Visual Basic .NET - Line Bricklet¶

Simple¶

Download (ExampleSimple.vb)

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Imports System
Imports Tinkerforge

Module ExampleSimple
    Const HOST As String = "localhost"
    Const PORT As Integer = 4223
    Const UID As String = "XYZ" ' Change XYZ to the UID of your Line Bricklet

    Sub Main()
        Dim ipcon As New IPConnection() ' Create IP connection
        Dim l As New BrickletLine(UID, ipcon) ' Create device object

        ipcon.Connect(HOST, PORT) ' Connect to brickd
        ' Don't use device before ipcon is connected

        ' Get current reflectivity
        Dim reflectivity As Integer = l.GetReflectivity()
        Console.WriteLine("Reflectivity: " + reflectivity.ToString())

        Console.WriteLine("Press key to exit")
        Console.ReadLine()
        ipcon.Disconnect()
    End Sub
End Module

Callback¶

Download (ExampleCallback.vb)

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Imports System
Imports Tinkerforge

Module ExampleCallback
    Const HOST As String = "localhost"
    Const PORT As Integer = 4223
    Const UID As String = "XYZ" ' Change XYZ to the UID of your Line Bricklet

    ' Callback subroutine for reflectivity callback
    Sub ReflectivityCB(ByVal sender As BrickletLine, ByVal reflectivity As Integer)
        Console.WriteLine("Reflectivity: " + reflectivity.ToString())
    End Sub

    Sub Main()
        Dim ipcon As New IPConnection() ' Create IP connection
        Dim l As New BrickletLine(UID, ipcon) ' Create device object

        ipcon.Connect(HOST, PORT) ' Connect to brickd
        ' Don't use device before ipcon is connected

        ' Register reflectivity callback to subroutine ReflectivityCB
        AddHandler l.ReflectivityCallback, AddressOf ReflectivityCB

        ' Set period for reflectivity callback to 1s (1000ms)
        ' Note: The reflectivity callback is only called every second
        '       if the reflectivity has changed since the last call!
        l.SetReflectivityCallbackPeriod(1000)

        Console.WriteLine("Press key to exit")
        Console.ReadLine()
        ipcon.Disconnect()
    End Sub
End Module

Threshold¶

Download (ExampleThreshold.vb)

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Imports System
Imports Tinkerforge

Module ExampleThreshold
    Const HOST As String = "localhost"
    Const PORT As Integer = 4223
    Const UID As String = "XYZ" ' Change XYZ to the UID of your Line Bricklet

    ' Callback subroutine for reflectivity reached callback
    Sub ReflectivityReachedCB(ByVal sender As BrickletLine, _
                              ByVal reflectivity As Integer)
        Console.WriteLine("Reflectivity: " + reflectivity.ToString())
    End Sub

    Sub Main()
        Dim ipcon As New IPConnection() ' Create IP connection
        Dim l As New BrickletLine(UID, ipcon) ' Create device object

        ipcon.Connect(HOST, PORT) ' Connect to brickd
        ' Don't use device before ipcon is connected

        ' Get threshold callbacks with a debounce time of 1 second (1000ms)
        l.SetDebouncePeriod(1000)

        ' Register reflectivity reached callback to subroutine ReflectivityReachedCB
        AddHandler l.ReflectivityReachedCallback, AddressOf ReflectivityReachedCB

        ' Configure threshold for reflectivity "greater than 2000"
        l.SetReflectivityCallbackThreshold(">"C, 2000, 0)

        Console.WriteLine("Press key to exit")
        Console.ReadLine()
        ipcon.Disconnect()
    End Sub
End Module

Basic Functions¶

Class BrickletLine(ByVal uid As String, ByVal ipcon As IPConnection)¶

Creates an object with the unique device ID uid:

Dim line As New BrickletLine("YOUR_DEVICE_UID", ipcon)

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

Function BrickletLine.GetReflectivity() As Integer¶

Returns:	reflectivity – Type: Integer, Range: [0 to 212 - 1]

Returns the currently measured reflectivity. The reflectivity is a value between 0 (not reflective) and 4095 (very reflective).

Usually black has a low reflectivity while white has a high reflectivity.

If you want to get the reflectivity periodically, it is recommended to use the ReflectivityCallback callback and set the period with SetReflectivityCallbackPeriod().

Advanced Functions¶

Sub BrickletLine.GetIdentity(ByRef uid As String, ByRef connectedUid As String, ByRef position As Char, ByRef hardwareVersion() As Byte, ByRef firmwareVersion() As Byte, ByRef deviceIdentifier As Integer)¶

Output Parameters:

uid – Type: String, Length: up to 8 connectedUid – Type: String, Length: up to 8 position – Type: Char, Range: ["a"C to "h"C, "z"C] hardwareVersion – Type: Byte Array, Length: 3 0: major – Type: Byte, Range: [0 to 255] 1: minor – Type: Byte, Range: [0 to 255] 2: revision – Type: Byte, Range: [0 to 255] firmwareVersion – Type: Byte Array, Length: 3 0: major – Type: Byte, Range: [0 to 255] 1: minor – Type: Byte, Range: [0 to 255] 2: revision – Type: Byte, 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.

Callback Configuration Functions¶

Sub BrickletLine.SetReflectivityCallbackPeriod(ByVal period As Long)¶

Parameters:	period – Type: Long, Unit: 1 ms, Range: [0 to 232 - 1], Default: 0

Sets the period with which the ReflectivityCallback callback is triggered periodically. A value of 0 turns the callback off.

The ReflectivityCallback callback is only triggered if the reflectivity has changed since the last triggering.

Function BrickletLine.GetReflectivityCallbackPeriod() As Long¶

Returns:	period – Type: Long, Unit: 1 ms, Range: [0 to 232 - 1], Default: 0

Returns the period as set by SetReflectivityCallbackPeriod().

Sub BrickletLine.SetReflectivityCallbackThreshold(ByVal option As Char, ByVal min As Integer, ByVal max As Integer)¶

Parameters:	option – Type: Char, Range: See constants, Default: "x"C min – Type: Integer, Range: [0 to 216 - 1], Default: 0 max – Type: Integer, Range: [0 to 216 - 1], Default: 0

Sets the thresholds for the ReflectivityReachedCallback callback.

The following options are possible:

Option	Description
'x'	Callback is turned off
'o'	Callback is triggered when the reflectivity is outside the min and max values
'i'	Callback is triggered when the reflectivity is inside the min and max values
'<'	Callback is triggered when the reflectivity is smaller than the min value (max is ignored)
'>'	Callback is triggered when the reflectivity is greater than the min value (max is ignored)

The following constants are available for this function:

For option:

• BrickletLine.THRESHOLD_OPTION_OFF = "x"C
• BrickletLine.THRESHOLD_OPTION_OUTSIDE = "o"C
• BrickletLine.THRESHOLD_OPTION_INSIDE = "i"C
• BrickletLine.THRESHOLD_OPTION_SMALLER = "<"C
• BrickletLine.THRESHOLD_OPTION_GREATER = ">"C

Sub BrickletLine.GetReflectivityCallbackThreshold(ByRef option As Char, ByRef min As Integer, ByRef max As Integer)¶

Output Parameters:	option – Type: Char, Range: See constants, Default: "x"C min – Type: Integer, Range: [0 to 216 - 1], Default: 0 max – Type: Integer, Range: [0 to 216 - 1], Default: 0

Returns the threshold as set by SetReflectivityCallbackThreshold().

The following constants are available for this function:

For option:

• BrickletLine.THRESHOLD_OPTION_OFF = "x"C
• BrickletLine.THRESHOLD_OPTION_OUTSIDE = "o"C
• BrickletLine.THRESHOLD_OPTION_INSIDE = "i"C
• BrickletLine.THRESHOLD_OPTION_SMALLER = "<"C
• BrickletLine.THRESHOLD_OPTION_GREATER = ">"C

Sub BrickletLine.SetDebouncePeriod(ByVal debounce As Long)¶

Parameters:	debounce – Type: Long, Unit: 1 ms, Range: [0 to 232 - 1], Default: 100

Sets the period with which the threshold callback

• ReflectivityReachedCallback

is triggered, if the threshold

• SetReflectivityCallbackThreshold()

keeps being reached.

Function BrickletLine.GetDebouncePeriod() As Long¶

Returns:	debounce – Type: Long, Unit: 1 ms, Range: [0 to 232 - 1], Default: 100

Returns the debounce period as set by SetDebouncePeriod().

Callbacks¶

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

Sub MyCallback(ByVal sender As BrickletLine, ByVal value As Short)
    Console.WriteLine("Value: {0}", value)
End Sub

AddHandler line.ExampleCallback, AddressOf MyCallback

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

Event BrickletLine.ReflectivityCallback(ByVal sender As BrickletLine, ByVal reflectivity As Integer)¶

Callback Parameters:	sender – Type: BrickletLine reflectivity – Type: Integer, Range: [0 to 212 - 1]

This callback is triggered periodically with the period that is set by SetReflectivityCallbackPeriod(). The parameter is the reflectivity of the sensor.

The ReflectivityCallback callback is only triggered if the reflectivity has changed since the last triggering.

Event BrickletLine.ReflectivityReachedCallback(ByVal sender As BrickletLine, ByVal reflectivity As Integer)¶

Callback Parameters:	sender – Type: BrickletLine reflectivity – Type: Integer, Range: [0 to 212 - 1]

This callback is triggered when the threshold as set by SetReflectivityCallbackThreshold() is reached. The parameter is the reflectivity of the sensor.

If the threshold keeps being reached, the callback is triggered periodically with the period as set by SetDebouncePeriod().

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.

Function BrickletLine.GetAPIVersion() As Byte()¶

Output Parameters:	apiVersion – Type: Byte Array, Length: 3 0: major – Type: Byte, Range: [0 to 255] 1: minor – Type: Byte, Range: [0 to 255] 2: revision – Type: Byte, 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.

Function BrickletLine.GetResponseExpected(ByVal functionId As Byte) As Boolean¶

Parameters:	functionId – Type: Byte, Range: See constants
Returns:	responseExpected – Type: Boolean

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:

• BrickletLine.FUNCTION_SET_REFLECTIVITY_CALLBACK_PERIOD = 2
• BrickletLine.FUNCTION_SET_REFLECTIVITY_CALLBACK_THRESHOLD = 4
• BrickletLine.FUNCTION_SET_DEBOUNCE_PERIOD = 6

Sub BrickletLine.SetResponseExpected(ByVal functionId As Byte, ByVal responseExpected As Boolean)¶

Parameters:	functionId – Type: Byte, Range: See constants responseExpected – Type: Boolean

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:

• BrickletLine.FUNCTION_SET_REFLECTIVITY_CALLBACK_PERIOD = 2
• BrickletLine.FUNCTION_SET_REFLECTIVITY_CALLBACK_THRESHOLD = 4
• BrickletLine.FUNCTION_SET_DEBOUNCE_PERIOD = 6

Sub BrickletLine.SetResponseExpectedAll(ByVal responseExpected As Boolean)¶

Parameters:	responseExpected – Type: Boolean

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

Constants¶

Const BrickletLine.DEVICE_IDENTIFIER¶

This constant is used to identify a Line 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.

Const BrickletLine.DEVICE_DISPLAY_NAME¶

This constant represents the human readable name of a Line Bricklet.