ZaberBinaryPort Class Reference

Represents a port connected to devices using the binary protocol. More...

Inheritance diagram for ZaberBinaryPort:

Public Member Functions
	ZaberBinaryPort (string portName)
	Initializes a new instance of the ZaberBinaryPort class using the specified port name. More...
void	Close ()
	Closes the underlying SerialPort object's connection. More...
void	Dispose ()
	Releases the resources used by the underlying SerialPort object. More...
void	Drain ()
	Purges all input waiting on the input buffer, and attemps to drain all incoming data before returning. More...
List< IZaberAxis >	FindAxes ()
	Queries the port to find all connected axes. More...
void	Open ()
	Opens a new serial port connection. More...
BinaryReply	Read ()
	Reads a reply from a device. More...
void	Write (BinaryCommand command)
	Sends a command to the port's devices. More...
void	Write (byte[] command)
	Writes an array of bytes to the port. More...

Public Attributes
const int	InfiniteTimeout = System.IO.Ports.SerialPort.InfiniteTimeout
	Indicates that no time-out should occur. More...

Properties
bool	IsOpen [get]
	Whether the port is open. More...
string	PortName [get]
	The name of the port. More...
int	ReadTimeout [get, set]
	The number of milliseconds before a time-out occurrs when a read operation does not finish. More...

Detailed Description

Represents a port connected to devices using the binary protocol.

Constructor & Destructor Documentation

ZaberBinaryPort ( string  portName )

inline

Initializes a new instance of the ZaberBinaryPort class using the specified port name.

Parameters

portName

The port to use (for example, COM1).

Exceptions

System.IO.IOException

The specified port could not be found or opened.

Member Function Documentation

void Close ( )

inline

Closes the underlying SerialPort object's connection.

This method will only try to close the port if it is open. Attempting to close an already-closed port will do nothing.

Implements IZaberPort.

void Dispose ( )

inline

Releases the resources used by the underlying SerialPort object.

void Drain ( )

inline

Purges all input waiting on the input buffer, and attemps to drain all incoming data before returning.

This method will block until there is a 100ms period of silence in serial communication, guaranteeing that the next time Read() is called, it will receive a full message sent by the device some time after the call to Drain().

This method is intended to be used when many commands have been sent without receiving any replies. If the user must suddenly read a reply to a certain command and has not been receiving replies otherwise, this method will allow them to immediately read the next incoming reply.

Do not use this method in any setting where a serial line may never be quiet for over 100ms, as it may block forever. Some examples of such a setup are multiple devices chained together being polled constantly for position, or at least one device connected with move tracking enabled.

Exceptions

InvalidOperationException

The specified port is not open.

Implements IZaberPort.

List<IZaberAxis> FindAxes ( )

inline

Queries the port to find all connected axes.

This method will only find axes which respond at the specified baud rate and protocol.

Returns

A list of connected axes.

Implements IZaberPort.

void Open ( )

inline

Opens a new serial port connection.

This method closes and re-opens the port if the port is already open.

Exceptions

UnauthorizedAccessException	Access is denied to the port, or the current process or another process on the system already has the specified COM port open.
System.IO.IOException	An attempt to open the port failed. Often this is caused by a port name being incorrect, or a port being disconnected.

Implements IZaberPort.

BinaryReply Read ( )

inline

Reads a reply from a device.

Returns

The reply read.

Exceptions

InvalidOperationException	The specified port is not open.
TimeoutException	No bytes were available to read.

void Write ( BinaryCommand  command )

inline

Sends a command to the port's devices.

Parameters

command

The command to be sent.

Exceptions

ArgumentNullException	The command passed is null.
InvalidOperationException	The specified port is not open.

void Write ( byte[]  command )

inline

Writes an array of bytes to the port.

This method will always write the first six bytes of command to the port. In order to behave as intended, the last four bytes must encode the desired data in a little-endian representation, as specified by Zaber's Binary Protocol Manual.

Parameters

command

An array of "raw" bytes to be sent.

Exceptions

ArgumentNullException	The command passed is null.
InvalidOperationException	The specified port is not open.

Member Data Documentation

const int InfiniteTimeout = System.IO.Ports.SerialPort.InfiniteTimeout

Indicates that no time-out should occur.

Property Documentation

bool IsOpen

get

Whether the port is open.

string PortName

get

The name of the port.

int ReadTimeout

getset

The number of milliseconds before a time-out occurrs when a read operation does not finish.

This property allows you to set the read time-out value. The time-out can be set to any value greater than zero, or set to -1, in which case no time-out occurrs. -1 is the default.

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The documentation for this class was generated from the following file:

• ZaberBinaryPort.cs