Visual Basic .NET - Moisture 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 Moisture Bricklet

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

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

        ' Get current moisture value
        Dim moisture As Integer = m.GetMoistureValue()
        Console.WriteLine("Moisture Value: " + moisture.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 Moisture Bricklet

    ' Callback subroutine for moisture value callback
    Sub MoistureCB(ByVal sender As BrickletMoisture, ByVal moisture As Integer)
        Console.WriteLine("Moisture Value: " + moisture.ToString())
    End Sub

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

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

        ' Register moisture value callback to subroutine MoistureCB
        AddHandler m.MoistureCallback, AddressOf MoistureCB

        ' Set period for moisture value callback to 1s (1000ms)
        ' Note: The moisture value callback is only called every second
        '       if the moisture value has changed since the last call!
        m.SetMoistureCallbackPeriod(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 Moisture Bricklet

    ' Callback subroutine for moisture value reached callback
    Sub MoistureReachedCB(ByVal sender As BrickletMoisture, ByVal moisture As Integer)
        Console.WriteLine("Moisture Value: " + moisture.ToString())
    End Sub

    Sub Main()
        Dim ipcon As New IPConnection() ' Create IP connection
        Dim m As New BrickletMoisture(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)
        m.SetDebouncePeriod(1000)

        ' Register moisture value reached callback to subroutine MoistureReachedCB
        AddHandler m.MoistureReachedCallback, AddressOf MoistureReachedCB

        ' Configure threshold for moisture value "greater than 200"
        m.SetMoistureCallbackThreshold(">"C, 200, 0)

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

Basic Functions¶

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

Creates an object with the unique device ID uid:

Dim moisture As New BrickletMoisture("YOUR_DEVICE_UID", ipcon)

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

Function BrickletMoisture.GetMoistureValue() As Integer¶

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

Returns the current moisture value. A small value corresponds to little moisture, a big value corresponds to much moisture.

If you want to get the moisture value periodically, it is recommended to use the MoistureCallback callback and set the period with SetMoistureCallbackPeriod().

Advanced Functions¶

Sub BrickletMoisture.SetMovingAverage(ByVal average As Byte)¶

Parameters:	average – Type: Byte, Range: [0 to 100], Default: 100

Sets the length of a moving averaging for the moisture value.

Setting the length to 0 will turn the averaging completely off. With less averaging, there is more noise on the data.

Function BrickletMoisture.GetMovingAverage() As Byte¶

Returns:	average – Type: Byte, Range: [0 to 100], Default: 100

Returns the length moving average as set by SetMovingAverage().

Sub BrickletMoisture.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 BrickletMoisture.SetMoistureCallbackPeriod(ByVal period As Long)¶

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

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

The MoistureCallback callback is only triggered if the moisture value has changed since the last triggering.

Function BrickletMoisture.GetMoistureCallbackPeriod() As Long¶

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

Returns the period as set by SetMoistureCallbackPeriod().

Sub BrickletMoisture.SetMoistureCallbackThreshold(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 MoistureReachedCallback callback.

The following options are possible:

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

The following constants are available for this function:

For option:

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

Sub BrickletMoisture.GetMoistureCallbackThreshold(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 SetMoistureCallbackThreshold().

The following constants are available for this function:

For option:

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

Sub BrickletMoisture.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

• MoistureReachedCallback

is triggered, if the threshold

• SetMoistureCallbackThreshold()

keeps being reached.

Function BrickletMoisture.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 BrickletMoisture, ByVal value As Short)
    Console.WriteLine("Value: {0}", value)
End Sub

AddHandler moisture.ExampleCallback, AddressOf MyCallback

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

Event BrickletMoisture.MoistureCallback(ByVal sender As BrickletMoisture, ByVal moisture As Integer)¶

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

This callback is triggered periodically with the period that is set by SetMoistureCallbackPeriod(). The parameter is the moisture value of the sensor.

The MoistureCallback callback is only triggered if the moisture value has changed since the last triggering.

Event BrickletMoisture.MoistureReachedCallback(ByVal sender As BrickletMoisture, ByVal moisture As Integer)¶

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

This callback is triggered when the threshold as set by SetMoistureCallbackThreshold() is reached. The parameter is the moisture value 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 BrickletMoisture.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 BrickletMoisture.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:

• BrickletMoisture.FUNCTION_SET_MOISTURE_CALLBACK_PERIOD = 2
• BrickletMoisture.FUNCTION_SET_MOISTURE_CALLBACK_THRESHOLD = 4
• BrickletMoisture.FUNCTION_SET_DEBOUNCE_PERIOD = 6
• BrickletMoisture.FUNCTION_SET_MOVING_AVERAGE = 10

Sub BrickletMoisture.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:

• BrickletMoisture.FUNCTION_SET_MOISTURE_CALLBACK_PERIOD = 2
• BrickletMoisture.FUNCTION_SET_MOISTURE_CALLBACK_THRESHOLD = 4
• BrickletMoisture.FUNCTION_SET_DEBOUNCE_PERIOD = 6
• BrickletMoisture.FUNCTION_SET_MOVING_AVERAGE = 10

Sub BrickletMoisture.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 BrickletMoisture.DEVICE_IDENTIFIER¶

This constant is used to identify a Moisture 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 BrickletMoisture.DEVICE_DISPLAY_NAME¶

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