show_player:

This is a config file reference. Click for instructions.

This page is reference material which explains every setting and option for this section of an MPF yaml config file. See the instructions for config files for formatting and other details. See our guide to config file examples for more examples of real configs in action.

Valid in
machine config files	YES
mode config files	YES

Note

This section can also be used in a show file in the shows: section of a step.

The show_player: section of your config is where you start, stop, pause, (etc.) shows.

Here is an example:

show_player:
  some_event: your_show_name
  some_other_event: another_show

In the example above, when the event some_event is posted, the show called your_show_name will be played (started). When the event some_other_event is posted, the show called another_show will be played.

See Show player for details.

Optional settings

The following sections are optional in the show_player: section of your config. (If you don't include them, the default will be used).

action:

Single value, type: one of the following options: play, stop, pause, resume, advance, step_back, update, queue. Default: play

play

: Starts playing the show. This is the default action which will happen if you don't include an action: setting.

stop

: Stops the show. Removes and "undoes" anything the show did, and posts the show stop events.

pause

: Pauses the show by holding it at the current step. Posts the show pause events.

resume

: Resumes a previously paused show.

advance

: Manually advances a show to the next step. Posts the show advance events.

step_back

: Manually moves the show back to the previous step. Posts the show step_back events.

update

: Not yet implemented. In the future it will be used to change a setting of a running show, like changing the playback speed.

block_queue:

Single value, type: boolean (true/false). Default: false

You can use block_queue: yes if you want the show to block a queue event until the show is done. Note that you can only use this if the event that starts the show is a queue event.

For example, the mode stopping events are queue events. So take a look at the following config:

show_player:
  mode_my_mode_stopping:
    show_1:
      block_queue: true

In the example above, when the mode called my_mode posts its stopping event, show_1 will start playing. However because this show is set to block the queue event, the mode stopping event will not finish until the show finishes. In other words, the mode will not fully stop, and the mode_my_mode_stopped event will not be posted until the show ends.

If you didn't use the block_queue setting, then the show would start and then stop right away since the mode would end and be over (and shows started in modes are stopped when those modes end).

If you used this setting, make sure that you don't have loops: -1, or a duration: -1 as the final step of the show, since those will mean the show will never end, and then the queue event will never be unblocked, and your machine will hang.