= gpspipe(1)
:author: Gary E. Miller
:date: 15 October 2021
:email: gem@rellim.com.
:keywords: gps, gpsd, gpspipe, socat
:manmanual: GPSD Documentation
:mansource: GPSD, Version {gpsdver}
:robots: index,follow
:sectlinks:
:toc: macro
:type: manpage
:webfonts!:

include::../www/inc-menu.adoc[]

== NAME

gpspipe - tool to connect to gpsd and retrieve sentences

== SYNOPSIS

*gpspipe* [OPTIONS] [server[:port[:device]]]

*gpspipe* -h

*gpspipe* -V

== DESCRIPTION

*gpspipe* is a tool to connect to *gpsd* and output the received sentences
to stdout. This makes the program useful as a pipe from *gpsd* to another
program or file.

*gpspipe* does not require root privileges, and can be run concurrently
with other tools connecting to the local *gpsd* without causing problems.

The output will consist of one or both of the raw NMEA or native *gpsd*
sentences. Each line can be optionally time stamped. There is also an
option to exit gracefully after a given count of packets.

*gpspipe* may be run as a daemon, but requires the *-o, --output* flag
for writing the output to a file.

== OPTIONS

*-?*, *-h*, *--help*::
  Print a usage message and exit.
*-2*, *--split24*::
  *-2* sets the split24 flag on AIS reports.
*-d*, *--daemonize*::
  Run as a daemon.
*-D LVL*, *--debug LVL*::
  Set debug level to LVL.
*-l*, *--sleep*::
  Sleep for ten seconds before attempting to connect to *gpsd*. This is
  very useful when running as a daemon, giving *gpsd* time to start before
  attempting a connection.
*-n COUNT*, *--count COUNT*::
  Exit after COUNT messages are output.
*-o FILE*, *--output FILE*::
  Cause the collected data to be written to the specified file. Use of
  this option is mandatory if *gpspipe* is run as a daemon.
*-p*, *--profile*::
  Dump profiling information in JSON.
*-P*, *--pps*::
  Enables dumping of PPS drift JSON in NMEA and raw modes.
*-r*, *--nmea*::
  Cause NMEA sentences to be output. This may be NMEA, pseudo NMEA built
  from binary data, or some combination of both.
*-R*, *--raw*::
  Causes super-raw (gps binary) data to be output. This will forward
  exactly what the device sent.
*-s DEV*, *--serial DEV*::
  Cause the collected data to be written to the specified serial device
  (DEV) with settings 4800 8N1. Thus *gpspipe* can be used with
  *-s, --serial* and *-r, --nmea* options to emulate a serial port
  hardwired to a GPS that *gpsd* is managing.
*-S*, *--scaled*::
  Set the scaled flag. This is for AIS and SUBFRAME data only. Scaled
  data will be output in the JSON, instead of raw data in the JSON.
*-t*, *--timestamp*::
  Add a UTC timestamp to each sentence output.
*-T FMT*, *--timefmt FMT*::
  Set the format of the timestamp. See *strftime*(3) for the available
  placeholders. Setting this option implies *-t* (*--timestamp*). Default
  setting is "%F %T"
*-u*, *--usec*::
  Use usec resolution time stamp, implies *-t* (*--timestamp*). Use twice
  (*-uu*) to output sec.usec.

*-v*, *--spinner*::
  Show a spinning activity indicator on stderr. This is useful if
  stdout is redirected into a file or a pipe. By default the spinner is
  advanced with every messages written; specifying *-v*, or *--spinner*,
  more than once will double the number of messages required to rotate
  the spinner.

*-V*, *--version*::
  Print the program version and exit.
*-w*, *--json*::
  Cause native *gpsd* JSON sentences to be output.
*-x SEC*, *--seconds SEC*::
  Exit after delay of SEC seconds.
*-Z*, *--zulu*::
  Set the timestamp format iso8601: implies *-t*.

At least one of *-R*, *-r* or *-w* must be specified.

You must use *-o* if you use *-d*.

== ARGUMENTS

By default, clients collect data from the local *gpsd* daemon running
on localhost, using the default GPSD port 2947. The optional argument
to any client may override this behavior: *[server[:port[:device]]]*

For further explanation, and examples, see the *ARGUMENTS* section in
the *gps*(1) man page

== EXAMPLES

When *gpsd* is running, this example will send one hundred raw NMEA
sentences to standard output, then exit:

----
$ gpspipe -r -n 100
----

When *gpsd* is running, this example will wait at most 5 seconds for a
TPV message, print it to stdout, then exit:

----
$ gpspipe -x 5 -w|sed -n '/TPV/{p;q}'
----

Use *gpspipe* and "socat* to serve NMEA from the local *gpsd* on tcp
port 2948:

----
$ socat EXEC:'gpspipe -r' TCP-LISTEN:2948,reuseaddr,fork
----

The paranoid may wish to have *socat* run as user 'nobody' and only
accept connections from the local network.  The "su=nobody" means
this must be run as root:

----
# socat EXEC:'gpspipe -r' \
   TCP-LISTEN:2948,reuseaddr,fork,su=nobody,range=192.168.0.0/24
----



== RETURN VALUES

*0*:: on success.
*1*:: on failure

== SEE ALSO

*gpsd*(8), *gps*(1), *gpsfake*(1), *socat*(1).

== RESOURCES

*Project web site:* {gpsdweb}

== COPYING

This file is Copyright 2013 by the GPSD project +
SPDX-License-Identifier: BSD-2-clause
