ROTTER(1)

💖 rotter(1) — bestie's guide to the audio logger 💖

okay so. sit down, grab a strawberry 🍓, because i'm about to put you on to rotter, and honestly? she's iconic. this is the rotter(1) manual, remixed, but literally every single fact is staying. no cap. 💅

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✨ NAME ✨

rotter — a recording of transmission / audio logger for JACK 🎀

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🌸 SYNOPSIS 🌸

rotter [options] <directory>

that's it. that's the whole vibe. options, then a directory. periodt.

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🦋 DESCRIPTION 🦋

Rotter is a Recording of Transmission / Audio Logger for JACK. it was designed for use by radio stations, who are legally required to keep a recording of all their output. so like, the law said "you need receipts" and rotter said "say less." 💀

Rotter runs continuously, writing to a new file every hour. she does not stop. she does not sleep. she is in her recording era and she's staying there. 👑

Rotter can output files in two different strutures — either all files in a single directory, or create a directory structure:

flat: /root_directory/YYYY-MM-DD-HH.suffix
hierarchy: /root_directory/YYYY/MM/DD/HH/archive.suffix
combo: /root_directory/YYYY/MM/DD/HH/YYYY-MM-DD-HH.suffix
dailydir: /root_directory/YYYY-MM-DD/YYYY-MM-DD-HH.suffix

the advantage of using a folder hierarchy is that you can store related files in the hour's directory. it's giving organized. it's giving i have my life together. 🗂️✨

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💅 OPTIONS 💅

• -a — Automatically connect JACK ports to the first two JACK input ports found. she goes and finds them herself. self-sufficient queen. 🫶
• -f <format> — Select the output format of the log files. See the rotter help screen for a list of supported output format names. (yes bestie, the help screen is where the list lives, go look.) 🔍
• -b <bitrate> — Select the bitrate (in kbps) of the log file. This parameter is only supported by bitstream formats (MPEG Audio). so don't come at her with a non-bitstream format and expect bitrate to do anything, she's not doing that. 🚫
• -c <channels> — Set the number of input channels to be logged. This number of JACK ports will be created. Should either be 1 or 2. one or two. that's the range. don't get creative. 🙈
• -n <name> — Choose the name of the Jack client to register as. name your child. 💖
• -N <filename> — Choose a filename prefix for the archive files created (default archive).
• -d <hours> — Specifies the number of hours of audio to keep before it is deleted. Files are deleted at the start of every hour, based on the files modification date. Default is to not delete files. so if you don't set this, nothing ever gets yeeted. 🗑️
• -R <secs> — Sets the length (in seconds) of the ringbuffer. This is the buffer between the internal audio grabber and the audio encoder. If you have a slow machine you might want to try increating the size of the buffer. (yes, "increating". that's what it says. i don't make the rules, i just report them. 💀)
• -L <layout> — Choose a file layout option for the archive files created. See above for a list. 👆
• -j — By default rotter will automatically try and start jackd if it isn't running. This option disables that feature. she's like "fine, i won't do it myself then." 😤
• -v — Enable verbose mode. Display more messages about what rotter is doing. she's oversharing. we love that for her. 📢
• -q — Enable quiet mode. Only display error messages. she's giving mysterious. 🤫

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🌈 EXAMPLES 🌈

rotter -a -f mp3 -d 1000 -b 160 -v /var/achives

Start logging audio to hourly files in /var/archives. Rotter will automatically connect itself to the first two JACK output ports it finds and encode to MPEG Layer 3 audio at 128kbps. Each hour it will delete files older than 1000 hours (42 days). Verbose mode means it will display more informational messages.

(and yes, the command above says /var/achives and the explanation says 128kbps while the flag says -b 160. that's just how the page is. i am not touching it. i am merely the messenger. 💅)

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👑 AUTHOR 👑

Written by Nicholas J Humfrey

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🌐 RESOURCES 🌐

Web site: http://www.aelius.com/njh/rotter/

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🎀 COPYING 🎀

Copyright (C) 2006-2007 Nicholas J Humfrey. Free use of this software is granted under the terms of the GNU General Public License (GPL).

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ok that's the whole page bestie, go forth and log some audio, you absolute main character. 💖✨🦋🌸

this has been ROTTER(1), source/version ROTTER(1), dated 10/03/2010 — mwah, love u, bye! 😭💜