Had to stop production as I ran out of copilot credits

Main.cs

@@ -2,6 +2,15 @@ namespace PainoBar_Helper
 {
     public partial class Main : Form
     {
+        // Static event for Pianobar output - accessible to all forms
+        public static event Action<string>? OnPianobarOutputReceived;
+
+        // Static terminal history buffer for StationForm replay
+        public static List<string> TerminalHistory = new List<string>();
+
+        // Static reference to the main instance for accessing PianobarManager
+        private static Main? _instance;
+
         private readonly ProfileManager _profileManager;
         private readonly PianobarManager _pianobarManager;
         private OutputManager? _outputManager;
@@ -22,6 +31,8 @@ namespace PainoBar_Helper
         {
             InitializeComponent();
 
+            _instance = this;
+
             _profileManager = new ProfileManager();
             _pianobarManager = new PianobarManager();
 
@@ -52,6 +63,18 @@ namespace PainoBar_Helper
             }
         }
 
+        /// <summary>
+        /// Sends a command to Pianobar's standard input stream.
+        /// </summary>
+        /// <param name="text">The command text to send (newline will be added automatically)</param>
+        public static void SendStdin(string text)
+        {
+            if (_instance?._pianobarManager != null)
+            {
+                _instance._pianobarManager.SendCommand(text);
+            }
+        }
+
         #region Initialization
 
         private void InitializeMenus()
@@ -83,6 +106,7 @@ namespace PainoBar_Helper
             _pianobarManager.SongChanged += PianobarManager_SongChanged;
             _pianobarManager.StationChanged += PianobarManager_StationChanged;
             _pianobarManager.EventOccurred += PianobarManager_EventOccurred;
+            _pianobarManager.OutputReceived += PianobarManager_OutputReceived;
 
             // Profile events
             _profileManager.ProfilesChanged += ProfileManager_ProfilesChanged;
@@ -240,7 +264,7 @@ namespace PainoBar_Helper
                 return;
             }
 
-            var stationForm = new StationForm(_pianobarManager);
+            var stationForm = new StationForm();
             stationForm.ShowDialog(this);
         }
 
@@ -344,6 +368,7 @@ namespace PainoBar_Helper
             {
                 _outputManager?.Stop();
                 _outputManager = null;
+                TerminalHistory.Clear(); // Clear history on disconnect
                 UpdateConnectionStatus(ConnectionStatus.Disconnected);
                 UpdatePlayPauseButton();
             });
@@ -375,6 +400,16 @@ namespace PainoBar_Helper
             });
         }
 
+        private void PianobarManager_OutputReceived(object? sender, string e)
+        {
+            // Add to history and forward to static event for StationForm and other subscribers
+            if (!string.IsNullOrEmpty(e))
+            {
+                TerminalHistory.Add(e);
+                OnPianobarOutputReceived?.Invoke(e);
+            }
+        }
+
         private void OutputManager_ActiveStateChanged(object? sender, EventArgs e)
         {
             Invoke(() =>

PianobarManager.cs

@@ -313,9 +313,15 @@ namespace PainoBar_Helper
 
             lock (_inputLock)
             {
-                // Use LF explicitly to avoid CRLF handling issues with redirected stdin.
+                // Convert to ASCII bytes with Unix LF to avoid StreamWriter text encoding issues
-                _inputWriter.Write(command);
+                // that can cause Pianobar's C-runtime to see extra characters
-                _inputWriter.Write('\n');
+                byte[] bytes = System.Text.Encoding.ASCII.GetBytes(command + "\n");
+
+                // Write raw bytes directly to base stream, bypassing StreamWriter
+                _inputWriter.BaseStream.Write(bytes, 0, bytes.Length);
+
+                // Flush both base stream and StreamWriter buffers immediately
+                _inputWriter.BaseStream.Flush();
                 _inputWriter.Flush();
             }
 

ProfileManager.cs

@@ -177,6 +177,11 @@ namespace PainoBar_Helper
                 sb.AppendLine($"event_command = \"{eventCmdPath}\"");
                 sb.AppendLine();
 
+                // Force unbuffered stdout for immediate C# pipe output
+                sb.AppendLine("# Unbuffer output for real-time streaming");
+                sb.AppendLine("unbuffer_output = 1");
+                sb.AppendLine();
+
                 // Additional settings for better integration
                 sb.AppendLine("# Output formatting");
                 sb.AppendLine("format_nowplaying_song = %t|%a|%l|%r");

StationForm.cs

@@ -5,33 +5,38 @@ namespace PainoBar_Helper
 {
     public partial class StationForm : Form
     {
-        private readonly PianobarManager _pianobarManager;
+        public StationForm()
-        private readonly StringBuilder _outputBuffer = new StringBuilder();
-
-        public StationForm(PianobarManager pianobarManager)
         {
             InitializeComponent();
 
-            _pianobarManager = pianobarManager;
+            // Handle form load and closing for event subscription
-
-            // Subscribe to output BEFORE controls are initialized
-            _pianobarManager.OutputReceived += PianobarManager_TerminalOutputReceived;
-
-            // Handle form load to display buffered output
             this.Load += StationForm_Load;
+            this.FormClosing += StationForm_FormClosing;
 
             InitializeControls();
         }
 
         private void StationForm_Load(object? sender, EventArgs e)
         {
-            // Display any buffered output when form loads
+            // First, populate terminal with existing history
-            if (terminal_box != null && _outputBuffer.Length > 0)
+            if (terminal_box != null && Main.TerminalHistory.Count > 0)
             {
-                terminal_box.Text = _outputBuffer.ToString();
+                foreach (string line in Main.TerminalHistory)
+                {
+                    terminal_box.AppendText(line + "\n");
+                }
                 terminal_box.SelectionStart = terminal_box.Text.Length;
                 terminal_box.ScrollToCaret();
             }
+
+            // Second, subscribe to live output events
+            Main.OnPianobarOutputReceived += AppendToTerminal;
+        }
+
+        private void StationForm_FormClosing(object? sender, FormClosingEventArgs e)
+        {
+            // Unsubscribe from the static event
+            Main.OnPianobarOutputReceived -= AppendToTerminal;
         }
 
         #region Initialization
@@ -61,16 +66,11 @@ namespace PainoBar_Helper
 
         #region Terminal Output
 
-        private void PianobarManager_TerminalOutputReceived(object? sender, string e)
+        private void AppendToTerminal(string data)
         {
-            if (string.IsNullOrEmpty(e))
+            if (string.IsNullOrEmpty(data))
                 return;
 
-            string lineWithNewline = e + "\n";
-
-            // Buffer output even before form is shown
-            _outputBuffer.Append(lineWithNewline);
-
             // Thread-safe UI update
             if (terminal_box != null)
             {
@@ -78,12 +78,12 @@ namespace PainoBar_Helper
                 {
                     terminal_box.Invoke(() =>
                     {
-                        AppendTerminalText(lineWithNewline);
+                        AppendTerminalText(data + "\n");
                     });
                 }
                 else
                 {
-                    AppendTerminalText(lineWithNewline);
+                    AppendTerminalText(data + "\n");
                 }
             }
         }
@@ -125,11 +125,8 @@ namespace PainoBar_Helper
 
             try
             {
-                // Echo the command to the terminal (simulating user input display)
+                // Send command directly to Pianobar stdin (no manual echo with ">")
-                AppendTerminalText($"> {command}\n");
+                Main.SendStdin(command);
-
-                // Send command to Pianobar with newline and flush
-                _pianobarManager.SendCommand(command);
 
                 command_input_box.Clear();
             }
@@ -157,15 +154,5 @@ namespace PainoBar_Helper
         }
 
         #endregion
-
-        #region Cleanup
-
-        protected override void OnFormClosing(FormClosingEventArgs e)
-        {
-            _pianobarManager.OutputReceived -= PianobarManager_TerminalOutputReceived;
-            base.OnFormClosing(e);
-        }
-
-        #endregion
     }
 }

Win32ConsoleHelper.cs

@@ -0,0 +1,169 @@
+using System.Runtime.InteropServices;
+
+namespace PainoBar_Helper
+{
+    /// <summary>
+    /// Helper class for injecting keyboard input directly into a Win32 console process.
+    /// Required for Pianobar Windows port which uses _getch() instead of stdin.
+    /// </summary>
+    public static class Win32ConsoleHelper
+    {
+        #region Win32 API Imports
+
+        [DllImport("kernel32.dll", SetLastError = true)]
+        private static extern bool AttachConsole(uint dwProcessId);
+
+        [DllImport("kernel32.dll", SetLastError = true)]
+        private static extern bool FreeConsole();
+
+        [DllImport("kernel32.dll", SetLastError = true)]
+        private static extern bool WriteConsoleInput(
+            IntPtr hConsoleInput,
+            INPUT_RECORD[] lpBuffer,
+            uint nLength,
+            out uint lpNumberOfEventsWritten);
+
+        [DllImport("kernel32.dll", SetLastError = true)]
+        private static extern IntPtr GetStdHandle(int nStdHandle);
+
+        private const int STD_INPUT_HANDLE = -10;
+
+        #endregion
+
+        #region Structures
+
+        [StructLayout(LayoutKind.Explicit)]
+        private struct INPUT_RECORD
+        {
+            [FieldOffset(0)]
+            public ushort EventType;
+            [FieldOffset(4)]
+            public KEY_EVENT_RECORD KeyEvent;
+        }
+
+        [StructLayout(LayoutKind.Sequential)]
+        private struct KEY_EVENT_RECORD
+        {
+            public bool bKeyDown;
+            public ushort wRepeatCount;
+            public ushort wVirtualKeyCode;
+            public ushort wVirtualScanCode;
+            public char UnicodeChar;
+            public uint dwControlKeyState;
+        }
+
+        private const ushort KEY_EVENT = 1;
+        private const ushort VK_RETURN = 0x0D;
+
+        #endregion
+
+        #region Public Methods
+
+        /// <summary>
+        /// Sends keyboard input directly to a console process using Win32 API.
+        /// </summary>
+        /// <param name="processId">The process ID of the target console application</param>
+        /// <param name="text">The text to send (Enter key will be automatically appended)</param>
+        /// <returns>True if successful, false otherwise</returns>
+        public static bool SendConsoleInput(int processId, string text)
+        {
+            if (string.IsNullOrEmpty(text))
+                return false;
+
+            try
+            {
+                // Attach to the target process's console
+                if (!AttachConsole((uint)processId))
+                {
+                    int error = Marshal.GetLastWin32Error();
+                    System.Diagnostics.Debug.WriteLine($"AttachConsole failed with error: {error}");
+                    return false;
+                }
+
+                try
+                {
+                    // Get the console input handle
+                    IntPtr hStdIn = GetStdHandle(STD_INPUT_HANDLE);
+                    if (hStdIn == IntPtr.Zero || hStdIn == new IntPtr(-1))
+                    {
+                        System.Diagnostics.Debug.WriteLine("GetStdHandle failed");
+                        return false;
+                    }
+
+                    // Build input records for each character + Enter key
+                    List<INPUT_RECORD> inputRecords = new List<INPUT_RECORD>();
+
+                    // Add key events for each character in the text
+                    foreach (char c in text)
+                    {
+                        // Key down event
+                        inputRecords.Add(CreateKeyEvent(c, true));
+                        // Key up event
+                        inputRecords.Add(CreateKeyEvent(c, false));
+                    }
+
+                    // Add Enter key (VK_RETURN) at the end
+                    inputRecords.Add(CreateKeyEvent('\r', true, VK_RETURN));
+                    inputRecords.Add(CreateKeyEvent('\r', false, VK_RETURN));
+
+                    // Write all input records to the console input buffer
+                    uint written;
+                    bool success = WriteConsoleInput(
+                        hStdIn,
+                        inputRecords.ToArray(),
+                        (uint)inputRecords.Count,
+                        out written);
+
+                    if (!success)
+                    {
+                        int error = Marshal.GetLastWin32Error();
+                        System.Diagnostics.Debug.WriteLine($"WriteConsoleInput failed with error: {error}");
+                        return false;
+                    }
+
+                    System.Diagnostics.Debug.WriteLine($"Successfully wrote {written} input events for: {text}");
+                    return true;
+                }
+                finally
+                {
+                    // Always detach from the console
+                    FreeConsole();
+                }
+            }
+            catch (Exception ex)
+            {
+                System.Diagnostics.Debug.WriteLine($"SendConsoleInput exception: {ex.Message}");
+                return false;
+            }
+        }
+
+        #endregion
+
+        #region Private Helper Methods
+
+        private static INPUT_RECORD CreateKeyEvent(char character, bool keyDown, ushort virtualKeyCode = 0)
+        {
+            // If no virtual key code provided, use the character's value
+            if (virtualKeyCode == 0)
+            {
+                virtualKeyCode = (ushort)char.ToUpper(character);
+            }
+
+            return new INPUT_RECORD
+            {
+                EventType = KEY_EVENT,
+                KeyEvent = new KEY_EVENT_RECORD
+                {
+                    bKeyDown = keyDown,
+                    wRepeatCount = 1,
+                    wVirtualKeyCode = virtualKeyCode,
+                    wVirtualScanCode = 0,
+                    UnicodeChar = character,
+                    dwControlKeyState = 0
+                }
+            };
+        }
+
+        #endregion
+    }
+}