Delphi/Lazarus - Remote Switch Bricklet

This is the description of the Delphi/Lazarus API bindings for the Remote Switch Bricklet. General information and technical specifications for the Remote Switch Bricklet are summarized in its hardware description.

An installation guide for the Delphi/Lazarus API bindings is part of their general description.

Examples

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

Switch Socket

Download (ExampleSwitchSocket.pas)

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program ExampleSwitchSocket;

{$ifdef MSWINDOWS}{$apptype CONSOLE}{$endif}
{$ifdef FPC}{$mode OBJFPC}{$H+}{$endif}

uses
  SysUtils, IPConnection, BrickletRemoteSwitch;

type
  TExample = class
  private
    ipcon: TIPConnection;
    rs: TBrickletRemoteSwitch;
  public
    procedure Execute;
  end;

const
  HOST = 'localhost';
  PORT = 4223;
  UID = 'XYZ'; { Change to your UID }

var
  e: TExample;

procedure TExample.Execute;
begin
  { Create IP connection }
  ipcon := TIPConnection.Create;

  { Create device object }
  rs := TBrickletRemoteSwitch.Create(UID, ipcon);

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

  { Switch on a type A socket with house code 17 and receiver code 1.
    House code 17 is 10001 in binary (least-significant bit first)
    and means that the DIP switches 1 and 5 are on and 2-4 are off.
    Receiver code 1 is 10000 in binary (least-significant bit first)
    and means that the DIP switch A is on and B-E are off. }
  rs.SwitchSocketA(17, 1, BRICKLET_REMOTE_SWITCH_SWITCH_TO_ON);

  WriteLn('Press key to exit');
  ReadLn;
  ipcon.Destroy;
end;

begin
  e := TExample.Create;
  e.Execute;
  e.Destroy;
end.

API

Since Delphi does not support multiple return values directly, we use the out keyword to return multiple values from a function.

All functions and procedures listed below are thread-safe.

Basic Functions

constructor TBrickletRemoteSwitch.Create(const uid: string; ipcon: TIPConnection)

Creates an object with the unique device ID uid:

remoteSwitch := TBrickletRemoteSwitch.Create('YOUR_DEVICE_UID', ipcon);

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

procedure TBrickletRemoteSwitch.SwitchSocket(const houseCode: byte; const receiverCode: byte; const switchTo: byte)

This function is deprecated, use SwitchSocketA instead.

The following constants are available for this function:

  • BRICKLET_REMOTE_SWITCH_SWITCH_TO_OFF = 0
  • BRICKLET_REMOTE_SWITCH_SWITCH_TO_ON = 1
function TBrickletRemoteSwitch.GetSwitchingState: byte

Returns the current switching state. If the current state is busy, the Bricklet is currently sending a code to switch a socket. It will not accept any calls of SwitchSocket until the state changes to ready.

How long the switching takes is dependent on the number of repeats, see SetRepeats.

The following constants are available for this function:

  • BRICKLET_REMOTE_SWITCH_SWITCHING_STATE_READY = 0
  • BRICKLET_REMOTE_SWITCH_SWITCHING_STATE_BUSY = 1
procedure TBrickletRemoteSwitch.SwitchSocketA(const houseCode: byte; const receiverCode: byte; const switchTo: byte)

To switch a type A socket you have to give the house code, receiver code and the state (on or off) you want to switch to.

The house code and receiver code have a range of 0 to 31 (5bit).

A detailed description on how you can figure out the house and receiver code can be found here.

The following constants are available for this function:

  • BRICKLET_REMOTE_SWITCH_SWITCH_TO_OFF = 0
  • BRICKLET_REMOTE_SWITCH_SWITCH_TO_ON = 1

New in version 2.0.1 (Plugin).

procedure TBrickletRemoteSwitch.SwitchSocketB(const address: longword; const unit: byte; const switchTo: byte)

To switch a type B socket you have to give the address, unit and the state (on or off) you want to switch to.

The address has a range of 0 to 67108863 (26bit) and the unit has a range of 0 to 15 (4bit). To switch all devices with the same address use 255 for the unit.

A detailed description on how you can teach a socket the address and unit can be found here.

The following constants are available for this function:

  • BRICKLET_REMOTE_SWITCH_SWITCH_TO_OFF = 0
  • BRICKLET_REMOTE_SWITCH_SWITCH_TO_ON = 1

New in version 2.0.1 (Plugin).

procedure TBrickletRemoteSwitch.DimSocketB(const address: longword; const unit: byte; const dimValue: byte)

To control a type B dimmer you have to give the address, unit and the dim value you want to set the dimmer to.

The address has a range of 0 to 67108863 (26bit), the unit and the dim value has a range of 0 to 15 (4bit).

A detailed description on how you can teach a dimmer the address and unit can be found here.

New in version 2.0.1 (Plugin).

procedure TBrickletRemoteSwitch.SwitchSocketC(const systemCode: char; const deviceCode: byte; const switchTo: byte)

To switch a type C socket you have to give the system code, device code and the state (on or off) you want to switch to.

The system code has a range of 'A' to 'P' (4bit) and the device code has a range of 1 to 16 (4bit).

A detailed description on how you can figure out the system and device code can be found here.

The following constants are available for this function:

  • BRICKLET_REMOTE_SWITCH_SWITCH_TO_OFF = 0
  • BRICKLET_REMOTE_SWITCH_SWITCH_TO_ON = 1

New in version 2.0.1 (Plugin).

Advanced Functions

procedure TBrickletRemoteSwitch.SetRepeats(const repeats: byte)

Sets the number of times the code is send when of the SwitchSocket functions is called. The repeats basically correspond to the amount of time that a button of the remote is pressed.

Some dimmers are controlled by the length of a button pressed, this can be simulated by increasing the repeats.

The default value is 5.

function TBrickletRemoteSwitch.GetRepeats: byte

Returns the number of repeats as set by SetRepeats.

function TBrickletRemoteSwitch.GetAPIVersion: array [0..2] of 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 TBrickletRemoteSwitch.GetResponseExpected(const functionId: byte): 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.

procedure TBrickletRemoteSwitch.SetResponseExpected(const functionId: byte; const responseExpected: 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:

  • BRICKLET_REMOTE_SWITCH_FUNCTION_SWITCH_SOCKET = 1
  • BRICKLET_REMOTE_SWITCH_FUNCTION_SET_REPEATS = 4
  • BRICKLET_REMOTE_SWITCH_FUNCTION_SWITCH_SOCKET_A = 6
  • BRICKLET_REMOTE_SWITCH_FUNCTION_SWITCH_SOCKET_B = 7
  • BRICKLET_REMOTE_SWITCH_FUNCTION_DIM_SOCKET_B = 8
  • BRICKLET_REMOTE_SWITCH_FUNCTION_SWITCH_SOCKET_C = 9
procedure TBrickletRemoteSwitch.SetResponseExpectedAll(const responseExpected: boolean)

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

procedure TBrickletRemoteSwitch.GetIdentity(out uid: string; out connectedUid: string; out position: char; out hardwareVersion: array [0..2] of byte; out firmwareVersion: array [0..2] of byte; out deviceIdentifier: word)

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

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:

procedure TExample.MyCallback(sender: TBrickletRemoteSwitch; const param: word);
begin
  WriteLn(param);
end;

remoteSwitch.OnExample := {$ifdef FPC}@{$endif}example.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.

property TBrickletRemoteSwitch.OnSwitchingDone
procedure(sender: TBrickletRemoteSwitch) of object;

This callback is called whenever the switching state changes from busy to ready, see GetSwitchingState.

Constants

const BRICKLET_REMOTE_SWITCH_DEVICE_IDENTIFIER

This constant is used to identify a Remote Switch Bricklet.

The GetIdentity function and the OnEnumerate 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.