Mathematica - Industrial Digital Out 4 Bricklet

This is the description of the Mathematica API bindings for the Industrial Digital Out 4 Bricklet. General information and technical specifications for the Industrial Digital Out 4 Bricklet are summarized in its hardware description.

An installation guide for the Mathematica API bindings is part of their general description.

Examples

The example code below is Public Domain (CC0 1.0).

Simple

Download (ExampleSimple.nb)

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Needs["NETLink`"]
LoadNETAssembly["Tinkerforge",NotebookDirectory[]<>"../../.."]

host="localhost"
port=4223
uid="XYZ"(*Change XYZ to the UID of your Industrial Digital Out 4 Bricklet*)

(*Create IPConnection and device object*)
ipcon=NETNew["Tinkerforge.IPConnection"]
ido4=NETNew["Tinkerforge.BrickletIndustrialDigitalOut4",uid,ipcon]
ipcon@Connect[host,port]

(*Set pins alternating high/low 10 times with 100ms delay*)
For[i=0,i<10,i++,
 Pause[0.1];
 ido4@SetValue[FromDigits[{0,0,0,1},2]];
 Pause[0.1];
 ido4@SetValue[FromDigits[{0,0,1,0},2]];
 Pause[0.1];
 ido4@SetValue[FromDigits[{0,1,0,0},2]];
 Pause[0.1];
 ido4@SetValue[FromDigits[{1,0,0,0},2]]
]

(*Clean up*)
ipcon@Disconnect[]
ReleaseNETObject[ido4]
ReleaseNETObject[ipcon]

API

Generally, every function of the Mathematica bindings that returns a value can throw a Tinkerforge.TimeoutException. This exception gets thrown if the device did not respond. If a cable based connection is used, it is unlikely that this exception gets thrown (assuming nobody plugs the device out). However, if a wireless connection is used, timeouts will occur if the distance to the device gets too big.

Since .NET/Link does not support multiple return values directly, we use the out keyword to return multiple values from a function. For further information about the out keyword in .NET/Link see the corresponding Mathematica .NET/Link documentation.

The namespace for all Brick/Bricklet bindings and the IPConnection is Tinkerforge.*.

Basic Functions

BrickletIndustrialDigitalOut4[uid, ipcon] → industrialDigitalOut4
Parameters:
  • uid – Type: String
  • ipcon – Type: NETObject[IPConnection]
Returns:
  • industrialDigitalOut4 – Type: NETObject[BrickletIndustrialDigitalOut4]

Creates an object with the unique device ID uid:

industrialDigitalOut4=NETNew["Tinkerforge.BrickletIndustrialDigitalOut4","YOUR_DEVICE_UID",ipcon]

This object can then be used after the IP Connection is connected.

The .NET runtime has built-in garbage collection that frees objects that are no longer in use by a program. But because Mathematica can not automatically tell when a Mathematica "program" doesn't use a .NET object anymore, this has to be done by the program. For this the ReleaseNETObject[] function is used in the examples.

For further information about object management in .NET/Link see the corresponding Mathematica .NET/Link documentation.

BrickletIndustrialDigitalOut4@SetValue[valueMask] → Null
Parameters:
  • valueMask – Type: Integer, Range: [0 to 216 - 1]

Sets the output value with a bitmask (16bit). A 1 in the bitmask means high and a 0 in the bitmask means low.

For example: The value 3 or 0b0011 will turn pins 0-1 high and the other pins low.

If no groups are used (see SetGroup[]), the pins correspond to the markings on the Industrial Digital Out 4 Bricklet.

If groups are used, the pins correspond to the element in the group. Element 1 in the group will get pins 0-3, element 2 pins 4-7, element 3 pins 8-11 and element 4 pins 12-15.

All running monoflop timers will be aborted if this function is called.

BrickletIndustrialDigitalOut4@GetValue[] → valueMask
Returns:
  • valueMask – Type: Integer, Range: [0 to 216 - 1]

Returns the bitmask as set by SetValue[].

BrickletIndustrialDigitalOut4@SetSelectedValues[selectionMask, valueMask] → Null
Parameters:
  • selectionMask – Type: Integer, Range: [0 to 216 - 1]
  • valueMask – Type: Integer, Range: [0 to 216 - 1]

Sets the output value with a bitmask, according to the selection mask. The bitmask is 16 bit long, true refers to high and false refers to low.

For example: The values (3, 1) or (0b0011, 0b0001) will turn pin 0 high, pin 1 low the other pins remain untouched.

If no groups are used (see SetGroup[]), the pins correspond to the markings on the Industrial Digital Out 4 Bricklet.

If groups are used, the pins correspond to the element in the group. Element 1 in the group will get pins 0-3, element 2 pins 4-7, element 3 pins 8-11 and element 4 pins 12-15.

Running monoflop timers for the selected pins will be aborted if this function is called.

Advanced Functions

BrickletIndustrialDigitalOut4@SetMonoflop[selectionMask, valueMask, time] → Null
Parameters:
  • selectionMask – Type: Integer, Range: [0 to 216 - 1]
  • valueMask – Type: Integer, Range: [0 to 216 - 1]
  • time – Type: Integer, Unit: 1 ms, Range: [0 to 232 - 1]

Configures a monoflop of the pins specified by the first parameter bitmask.

The second parameter is a bitmask with the desired value of the specified pins. A 1 in the bitmask means high and a 0 in the bitmask means low.

The third parameter indicates the time that the pins should hold the value.

If this function is called with the parameters (9, 1, 1500) or (0b1001, 0b0001, 1500): Pin 0 will get high and pin 3 will get low. In 1.5s pin 0 will get low and pin 3 will get high again.

A monoflop can be used as a fail-safe mechanism. For example: Lets assume you have a RS485 bus and a Digital Out 4 Bricklet connected to one of the slave stacks. You can now call this function every second, with a time parameter of two seconds and pin 0 high. Pin 0 will be high all the time. If now the RS485 connection is lost, then pin 0 will turn low in at most two seconds.

BrickletIndustrialDigitalOut4@GetMonoflop[pin, out value, out time, out timeRemaining] → Null
Parameters:
  • pin – Type: Integer, Range: [0 to 15]
Output Parameters:
  • value – Type: Integer, Range: [0 to 1]
  • time – Type: Integer, Unit: 1 ms, Range: [0 to 232 - 1]
  • timeRemaining – Type: Integer, Unit: 1 ms, Range: [0 to 232 - 1]

Returns (for the given pin) the current value and the time as set by SetMonoflop[] as well as the remaining time until the value flips.

If the timer is not running currently, the remaining time will be returned as 0.

BrickletIndustrialDigitalOut4@SetGroup[{group1, group2, group3, group4}] → Null
Parameters:
  • groupi – Type: Integer, Range: [ToCharacterCode["a"][[0]] to ToCharacterCode["d"][[0]], ToCharacterCode["n"][[0]]]

Sets a group of Digital Out 4 Bricklets that should work together. You can find Bricklets that can be grouped together with GetAvailableForGroup[].

The group consists of 4 elements. Element 1 in the group will get pins 0-3, element 2 pins 4-7, element 3 pins 8-11 and element 4 pins 12-15.

Each element can either be one of the ports ('a' to 'd') or 'n' if it should not be used.

For example: If you have two Digital Out 4 Bricklets connected to port A and port B respectively, you could call with ['a', 'b', 'n', 'n'].

Now the pins on the Digital Out 4 on port A are assigned to 0-3 and the pins on the Digital Out 4 on port B are assigned to 4-7. It is now possible to call SetValue[] and control two Bricklets at the same time.

BrickletIndustrialDigitalOut4@GetGroup[] → {group1, group2, group3, group4}
Returns:
  • groupi – Type: Integer, Range: [ToCharacterCode["a"][[0]] to ToCharacterCode["d"][[0]], ToCharacterCode["n"][[0]]]

Returns the group as set by SetGroup[]

BrickletIndustrialDigitalOut4@GetAvailableForGroup[] → available
Returns:
  • available – Type: Integer, Range: [0 to 15]

Returns a bitmask of ports that are available for grouping. For example the value 5 or 0b0101 means: Port A and port C are connected to Bricklets that can be grouped together.

BrickletIndustrialDigitalOut4@GetIdentity[out uid, out connectedUid, out position, out {hardwareVersion1, hardwareVersion2, hardwareVersion3}, out {firmwareVersion1, firmwareVersion2, firmwareVersion3}, out deviceIdentifier] → Null
Output Parameters:
  • uid – Type: String, Length: up to 8
  • connectedUid – Type: String, Length: up to 8
  • position – Type: Integer, Range: [ToCharacterCode["a"][[0]] to ToCharacterCode["h"][[0]], ToCharacterCode["z"][[0]]]
  • hardwareVersioni – Type: Integer
    • 1: major – Type: Integer, Range: [0 to 255]
    • 2: minor – Type: Integer, Range: [0 to 255]
    • 3: revision – Type: Integer, Range: [0 to 255]
  • firmwareVersioni – Type: Integer
    • 1: major – Type: Integer, Range: [0 to 255]
    • 2: minor – Type: Integer, Range: [0 to 255]
    • 3: revision – Type: Integer, Range: [0 to 255]
  • deviceIdentifier – Type: Integer, Range: [0 to 216 - 1]

Returns the UID, the UID where the Bricklet is connected to, the position, the hardware and firmware version as well as the device identifier.

The position can be 'a', 'b', 'c', 'd', 'e', 'f', 'g' or 'h' (Bricklet Port). A Bricklet connected to an Isolator Bricklet is always at position 'z'.

The device identifier numbers can be found here. There is also a constant for the device identifier of this Bricklet.

Callbacks

Callbacks can be registered to receive time critical or recurring data from the device. The registration is done by assigning a function to a callback property of the device object:

MyCallback[sender_,value_]:=Print["Value: "<>ToString[value]]

AddEventHandler[industrialDigitalOut4@ExampleCallback,MyCallback]

For further information about event handling using .NET/Link see the corresponding Mathematica .NET/Link documentation.

The available callback property and their type of parameters are described below.

Note

Using callbacks for recurring events is always preferred compared to using getters. It will use less USB bandwidth and the latency will be a lot better, since there is no round trip time.

event BrickletIndustrialDigitalOut4@MonoflopDoneCallback[sender, selectionMask, valueMask]
Callback Parameters:
  • sender – Type: NETObject[BrickletIndustrialDigitalOut4]
  • selectionMask – Type: Integer, Range: [0 to 216 - 1]
  • valueMask – Type: Integer, Range: [0 to 216 - 1]

This callback is triggered whenever a monoflop timer reaches 0. The parameters contain the involved pins and the current value of the pins (the value after the monoflop).

Virtual Functions

Virtual functions don't communicate with the device itself, but operate only on the API bindings device object. They can be called without the corresponding IP Connection object being connected.

BrickletIndustrialDigitalOut4@GetAPIVersion[] → {apiVersion1, apiVersion2, apiVersion3}
Output Parameters:
  • apiVersioni – Type: Integer
    • 1: major – Type: Integer, Range: [0 to 255]
    • 2: minor – Type: Integer, Range: [0 to 255]
    • 3: revision – Type: Integer, Range: [0 to 255]

Returns the version of the API definition implemented by this API bindings. This is neither the release version of this API bindings nor does it tell you anything about the represented Brick or Bricklet.

BrickletIndustrialDigitalOut4@GetResponseExpected[functionId] → responseExpected
Parameters:
  • functionId – Type: Integer, Range: See constants
Returns:
  • responseExpected – Type: True/False

Returns the response expected flag for the function specified by the function ID parameter. It is true if the function is expected to send a response, false otherwise.

For getter functions this is enabled by default and cannot be disabled, because those functions will always send a response. For callback configuration functions it is enabled by default too, but can be disabled by SetResponseExpected[]. For setter functions it is disabled by default and can be enabled.

Enabling the response expected flag for a setter function allows to detect timeouts and other error conditions calls of this setter as well. The device will then send a response for this purpose. If this flag is disabled for a setter function then no response is sent and errors are silently ignored, because they cannot be detected.

The following constants are available for this function:

For functionId:

  • BrickletIndustrialDigitalOut4`FUNCTIONUSETUVALUE = 1
  • BrickletIndustrialDigitalOut4`FUNCTIONUSETUMONOFLOP = 3
  • BrickletIndustrialDigitalOut4`FUNCTIONUSETUGROUP = 5
  • BrickletIndustrialDigitalOut4`FUNCTIONUSETUSELECTEDUVALUES = 9
BrickletIndustrialDigitalOut4@SetResponseExpected[functionId, responseExpected] → Null
Parameters:
  • functionId – Type: Integer, Range: See constants
  • responseExpected – Type: True/False

Changes the response expected flag of the function specified by the function ID parameter. This flag can only be changed for setter (default value: false) and callback configuration functions (default value: true). For getter functions it is always enabled.

Enabling the response expected flag for a setter function allows to detect timeouts and other error conditions calls of this setter as well. The device will then send a response for this purpose. If this flag is disabled for a setter function then no response is sent and errors are silently ignored, because they cannot be detected.

The following constants are available for this function:

For functionId:

  • BrickletIndustrialDigitalOut4`FUNCTIONUSETUVALUE = 1
  • BrickletIndustrialDigitalOut4`FUNCTIONUSETUMONOFLOP = 3
  • BrickletIndustrialDigitalOut4`FUNCTIONUSETUGROUP = 5
  • BrickletIndustrialDigitalOut4`FUNCTIONUSETUSELECTEDUVALUES = 9
BrickletIndustrialDigitalOut4@SetResponseExpectedAll[responseExpected] → Null
Parameters:
  • responseExpected – Type: True/False

Changes the response expected flag for all setter and callback configuration functions of this device at once.

Constants

BrickletIndustrialDigitalOut4`DEVICEUIDENTIFIER

This constant is used to identify a Industrial Digital Out 4 Bricklet.

The GetIdentity[] function and the IPConnection@EnumerateCallback callback of the IP Connection have a deviceIdentifier parameter to specify the Brick's or Bricklet's type.

BrickletIndustrialDigitalOut4`DEVICEDISPLAYNAME

This constant represents the human readable name of a Industrial Digital Out 4 Bricklet.