ED-RadioProgram

An Elite Dangerous Market Connector (EDMC) plugin that displays current radio program information from online radio stations, both in the EDMC interface and as an in-game overlay.

Features

• 📻 Real-time Program Information: Displays current program name, time slot, description, and presenter
• 🎮 In-Game Overlay: Shows program info directly in Elite Dangerous (requires EDMCOverlay)
• 🎨 Styled Radio Station Overlay: Beautiful multi-color display with decorative borders and emojis (🎵 🎙️ ⏰)
• 📐 Resolution-Aware Positioning: Overlay scales perfectly to ANY screen resolution
• 🖥️ Screen Resolution Configuration: Choose from common presets or set custom resolution
• 📍 Configurable Overlay Position: Choose from 8 screen positions for the in-game overlay
• ✂️ Smart Text Wrapping: Long program names and descriptions wrap cleanly within the overlay box
• 🔄 Auto-Refresh: Automatically updates program information at configurable intervals (5-60 minutes)
• 🌐 API-Based: Uses JSON API for reliable, fast data retrieval
• 🐍 Python 3.x: Modern, clean Python 3 codebase

Supported Radio Stations

Currently supports:

• ORF Sound stations (Austria) via AudioAPI
  • Ö1: https://audioapi.orf.at/oe1/api/json/current/broadcasts
  • FM4: https://audioapi.orf.at/fm4/api/json/current/broadcasts
  • Ö3: https://audioapi.orf.at/oe3/api/json/current/broadcasts
  • And other ORF radio stations

More station types can be added in the future!

Installation

1. Download the latest release or clone this repository
2. Navigate to your EDMC plugins folder:
   • Windows: %LOCALAPPDATA%\EDMarketConnector\plugins
   • Mac: ~/Library/Application Support/EDMarketConnector/plugins
   • Linux: ~/.local/share/EDMarketConnector/plugins
3. Copy the ED-RadioProgram folder into the plugins directory
4. Restart EDMC

Configuration

1. Open EDMC and go to File > Settings
2. Navigate to the ED-RadioProgram tab
3. Configure the following options:

Settings

• Radio Station API URL: Enter the ORF AudioAPI URL for your station

  • Default: https://audioapi.orf.at/oe1/api/json/current/broadcasts
  • Example FM4: https://audioapi.orf.at/fm4/api/json/current/broadcasts
  • Example Ö3: https://audioapi.orf.at/oe3/api/json/current/broadcasts

• Station Type: Select the radio station type (currently only "ORF Sound" is supported)

• Refresh Interval: How often to update program information (5-60 minutes)

  • Default: 10 minutes
  • Recommended: 10-15 minutes to avoid excessive API calls

• Game Screen Resolution: Select your Elite Dangerous game resolution for proper overlay positioning

  • 1920x1080 (Full HD): Standard Full HD resolution
  • 1920x1200 (WUXGA): Widescreen UXGA resolution
  • 2560x1440 (2K): Quad HD resolution
  • 3840x2160 (4K): Ultra HD / 4K resolution
  • Custom: Enter your exact resolution (width x height)
  • ⚠️ Important: Setting the correct resolution ensures the overlay appears in the right position!

• Enable in-game overlay: Toggle the in-game overlay on/off

  • Requires EDMCOverlay plugin to be installed
  • Shows program info with styled radio station display and 70% transparent background

• Overlay Position: Choose where the overlay appears on your screen

  • Top-Left: Upper left corner (default)
  • Top-Middle: Top center of screen
  • Top-Right: Upper right corner
  • Middle-Left: Left side, vertically centered
  • Middle-Right: Right side, vertically centered
  • Bottom-Left: Lower left corner
  • Bottom-Middle: Bottom center
  • Bottom-Right: Lower right corner

Usage

EDMC Main Window

Once configured, the plugin will display:

• Program Name (large, bold text)
• Time Slot (🕒 with time range in HH:MM format)
• Description (program subtitle/description)
• Presenter (host/author name, when available)
• Last Updated timestamp
• Manual Refresh Button: Click to immediately update program information
• Show/Hide Overlay Button: Toggle in-game overlay (if EDMCOverlay is installed)

In-Game Overlay

When enabled, program information is displayed in-game with a beautiful radio station-styled design:

Visual Design:

• Semi-transparent black background (70% opacity for better readability)
• Decorative borders using box-drawing characters (╔═══╗)
• Multi-color text scheme for a professional radio station look
• Emoji icons for visual interest (🎵 🎙️ ⏰)
• Smart text wrapping - long text automatically fits within the box

Color Scheme:

• 🎵 Cyan (#00FFFF) - Program name (large, bold) - like LED displays
• ⏰ Green (#00FF00) - Time slot - digital clock style
• 🎙️ Orange (#FFA500) - Presenter name - warm and inviting
• White (#FFFFFF) - Description text - clean and readable
• Cyan borders - Professional framing

What the overlay displays:

╔════════════════════════════════════╗
║ 🎵 Program Name                    ║
║────────────────────────────────────║
║ ⏰ 14:00 - 16:00 Uhr               ║
║ 🎙️ Presenter Name                  ║
║────────────────────────────────────║
║ Description text that wraps        ║
║ nicely within the box              ║
╚════════════════════════════════════╝

Features:

• Configurable position (8 screen positions available)
• Smart text alignment based on position (left/center/right)
• Resolution-aware scaling - works on any screen size
• Auto-updates with each refresh cycle
• Long descriptions wrap cleanly (max 3 lines) with "..." indicator

Changing Overlay Position

1. Open EDMC Settings → ED-RadioProgram tab
2. Select your preferred position from the "Overlay Position" dropdown
3. Click OK to save
4. The overlay immediately moves to the new position!

Manual Refresh

Click the Refresh button in EDMC to immediately fetch the latest program information without waiting for the automatic refresh interval.

Requirements

• Elite Dangerous Market Connector (EDMC) 5.0.0 or higher
• Python 3.7+ (included with EDMC)
• EDMCOverlay (optional, for in-game overlay functionality)

How It Works

1. The plugin fetches JSON data from the ORF AudioAPI at the configured interval
2. The JSON response contains program schedules for multiple days
3. Plugin matches current timestamp to find the active broadcast
4. Extracts program information (name, time, description, presenter)
5. Information is displayed in both the EDMC window and in-game overlay (if enabled)
6. Uses smart positioning logic to ensure overlay text doesn't go off-screen

Technical Details

API Integration

• Uses ORF AudioAPI JSON endpoints
• Automatically parses ISO 8601 timestamps
• Handles timezone offsets correctly
• Graceful error handling for network issues

Overlay Positioning

The overlay uses a percentage-based positioning system that scales to any resolution:

• Positions are calculated as percentages of screen dimensions (e.g., 3% from left, 8% from top)
• Automatically adapts to your configured game resolution (1920x1080, 1920x1200, 2K, 4K, or custom)
• Smart text alignment based on position:
  • Left positions: Text starts from the left edge
  • Middle positions: Text and background are centered horizontally
  • Right positions: Text and background are right-aligned
• No more off-screen text or misaligned overlays!

Text Wrapping

• Program names wrap at 32 characters per line
• Presenter names wrap at 30 characters per line
• Descriptions wrap at 34 characters per line (maximum 3 lines shown)
• Long descriptions automatically show "..." when truncated
• Word-aware wrapping - never breaks in the middle of words

Troubleshooting

Plugin not appearing in EDMC

• Ensure the plugin folder is named ED-RadioProgram (not ED-RadioProgram-master or similar)
• Restart EDMC completely
• Check EDMC logs for any error messages

No data displayed

• Verify the API URL is correct and accessible
• Check your internet connection
• Try clicking the "Refresh" button manually
• The API may be temporarily unavailable - wait a few minutes and try again

Wrong program displayed

• Check your system time is correct
• Verify your timezone settings
• The API uses Austrian time (CET/CEST) - plugin handles conversion automatically

Overlay not working

• Ensure EDMCOverlay plugin is installed and working
• Check if the overlay is enabled in ED-RadioProgram settings
• Try toggling the overlay off and on again
• Verify Elite Dangerous is running
• Try changing the overlay position if text is off-screen

Overlay text cut off or off-screen

• First: Check your Game Screen Resolution setting!
  • Go to EDMC Settings → ED-RadioProgram tab
  • Select your correct game resolution from the dropdown
  • If using a custom resolution, enter the exact width x height
• Try a different overlay position from the dropdown
• Middle positions typically work best for most resolutions
• The plugin now uses percentage-based positioning, so correct resolution is crucial!

Overlay appears in wrong position

• Verify your Game Screen Resolution setting matches your actual game resolution
• Common resolutions: 1920x1080, 1920x1200, 2560x1440, 3840x2160
• After changing resolution, close and reopen the overlay to apply changes
• Try toggling the overlay off and on again with the button in EDMC

Future Enhancements

Possible future features:

• Support for additional radio station APIs (BBC, NPR, etc.)
• Custom overlay colors and fonts
• History of recently played programs
• Multiple station profiles with quick switching
• Show current song/track information (when available)
• Notification system for favorite programs

Contributing

Contributions are welcome! If you'd like to add support for additional radio stations:

1. Create a new parser class in parsers/ that inherits from BaseParser
2. Implement the parse() method to extract program data from JSON/API
3. Add your parser to parsers/__init__.py
4. Update the station type dropdown in load.py
5. Submit a pull request!

Parser Development

The plugin uses a modular parser system:

• BaseParser: Abstract base class with common utilities
• ORFParser: JSON parser for ORF AudioAPI
• Easy to extend for new station types

Credits

Developed for the Elite Dangerous community by commanders who enjoy listening to radio while exploring the galaxy.

Special thanks to:

• The EDCD team for Elite Dangerous Market Connector
• The EDMCOverlay developers for the in-game overlay functionality
• ORF (Austrian Broadcasting Corporation) for their excellent radio programming and open API

Changelog

Version 1.2.0

• 🎨 Styled Radio Station Overlay with multi-color design
  • Cyan program names, green time slots, orange presenters, white descriptions
  • Decorative box-drawing borders (╔═══╗)
  • Emoji icons for visual interest (🎵 🎙️ ⏰)
• 📐 Resolution-Aware Positioning - overlay scales to ANY screen resolution
  • Percentage-based coordinate system
  • No more off-screen overlays!
• 🖥️ Screen Resolution Configuration added to settings
  • Common presets: 1920x1080, 1920x1200, 2K, 4K
  • Custom resolution option for any screen size
• ✂️ Smart Text Wrapping implementation
  • Program names wrap at 32 characters
  • Descriptions wrap at 34 characters (max 3 lines)
  • Word-aware wrapping - never breaks mid-word
• 🔍 Improved Readability - background opacity increased to 70%
• 🎯 Fixed Positioning for all 8 screen positions
• 📝 Better Alignment for center and right positions

Version 1.1.0

• ✨ Added configurable overlay positions (8 positions)
• 🔄 Switched from HTML parsing to JSON API
• 🚀 Improved reliability and performance
• 🧹 Removed image functionality (not available in API)
• 🐍 Full Python 3.x compatibility
• 📍 Smart text alignment based on position

Version 1.0.0

• 🎉 Initial release
• Basic program information display
• In-game overlay support
• ORF Sound station support

License

This project is released under the MIT License. See LICENSE file for details.

Support

For bug reports, feature requests, or questions:

• Open an issue on GitHub
• Contact the developer through EDMC forums

Fly safe, Commanders! o7