vesta 0.13.0
Vestaboard client library
Requires Python: >=3.10
Keywords: vestaboard

# Vesta

Vesta is a [Vestaboard](https://www.vestaboard.com/) client library for Python.
It provides API clients and character encoding utilities.

## Installation

Vesta requires Python 3.10 or later and has no other runtime dependencies.
It can be installed [via PyPI](https://pypi.org/project/vesta/).

```sh
$ python -m pip install vesta
```

## Usage

### API Clients

#### Read / Write API

`ReadWriteClient` provides a client interface for interacting with a Vestaboard
using the [Read / Write API](https://docs.vestaboard.com/docs/read-write-api/introduction).

Note that Vestaboard owners must first obtain their Read / Write API key by
enabling the Vestaboard's Read / Write API via the Settings section of the
mobile app or from the Developer section of the web app.

```py
import vesta
rw_client = vesta.ReadWriteClient("read_write_key")

# Once enabled, you can write and read messages:
message = vesta.encode_text("{67} Hello, World {68}")
assert rw_client.write_message(message)
assert rw_client.read_message() == message
```

#### Subscription API

`SubscriptionClient` provides a client interface for interacting with multiple
Vestaboards using the [Subscription API](https://docs.vestaboard.com/docs/subscription-api/introduction).

Note that an API secret and key is required to get subscriptions or send
messages. These credentials can be created from the [Developer section of the
web app](https://web.vestaboard.com/).

Messages can be posted as either text strings or two-dimensional arrays of
character codes representing the exact positions of characters on the board.

If text is specified, the lines will be centered horizontally and vertically.
Character codes will be inferred for alphanumeric and punctuation characters,
or they can be explicitly specified using curly braces containing the character
code (such as `{5}` or `{65}`).

```py
import vesta
subscription_client = vesta.SubscriptionClient("api_key", "api_secret")

# List subscriptions and send them messages:
subscriptions = subscription_client.get_subscriptions()
for subscription in subscriptions:
    subscription_client.send_message(subscription["id"], "{67} Hello, World {68}")
```

#### Local API

`LocalClient` provides a client interface for interacting with a Vestaboard
over the local network using [Vestaboard's Local API](https://docs.vestaboard.com/docs/local-api/introduction).

Note that Vestaboard owners must first request a
[Local API enablement token](https://www.vestaboard.com/local-api)
in order to use the Local API.

```py
import vesta
local_client = vesta.LocalClient()

# The Vestaboard's Local API must be enabled to get its Local API key. After
# you've done this once, you can save the key somewhere safe and pass it
# directly to LocalClient() for future client initializations.
local_api_key = local_client.enable(ENABLEMENT_TOKEN)
# e.g. local_client = LocalClient(local_api_key)
assert local_client.enabled

# Once enabled, you can write and read messages:
message = vesta.encode_text("{67} Hello, World {68}")
assert local_client.write_message(message)
assert local_client.read_message() == message
```

#### VBML API

`VBMLClient` provides a client interface for Vestaboard's [VBML (Vestaboard
Markup Language)](https://docs.vestaboard.com/docs/vbml) API.

```py
import vesta

component = Component(
    "Vestaboard Markup Language",
    justify="center",
    align="center",
    width=22,
    height=6,
)

vbml_client = vesta.VBMLClient()
vesta.pprint(vbml_client.compose([component]))
```

#### Platform Client

`Client` provides a client interface for interacting with the **deprecated**
[Vestaboard Platform API](https://docs-v1.vestaboard.com/introduction).

This is the original Vestaboard Platform API. It is **deprecated** and has been
superseded by the other APIs listed above. In particular, Vestaboard encourages
users of the Platform API to switch to the [Subscription API](#subscription-api),
which offers nearly identical functionality.

### Character Encoding

All Vestaboard characters (letters, numbers, symbols, and colors) are encoded
as integer [character codes](https://docs.vestaboard.com/docs/characterCodes).
Vesta includes some useful routines for working with these character codes.

`encode()` encodes a string as a list of character codes. In addition to
printable characters, the string can contain character code sequences inside
curly braces, such as `{5}` or `{65}`.

```pycon
>>> vesta.encode("{67} Hello, World {68}")
[67, 0, 8, 5, 12, 12, 15, 55, 0, 23, 15, 18, 12, 4, 0, 68]
```

`encode_row()` encodes a string as a row of character codes. It builds on
`encode()` by providing alignment control.

```pycon
>>> vesta.encode_row("{67} Hello, World {68}", align="center")
[0, 0, 0, 67, 0, 8, 5, 12, 12, 15, 55, 0, 23, 15, 18, 12, 4, 0, 68, 0, 0, 0]
```

`encode_text()` encodes a string of text into rows of character codes, further
building on `encode()` and `encode_row()` with the addition of alignment,
margin control, and line breaks.

```pycon
>>> encode_text("multiple\nlines\nof\ntext", align="center", valign="middle")
[
    [0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0],
    [0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 13, 21, 12, 20, 9, 16, 12, 5, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0],
    [0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 12, 9, 14, 5, 19, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0],
    [0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 15, 6, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0],
    [0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 20, 5, 24, 20, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0]
    [0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0],
]
```

Lastly, `pprint()` can be used to pretty-print encoded characters to the
console, which can be useful during development.

```pycon
>>> vesta.pprint([0, 0, 0, 67, 0, 8, 5, 12, 12, 15, 55, 0, 23, 15, 18, 12, 4, 0, 68, 0, 0, 0])
| | | |◼︎| |H|E|L|L|O|,| |W|O|R|L|D| |◼︎| | | |
```

## Examples

- [Vestaboard REPL](./examples/repl.py)
- [Olympic Medal Standings](https://gist.github.com/jparise/f3142c58d3478ff1b236ee061f541724)

## License

This project is licensed under the terms of the [MIT license](LICENSE).