Software / API Bindings / Visual Basic .NET / API Reference and Examples / Bricklets (Discontinued) / RGB LED Matrix Bricklet

Visual Basic .NET - RGB LED Matrix Bricklet¶

This is the description of the Visual Basic .NET API bindings for the RGB LED Matrix Bricklet. General information and technical specifications for the RGB LED Matrix Bricklet are summarized in its hardware description.

An installation guide for the Visual Basic .NET API bindings is part of their general description.

API¶

Since Visual Basic .NET does not support multiple return values directly, we use the ByRef keyword to return multiple values from a function.

All functions and procedures listed below are thread-safe.

Basic Functions¶

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

Creates an object with the unique device ID uid:

Dim rgbLEDMatrix As New BrickletRGBLEDMatrix("YOUR_DEVICE_UID", ipcon)

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

Sub BrickletRGBLEDMatrix.SetRed(ByVal red() As Byte)¶

Parameters:	red – Type: Byte Array, Length: 64, Range: [0 to 255]

Sets the 64 red LED values of the matrix.

Function BrickletRGBLEDMatrix.GetRed() As Byte()¶

Returns:	red – Type: Byte Array, Length: 64, Range: [0 to 255], Default: {0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0}

Returns the red LED values as set by SetRed().

Sub BrickletRGBLEDMatrix.SetGreen(ByVal green() As Byte)¶

Parameters:	green – Type: Byte Array, Length: 64, Range: [0 to 255], Default: {0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0}

Sets the 64 green LED values of the matrix.

Function BrickletRGBLEDMatrix.GetGreen() As Byte()¶

Returns:	green – Type: Byte Array, Length: 64, Range: [0 to 255], Default: {0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0}

Returns the green LED values as set by SetGreen().

Sub BrickletRGBLEDMatrix.SetBlue(ByVal blue() As Byte)¶

Parameters:	blue – Type: Byte Array, Length: 64, Range: [0 to 255], Default: {0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0}

Sets the 64 blue LED values of the matrix.

Function BrickletRGBLEDMatrix.GetBlue() As Byte()¶

Returns:	blue – Type: Byte Array, Length: 64, Range: [0 to 255], Default: {0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0}

Returns the blue LED values as set by SetBlue().

Sub BrickletRGBLEDMatrix.SetFrameDuration(ByVal frameDuration As Integer)¶

Parameters:	frameDuration – Type: Integer, Unit: 1 ms, Range: [0 to 2¹⁶ - 1], Default: 0

Sets the frame duration.

Example: If you want to achieve 20 frames per second, you should set the frame duration to 50ms (50ms * 20 = 1 second).

Set this value to 0 to turn the automatic frame write mechanism off.

Approach:

Call SetFrameDuration() with value > 0.
Set LED values for first frame with SetRed(), SetGreen(), SetBlue().
Wait for FrameStartedCallback callback.
Set LED values for second frame with SetRed(), SetGreen(), SetBlue().
Wait for FrameStartedCallback callback.
and so on.

For frame duration of 0 see DrawFrame().

Function BrickletRGBLEDMatrix.GetFrameDuration() As Integer¶

Returns:	frameDuration – Type: Integer, Unit: 1 ms, Range: [0 to 2¹⁶ - 1], Default: 0

Returns the frame duration as set by SetFrameDuration().

Sub BrickletRGBLEDMatrix.DrawFrame()¶

If you set the frame duration to 0 (see SetFrameDuration()), you can use this function to transfer the frame to the matrix.

Approach:

Call SetFrameDuration() with 0.
Set LED values for first frame with SetRed(), SetGreen(), SetBlue().
Call DrawFrame().
Wait for FrameStartedCallback callback.
Set LED values for second frame with SetRed(), SetGreen(), SetBlue().
Call DrawFrame().
Wait for FrameStartedCallback callback.
and so on.

Advanced Functions¶

Function BrickletRGBLEDMatrix.GetSupplyVoltage() As Integer¶

Returns:	voltage – Type: Integer, Unit: 1 mV, Range: [0 to 2¹⁶ - 1]

Returns the current supply voltage of the Bricklet.

Sub BrickletRGBLEDMatrix.GetSPITFPErrorCount(ByRef errorCountAckChecksum As Long, ByRef errorCountMessageChecksum As Long, ByRef errorCountFrame As Long, ByRef errorCountOverflow As Long)¶

Output Parameters:	errorCountAckChecksum – Type: Long, Range: [0 to 2³² - 1] errorCountMessageChecksum – Type: Long, Range: [0 to 2³² - 1] errorCountFrame – Type: Long, Range: [0 to 2³² - 1] errorCountOverflow – Type: Long, Range: [0 to 2³² - 1]

Returns the error count for the communication between Brick and Bricklet.

The errors are divided into

ACK checksum errors,
message checksum errors,
framing errors and
overflow errors.

The errors counts are for errors that occur on the Bricklet side. All Bricks have a similar function that returns the errors on the Brick side.

Sub BrickletRGBLEDMatrix.SetStatusLEDConfig(ByVal config As Byte)¶

Parameters:	config – Type: Byte, Range: See constants, Default: 3

Sets the status LED configuration. By default the LED shows communication traffic between Brick and Bricklet, it flickers once for every 10 received data packets.

You can also turn the LED permanently on/off or show a heartbeat.

If the Bricklet is in bootloader mode, the LED is will show heartbeat by default.

The following constants are available for this function:

For config:

BrickletRGBLEDMatrix.STATUS_LED_CONFIG_OFF = 0
BrickletRGBLEDMatrix.STATUS_LED_CONFIG_ON = 1
BrickletRGBLEDMatrix.STATUS_LED_CONFIG_SHOW_HEARTBEAT = 2
BrickletRGBLEDMatrix.STATUS_LED_CONFIG_SHOW_STATUS = 3

Function BrickletRGBLEDMatrix.GetStatusLEDConfig() As Byte¶

Returns:	config – Type: Byte, Range: See constants, Default: 3

Returns the configuration as set by SetStatusLEDConfig()

The following constants are available for this function:

For config:

BrickletRGBLEDMatrix.STATUS_LED_CONFIG_OFF = 0
BrickletRGBLEDMatrix.STATUS_LED_CONFIG_ON = 1
BrickletRGBLEDMatrix.STATUS_LED_CONFIG_SHOW_HEARTBEAT = 2
BrickletRGBLEDMatrix.STATUS_LED_CONFIG_SHOW_STATUS = 3

Function BrickletRGBLEDMatrix.GetChipTemperature() As Short¶

Returns:	temperature – Type: Short, Unit: 1 °C, Range: [-2¹⁵ to 2¹⁵ - 1]

Returns the temperature as measured inside the microcontroller. The value returned is not the ambient temperature!

The temperature is only proportional to the real temperature and it has bad accuracy. Practically it is only useful as an indicator for temperature changes.

Sub BrickletRGBLEDMatrix.Reset()¶

Calling this function will reset the Bricklet. All configurations will be lost.

After a reset you have to create new device objects, calling functions on the existing ones will result in undefined behavior!

Sub BrickletRGBLEDMatrix.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:

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]

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.

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

AddHandler rgbLEDMatrix.ExampleCallback, AddressOf MyCallback

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 BrickletRGBLEDMatrix.FrameStartedCallback(ByVal sender As BrickletRGBLEDMatrix, ByVal frameNumber As Long)¶

Callback Parameters:	sender – Type: BrickletRGBLEDMatrix frameNumber – Type: Long, Range: [0 to 2³² - 1]

This callback is triggered as soon as a new frame write is started. The LED values are double buffered, so you can send the LED values for the next frame directly after this callback is triggered.

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 BrickletRGBLEDMatrix.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 BrickletRGBLEDMatrix.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:

BrickletRGBLEDMatrix.FUNCTION_SET_RED = 1
BrickletRGBLEDMatrix.FUNCTION_SET_GREEN = 3
BrickletRGBLEDMatrix.FUNCTION_SET_BLUE = 5
BrickletRGBLEDMatrix.FUNCTION_SET_FRAME_DURATION = 7
BrickletRGBLEDMatrix.FUNCTION_DRAW_FRAME = 9
BrickletRGBLEDMatrix.FUNCTION_SET_WRITE_FIRMWARE_POINTER = 237
BrickletRGBLEDMatrix.FUNCTION_SET_STATUS_LED_CONFIG = 239
BrickletRGBLEDMatrix.FUNCTION_RESET = 243
BrickletRGBLEDMatrix.FUNCTION_WRITE_UID = 248

Sub BrickletRGBLEDMatrix.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.

The following constants are available for this function:

For functionId:

BrickletRGBLEDMatrix.FUNCTION_SET_RED = 1
BrickletRGBLEDMatrix.FUNCTION_SET_GREEN = 3
BrickletRGBLEDMatrix.FUNCTION_SET_BLUE = 5
BrickletRGBLEDMatrix.FUNCTION_SET_FRAME_DURATION = 7
BrickletRGBLEDMatrix.FUNCTION_DRAW_FRAME = 9
BrickletRGBLEDMatrix.FUNCTION_SET_WRITE_FIRMWARE_POINTER = 237
BrickletRGBLEDMatrix.FUNCTION_SET_STATUS_LED_CONFIG = 239
BrickletRGBLEDMatrix.FUNCTION_RESET = 243
BrickletRGBLEDMatrix.FUNCTION_WRITE_UID = 248

Sub BrickletRGBLEDMatrix.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.

Internal Functions¶

Internal functions are used for maintenance tasks such as flashing a new firmware of changing the UID of a Bricklet. These task should be performed using Brick Viewer instead of using the internal functions directly.

Function BrickletRGBLEDMatrix.SetBootloaderMode(ByVal mode As Byte) As Byte¶

Parameters:	mode – Type: Byte, Range: See constants
Returns:	status – Type: Byte, Range: See constants

Sets the bootloader mode and returns the status after the requested mode change was instigated.

You can change from bootloader mode to firmware mode and vice versa. A change from bootloader mode to firmware mode will only take place if the entry function, device identifier and CRC are present and correct.

This function is used by Brick Viewer during flashing. It should not be necessary to call it in a normal user program.

The following constants are available for this function:

For mode:

BrickletRGBLEDMatrix.BOOTLOADER_MODE_BOOTLOADER = 0
BrickletRGBLEDMatrix.BOOTLOADER_MODE_FIRMWARE = 1
BrickletRGBLEDMatrix.BOOTLOADER_MODE_BOOTLOADER_WAIT_FOR_REBOOT = 2
BrickletRGBLEDMatrix.BOOTLOADER_MODE_FIRMWARE_WAIT_FOR_REBOOT = 3
BrickletRGBLEDMatrix.BOOTLOADER_MODE_FIRMWARE_WAIT_FOR_ERASE_AND_REBOOT = 4

For status:

BrickletRGBLEDMatrix.BOOTLOADER_STATUS_OK = 0
BrickletRGBLEDMatrix.BOOTLOADER_STATUS_INVALID_MODE = 1
BrickletRGBLEDMatrix.BOOTLOADER_STATUS_NO_CHANGE = 2
BrickletRGBLEDMatrix.BOOTLOADER_STATUS_ENTRY_FUNCTION_NOT_PRESENT = 3
BrickletRGBLEDMatrix.BOOTLOADER_STATUS_DEVICE_IDENTIFIER_INCORRECT = 4
BrickletRGBLEDMatrix.BOOTLOADER_STATUS_CRC_MISMATCH = 5

Function BrickletRGBLEDMatrix.GetBootloaderMode() As Byte¶

Returns:	mode – Type: Byte, Range: See constants

Returns the current bootloader mode, see SetBootloaderMode().

The following constants are available for this function:

For mode:

BrickletRGBLEDMatrix.BOOTLOADER_MODE_BOOTLOADER = 0
BrickletRGBLEDMatrix.BOOTLOADER_MODE_FIRMWARE = 1
BrickletRGBLEDMatrix.BOOTLOADER_MODE_BOOTLOADER_WAIT_FOR_REBOOT = 2
BrickletRGBLEDMatrix.BOOTLOADER_MODE_FIRMWARE_WAIT_FOR_REBOOT = 3
BrickletRGBLEDMatrix.BOOTLOADER_MODE_FIRMWARE_WAIT_FOR_ERASE_AND_REBOOT = 4

Sub BrickletRGBLEDMatrix.SetWriteFirmwarePointer(ByVal pointer As Long)¶

Parameters:	pointer – Type: Long, Unit: 1 B, Range: [0 to 2³² - 1]

Sets the firmware pointer for WriteFirmware(). The pointer has to be increased by chunks of size 64. The data is written to flash every 4 chunks (which equals to one page of size 256).

This function is used by Brick Viewer during flashing. It should not be necessary to call it in a normal user program.

Function BrickletRGBLEDMatrix.WriteFirmware(ByVal data() As Byte) As Byte¶

Parameters:	data – Type: Byte Array, Length: 64, Range: [0 to 255]
Returns:	status – Type: Byte, Range: [0 to 255]

Writes 64 Bytes of firmware at the position as written by SetWriteFirmwarePointer() before. The firmware is written to flash every 4 chunks.

You can only write firmware in bootloader mode.

This function is used by Brick Viewer during flashing. It should not be necessary to call it in a normal user program.

Sub BrickletRGBLEDMatrix.WriteUID(ByVal uid As Long)¶

Parameters:	uid – Type: Long, Range: [0 to 2³² - 1]

Writes a new UID into flash. If you want to set a new UID you have to decode the Base58 encoded UID string into an integer first.

We recommend that you use Brick Viewer to change the UID.

Function BrickletRGBLEDMatrix.ReadUID() As Long¶

Returns:	uid – Type: Long, Range: [0 to 2³² - 1]

Returns the current UID as an integer. Encode as Base58 to get the usual string version.

Constants¶

Const BrickletRGBLEDMatrix.DEVICE_IDENTIFIER¶

This constant is used to identify a RGB LED Matrix 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 BrickletRGBLEDMatrix.DEVICE_DISPLAY_NAME¶: This constant represents the human readable name of a RGB LED Matrix Bricklet.