaded with the spec.loader.exec_module. you can load them by using loadmodule
in the filename. They are fully integrated into Orca as soon as it starts. Advanced plug-ins are more powerful, because you are able to work in the Orca context. They are mostly similar to the orca-customizations.py
.
.py
loadmodule
in the filenamekey_<key>
or exec
have to been defined in filenameConfigure Orca to speak/braille the word "bang" instead of the "!" while loading the plug-in. Filename:replace_chnames__-__loadmodule__+__exec.py
You can also host plug-ins, making them available for installation via the plug-in manager. If you want to Host plug-ins, read:
The default online resource is: https://wiki.archlinux.org/title/Simple_Orca_Plugin_System