Execute a command when an SMS is received?

Quaigon_Jim

I'd like to send a notification to my desktop and laptop when I receive a text message. Is this possible?

Or more properly: what happens in the OS when an SMS is received and where would I find more information about this?

Thanks

dobey

Currently, no, it is not possible. Someone had started looking at implementing support for KDE Connect, but I'm not sure how far they got.

guru

Something which comes into my thinking: the SMS is stored into a table on a sqllite database and if this allows triggers to fire...

Quaigon_Jim

@guru Thanks, I managed to hack something together, but had to install inotify-tools:

#!/bin/bash

# location of databse storing text messages (table is "text_events")
DB="/home/phablet/.local/share/history-service/history.sqlite"

# location of scripts to run when a text is received
SCRIPTDIR="/home/phablet/bin/text.d"

function check {

# current time in seconds since epoch
CURRENTTIME=$(date +%s)

# get senderid (phone number) and timestamp from most recent entry in text_events table of $DB at time of modification
SENDERID=$(sqlite3 $DB "SELECT senderid FROM text_events ORDER BY timestamp DESC LIMIT 1;")

# timestamp converted to seconds since epoch
TIMESTAMP=$(date -d$(sqlite3 $DB "SELECT timestamp FROM text_events ORDER BY timestamp DESC LIMIT 1;") +%s)

# calculate difference between when text was received and $CURRENTTIME
DIFFERENCE=$(expr $CURRENTTIME - $TIMESTAMP)

if [ $DIFFERENCE -lt 2 ] && [ $SENDERID != "self" ]
then
# run all scripts in #SCRIPTDIR
        run-parts $SCRIPTDIR
else
        :
fi
}

# monitor $DB for changes and execute the above function if it is modified
while inotifywait -e modify $DB; do check; done

There are probably much better ways of going about this but it works for now

Any pointers appreciated.

EDIT: Terrible code updated a bit

guru

Check if sqllite supports triggers. If so you could attach a trigger to any table XYZ and any INSERT into that table will fire your own written piece of software.

AlainW94

You could also monitor the system dbus, sms appears in clear text on it.

Sorry I can't copy paste from terminal , maybe a bug.

sudo dbus-monitor --system "type='signal', interface='org.ofono.MessageManager'"

Quaigon_Jim

@guru

Looks like triggers are supported but only UPDATE/INSERT/DELETE/SELECT are allowed in the trigger body (trying to use .shell gives a syntax error).

Relevant Stackoverflow thread

Close but no cigar

guru

Thanks, this is really cool. I did a test sending Testing dbus to my UBphone:

$ sudo dbus-monitor --system "type='signal', interface='org.ofono.MessageManager'"
[sudo] password for phablet: 
...
   string "Testing dbus"
   array [
      dict entry(
         string "LocalSentTime"
         variant             string "2020-01-12T20:26:33+0100"
      )
      dict entry(
         string "SentTime"
         variant             string "2020-01-12T20:26:33+0100"
      )
      dict entry(
         string "Sender"
         variant             string "+49170xxxxxxxx"
      )
   ]
^C

Quaigon_Jim

@AlainW94 Thanks, this looks promising.

AlainW94

Happy to help !