[alsa-devel] parameter for pulse device?

[frederik at ofb.net]

Dear ALSA,

In my ~/.asoundrc, I have lines like this:

    pcm.mic { type pulse; device "mic" }
    pcm.monitor { type pulse; device "monitor"; }
    pcm.music { type pulse; device "music"; }

to make it easier for ALSA-aware programs to input and output via PulseAudio, e.g.:

    ecasound -i alsa,mic -o alsa,monitor -etd:...

However, I would like to simplify this and not have to update ~/.asoundrc every time I create a new PulseAudio device. Since ALSA has the ability for PCMs to take a parameter, I thought this might work with the "pulse" PCM and the PulseAudio device name. But I get an "error: Invalid argument" when trying to pass the device name as an argument to the "pulse" PCM:

    $ ecasound -o alsa,pulse:music -i some.wav
    ...
    ALSA lib conf.c:5014:(snd_config_expand) Unknown parameters music
    ALSA lib pcm.c:2564:(snd_pcm_open_noupdate) Unknown PCM pulse:music
    ERROR:  Connecting chainsetup failed: "Enabling chainsetup: AUDIOIO-ALSA:
    ... Unable to open ALSA-device for playback; error: Invalid argument"

Is there some magic with macros that I can use to accomplish this syntax, or can we add the ability for the "pulse" PCM to take a parameter naming the device?

Thanks,

Frederick