Debugging Netlinx Code With Terminal Or Telnet Messages - AMX NetLinx Studio Instruction Manual

Building and Debugging Source Code

Debugging NetLinx Code with Terminal or Telnet Messages

This is often referred to as using "SEND_STRING 0's" in your code. Strings sent to device 0 (the master), port 1 or
port 0, system 0 (the local system) will show up in a terminal or Telnet session once the programmer has entered
'MSG ON'<enter>
For example, if this line is in your code:
SEND_STRING 0,'some message'
your terminal will display something like:
(0100636312) some message
when the code executes.
The 13 characters to the left of the message are called the "time stamp" or "tic time". Also, by default, the master will
append a carriage return and line feed to the end of each string.
If the master is v2.10.81 or higher, there are additional MSG ON modes:
1.
All messages with tic time. This is the same as 'MSG ON' with no type.
2.
SEND_STRING 0 only (no tic time in front of string and no CR and LF appended).
3.
SEND_STRING 0 with tic time pre-pended to string.
Example:
MSG ON 2<enter>
sets the message mode to 2.
To turn off these messages type
'MSG OFF'<enter>.
The SEND_STRING 0 message is obviously completely customizable - whatever is typed in will be what you are going
to get.
This can be used as a way to see the value of variables at specific points in the code, by sending that information from
that point, instead of stopping execution with a breakpoint. This is especially useful if programmers have to watch non-
printable data bytes that only show as blank boxes in Windows programs, the SEND_STRING 0 code can reformat the
data as a string of printable ASCII characters.
The 'debug.axi' file (attached to Technote #461) contains 16 subroutines useful for this type of debugging and other
purposes, e.g. DPS_TO_STRING and STRING_TO_DEV are useful for passing DEV information between masters via a
virtual device in a master-to-master scenario. Theses subroutines were created as an AXI so programmers could use a
single #INCLUDE at the top of the program rather than having to dig through the old programs and find the appropriate
code to cut and paste.
1.
FUNCTION CHAR[17] DEV_TO_STRING (DEV dvDEV)
Formatting NetLinx device structures as strings take a little more than the simple ITOA(<device>) that was
done in Axcess.
This function takes a DEV and returns a string in the '<number>:<port>:<system>' format.
2.
FUNCTION CHAR[25] DEVCHAN_TO_STRING (DEVCHAN dcDC)
This function returns a DEVCHAN as a string with brackets in the format
'[<number>:<port>:<system>,<chan>]'.
3.
FUNCTION CHAR[25] DEV_CHAN_TO_STRING (DEV dvDEV, INTEGER nChannel)
Same as DEVCHAN_TO_STRING but takes a separate DEV and INTEGER as parameters.
Returns '[<number>:<port>:<system>,<chan>]'.
4.
FUNCTION CHAR[25] DEVLEV_TO_STRING (DEVLEV dlDL)
This function returns a DEVLEV as a string in the format '<number>:<port>:<system>,<lev>'.
5.
FUNCTION CHAR[25] DEV_LEV_TO_STRING (DEV dvDEV, INTEGER nLevel)
Same as DEVLEV_TO_STRING but takes a separate DEV and INTEGER as parameters.
Returns '<number>:<port>:<system>,<lev>'.
6.
FUNCTION CHAR[17] DPS_TO_STRING (DEV dvDEV)
This function takes a DEV and returns a string in the '<number>:<port>:<system>' format. Same as
DEV_TO_STRING except it always returns the actual system number, not system 0, if the device is so defined.
116
at the prompt.
NetLinx Studio - Instruction Manual