3.8 Remote Control Interface

This interface can be used to control Soundpad from command line or from other applications.

The interface is not available in the trial version of Soundpad.

3.8.1 Command Line

You may execute specific commands in Soundpad by calling Soundpad.exe with the -rc parameter.

To do so:
  • Open the Command Prompt: Press Win+R > cmd
  • Navigate to Soundpad's installation directory:
    • cd "C:\Program Files\Soundpad" or
    • cd "C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\steamapps\common\Soundpad"
  • Play first sound: Soundpad -rc DoPlaySound(1)
  • List available commands: Soundpad --help
It's not necessary to navigate to the installation directory first. Instead, you can execute "C:\Program Files\Soundpad\Soundpad -rc DoPlaySound(1)" with the surrounding quotes from any directory.

The syntax is Soundpad -rc command, e.g. Soundpad -rc DoPlaysound(1).

Here is a list of available commands (only full version):
  • DoPlaySound(index)
  • DoPlaySound(index,speakers,mic)
    • Example: DoPlaySound(5,true,false)
  • DoPlaySoundFromCategory(categoryIndex,soundIndex,speakers,mic)
    • Example: DoPlaySoundFromCategory(2,1,true,false) ▶ plays 1st sound from category 2 on speakers only
    • Example: DoPlaySoundFromCategory(-1,7) ▶ plays 7th sound in selected category
  • DoPlayPreviousSound()
  • DoPlayNextSound()
  • DoStopSound()
  • DoTogglePause()
  • DoJumpMs(timeMillis)
    • Example: DoJumpMs(2000) ▶ jumps forward by 2 seconds
  • DoSeekMs(timeMillis)
    • Example: DoSeekMs(10000) ▶ jumps to the 10th second in the track
  • DoStartRecording()
  • DoStopRecording()
The above list may be outdated in this document, so use "Soundpad --help" to get the correct list.

3.8.2 Applications

This section is for software developers who want to control Soundpad from their own applications or plugins.

Soundpad uses a named pipe for the communication with other local applications. For this reason, Soundpad and the other application don't require internet or network access. Applications can connect locally to the pipe and begin to issue commands.

The list of available commands is more extensive than the one for the command line, so they aren't listed here, but the following article links to some sample implementations in different programming languages. We'll keep the Java implementation up-to-date, so it contains all available commands.

Further information about functions and parameters can be found in the javadoc comments in the sample Java implementation.

3.8.3 Logs and Debug

Logging of remote control commands is turned off by default, so you won't see any commands or strings, that Soundpad receives, and why commands may have failed.

To get more information about the processing of remote control commands, you need to turn on the remote control logs.

Enabling remote control logs

  1. Run Soundpad once and then close it.
  2. Open the Registry editor: Win+R > regedit
  3. Navigate to HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\Leppsoft\Soundpad\MainFrame
  4. Find the entry logRcCalls and set its value to 1.
  5. Start Soundpad.
  6. Open the logs from the menu at Help ▶ Show logs.

Now, when you do a remote call by using the pipe or the command line, Soundpad will log the call in the log component at the bottom of the main window,
e.g. Remote control: DoPlaySound(2): R-200: 0 ms

Explaining the log

Here is a breakdown of the logs, based on a call with the unknown command test-abc
Remote control: test-abc: R-404: Command not found.: 0 ms

  1. Command entry: Remote control.
  2. Received command: test-abc.
  3. R-404: Command not found: The code derived from HTTP-404.
  4. 0ms: Duration of fully processing the request.

Disable debugging

  1. Close Soundpad.
  2. Open the Registry editor: Win+R > regedit
  3. Navigate to HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\Leppsoft\Soundpad\MainFrame
  4. Find the entry logRcCalls and set its value to 0.