17. API - Internal Devices¶

GPIO Zero also provides several “internal” devices which represent facilities provided by the operating system itself. These can be used to react to things like the time of day, or whether a server is available on the network.

Warning

These devices are experimental and their API is not yet considered stable. We welcome any comments from testers, especially regarding new “internal devices” that you’d find useful!

17.1. Regular Classes¶

The following classes are intended for general use with the devices they are named after. All classes in this section are concrete (not abstract).

17.1.1. TimeOfDay¶

class gpiozero.TimeOfDay(start_time, end_time, *, utc=True, pin_factory=None)[source]¶

Extends InternalDevice to provide a device which is active when the computer’s clock indicates that the current time is between start_time and end_time (inclusive) which are time instances.

The following example turns on a lamp attached to an Energenie plug between 7 and 8 AM:

from gpiozero import TimeOfDay, Energenie
from datetime import time
from signal import pause

lamp = Energenie(1)
morning = TimeOfDay(time(7), time(8))

lamp.source = morning

pause()

Note that start_time may be greater than end_time, indicating a time period which crosses midnight.

Parameters:

start_time (time) – The time from which the device will be considered active.
end_time (time) – The time after which the device will be considered inactive.
utc (bool) – If True (the default), a naive UTC time will be used for the comparison rather than a local time-zone reading.
pin_factory (Factory or None) – See API - Pins for more information (this is an advanced feature which most users can ignore).

end_time¶: The time of day after which the device will be considered inactive.

start_time¶: The time of day after which the device will be considered active.

utc¶: If True, use a naive UTC time reading for comparison instead of a local timezone reading.

value¶: Returns True when the system clock reads between start_time and end_time, and False otherwise. If start_time is greater than end_time (indicating a period that crosses midnight), then this returns True when the current time is greater than start_time or less than end_time.

17.1.2. PingServer¶

class gpiozero.PingServer(host, *, pin_factory=None)[source]¶

Extends InternalDevice to provide a device which is active when a host on the network can be pinged.

The following example lights an LED while a server is reachable (note the use of source_delay to ensure the server is not flooded with pings):

from gpiozero import PingServer, LED
from signal import pause

google = PingServer('google.com')
led = LED(4)

led.source_delay = 60  # check once per minute
led.source = google

pause()

Parameters:	host (str) – The hostname or IP address to attempt to ping. pin_factory (Factory or None) – See API - Pins for more information (this is an advanced feature which most users can ignore).

host¶: The hostname or IP address to test whenever value is queried.

value¶: Returns True if the host returned a single ping, and False otherwise.

17.1.3. CPUTemperature¶

class gpiozero.CPUTemperature(sensor_file='/sys/class/thermal/thermal_zone0/temp', *, min_temp=0.0, max_temp=100.0, threshold=80.0, pin_factory=None)[source]¶

Extends InternalDevice to provide a device which is active when the CPU temperature exceeds the threshold value.

The following example plots the CPU’s temperature on an LED bar graph:

from gpiozero import LEDBarGraph, CPUTemperature
from signal import pause

# Use minimums and maximums that are closer to "normal" usage so the
# bar graph is a bit more "lively"
cpu = CPUTemperature(min_temp=50, max_temp=90)

print('Initial temperature: {}C'.format(cpu.temperature))

graph = LEDBarGraph(5, 6, 13, 19, 25, pwm=True)
graph.source = cpu

pause()

Parameters:

sensor_file (str) – The file from which to read the temperature. This defaults to the sysfs file /sys/class/thermal/thermal_zone0/temp. Whatever file is specified is expected to contain a single line containing the temperature in milli-degrees celsius.
min_temp (float) – The temperature at which value will read 0.0. This defaults to 0.0.
max_temp (float) – The temperature at which value will read 1.0. This defaults to 100.0.
threshold (float) – The temperature above which the device will be considered “active”. (see is_active). This defaults to 80.0.
pin_factory (Factory or None) – See API - Pins for more information (this is an advanced feature which most users can ignore).

is_active¶: Returns True when the CPU temperature exceeds the threshold.

temperature¶: Returns the current CPU temperature in degrees celsius.

value¶: Returns the current CPU temperature as a value between 0.0 (representing the min_temp value) and 1.0 (representing the max_temp value). These default to 0.0 and 100.0 respectively, hence value is temperature divided by 100 by default.

17.1.4. LoadAverage¶

class gpiozero.LoadAverage(load_average_file='/proc/loadavg', *, min_load_average=0.0, max_load_average=1.0, threshold=0.8, minutes=5, pin_factory=None)[source]¶

Extends InternalDevice to provide a device which is active when the CPU load average exceeds the threshold value.

The following example plots the load average on an LED bar graph:

from gpiozero import LEDBarGraph, LoadAverage
from signal import pause

la = LoadAverage(min_load_average=0, max_load_average=2)
graph = LEDBarGraph(5, 6, 13, 19, 25, pwm=True)

graph.source = la

pause()

Parameters:

load_average_file (str) – The file from which to read the load average. This defaults to the proc file /proc/loadavg. Whatever file is specified is expected to contain three space-separated load averages at the beginning of the file, representing 1 minute, 5 minute and 15 minute averages respectively.
min_load_average (float) – The load average at which value will read 0.0. This defaults to 0.0.
max_load_average (float) – The load average at which value will read 1.0. This defaults to 1.0.
threshold (float) – The load average above which the device will be considered “active”. (see is_active). This defaults to 0.8.
minutes (int) – The number of minutes over which to average the load. Must be 1, 5 or 15. This defaults to 5.
pin_factory (Factory or None) – See API - Pins for more information (this is an advanced feature which most users can ignore).

is_active¶: Returns True when the load_average exceeds the threshold.

load_average¶: Returns the current load average.

value¶: Returns the current load average as a value between 0.0 (representing the min_load_average value) and 1.0 (representing the max_load_average value). These default to 0.0 and 1.0 respectively.

17.1.5. DiskUsage¶

class gpiozero.DiskUsage(filesystem='/', *, threshold=90.0, pin_factory=None)[source]¶

Extends InternalDevice to provide a device which is active when the disk space used exceeds the threshold value.

The following example plots the disk usage on an LED bar graph:

from gpiozero import LEDBarGraph, DiskUsage
from signal import pause

disk = DiskUsage()

print('Current disk usage: {}%'.format(disk.usage))

graph = LEDBarGraph(5, 6, 13, 19, 25, pwm=True)
graph.source = disk

pause()

Parameters:

filesystem (str) – A path within the filesystem for which the disk usage needs to be computed. This defaults to /, which is the root filesystem.
threshold (float) – The disk usage percentage above which the device will be considered “active” (see is_active). This defaults to 90.0.
pin_factory (Factory or None) – See API - Pins for more information (this is an advanced feature which most users can ignore).

is_active¶: Returns True when the disk usage exceeds the threshold.

usage¶: Returns the current disk usage in percentage.

value¶: Returns the current disk usage as a value between 0.0 and 1.0 by dividing usage by 100.

17.2. Base Classes¶

The classes in the sections above are derived from a series of base classes, some of which are effectively abstract. The classes form the (partial) hierarchy displayed in the graph below (abstract classes are shaded lighter than concrete classes):

The following sections document these base classes for advanced users that wish to construct classes for their own devices.

17.2.1. InternalDevice¶

class gpiozero.InternalDevice(*, pin_factory=None)[source]¶: Extends Device to provide a basis for devices which have no specific hardware representation. These are effectively pseudo-devices and usually represent operating system services like the internal clock, file systems or network facilities.