Shell - Isolator Bricklet

This is the description of the Shell API bindings for the Isolator Bricklet. General information and technical specifications for the Isolator Bricklet are summarized in its hardware description.

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

Examples

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

Simple

Download (example-simple.sh)

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#!/bin/sh
# Connects to localhost:4223 by default, use --host and --port to change this

uid=XYZ # Change XYZ to the UID of your Isolator Bricklet

# Get current statistics
tinkerforge call isolator-bricklet $uid get-statistics

API

Possible exit codes for all tinkerforge commands are:

  • 1: interrupted (ctrl+c)
  • 2: syntax error
  • 21: Python 2.5 or newer is required
  • 22: Python argparse module is missing
  • 23: socket error
  • 24: other exception
  • 25: invalid placeholder in format string
  • 26: authentication error
  • 201: timeout occurred
  • 209: invalid argument value
  • 210: function is not supported
  • 211: unknown error

Command Structure

The common options of the call and dispatch commands are documented here. The specific command structure is shown below.

tinkerforge call isolator-bricklet [<option>..] <uid> <function> [<argument>..]
Parameters:
  • <uid> – Type: String
  • <function> – Type: String

The call command is used to call a function of the Isolator Bricklet. It can take several options:

  • --help shows help for the specific call command and exits
  • --list-functions shows a list of known functions of the Isolator Bricklet and exits
tinkerforge dispatch isolator-bricklet [<option>..] <uid> <callback>
Parameters:
  • <uid> – Type: String
  • <callback> – Type: String

The dispatch command is used to dispatch a callback of the Isolator Bricklet. It can take several options:

  • --help shows help for the specific dispatch command and exits
  • --list-callbacks shows a list of known callbacks of the Isolator Bricklet and exits
tinkerforge call isolator-bricklet <uid> <function> [<option>..] [<argument>..]
Parameters:
  • <uid> – Type: String
  • <function> – Type: String

The <function> to be called can take different options depending of its kind. All functions can take the following options:

  • --help shows help for the specific function and exits

Getter functions can take the following options:

  • --execute <command> shell command line to execute for each incoming response (see section about output formatting for details)

Setter functions can take the following options:

  • --expect-response requests response and waits for it

The --expect-response option for setter functions allows to detect timeouts and other error conditions calls of setters as well. The device will then send a response for this purpose. If this option is not given for a setter function then no response is sent and errors are silently ignored, because they cannot be detected.

tinkerforge dispatch isolator-bricklet <uid> <callback> [<option>..]
Parameters:
  • <uid> – Type: String
  • <callback> – Type: String

The <callback> to be dispatched can take several options:

  • --help shows help for the specific callback and exits
  • --execute <command> shell command line to execute for each incoming response (see section about output formatting for details)

Basic Functions

tinkerforge call isolator-bricklet <uid> get-statistics
Output:
  • messages-from-brick – Type: Int, Range: [0 to 232 - 1]
  • messages-from-bricklet – Type: Int, Range: [0 to 232 - 1]
  • connected-bricklet-device-identifier – Type: Int, Range: [0 to 216 - 1]
  • connected-bricklet-uid – Type: String, Length: up to 8

Returns statistics for the Isolator Bricklet.

Advanced Functions

tinkerforge call isolator-bricklet <uid> set-spitfp-baudrate-config <enable-dynamic-baudrate> <minimum-dynamic-baudrate>
Parameters:
  • <enable-dynamic-baudrate> – Type: Bool, Default: true
  • <minimum-dynamic-baudrate> – Type: Int, Unit: 1 Bd, Range: [400000 to 2000000], Default: 400000
Output:
  • no output

The SPITF protocol can be used with a dynamic baudrate. If the dynamic baudrate is enabled, the Isolator Bricklet will try to adapt the baudrate for the communication between Bricks and Bricklets according to the amount of data that is transferred.

The baudrate for communication config between Brick and Isolator Bricklet can be set through the API of the Brick.

The baudrate will be increased exponentially if lots of data is sent/received and decreased linearly if little data is sent/received.

This lowers the baudrate in applications where little data is transferred (e.g. a weather station) and increases the robustness. If there is lots of data to transfer (e.g. Thermal Imaging Bricklet) it automatically increases the baudrate as needed.

In cases where some data has to transferred as fast as possible every few seconds (e.g. RS485 Bricklet with a high baudrate but small payload) you may want to turn the dynamic baudrate off to get the highest possible performance.

The maximum value of the baudrate can be set per port with the function set-spitfp-baudrate. If the dynamic baudrate is disabled, the baudrate as set by set-spitfp-baudrate will be used statically.

tinkerforge call isolator-bricklet <uid> get-spitfp-baudrate-config
Output:
  • enable-dynamic-baudrate – Type: Bool, Default: true
  • minimum-dynamic-baudrate – Type: Int, Unit: 1 Bd, Range: [400000 to 2000000], Default: 400000

Returns the baudrate config, see set-spitfp-baudrate-config.

tinkerforge call isolator-bricklet <uid> set-spitfp-baudrate <baudrate>
Parameters:
  • <baudrate> – Type: Int, Unit: 1 Bd, Range: [400000 to 2000000], Default: 1400000
Output:
  • no output

Sets the baudrate for a the communication between Isolator Bricklet and the connected Bricklet. The baudrate for communication between Brick and Isolator Bricklet can be set through the API of the Brick.

If you want to increase the throughput of Bricklets you can increase the baudrate. If you get a high error count because of high interference (see get-spitfp-error-count) you can decrease the baudrate.

If the dynamic baudrate feature is enabled, the baudrate set by this function corresponds to the maximum baudrate (see set-spitfp-baudrate-config).

Regulatory testing is done with the default baudrate. If CE compatibility or similar is necessary in your applications we recommend to not change the baudrate.

tinkerforge call isolator-bricklet <uid> get-spitfp-baudrate
Output:
  • baudrate – Type: Int, Unit: 1 Bd, Range: [400000 to 2000000], Default: 1400000

Returns the baudrate, see set-spitfp-baudrate.

tinkerforge call isolator-bricklet <uid> get-isolator-spitfp-error-count
Output:
  • error-count-ack-checksum – Type: Int, Range: [0 to 232 - 1]
  • error-count-message-checksum – Type: Int, Range: [0 to 232 - 1]
  • error-count-frame – Type: Int, Range: [0 to 232 - 1]
  • error-count-overflow – Type: Int, Range: [0 to 232 - 1]

Returns the error count for the communication between Isolator Bricklet and the connected Bricklet. Call get-spitfp-error-count to get the error count between Isolator Bricklet and Brick.

The errors are divided into

  • ACK checksum errors,
  • message checksum errors,
  • framing errors and
  • overflow errors.
tinkerforge call isolator-bricklet <uid> get-spitfp-error-count
Output:
  • error-count-ack-checksum – Type: Int, Range: [0 to 232 - 1]
  • error-count-message-checksum – Type: Int, Range: [0 to 232 - 1]
  • error-count-frame – Type: Int, Range: [0 to 232 - 1]
  • error-count-overflow – Type: Int, Range: [0 to 232 - 1]

Returns the error count for the communication between Brick and Bricklet.

The errors are divided into

  • ACK checksum errors,
  • message checksum errors,
  • framing errors and
  • overflow errors.

The errors counts are for errors that occur on the Bricklet side. All Bricks have a similar function that returns the errors on the Brick side.

tinkerforge call isolator-bricklet <uid> set-status-led-config <config>
Parameters:
  • <config> – Type: Int, Range: See symbols, Default: 3
Output:
  • no output

Sets the status LED configuration. By default the LED shows communication traffic between Brick and Bricklet, it flickers once for every 10 received data packets.

You can also turn the LED permanently on/off or show a heartbeat.

If the Bricklet is in bootloader mode, the LED is will show heartbeat by default.

The following symbols are available for this function:

For <config>:

  • status-led-config-off = 0
  • status-led-config-on = 1
  • status-led-config-show-heartbeat = 2
  • status-led-config-show-status = 3
tinkerforge call isolator-bricklet <uid> get-status-led-config
Output:
  • config – Type: Int, Range: See symbols, Default: 3

Returns the configuration as set by set-status-led-config

The following symbols are available for this function:

For config:

  • status-led-config-off = 0
  • status-led-config-on = 1
  • status-led-config-show-heartbeat = 2
  • status-led-config-show-status = 3
tinkerforge call isolator-bricklet <uid> get-chip-temperature
Output:
  • temperature – Type: Int, Unit: 1 °C, Range: [-215 to 215 - 1]

Returns the temperature as measured inside the microcontroller. The value returned is not the ambient temperature!

The temperature is only proportional to the real temperature and it has bad accuracy. Practically it is only useful as an indicator for temperature changes.

tinkerforge call isolator-bricklet <uid> reset
Output:
  • no output

Calling this function will reset the Bricklet. All configurations will be lost.

After a reset you have to create new device objects, calling functions on the existing ones will result in undefined behavior!

tinkerforge call isolator-bricklet <uid> get-identity
Output:
  • uid – Type: String, Length: up to 8
  • connected-uid – Type: String, Length: up to 8
  • position – Type: Char, Range: [a to h, z]
  • hardware-version – Type: Int Array, Length: 3
    • 0: major – Type: Int, Range: [0 to 255]
    • 1: minor – Type: Int, Range: [0 to 255]
    • 2: revision – Type: Int, Range: [0 to 255]
  • firmware-version – Type: Int Array, Length: 3
    • 0: major – Type: Int, Range: [0 to 255]
    • 1: minor – Type: Int, Range: [0 to 255]
    • 2: revision – Type: Int, Range: [0 to 255]
  • device-identifier – Type: Int, Range: [0 to 216 - 1]

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', 'd', 'e', 'f', 'g' or 'h' (Bricklet Port). A Bricklet connected to an Isolator Bricklet is always at position 'z'.

The device identifier numbers can be found here

Callback Configuration Functions

tinkerforge call isolator-bricklet <uid> set-statistics-callback-configuration <period> <value-has-to-change>
Parameters:
  • <period> – Type: Int, Unit: 1 ms, Range: [0 to 232 - 1], Default: 0
  • <value-has-to-change> – Type: Bool, Default: false
Output:
  • no output

The period is the period with which the statistics callback is triggered periodically. A value of 0 turns the callback off.

If the value has to change-parameter is set to true, the callback is only triggered after the value has changed. If the value didn't change within the period, the callback is triggered immediately on change.

If it is set to false, the callback is continuously triggered with the period, independent of the value.

New in version 2.0.2 (Plugin).

tinkerforge call isolator-bricklet <uid> get-statistics-callback-configuration
Output:
  • period – Type: Int, Unit: 1 ms, Range: [0 to 232 - 1], Default: 0
  • value-has-to-change – Type: Bool, Default: false

Returns the callback configuration as set by set-statistics-callback-configuration.

New in version 2.0.2 (Plugin).

Callbacks

Callbacks can be used to receive time critical or recurring data from the device:

tinkerforge dispatch isolator-bricklet <uid> example

The available callbacks 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.

tinkerforge dispatch isolator-bricklet <uid> statistics
Output:
  • messages-from-brick – Type: Int, Range: [0 to 232 - 1]
  • messages-from-bricklet – Type: Int, Range: [0 to 232 - 1]
  • connected-bricklet-device-identifier – Type: Int, Range: [0 to 216 - 1]
  • connected-bricklet-uid – Type: String, Length: up to 8

This callback is triggered periodically according to the configuration set by set-statistics-callback-configuration.

The parameters are the same as get-statistics.

New in version 2.0.2 (Plugin).

Internal Functions

Internal functions are used for maintenance tasks such as flashing a new firmware of changing the UID of a Bricklet. These task should be performed using Brick Viewer instead of using the internal functions directly.

tinkerforge call isolator-bricklet <uid> set-bootloader-mode <mode>
Parameters:
  • <mode> – Type: Int, Range: See symbols
Output:
  • status – Type: Int, Range: See symbols

Sets the bootloader mode and returns the status after the requested mode change was instigated.

You can change from bootloader mode to firmware mode and vice versa. A change from bootloader mode to firmware mode will only take place if the entry function, device identifier and CRC are present and correct.

This function is used by Brick Viewer during flashing. It should not be necessary to call it in a normal user program.

The following symbols are available for this function:

For <mode>:

  • bootloader-mode-bootloader = 0
  • bootloader-mode-firmware = 1
  • bootloader-mode-bootloader-wait-for-reboot = 2
  • bootloader-mode-firmware-wait-for-reboot = 3
  • bootloader-mode-firmware-wait-for-erase-and-reboot = 4

For status:

  • bootloader-status-ok = 0
  • bootloader-status-invalid-mode = 1
  • bootloader-status-no-change = 2
  • bootloader-status-entry-function-not-present = 3
  • bootloader-status-device-identifier-incorrect = 4
  • bootloader-status-crc-mismatch = 5
tinkerforge call isolator-bricklet <uid> get-bootloader-mode
Output:
  • mode – Type: Int, Range: See symbols

Returns the current bootloader mode, see set-bootloader-mode.

The following symbols are available for this function:

For mode:

  • bootloader-mode-bootloader = 0
  • bootloader-mode-firmware = 1
  • bootloader-mode-bootloader-wait-for-reboot = 2
  • bootloader-mode-firmware-wait-for-reboot = 3
  • bootloader-mode-firmware-wait-for-erase-and-reboot = 4
tinkerforge call isolator-bricklet <uid> set-write-firmware-pointer <pointer>
Parameters:
  • <pointer> – Type: Int, Unit: 1 B, Range: [0 to 232 - 1]
Output:
  • no output

Sets the firmware pointer for write-firmware. The pointer has to be increased by chunks of size 64. The data is written to flash every 4 chunks (which equals to one page of size 256).

This function is used by Brick Viewer during flashing. It should not be necessary to call it in a normal user program.

tinkerforge call isolator-bricklet <uid> write-firmware <data>
Parameters:
  • <data> – Type: Int Array, Length: 64, Range: [0 to 255]
Output:
  • status – Type: Int, Range: [0 to 255]

Writes 64 Bytes of firmware at the position as written by set-write-firmware-pointer before. The firmware is written to flash every 4 chunks.

You can only write firmware in bootloader mode.

This function is used by Brick Viewer during flashing. It should not be necessary to call it in a normal user program.

tinkerforge call isolator-bricklet <uid> write-uid <uid>
Parameters:
  • <uid> – Type: Int, Range: [0 to 232 - 1]
Output:
  • no output

Writes a new UID into flash. If you want to set a new UID you have to decode the Base58 encoded UID string into an integer first.

We recommend that you use Brick Viewer to change the UID.

tinkerforge call isolator-bricklet <uid> read-uid
Output:
  • uid – Type: Int, Range: [0 to 232 - 1]

Returns the current UID as an integer. Encode as Base58 to get the usual string version.