Visual Basic .NET - Ambient Light Bricklet 2.0 – Tinkerforge

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# Visual Basic .NET - Ambient Light Bricklet 2.0

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 Ambient Light Bricklet 2.0. General information and technical specifications for the Ambient Light Bricklet 2.0 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).

### Simple

Download (ExampleSimple.vb)

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    Imports Tinkerforge

    Module ExampleSimple
        Const HOST As String = "localhost"
        Const PORT As Integer = 4223
        Const UID As String = "XYZ" ' Change to your UID

        Sub Main()
            Dim ipcon As New IPConnection() ' Create IP connection
            Dim al As New BrickletAmbientLightV2(UID, ipcon) ' Create device object

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

            ' Get current illuminance (unit is Lux/100)
            Dim illuminance As Integer = al.GetIlluminance()

            System.Console.WriteLine("Illuminance: " + (illuminance/100.0).ToString() + " Lux")

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

### Callback

Download (ExampleCallback.vb)

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    Imports Tinkerforge

    Module ExampleCallback
        Const HOST As String = "localhost"
        Const PORT As Integer = 4223
        Const UID As String = "XYZ" ' Change to your UID

        ' Callback function for illuminance callback (parameter has unit Lux/100)
        Sub IlluminanceCB(ByVal sender As BrickletAmbientLightV2, ByVal illuminance As Long)
            System.Console.WriteLine("Illuminance: " + (illuminance/100.0).ToString() + " Lux")
        End Sub

        Sub Main()
            Dim ipcon As New IPConnection() ' Create IP connection
            Dim al As New BrickletAmbientLightV2(UID, ipcon) ' Create device object

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

            ' Set Period for illuminance callback to 1s (1000ms)
            ' Note: The illuminance callback is only called every second if the
            '       illuminance has changed since the last call!
            al.SetIlluminanceCallbackPeriod(1000)

            ' Register illuminance callback to function IlluminanceCB
            AddHandler al.Illuminance, AddressOf IlluminanceCB

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

### Threshold

Download (ExampleThreshold.vb)

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    Imports Tinkerforge

    Module ExampleThreshold
        Const HOST As String = "localhost"
        Const PORT As Integer = 4223
        Const UID As String = "XYZ" ' Change to your UID

        ' Callback for illuminance greater than 200 Lux
        Sub ReachedCB(ByVal sender As BrickletAmbientLightV2, ByVal illuminance As Long)
            System.Console.WriteLine("We have " + (illuminance/100.0).ToString() + " Lux.")
            System.Console.WriteLine("Too bright, close the curtains!")
        End Sub

        Sub Main()
            Dim ipcon As New IPConnection() ' Create IP connection
            Dim al As New BrickletAmbientLightV2(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)
            al.SetDebouncePeriod(10000)

            ' Register threshold reached callback to function ReachedCB
            AddHandler al.IlluminanceReached, AddressOf ReachedCB

            ' Configure threshold for "greater than 200 Lux" (unit is Lux/100)
            al.SetIlluminanceCallbackThreshold(">"C, 200*100, 0)

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

## 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 `BrickletAmbientLightV2`(ByVal uid As String, ByVal ipcon As IPConnection)

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

      Dim ambientLightV2 As New BrickletAmbientLightV2("YOUR_DEVICE_UID", ipcon)

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

Function `BrickletAmbientLightV2.``GetIlluminance`() As Long

  Returns the illuminance of the ambient light sensor. The value has a range of 0 to 6400000 and is given in 1/100 Lux, i.e. a value of 45000 means that an illuminance of 450 Lux is measured.

  If you want to get the illuminance periodically, it is recommended to use the callback `Illuminance` and set the period with `SetIlluminanceCallbackPeriod()`.

### Advanced Functions

Sub `BrickletAmbientLightV2.``SetConfiguration`(ByVal illuminanceRange As Byte, ByVal integrationTime As Byte)

  Sets the configuration. It is possible to configure an illuminance range between 0-600lux and 0-64000lux and an integration time between 50ms and 400ms.

  A smaller illuminance range increases the resolution of the data. An increase in integration time will result in less noise on the data.

  The default values are 0-8000lux illuminance range and 200ms integration time.

  The following constants are available for this function:

  - BrickletAmbientLightV2.ILLUMINANCE_RANGE_64000LUX = 0
  - BrickletAmbientLightV2.ILLUMINANCE_RANGE_32000LUX = 1
  - BrickletAmbientLightV2.ILLUMINANCE_RANGE_16000LUX = 2
  - BrickletAmbientLightV2.ILLUMINANCE_RANGE_8000LUX = 3
  - BrickletAmbientLightV2.ILLUMINANCE_RANGE_1300LUX = 4
  - BrickletAmbientLightV2.ILLUMINANCE_RANGE_600LUX = 5
  - BrickletAmbientLightV2.INTEGRATION_TIME_50MS = 0
  - BrickletAmbientLightV2.INTEGRATION_TIME_100MS = 1
  - BrickletAmbientLightV2.INTEGRATION_TIME_150MS = 2
  - BrickletAmbientLightV2.INTEGRATION_TIME_200MS = 3
  - BrickletAmbientLightV2.INTEGRATION_TIME_250MS = 4
  - BrickletAmbientLightV2.INTEGRATION_TIME_300MS = 5
  - BrickletAmbientLightV2.INTEGRATION_TIME_350MS = 6
  - BrickletAmbientLightV2.INTEGRATION_TIME_400MS = 7

Sub `BrickletAmbientLightV2.``GetConfiguration`(ByRef illuminanceRange As Byte, ByRef integrationTime As Byte)

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

  The following constants are available for this function:

  - BrickletAmbientLightV2.ILLUMINANCE_RANGE_64000LUX = 0
  - BrickletAmbientLightV2.ILLUMINANCE_RANGE_32000LUX = 1
  - BrickletAmbientLightV2.ILLUMINANCE_RANGE_16000LUX = 2
  - BrickletAmbientLightV2.ILLUMINANCE_RANGE_8000LUX = 3
  - BrickletAmbientLightV2.ILLUMINANCE_RANGE_1300LUX = 4
  - BrickletAmbientLightV2.ILLUMINANCE_RANGE_600LUX = 5
  - BrickletAmbientLightV2.INTEGRATION_TIME_50MS = 0
  - BrickletAmbientLightV2.INTEGRATION_TIME_100MS = 1
  - BrickletAmbientLightV2.INTEGRATION_TIME_150MS = 2
  - BrickletAmbientLightV2.INTEGRATION_TIME_200MS = 3
  - BrickletAmbientLightV2.INTEGRATION_TIME_250MS = 4
  - BrickletAmbientLightV2.INTEGRATION_TIME_300MS = 5
  - BrickletAmbientLightV2.INTEGRATION_TIME_350MS = 6
  - BrickletAmbientLightV2.INTEGRATION_TIME_400MS = 7

Function `BrickletAmbientLightV2.``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 `BrickletAmbientLightV2.``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 `BrickletAmbientLightV2.``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:

  - BrickletAmbientLightV2.FUNCTION_SET_ILLUMINANCE_CALLBACK_PERIOD = 2
  - BrickletAmbientLightV2.FUNCTION_SET_ILLUMINANCE_CALLBACK_THRESHOLD = 4
  - BrickletAmbientLightV2.FUNCTION_SET_DEBOUNCE_PERIOD = 6
  - BrickletAmbientLightV2.FUNCTION_SET_CONFIGURATION = 8

Sub `BrickletAmbientLightV2.``SetResponseExpectedAll`(ByVal responseExpected As Boolean)

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

Sub `BrickletAmbientLightV2.``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 `BrickletAmbientLightV2.``SetIlluminanceCallbackPeriod`(ByVal period As Long)

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

  `Illuminance` is only triggered if the illuminance has changed since the last triggering.

  The default value is 0.

Function `BrickletAmbientLightV2.``GetIlluminanceCallbackPeriod`() As Long

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

Sub `BrickletAmbientLightV2.``SetIlluminanceCallbackThreshold`(ByVal option As Char, ByVal min As Long, ByVal max As Long)

  Sets the thresholds for the `IlluminanceReached` callback.

  The following options are possible:

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

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

  The following constants are available for this function:

  - BrickletAmbientLightV2.THRESHOLD_OPTION_OFF = "x"C
  - BrickletAmbientLightV2.THRESHOLD_OPTION_OUTSIDE = "o"C
  - BrickletAmbientLightV2.THRESHOLD_OPTION_INSIDE = "i"C
  - BrickletAmbientLightV2.THRESHOLD_OPTION_SMALLER = "<"C
  - BrickletAmbientLightV2.THRESHOLD_OPTION_GREATER = ">"C

Sub `BrickletAmbientLightV2.``GetIlluminanceCallbackThreshold`(ByRef option As Char, ByRef min As Long, ByRef max As Long)

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

  The following constants are available for this function:

  - BrickletAmbientLightV2.THRESHOLD_OPTION_OFF = "x"C
  - BrickletAmbientLightV2.THRESHOLD_OPTION_OUTSIDE = "o"C
  - BrickletAmbientLightV2.THRESHOLD_OPTION_INSIDE = "i"C
  - BrickletAmbientLightV2.THRESHOLD_OPTION_SMALLER = "<"C
  - BrickletAmbientLightV2.THRESHOLD_OPTION_GREATER = ">"C

Sub `BrickletAmbientLightV2.``SetDebouncePeriod`(ByVal debounce As Long)

  Sets the period in ms with which the threshold callbacks

  - `IlluminanceReached`,

  are triggered, if the thresholds

  - `SetIlluminanceCallbackThreshold()`,

  keep being reached.

  The default value is 100.

Function `BrickletAmbientLightV2.``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 BrickletAmbientLightV2, ByVal value As Short)
>         Console.WriteLine("Value: {0}", value)
>     End Sub

>     AddHandler ambientLightV2.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 `BrickletAmbientLightV2.``Illuminance`(ByVal sender As BrickletAmbientLightV2, ByVal illuminance As Long)

  This callback is triggered periodically with the period that is set by `SetIlluminanceCallbackPeriod()`. The parameter is the illuminance of the ambient light sensor.

  `Illuminance` is only triggered if the illuminance has changed since the last triggering.

Event `BrickletAmbientLightV2.``IlluminanceReached`(ByVal sender As BrickletAmbientLightV2, ByVal illuminance As Long)

  This callback is triggered when the threshold as set by `SetIlluminanceCallbackThreshold()` is reached. The parameter is the illuminance of the ambient light sensor.

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

### Constants

Const `BrickletAmbientLightV2.``DEVICE_IDENTIFIER`

  This constant is used to identify a Ambient Light Bricklet 2.0.

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

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