frIRR! is a small utility that can control a lot of multimedia applications using a WinLIRC compatible remote. No more plugins or huge apps. frIRR! will control almost any media player.

How does it work

It's very simple: frIRR! connects to the WinLIRC server and waits for a button pressure. When a pressure is detected a keystroke or a mouse pointer move is simulated, depending on the configuration file.

Usage

frIRR! can be launched at either startup or manually. To launch at startup, drag "frirr.exe" in your Start menu > Programs > Startup folder.
In some cases, like old computers, it could be necessary tell frIRR! to wait some time before trying to connect: the network services may be not fully loaded by Windows. See the configuration section for more information.
When frIRR! starts, a balloon tooltip will notify how many buttons are loaded from the default ini.
Now it's ready to receive commands.
By clicking on the frIRR! tray icon, you can choose others ini simply clicking it.
You can also open an ini save in to another folder (Open ini...), display the About dialog (About), show the help page (Help), and close frIRR! (Exit). Remember that another way to close frIRR! is to press CTRL+ALT+Q or the hotkey you set in frirr.ini (see below for configuration options).

Configuration

Configuration of frIRR! is done through frirr.ini file. Below you can see all the available options: 

[CONFIG]
; Ip of WinLIRC server. In most cases you should not change it.
ip=127.0.0.1

; Port of WinLIRC server. In most cases you should not change it.
port=8765

; Default INI file to load at startup
default=winamp.ini

; Hotkey to close frIRR! (CTRL+ALT+Q).
closekey=^!q

; Set to 1 to disable errors and balloon tooltips.
silent=0

; Time to wait before try to connect to WinLIRC.
wait=1000

Buttons assignments

As written above, frIRR! sends keystrokes when detects a button pressure in your remote. You can set which button causes which keystroke in a ini file. You can store different associations in multiple ini files. For example, one for Windows Media Player, one of VLC, etc.

Please note that frIRR! comes with a lot of already written ini for many applications, but you must adapt them, writing in each one the name of button you choose on WinLIRC.
You can also set assignments by your own, following this syntax: 

buttonX=the name of the button set on WinLIRC
functionX=the keystroke simulated when the button is pressed

Example: 

[BUTTONS]
button1=PAUSE
function1={MEDIA_PLAY_PAUSE}

button2=STOP
function2={MEDIA_STOP},1

button3=BACK
function3={MEDIA_PREV}

buttonX=BLA
functionX={BLA_BLA}

If your remote is very fast, the command may be repeated 3-4 times within a short time. frIRR! is able avoid accidental repetitions with REPEAT PROTECTION. Add ",1" at the end of each key code to enable protection. EG: {MEDIA_PLAY_PAUSE},1

Functions

There are all the actions frIRR! can simulate when it detects a button pressure:

1. Media Hotkeys: 

 {BROWSER_BACK}         Select browser "back" button
 {BROWSER_FORWARD}      Select browser "forward" button
 {BROWSER_REFRESH}      Select browser "refresh" button
 {BROWSER_STOP}         Select browser "stop" button
 {BROWSER_SEARCH}       Select browser "search" button
 {BROWSER_FAVORITES}    Select browser "favorites" button
 {BROWSER_HOME}         Launch browser and go to home page
 {VOLUME_MUTE}          Mute volume
 {VOLUME_DOWN}          Reduce volume
 {VOLUME_UP}            Increase volume
 {MEDIA_NEXT}           Select next track in media player
 {MEDIA_PREV}           Select previous track in media player
 {MEDIA_STOP}           Stop media player
 {MEDIA_PLAY_PAUSE}     Play/pause media player
 {LAUNCH_MAIL}          Launch email application
 {LAUNCH_MEDIA}         Launch media player
 {LAUNCH_APP1}          Launch user app1
 {LAUNCH_APP2}          Launch user app2
Those hotkeys are "universally" recognised by "any" media player. If your player doesn't support Media Hotkeys, you can use:

2. Generic hotkeys:
You can simulate every keyboard hotkey. See http://www.autoitscript.com/autoit3/docs/functions/Send.htm

3. Mouse control: 

 MOUSE_UP       Move pointer up.
 MOUSE_DOWN     Move pointer down.
 MOUSE_LEFT     Move pointer left.
 MOUSE_RIGHT    Move pointer right.
 MOUSE_RCLICK   Simulate Right button Click.
 MOUSE_LCLICK   Simulate Left button Click.
 MOUSE_W_UP     Simulate mouse wheel scroll up
 MOUSE_W_DW     Simulate mouse wheel scroll down

Known supported applications:

NOTE 1: frIRR! can control any application that support keyboard shorcuts. Remember, this is a list of *known* supported applications, but there can be much more.
NOTE 2: "Global Hotkeys" means that you can control the application even if its window is in background, or reduced to icon. If the application has not "Global" support, you can control it only if it's selected or in fullscreen mode.

Contact

You can reach frab, the author, clicking here

Other useful links (only in Italian language, sorry):
- Homepage of frIRR!
- frab network
- frab development zone