Visual Basic .NET - AC Current Bricklet

Note

This Bricklet is currently in the prototype stage and the software/hardware as well as the documentation is in an incomplete state.

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

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

Examples

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

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 BrickletACCurrent(ByVal uid As String, ByVal ipcon As IPConnection)

Creates an object with the unique device ID uid:

Dim acCurrent As New BrickletACCurrent("YOUR_DEVICE_UID", ipcon)

This object can then be used after the IP Connection is connected (see examples above).

Function BrickletACCurrent.GetCurrent() As Integer

TODO

If you want to get the current periodically, it is recommended to use the callback Current and set the period with SetCurrentCallbackPeriod().

Sub BrickletACCurrent.SetConfiguration(ByVal currentRange As Byte)
Function BrickletACCurrent.GetConfiguration() As Byte

Advanced Functions

Function BrickletACCurrent.GetAnalogValue() As Integer

Returns the value as read by a 12-bit analog-to-digital converter. The value is between 0 and 4095.

If you want the analog value periodically, it is recommended to use the callback AnalogValue and set the period with SetAnalogValueCallbackPeriod().

Sub BrickletACCurrent.SetMovingAverage(ByVal average As Byte)

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

Setting the length to 1 will turn the averaging off. With less averaging, there is more noise on the data.

The range for the averaging is 1-50.

The default value is 50.

Function BrickletACCurrent.GetMovingAverage() As Byte

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

Function BrickletACCurrent.GetAPIVersion() As Byte()

Returns the version of the API definition (major, minor, revision) 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 BrickletACCurrent.GetResponseExpected(ByVal functionId As Byte) As 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 send and errors are silently ignored, because they cannot be detected.

See SetResponseExpected() for the list of function ID constants available for this function.

Sub BrickletACCurrent.SetResponseExpected(ByVal functionId As Byte, ByVal responseExpected As 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 and callbacks it is always disabled.

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 send and errors are silently ignored, because they cannot be detected.

The following function ID constants are available for this function:

  • BrickletACCurrent.FUNCTION_SET_CURRENT_CALLBACK_PERIOD = 3
  • BrickletACCurrent.FUNCTION_SET_ANALOG_VALUE_CALLBACK_PERIOD = 5
  • BrickletACCurrent.FUNCTION_SET_CURRENT_CALLBACK_THRESHOLD = 7
  • BrickletACCurrent.FUNCTION_SET_ANALOG_VALUE_CALLBACK_THRESHOLD = 9
  • BrickletACCurrent.FUNCTION_SET_DEBOUNCE_PERIOD = 11
  • BrickletACCurrent.FUNCTION_SET_MOVING_AVERAGE = 13
  • BrickletACCurrent.FUNCTION_SET_CONFIGURATION = 15
Sub BrickletACCurrent.SetResponseExpectedAll(ByVal responseExpected As Boolean)

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

Sub BrickletACCurrent.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)

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' or 'd'.

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

Callback Configuration Functions

Sub BrickletACCurrent.SetCurrentCallbackPeriod(ByVal period As Long)

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

Current is only triggered if the current has changed since the last triggering.

The default value is 0.

Function BrickletACCurrent.GetCurrentCallbackPeriod() As Long

Returns the period as set by SetCurrentCallbackPeriod().

Sub BrickletACCurrent.SetAnalogValueCallbackPeriod(ByVal period As Long)

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

AnalogValue is only triggered if the analog value has changed since the last triggering.

The default value is 0.

Function BrickletACCurrent.GetAnalogValueCallbackPeriod() As Long

Returns the period as set by SetAnalogValueCallbackPeriod().

Sub BrickletACCurrent.SetCurrentCallbackThreshold(ByVal option As Char, ByVal min As Short, ByVal max As Short)

Sets the thresholds for the CurrentReached callback.

The following options are possible:

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

The default value is ('x', 0, 0).

The following constants are available for this function:

  • BrickletACCurrent.THRESHOLD_OPTION_OFF = "x"C
  • BrickletACCurrent.THRESHOLD_OPTION_OUTSIDE = "o"C
  • BrickletACCurrent.THRESHOLD_OPTION_INSIDE = "i"C
  • BrickletACCurrent.THRESHOLD_OPTION_SMALLER = "<"C
  • BrickletACCurrent.THRESHOLD_OPTION_GREATER = ">"C
Sub BrickletACCurrent.GetCurrentCallbackThreshold(ByRef option As Char, ByRef min As Short, ByRef max As Short)

Returns the threshold as set by SetCurrentCallbackThreshold().

The following constants are available for this function:

  • BrickletACCurrent.THRESHOLD_OPTION_OFF = "x"C
  • BrickletACCurrent.THRESHOLD_OPTION_OUTSIDE = "o"C
  • BrickletACCurrent.THRESHOLD_OPTION_INSIDE = "i"C
  • BrickletACCurrent.THRESHOLD_OPTION_SMALLER = "<"C
  • BrickletACCurrent.THRESHOLD_OPTION_GREATER = ">"C
Sub BrickletACCurrent.SetAnalogValueCallbackThreshold(ByVal option As Char, ByVal min As Integer, ByVal max As Integer)

Sets the thresholds for the AnalogValueReached callback.

The following options are possible:

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

The default value is ('x', 0, 0).

The following constants are available for this function:

  • BrickletACCurrent.THRESHOLD_OPTION_OFF = "x"C
  • BrickletACCurrent.THRESHOLD_OPTION_OUTSIDE = "o"C
  • BrickletACCurrent.THRESHOLD_OPTION_INSIDE = "i"C
  • BrickletACCurrent.THRESHOLD_OPTION_SMALLER = "<"C
  • BrickletACCurrent.THRESHOLD_OPTION_GREATER = ">"C
Sub BrickletACCurrent.GetAnalogValueCallbackThreshold(ByRef option As Char, ByRef min As Integer, ByRef max As Integer)

Returns the threshold as set by SetAnalogValueCallbackThreshold().

The following constants are available for this function:

  • BrickletACCurrent.THRESHOLD_OPTION_OFF = "x"C
  • BrickletACCurrent.THRESHOLD_OPTION_OUTSIDE = "o"C
  • BrickletACCurrent.THRESHOLD_OPTION_INSIDE = "i"C
  • BrickletACCurrent.THRESHOLD_OPTION_SMALLER = "<"C
  • BrickletACCurrent.THRESHOLD_OPTION_GREATER = ">"C
Sub BrickletACCurrent.SetDebouncePeriod(ByVal debounce As Long)

Sets the period in ms with which the threshold callbacks

are triggered, if the thresholds

keep being reached.

The default value is 100.

Function BrickletACCurrent.GetDebouncePeriod() As Long

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

AddHandler acCurrent.Example, AddressOf Callback

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 BrickletACCurrent.Current(ByVal sender As BrickletACCurrent, ByVal current As Integer)

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

Current is only triggered if the current has changed since the last triggering.

Event BrickletACCurrent.AnalogValue(ByVal sender As BrickletACCurrent, ByVal value As Integer)

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

AnalogValue is only triggered if the current has changed since the last triggering.

Event BrickletACCurrent.CurrentReached(ByVal sender As BrickletACCurrent, ByVal current As Integer)

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

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

Event BrickletACCurrent.AnalogValueReached(ByVal sender As BrickletACCurrent, ByVal value As Integer)

This callback is triggered when the threshold as set by SetAnalogValueCallbackThreshold() is reached. The parameter is the analog value of the sensor.

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

Constants

Const BrickletACCurrent.DEVICE_IDENTIFIER

This constant is used to identify a AC Current Bricklet.

The GetIdentity() function and the EnumerateCallback callback of the IP Connection have a deviceIdentifier parameter to specify the Brick's or Bricklet's type.

Creative Commons Licence The content of this page is licensed under Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported License.