C# - Voltage/Current Bricklet – Tinkerforge

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# C# - Voltage/Current Bricklet

This is the description of the C# API bindings for the Voltage/Current Bricklet. General information and technical specifications for the Voltage/Current Bricklet are summarized in its hardware description.

An installation guide for the C# API bindings is part of their general description.

## Examples

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

### Simple

Download (ExampleSimple.cs)

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    using Tinkerforge;

    class Example
    {
        private static string HOST = "localhost";
        private static int PORT = 4223;
        private static string UID = "ABC"; // Change to your UID

        static void Main()
        {
            IPConnection ipcon = new IPConnection(); // Create IP connection
            BrickletVoltageCurrent vc = new BrickletVoltageCurrent(UID, ipcon); // Create device object

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

            // Get current current and voltage (unit is mA and mV)
            int current = vc.GetCurrent();
            int voltage = vc.GetVoltage();

            System.Console.WriteLine("Current: " + current/1000.0 + " A");
            System.Console.WriteLine("Voltage: " + voltage/1000.0 + " V");

            System.Console.WriteLine("Press enter to exit");
            System.Console.ReadLine();
            ipcon.Disconnect();
        }
    }

### Callback

Download (ExampleCallback.cs)

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    using Tinkerforge;

    class Example
    {
        private static string HOST = "localhost";
        private static int PORT = 4223;
        private static string UID = "ABC"; // Change to your UID

        // Callback function for current callback (parameter has unit mA)
        static void CurrentCB(BrickletVoltageCurrent sender, int current)
        {
            System.Console.WriteLine("Current: " + current/1000.0 + " A");
        }

        static void Main()
        {
            IPConnection ipcon = new IPConnection(); // Create IP connection
            BrickletVoltageCurrent vc = new BrickletVoltageCurrent(UID, ipcon); // Create device object

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

            // Set Period for current callback to 1s (1000ms)
            // Note: The current callback is only called every second if the
            //       current has changed since the last call!
            vc.SetCurrentCallbackPeriod(1000);

            // Register current callback to function CurrentCB
            vc.Current += CurrentCB;

            System.Console.WriteLine("Press enter to exit");
            System.Console.ReadLine();
            ipcon.Disconnect();
        }
    }

### Threshold

Download (ExampleThreshold.cs)

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    using Tinkerforge;

    class Example
    {
        private static string HOST = "localhost";
        private static int PORT = 4223;
        private static string UID = "ABC"; // Change to your UID

        // Callback for current greater than 1A
        static void ReachedCB(BrickletVoltageCurrent sender, int current)
        {
            System.Console.WriteLine("Current is greater than 1A: " + current/1000.0 + "A");
        }

        static void Main()
        {
            IPConnection ipcon = new IPConnection(); // Create IP connection
            BrickletVoltageCurrent vc = new BrickletVoltageCurrent(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 10 seconds (10000ms)
            vc.SetDebouncePeriod(10000);

            // Register threshold reached callback to function ReachedCB
            vc.CurrentReached += ReachedCB;

            // Configure threshold for "greater than 1A" (unit is mA)
            vc.SetCurrentCallbackThreshold('>', 1*1000, 0);

            System.Console.WriteLine("Press enter to exit");
            System.Console.ReadLine();
            ipcon.Disconnect();
        }
    }

## API

Generally, every method of the C# bindings that returns a value can throw a `Tinkerforge.TimeoutException`. This exception gets thrown if the device did not respond. If a cable based connection is used, it is unlikely that this exception gets thrown (assuming nobody plugs the device out). However, if a wireless connection is used, timeouts will occur if the distance to the device gets too big.

Since C# does not support multiple return values directly, we use the `out` keyword to return multiple values from a method.

The namespace for all Brick/Bricklet bindings and the IPConnection is `Tinkerforge.*`.

All methods listed below are thread-safe.

### Basic Functions

public class `BrickletVoltageCurrent`(String uid, IPConnection ipcon)

  Creates an object with the unique device ID `uid`:

      BrickletVoltageCurrent voltageCurrent = new BrickletVoltageCurrent("YOUR_DEVICE_UID", ipcon);

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

public int `GetCurrent`()

  Returns the current. The value is in mA and between -20000mA and 20000mA.

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

public int `GetVoltage`()

  Returns the voltage. The value is in mV and between 0mV and 36000mV.

  If you want to get the voltage periodically, it is recommended to use the callback `Voltage` and set the period with `SetVoltageCallbackPeriod()`.

public int `GetPower`()

  Returns the power. The value is in mW and between 0mV and 720000mW.

  If you want to get the power periodically, it is recommended to use the callback `Power` and set the period with `SetPowerCallbackPeriod()`.

public void `SetConfiguration`(byte averaging, byte voltageConversionTime, byte currentConversionTime)

  Sets the configuration of the Voltage/Current Bricklet. It is possible to configure number of averages as well as voltage and current conversion time.

  Averaging:

  Value | Number of Averages
  --- | ---
  0 | 1
  1 | 4
  2 | 16
  3 | 64
  4 | 128
  5 | 256
  6 | 512
  >=7 | 1024

  Voltage/Current conversion:

  Value | Conversion time
  --- | ---
  0 | 140µs
  1 | 204µs
  2 | 332µs
  3 | 588µs
  4 | 1.1ms
  5 | 2.116ms
  6 | 4.156ms
  >=7 | 8.244ms

  The default values are 3, 4 and 4 (64, 1.1ms, 1.1ms) for averaging, voltage conversion and current conversion.

  The following constants are available for this function:

  - BrickletVoltageCurrent.AVERAGING_1 = 0
  - BrickletVoltageCurrent.AVERAGING_4 = 1
  - BrickletVoltageCurrent.AVERAGING_16 = 2
  - BrickletVoltageCurrent.AVERAGING_64 = 3
  - BrickletVoltageCurrent.AVERAGING_128 = 4
  - BrickletVoltageCurrent.AVERAGING_256 = 5
  - BrickletVoltageCurrent.AVERAGING_512 = 6
  - BrickletVoltageCurrent.AVERAGING_1024 = 7

public void `GetConfiguration`(out byte averaging, out byte voltageConversionTime, out byte currentConversionTime)

  Returns the configuration as set by `SetConfiguration()`.

  The following constants are available for this function:

  - BrickletVoltageCurrent.AVERAGING_1 = 0
  - BrickletVoltageCurrent.AVERAGING_4 = 1
  - BrickletVoltageCurrent.AVERAGING_16 = 2
  - BrickletVoltageCurrent.AVERAGING_64 = 3
  - BrickletVoltageCurrent.AVERAGING_128 = 4
  - BrickletVoltageCurrent.AVERAGING_256 = 5
  - BrickletVoltageCurrent.AVERAGING_512 = 6
  - BrickletVoltageCurrent.AVERAGING_1024 = 7

### Advanced Functions

public void `SetCalibration`(int gainMultiplier, int gainDivisor)

  Since the shunt resistor that is used to measure the current is not perfectly precise, it needs to be calibrated by a multiplier and divisor if a very precise reading is needed.

  For example, if you are expecting a measurement of 1000mA and you are measuring 1023mA, you can calibrate the Voltage/Current Bricklet by setting the multiplier to 1000 and the divisor to 1023.

public void `GetCalibration`(out int gainMultiplier, out int gainDivisor)

  Returns the calibration as set by `SetCalibration()`.

public byte[] `GetAPIVersion`()

  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.

public bool `GetResponseExpected`(byte functionId)

  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.

public void `SetResponseExpected`(byte functionId, bool responseExpected)

  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:

  - BrickletVoltageCurrent.FUNCTION_SET_CONFIGURATION = 4
  - BrickletVoltageCurrent.FUNCTION_SET_CALIBRATION = 6
  - BrickletVoltageCurrent.FUNCTION_SET_CURRENT_CALLBACK_PERIOD = 8
  - BrickletVoltageCurrent.FUNCTION_SET_VOLTAGE_CALLBACK_PERIOD = 10
  - BrickletVoltageCurrent.FUNCTION_SET_POWER_CALLBACK_PERIOD = 12
  - BrickletVoltageCurrent.FUNCTION_SET_CURRENT_CALLBACK_THRESHOLD = 14
  - BrickletVoltageCurrent.FUNCTION_SET_VOLTAGE_CALLBACK_THRESHOLD = 16
  - BrickletVoltageCurrent.FUNCTION_SET_POWER_CALLBACK_THRESHOLD = 18
  - BrickletVoltageCurrent.FUNCTION_SET_DEBOUNCE_PERIOD = 20

public void `SetResponseExpectedAll`(bool responseExpected)

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

public void `GetIdentity`(out string uid, out string connectedUid, out char position, out byte[] hardwareVersion, out byte[] firmwareVersion, out int deviceIdentifier)

  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

public void `SetCurrentCallbackPeriod`(long period)

  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.

public long `GetCurrentCallbackPeriod`()

  Returns the period as set by `SetCurrentCallbackPeriod()`.

public void `SetVoltageCallbackPeriod`(long period)

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

  `Voltage` is only triggered if the voltage has changed since the last triggering.

  The default value is 0.

public long `GetVoltageCallbackPeriod`()

  Returns the period as set by `SetVoltageCallbackPeriod()`.

public void `SetPowerCallbackPeriod`(long period)

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

  `Power` is only triggered if the power has changed since the last triggering.

  The default value is 0.

public long `GetPowerCallbackPeriod`()

  Returns the period as set by `GetPowerCallbackPeriod()`.

public void `SetCurrentCallbackThreshold`(char option, int min, int max)

  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:

  - BrickletVoltageCurrent.THRESHOLD_OPTION_OFF = 'x'
  - BrickletVoltageCurrent.THRESHOLD_OPTION_OUTSIDE = 'o'
  - BrickletVoltageCurrent.THRESHOLD_OPTION_INSIDE = 'i'
  - BrickletVoltageCurrent.THRESHOLD_OPTION_SMALLER = '<'
  - BrickletVoltageCurrent.THRESHOLD_OPTION_GREATER = '>'

public void `GetCurrentCallbackThreshold`(out char option, out int min, out int max)

  Returns the threshold as set by `SetCurrentCallbackThreshold()`.

  The following constants are available for this function:

  - BrickletVoltageCurrent.THRESHOLD_OPTION_OFF = 'x'
  - BrickletVoltageCurrent.THRESHOLD_OPTION_OUTSIDE = 'o'
  - BrickletVoltageCurrent.THRESHOLD_OPTION_INSIDE = 'i'
  - BrickletVoltageCurrent.THRESHOLD_OPTION_SMALLER = '<'
  - BrickletVoltageCurrent.THRESHOLD_OPTION_GREATER = '>'

public void `SetVoltageCallbackThreshold`(char option, int min, int max)

  Sets the thresholds for the `VoltageReached` callback.

  The following options are possible:

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

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

  The following constants are available for this function:

  - BrickletVoltageCurrent.THRESHOLD_OPTION_OFF = 'x'
  - BrickletVoltageCurrent.THRESHOLD_OPTION_OUTSIDE = 'o'
  - BrickletVoltageCurrent.THRESHOLD_OPTION_INSIDE = 'i'
  - BrickletVoltageCurrent.THRESHOLD_OPTION_SMALLER = '<'
  - BrickletVoltageCurrent.THRESHOLD_OPTION_GREATER = '>'

public void `GetVoltageCallbackThreshold`(out char option, out int min, out int max)

  Returns the threshold as set by `SetVoltageCallbackThreshold()`.

  The following constants are available for this function:

  - BrickletVoltageCurrent.THRESHOLD_OPTION_OFF = 'x'
  - BrickletVoltageCurrent.THRESHOLD_OPTION_OUTSIDE = 'o'
  - BrickletVoltageCurrent.THRESHOLD_OPTION_INSIDE = 'i'
  - BrickletVoltageCurrent.THRESHOLD_OPTION_SMALLER = '<'
  - BrickletVoltageCurrent.THRESHOLD_OPTION_GREATER = '>'

public void `SetPowerCallbackThreshold`(char option, int min, int max)

  Sets the thresholds for the `PowerReached` callback.

  The following options are possible:

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

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

  The following constants are available for this function:

  - BrickletVoltageCurrent.THRESHOLD_OPTION_OFF = 'x'
  - BrickletVoltageCurrent.THRESHOLD_OPTION_OUTSIDE = 'o'
  - BrickletVoltageCurrent.THRESHOLD_OPTION_INSIDE = 'i'
  - BrickletVoltageCurrent.THRESHOLD_OPTION_SMALLER = '<'
  - BrickletVoltageCurrent.THRESHOLD_OPTION_GREATER = '>'

public void `GetPowerCallbackThreshold`(out char option, out int min, out int max)

  Returns the threshold as set by `SetPowerCallbackThreshold()`.

  The following constants are available for this function:

  - BrickletVoltageCurrent.THRESHOLD_OPTION_OFF = 'x'
  - BrickletVoltageCurrent.THRESHOLD_OPTION_OUTSIDE = 'o'
  - BrickletVoltageCurrent.THRESHOLD_OPTION_INSIDE = 'i'
  - BrickletVoltageCurrent.THRESHOLD_OPTION_SMALLER = '<'
  - BrickletVoltageCurrent.THRESHOLD_OPTION_GREATER = '>'

public void `SetDebouncePeriod`(long debounce)

  Sets the period in ms with which the threshold callbacks

  - `CurrentReached`,
  - `VoltageReached`,
  - `PowerReached`

  are triggered, if the thresholds

  - `SetCurrentCallbackThreshold()`,
  - `SetVoltageCallbackThreshold()`,
  - `SetPowerCallbackThreshold()`

  keep being reached.

  The default value is 100.

public long `GetDebouncePeriod`()

  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 appending your callback handler to the corresponding event:

    void Callback(BrickletVoltageCurrent sender, int value)
    {
        System.Console.WriteLine("Value: " + value);
    }

    voltageCurrent.ExampleCallback += Callback;

The available events 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.

public event `Current`(BrickletVoltageCurrent sender, int current)

  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.

public event `Voltage`(BrickletVoltageCurrent sender, int voltage)

  This callback is triggered periodically with the period that is set by `SetVoltageCallbackPeriod()`. The parameter is the voltage of the sensor.

  `Voltage` is only triggered if the voltage has changed since the last triggering.

public event `Power`(BrickletVoltageCurrent sender, int power)

  This callback is triggered periodically with the period that is set by `SetPowerCallbackPeriod()`. The parameter is the power of the sensor.

  `Power` is only triggered if the power has changed since the last triggering.

public event `CurrentReached`(BrickletVoltageCurrent sender, int current)

  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()`.

public event `VoltageReached`(BrickletVoltageCurrent sender, int voltage)

  This callback is triggered when the threshold as set by `SetVoltageCallbackThreshold()` is reached. The parameter is the voltage of the sensor.

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

public event `PowerReached`(BrickletVoltageCurrent sender, int power)

  This callback is triggered when the threshold as set by `SetPowerCallbackThreshold()` is reached. The parameter is the power of the sensor.

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

### Constants

public int `DEVICE_IDENTIFIER`

  This constant is used to identify a Voltage/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.

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