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JavaScript - IP Connection

This is the description of the JavaScript API bindings for the IP Connection. The IP Connection manages the communication between the API bindings and the Brick Daemon or a WIFI/Ethernet Extension. Before Bricks and Bricklets can be controlled using their API an IP Connection has to be created and its TCP/IP connection has to be established.

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

Examples

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

Enumerate (Node.js)

Download (ExampleEnumerate.js)

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var Tinkerforge = require('tinkerforge');

var HOST = 'localhost';
var PORT = 4223;

ipcon = new Tinkerforge.IPConnection(); // Create IP connection
ipcon.connect(HOST, PORT,
    function(error) {
        console.log('Error: '+error);
    }
); // Connect to brickd

// Register Connected Callback
ipcon.on(Tinkerforge.IPConnection.CALLBACK_CONNECTED,
    function(connectReason) {
        // Trigger Enumerate
        ipcon.enumerate();
    }
);

// Register Enumerate Callback
ipcon.on(Tinkerforge.IPConnection.CALLBACK_ENUMERATE,
    // Print incoming enumeration
    function(uid, connectedUid, position, hardwareVersion, firmwareVersion,
             deviceIdentifier, enumerationType) {
        console.log('UID:               '+uid);
        console.log('Enumeration Type:  '+enumerationType);

        if(enumerationType === Tinkerforge.IPConnection.ENUMERATION_TYPE_DISCONNECTED) {
            console.log('');
            return;
        }

        console.log('Connected UID:     '+connectedUid);
        console.log('Position:          '+position);
        console.log('Hardware Version:  '+hardwareVersion);
        console.log('Firmware Version:  '+firmwareVersion);
        console.log('Device Identifier: '+deviceIdentifier);
        console.log('');
    }
);

console.log("Press any key to exit ...");
process.stdin.on('data',
    function(data) {
        ipcon.disconnect();
        process.exit(0);
    }
);

Authenticate (Node.js)

Download (ExampleAuthenticate.js)

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var Tinkerforge = require('tinkerforge');

var HOST = 'localhost';
var PORT = 4223;
var SECRET = 'My Authentication Secret!';

ipcon = new Tinkerforge.IPConnection(); // Create IP connection
ipcon.connect(HOST, PORT,
    function(error) {
        console.log('Error: '+error);
    }
); // Connect to brickd

// Disable auto reconnect mechanism, in case we have the wrong secret.
// If the authentication is successful, reenable it.
ipcon.setAutoReconnect(false);

// Register Connected Callback
ipcon.on(Tinkerforge.IPConnection.CALLBACK_CONNECTED,
    // Authenticate each time the connection got (re-)established
    function(connectReason) {
        switch(connectReason) {
        case Tinkerforge.IPConnection.CONNECT_REASON_REQUEST:
            console.log('Connected by request');
            break;
        case Tinkerforge.IPConnection.CONNECT_REASON_AUTO_RECONNECT:
            console.log('Auto-Reconnected');
            break;
        }
        ipcon.authenticate(SECRET,
            function() {
                console.log('Authentication succeeded');

                // ...reenable auto reconnect mechanism, as described above...
                ipcon.setAutoReconnect(true);

                // ...then trigger Enumerate
                ipcon.enumerate();
            },
            function(error) {
                console.log('Could not authenticate: '+error);
            }
        );
    }
);

// Register Enumerate Callback
ipcon.on(Tinkerforge.IPConnection.CALLBACK_ENUMERATE,
    // Print incoming enumeration
    function(uid, connectedUid, position, hardwareVersion, firmwareVersion,
             deviceIdentifier, enumerationType) {
        console.log('UID: '+uid+', Enumeration Type: '+enumerationType);
    }
);

console.log("Press any key to exit ...");
process.stdin.on('data',
    function(data) {
        ipcon.disconnect();
        process.exit(0);
    }
);

Enumerate (HTML)

Download (ExampleEnumerate.html), Test (ExampleEnumerate.html)

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<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
    <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8" />
    <head>
        <title>Tinkerforge | JavaScript Example</title>
    </head>
    <body>
        <div style="text-align:center;">
            <h1>Enumerate Example</h1>
            <p>
                <input value="localhost" id="host" type="text" size="20">:
                <input value="4280" id="port" type="text" size="5">
                <input value="Start Example" id="start" type="button" onclick="startExample();">
            </p>
            <p>
                <textarea id="text" cols="80" rows="24" style="resize:none;"
                          >Press "Start Example" to begin ...</textarea>
            </p>
        </div>
        <script src="./Tinkerforge.js" type='text/javascript'></script>
        <script type='text/javascript'>
            var ipcon;
            var textArea = document.getElementById("text");
            function startExample() {
                textArea.value = "";
                var HOST = document.getElementById("host").value;
                var PORT = parseInt(document.getElementById("port").value);
                if(ipcon !== undefined) {
                    ipcon.disconnect();
                }
                ipcon = new Tinkerforge.IPConnection(); // Create IP connection
                ipcon.connect(HOST, PORT,
                    function(error) {
                        textArea.value += 'Error: '+error+ '\n';
                    }
                ); // Connect to brickd
                // Don't use device before ipcon is connected

                // Register Connected Callback
                ipcon.on(Tinkerforge.IPConnection.CALLBACK_CONNECTED,
                    function(connectReason) {
                        // Trigger Enumerate
                        ipcon.enumerate();
                    }
                );
                // Register Enumerate Callback
                ipcon.on(Tinkerforge.IPConnection.CALLBACK_ENUMERATE,
                    // Print incoming enumeration
                    function(uid, connectedUid, position, hardwareVersion,
                             firmwareVersion, deviceIdentifier, enumerationType) {
                        textArea.value += 'UID:               '+uid+'\n';
                        textArea.value += 'Enumeration Type:  '+enumerationType+'\n';
                        if(enumerationType === Tinkerforge.IPConnection.ENUMERATION_TYPE_DISCONNECTED) {
                            textArea.value += '\n';
                            textArea.scrollTop = textArea.scrollHeight;
                            return;
                        }
                        textArea.value += 'Connected UID:     '+connectedUid+'\n';
                        textArea.value += 'Position:          '+position+'\n';
                        textArea.value += 'Hardware Version:  '+hardwareVersion+'\n';
                        textArea.value += 'Firmware Version:  '+firmwareVersion+'\n';
                        textArea.value += 'Device Identifier: '+deviceIdentifier+'\n';
                        textArea.value += '\n';
                        textArea.scrollTop = textArea.scrollHeight;
                    }
                );
            }
        </script>
    </body>
</html>

Authenticate (HTML)

Download (ExampleAuthenticate.html), Test (ExampleAuthenticate.html)

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<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
    <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8" />
    <head>
        <title>Tinkerforge | JavaScript Example</title>
    </head>
    <body>
        <div style="text-align:center;">
            <h1>Authenticate Example</h1>
            <p>
                <input value="localhost" id="host" type="text" size="20">:
                <input value="4280" id="port" type="text" size="5">,
                <input value="My Authentication Secret!" id="secret" type="text" size="30">:
                <input value="Start Example" id="start" type="button" onclick="startExample();">
            </p>
            <p>
                <textarea id="text" cols="80" rows="24" style="resize:none;"
                          >Press "Start Example" to begin ...</textarea>
            </p>
        </div>
        <script src="./Tinkerforge.js" type='text/javascript'></script>
        <script type='text/javascript'>
            var ipcon;
            var textArea = document.getElementById("text");
            function startExample() {
                textArea.value = "";
                var HOST = document.getElementById("host").value;
                var PORT = parseInt(document.getElementById("port").value);
                var SECRET = document.getElementById("secret").value;
                if(ipcon !== undefined) {
                    ipcon.disconnect();
                }
                ipcon = new Tinkerforge.IPConnection(); // Create IP connection

                // Disable auto reconnect mechanism, in case we have the wrong secret.
                // If the authentication is successful, reenable it.
                ipcon.setAutoReconnect(false);

                ipcon.connect(HOST, PORT,
                    function(error) {
                        textArea.value += 'Error: '+error+ '\n';
                    }
                ); // Connect to brickd
                // Don't use device before ipcon is connected

                // Register Connected Callback
                ipcon.on(Tinkerforge.IPConnection.CALLBACK_CONNECTED,
                    // Authenticate each time the connection got (re-)established
                    function(connectReason) {
                        switch(connectReason) {
                        case Tinkerforge.IPConnection.CONNECT_REASON_REQUEST:
                            textArea.value += 'Connected by request\n';
                            break;
                        case Tinkerforge.IPConnection.CONNECT_REASON_AUTO_RECONNECT:
                            textArea.value += 'Auto-Reconnected\n';
                            break;
                        }
                        ipcon.authenticate(SECRET,
                            function() {
                                textArea.value += 'Authentication succeeded\n';

                                // ...reenable auto reconnect mechanism, as described above...
                                ipcon.setAutoReconnect(true);

                                // ...then trigger Enumerate
                                ipcon.enumerate();
                            },
                            function(error) {
                                textArea.value += 'Could not authenticate: '+error+'\n';
                            }
                        );
                    }
                );
                // Register Enumerate Callback
                ipcon.on(Tinkerforge.IPConnection.CALLBACK_ENUMERATE,
                    // Print incoming enumeration
                    function(uid, connectedUid, position, hardwareVersion, firmwareVersion,
                             deviceIdentifier, enumerationType) {
                        textArea.value += 'UID: '+uid+', Enumeration Type: '+enumerationType+'\n';
                        textArea.scrollTop = textArea.scrollHeight;
                    }
                );
            }
        </script>
    </body>
</html>

API

Generally, every method of the JavaScript bindings can take two optional parameters, returnCallback and errorCallback. These are two user defined callback functions. The returnCallback is called with the return values as parameters, if the method returns something. The errorCallback is called with an error code in case of an error. The error code can be one of the following values:

  • IPConnection.ERROR_ALREADY_CONNECTED = 11
  • IPConnection.ERROR_NOT_CONNECTED = 12
  • IPConnection.ERROR_CONNECT_FAILED = 13
  • IPConnection.ERROR_INVALID_FUNCTION_ID = 21
  • IPConnection.ERROR_TIMEOUT = 31
  • IPConnection.ERROR_INVALID_PARAMETER = 41
  • IPConnection.ERROR_FUNCTION_NOT_SUPPORTED = 42
  • IPConnection.ERROR_UNKNOWN_ERROR = 43
  • IPConnection.ERROR_STREAM_OUT_OF_SYNC = 51
  • IPConnection.ERROR_NON_ASCII_CHAR_IN_SECRET = 71
  • IPConnection.ERROR_WRONG_DEVICE_TYPE = 81
  • IPConnection.ERROR_DEVICE_REPLACED = 82
  • IPConnection.ERROR_WRONG_RESPONSE_LENGTH = 83
  • IPConnection.ERROR_INT64_NOT_SUPPORTED = 91

The namespace for the JavaScript bindings is Tinkerforge.*.

Basic Functions

new IPConnection()

Creates an IP Connection object that can be used to enumerate the available devices. It is also required for the constructor of Bricks and Bricklets.

IPConnection.connect(host, port[, errorCallback])
Parameters:
  • host -- string
  • port -- int

Creates a TCP/IP connection to the given host and port. The host and port can refer to a Brick Daemon or to a WIFI/Ethernet Extension.

Devices can only be controlled when the connection was established successfully.

IPConnection.disconnect([errorCallback])

Disconnects the TCP/IP connection from the Brick Daemon or the WIFI/Ethernet Extension.

IPConnection.authenticate(secret[, returnCallback][, errorCallback])
Parameters:
  • secret -- string
Callback:

undefined

Performs an authentication handshake with the connected Brick Daemon or WIFI/Ethernet Extension. If the handshake succeeds the connection switches from non-authenticated to authenticated state and communication can continue as normal. If the handshake fails then the connection gets closed. Authentication can fail if the wrong secret was used or if authentication is not enabled at all on the Brick Daemon or the WIFI/Ethernet Extension.

See the authentication tutorial for more information.

IPConnection.getConnectionState()
Return type:int

Can return the following states:

  • IPConnection.CONNECTION_STATE_DISCONNECTED = 0: No connection is established.
  • IPConnection.CONNECTION_STATE_CONNECTED = 1: A connection to the Brick Daemon or the WIFI/Ethernet Extension is established.
  • IPConnection.CONNECTION_STATE_PENDING = 2: IP Connection is currently trying to connect.
IPConnection.setAutoReconnect(autoReconnect)
Parameters:
  • auto_reconnect -- boolean

Enables or disables auto-reconnect. If auto-reconnect is enabled, the IP Connection will try to reconnect to the previously given host and port, if the currently existing connection is lost. Therefore, auto-reconnect only does something after a successful connect() call.

Default value is true.

IPConnection.getAutoReconnect()
Return type:boolean

Returns true if auto-reconnect is enabled, false otherwise.

IPConnection.setTimeout(timeout)
Parameters:
  • timeout -- int

Sets the timeout in milliseconds for getters and for setters for which the response expected flag is activated.

Default timeout is 2500.

IPConnection.getTimeout()
Return type:int

Returns the timeout as set by setTimeout().

IPConnection.enumerate([errorCallback])

Broadcasts an enumerate request. All devices will respond with an enumerate callback.

Callback Configuration Functions

IPConnection.on(callback_id, function)
Parameters:
  • callback_id -- int
  • function -- function

Registers the given function with the given callback_id.

The available callback IDs with corresponding function signatures are described below.

Callbacks

Callbacks can be registered to be notified about events. The registration is done with the on() function. The first parameter is the callback ID and the second parameter the callback function:

ipcon.on(IPConnection.CALLBACK_EXAMPLE,
    function (param) {
        console.log(param);
    }
);

The available constants with inherent number and type of parameters are described below.

IPConnection.CALLBACK_ENUMERATE
Parameters:
  • uid -- string
  • connectedUid -- string
  • position -- char
  • hardwareVersion -- [int, int, int]
  • firmwareVersion -- [int, int, int]
  • deviceIdentifier -- int
  • enumerationType -- int

The callback has seven parameters:

  • uid: The UID of the device.
  • connectedUid: UID where the device is connected to. For a Bricklet this is the UID of the Brick or Bricklet it is connected to. For a Brick it is the UID of the bottommost Brick in the stack. For the bottommost Brick in a stack it is "0". With this information it is possible to reconstruct the complete network topology.
  • position: For Bricks: '0' - '8' (position in stack). For Bricklets: 'a' - 'h' (position on Brick) or 'i' (position of the Raspberry Pi (Zero) HAT) or 'z' (Bricklet on Isolator Bricklet).
  • hardwareVersion: Major, minor and release number for hardware version.
  • firmwareVersion: Major, minor and release number for firmware version.
  • deviceIdentifier: A number that represents the device.
  • enumeration_type: Type of enumeration.

Possible enumeration types are:

  • IPConnection.ENUMERATION_TYPE_AVAILABLE = 0: Device is available (enumeration triggered by user: enumerate()). This enumeration type can occur multiple times for the same device.
  • IPConnection.ENUMERATION_TYPE_CONNECTED = 1: Device is newly connected (automatically send by Brick after establishing a communication connection). This indicates that the device has potentially lost its previous configuration and needs to be reconfigured.
  • IPConnection.ENUMERATION_TYPE_DISCONNECTED = 2: Device is disconnected (only possible for USB connection). In this case only uid and enumeration_type are valid.

It should be possible to implement plug-and-play functionality with this (as is done in Brick Viewer).

The device identifier numbers can be found here. There are also constants for these numbers named following this pattern:

<device-class>.DEVICE_IDENTIFIER

For example: BrickMaster.DEVICE_IDENTIFIER or BrickletAmbientLight.DEVICE_IDENTIFIER.

IPConnection.CALLBACK_CONNECTED
Parameters:
  • connectReason -- int

This callback is called whenever the IP Connection got connected to a Brick Daemon or to a WIFI/Ethernet Extension, possible reasons are:

  • IPConnection.CONNECT_REASON_REQUEST = 0: Connection established after request from user.
  • IPConnection.CONNECT_REASON_AUTO_RECONNECT = 1: Connection after auto-reconnect.
IPConnection.CALLBACK_DISCONNECTED
Parameters:
  • disconnectReason -- int

This callback is called whenever the IP Connection got disconnected from a Brick Daemon or from a WIFI/Ethernet Extension, possible reasons are:

  • IPConnection.DISCONNECT_REASON_REQUEST = 0: Disconnect was requested by user.
  • IPConnection.DISCONNECT_REASON_ERROR = 1: Disconnect because of an unresolvable error.
  • IPConnection.DISCONNECT_REASON_SHUTDOWN = 2: Disconnect initiated by Brick Daemon or WIFI/Ethernet Extension.