# How I made a presentation remote using python

## My motive 👨‍💻
Despite several test runs, we were unable to grasp a seamless execution of our presentation during a presentation with roughly 10 speakers because we were utilising a lot of 'next slide please'.

Hence presenting to you, a remote made for making presentations easier by enabling all the members to have access to change the slide and control the flow of the presentation in real time

[Here's](https://github.com/parnavh/presentation-remote-py) the github repo if you want to get straight into it 

## How the magic happens 🪄
The primary functionality of this application is divided into two modules:
-   A remote control that transfers the signal to the receiver
-   The receiver receives the commands and executes them on the host computer

When you interact with the remote, a document is added to the database (firestore)
```py
# Send info to receiver
def add_doc(self, action):
	self.db.collection("remote").document("current").collection("clicks").add({
		"action": action
	})
```

Which is then picked up by the receiver, which is always listening for these events. The receiver then simulates the necessary keystroke on the host system.
```py
# Action was performed by the remote
def onSnapshot(snapshot, doc, time):
	send_input(doc[0].document.to_dict()["action"])
```
And this is all there is to it

## How to make it work ⚙️
You will have to setup a few things before you can get this working
- Setup python and have the dependencies installed
- Setup your firebase project
- Optionally converting this application into a binary for easier sharing and usage

#### Cloning the repository
Repository available on  [github](https://github.com/parnavh/presentation-remote-py)
```bash
# If you use ssh
git clone git@github.com:parnavh/presentation-remote-py.git

# If you use https
git clone https://github.com/parnavh/presentation-remote-py.git
```
#### Getting Python ready 🐍
You will have to setup python on your machine if not done yet by visiting the [official website](https://www.python.org/downloads/) and downloading and installing a release which should be quite straightforward.
![asd](https://cdn.hashnode.com/res/hashnode/image/upload/v1635305755929/5izNiAYIR.png)
The most latest version was 3.10.0 at the time of writing this blog, since it was launched recently I was having some issues with pyinstaller (which we will use to make an executable later), I would recommend using 3.9 instead.
Once you have got your python up and running, cd into the directory and install the dependencies by running 
```
pip install -r .\requirements.txt
```
After that is done we can move on to the next step

#### Getting firebase ready 🔥
Go to the [firebase console](https://console.firebase.google.com/) and create a new project

![create.png](https://cdn.hashnode.com/res/hashnode/image/upload/v1635309527127/jWlj2d-RE.png)

Now that you have a firebase project setup, we can enable the firestore database, head on to the firestore section and create the database

![firestore.png](https://cdn.hashnode.com/res/hashnode/image/upload/v1635314939120/84men1Oep.png)

Create the database in test mode and chose the region closest to you 
Now that the database is created, we can create the collection in which the documents will be added. Create a collection with the collection id `remote` and add a document `current` and then hit save

![collection](https://cdn.hashnode.com/res/hashnode/image/upload/v1635320987959/8tOovEqlD.png)

Start a new collection in the `current` document and name it `clicks` and add a random document to the collection temporarily as shown in the following image:

![subcollection](https://cdn.hashnode.com/res/hashnode/image/upload/v1635321221759/GpFKPKIiz.png)

Now your database should have the following structure: `/remote/current/clicks/` All the click events will be added using the remote in the clicks collection. Once this structure is all set, we can move on to downloading the credentials to access this database

Head on to the project settings from the gear icon in the top left as show in the image:

![gotosettings](https://cdn.hashnode.com/res/hashnode/image/upload/v1635321536727/tZaIUOstK.png)

Go to the service account section, and scroll down till you see `Generate new private key` in the admin sdk section click it, and confirm generating a key.

![privatekey](https://cdn.hashnode.com/res/hashnode/image/upload/v1635321672373/Oeh0rwPlr.png)

This will generate a json file containing your admin sdk credentials which we will be storing in the root of our previously cloned repository as `credentials.json` and that's all set from the firebase front

Now that all the setup has been finished, you have to run `python receiver.py` on the system from where the presentation is present, and run `python remote.py` on the systems where you want to control the presentation from.


#### Build your executable 
If you are looking to get it done asap, I have the binary in the [releases](https://github.com/parnavh/presentation-remote-py/releases) but it will require the `credentials.json` in the same directory for both the modules hence I suggest you build your own

Building your own executable will mean that you can share the file and anyone can run the binary on their machine and it would just work, so here's how to do it:

cd into the repository and install `pyinstaller` by running 
```
pip install pyinstaller
```

Now substitute the path to credentials.json in the code with the contents of the credentials.json file

Example:
```
# From
	creds = credentials.Certificate("./credentials.json")
# To
	myCredentials = {...} # Content in the credentials.json
	creds = credentials.Certificate(myCredentials)
```


You will have to create 2 files:
- `hook-gcloud.py`
```
from PyInstaller.utils.hooks import copy_metadata
datas = copy_metadata('gcloud')
```
- `hook-grpc.py`
```
from PyInstaller.utils.hooks import collect_data_files
datas = collect_data_files('grpc')
```

Save these files in `Lib\site-packages\PyInstaller\hooks` from the directory of your python install. Example if your python is installed in `C:\python` save the files in `C:\python\Lib\site-packages\PyInstaller\hooks`

Now run the pyinstaller which will convert the py file to a executable
```
# For remote.py
pyinstaller --onefile -w 'remote.py'

# For receiver.py
pyinstaller --onefile 'receiver.py'
```
The receiver runs in the background with no gui, and the remote has a basic tkinter gui with left and right buttons as so: 

![receiver](https://cdn.hashnode.com/res/hashnode/image/upload/v1635323307466/DSLUnDuEZ.png)

This was all you needed to get started!
I will be developing  more features which include a dashboard, user accounts/roles and much more.

Make sure to star this repository on [github](https://github.com/parnavh/presentation-remote-py) to stay posted or simply to show your support for this project!

This was my first blog and I hope to have conveyed something new to you today
I am open to feedbacks and suggested improvements to better my content.