Testing Distributed Object Connections in OSX with Objective C - objective-c

On Mac OSX with Objective C and Distributed Objects (IPC API), how can a server determine if the client has closed down their application and thus the NSConnection pointer has been broken? I mean, I might be in a while loop, reading a lot of data to send back from the server to the client, and I can test for stuff if I just knew what the trick was to determine if the client has suddenly disconnected.

Add this to your server's vended object class and then check it when doing something in any kind of loop for long periods of time. Replace "servicetest" phrase in the code below with the name of your actual process. You can run your client app and then check ps -ef at command line to see what your process is, if uncertain. It'll be the one with DerivedData if running temporarily in XCode.
A little warning, though. This routine is kind of heavy and you shouldn't call it with every loop iteration. Instead, check like every 500 iterations of your while loop you might be in, for instance. You could also have a background timer that runs and checks. Or you could use rand to determine 1 in 5 odds and run it then.
Note that this routine only runs properly with Distributed Objects on the same system, as in application to application IPC, rather than Distributed Objects over a LAN.
So, when I detected that a client suddenly disconnected, I do a break on my while loop (where I was reading slow process data) and then did a pclose() on that process because there was no sense running it anymore.
/* requires these includes
#include <libproc.h>
#include <sys/sysctl.h>
#include <string>
*/
- (bool)_clientSuddenlyDisconnected;
{
int numberOfProcesses = proc_listpids(PROC_ALL_PIDS, 0, NULL, 0);
pid_t pids[1024];
bzero(pids, 1024);
proc_listpids(PROC_ALL_PIDS, 0, pids, sizeof(pids));
for (int i = 0; i < numberOfProcesses; ++i) {
if (pids[i] == 0) { continue; }
char pathBuffer[PROC_PIDPATHINFO_MAXSIZE];
bzero(pathBuffer, PROC_PIDPATHINFO_MAXSIZE);
proc_pidpath(pids[i], pathBuffer, sizeof(pathBuffer));
if (strlen(pathBuffer) > 0) {
std::string sTest(pathBuffer);
sTest = "/" + sTest + "$$$";
if (sTest.find("/servicetest$$$") != std::string::npos) {
return false;
}
}
}
return true;
}

Related

STM32F412 using FreeRTOS and USB to do audio processing

I am using stm32f4 nucleuo board. I can transmit the audio data through usb to PC without FreeRTOS. Now I want to learn how to integrate the FreeRTOS and usb together. But I have some questions about how fundamentally threads and ISR interact with each other.
Below I have two files.
In main.c, there are two threads created.In usb_thread, I initialize usb dirver and do nothing else.
In vr_thread, it waits state == 1 and process PCM_Buffer.
/* main.c */
extern uint16_t PCM_Buffer[16];
int state = 0;
int main(void)
{
HAL_Init();
SystemClock_Config();
MX_GPIO_Init();
osThreadDef(usb_t, usb_thread, osPriorityNormal, 0, configMINIMAL_STACK_SIZE);
osThreadDef(vr_t, vr_thread, osPriorityNormal, 0, configMINIMAL_STACK_SIZE);
usb_thread_handle = osThreadCreate (osThread(usb_t), NULL);
usb_thread_handle = osThreadCreate (osThread(vr_t), NULL);
osKernelStart();
for (;;) {}
}
static void usb_thread(void const *argument)
{
/*Do some initialization here.*/
for (;;) {}
}
static void vr_thread(void const *argument)
{
/*Do some initialization here.*/
for (;;) {
if (state == 1) {
state = 0;
process_buffer(PCM_Buffer);
}
}
}
In app.c, USB_AUDIO_CallBack will be called by usb ISR every 1 millisecond. It transmit PCM_Buffer to PC first because it is really important, then it changes state to 1.
/* app.c */
uint16_t PCM_Buffer[16];
extern int state;
void USB_AUDIO_CallBack(void) //It will be called by usb ISR every 10^-3 second.
{
Send_Audio_to_USB((int16_t *)(PCM_Buffer), NUM_AUDIO_BUF);
state = 1;
}
Here are my questions.
1. How to find out the unit counting tick of FreeRTOS? USB_AUDIO_CallBack will be
called every 1 millisecond, how to know FreeRTOS basic tick is faster or slower
than 1 millisecond. Is FreeRTOS tick equal to systick?
2. Let's assume the process time of process_buffer is less than 1 millisecond. What I want to accomplish here is described below
hardware trigger
|
usb ISR
|
USB_AUDIO_CallBack
|
state=1
|
vr_thread process_buffer
|
state=0, then wait for hardware trigger again.
I really doubt it is the correct way to do it. Or should I use suspend() and resume()?
3. Is using extern to declare global PCM_Buffer the correct way to pass variable between threads or should I use queue in FreeRTOS?
I know these questions are trivial but I really want to understand them. Any helpful document or website is welcome. Thanks.
To convert real time to systick you can use macro pdMS_TO_TICKS(xTimeInMS).
You can define your USB_AUDIO_CallBack also as a thread (or task) or paste the code from the callback to vr_thread (as your application works on only one processor). Then inside the USB ISR you can send a notification using function vTaskNotifyGiveFromISR and receive it inside vr_thread by calling ulTaskNotifyTake. After receiving the notification you can call Send_Audio_to_USB((int16_t *)(PCM_Buffer), NUM_AUDIO_BUF);
and then process_buffer(PCM_Buffer);. It is better to bring out the code from callback to task, because the ISR handler will finish it's job faster as Send_Audio_to_USB function could run long time. You also keep things to be executed in the same order as you needed.
I think that you mean volatile instead of extern. If you want to use this buffer along different threads and ISRs you should define it as volatile, but if you will use the approach with only one task you can declare this buffer as local buffer.

Write UART on PIC18

I need help with the uart communication I am trying to implement on my Proteus simulation. I use a PIC18f4520 and I want to display on the virtual terminal the values that have been calculated by the microcontroller.
Here a snap of my design on Proteus
Right now, this is how my UART code looks like :
#define _XTAL_FREQ 20000000
#define _BAUDRATE 9600
void Configuration_ISR(void) {
IPR1bits.TMR1IP = 1; // TMR1 Overflow Interrupt Priority - High
PIE1bits.TMR1IE = 1; // TMR1 Overflow Interrupt Enable
PIR1bits.TMR1IF = 0; // TMR1 Overflow Interrupt Flag
// 0 = TMR1 register did not overflow
// 1 = TMR1 register overflowed (must be cleared in software)
RCONbits.IPEN = 1; // Interrupt Priority High level
INTCONbits.PEIE = 1; // Enables all low-priority peripheral interrupts
//INTCONbits.GIE = 1; // Enables all high-priority interrupts
}
void Configuration_UART(void) {
TRISCbits.TRISC6 = 0;
TRISCbits.TRISC7 = 1;
SPBRG = ((_XTAL_FREQ/16)/_BAUDRATE)-1;
//RCSTA REG
RCSTAbits.SPEN = 1; // enable serial port pins
RCSTAbits.RX9 = 0;
//TXSTA REG
TXSTAbits.BRGH = 1; // fast baudrate
TXSTAbits.SYNC = 0; // asynchronous
TXSTAbits.TX9 = 0; // 8-bit transmission
TXSTAbits.TXEN = 1; // enble transmitter
}
void WriteByte_UART(unsigned char ch) {
while(!PIR1bits.TXIF); // Wait for TXIF flag Set which indicates
// TXREG register is empty
TXREG = ch; // Transmitt data to UART
}
void WriteString_UART(char *data) {
while(*data){
WriteByte_UART(*data++);
}
}
unsigned char ReceiveByte_UART(void) {
if(RCSTAbits.OERR) {
RCSTAbits.CREN = 0;
RCSTAbits.CREN = 1;
}
while(!PIR1bits.RCIF); //Wait for a byte
return RCREG;
}
And in the main loop :
while(1) {
WriteByte_UART('a'); // This works. I can see the As in the terminal
WriteString_UART("Hello World !"); //Nothing displayed :(
}//end while(1)
I have tried different solution for WriteString_UART but none has worked so far.
I don't want to use printf cause it impacts other operations I'm doing with the PIC by adding delay.
So I really want to make it work with WriteString_UART.
In the end I would like to have someting like "Error rate is : [a value]%" on the terminal.
Thanks for your help, and please tell me if something isn't clear.
In your WriteByte_UART() function, try polling the TRMT bit. In particular, change:
while(!PIR1bits.TXIF);
to
while(!TXSTA1bits.TRMT);
I don't know if this is your particular issue, but there exists a race-condition due to the fact that TXIF is not immediately cleared upon loading TXREG. Another option would be to try:
...
Nop();
while(!PIR1bits.TXIF);
...
EDIT BASED ON COMMENTS
The issue is due to the fact that the PIC18 utilizes two different pointer types based on data memory and program memory. Try changing your declaration to void WriteString_UART(const rom char * data) and see what happens. You will need to change your WriteByte_UART() declaration as well, to void WriteByte_UART(const unsigned char ch).
Add delay of few miliseconds after line
TXREG = ch;
verify that pointer *data of WriteString_UART(char *data) actually point to
string "Hello World !".
It seems you found a solution, but the reason why it wasn't working in the first place is still not clear. What compiler are you using?
I learned the hard way that C18 and XC8 are used differently regarding memory spaces. With both compilers, a string declared literally like char string[]="Hello!", will be stored in ROM (program memory). They differ in the way functions use strings.
C18 string functions will have variants to access strings either in RAM or ROM (for example strcpypgm2ram, strcpyram2pgm, etc.). XC8 on the other hand, does the job for you and you will not need to use specific functions to choose which memory you want to access.
If you are using C18, I would highly recommend you switch to XC8, which is more recent and easier to work with. If you still want to use C18 or another compiler which requires you to deal with program/data memory spaces, then here below are two solutions you may want to try. The C18 datasheet says that putsUSART prints a string from data memory to USART. The function putrsUSART will print a string from program memory. So you can simply use putrsUSART to print your string.
You may also want to try the following, which consists in copying your string from program memory to data memory (it may be a waste of memory if your application is tight on memory though) :
char pgmstring[] = "Hello";
char datstring[16];
strcpypgm2ram(datstring, pgmstring);
putsUSART(datstring);
In this example, the pointers pgmstring and datstring will be stored in data memory. The string "Hello" will be stored in program memory. So even if the pointer pgmstring itself is in data memory, it initially points to a memory address (the address of "Hello"). The only way to point to this same string in data memory is to create a copy of it in data memory. This is because a function accepting a string stored in data memory (such as putsUSART) can NOT be used directly with a string stored in program memory.
I hope this could help you understand a bit better how to work with Harvard microprocessors, where program and data memories are separated.

Reading data from an HID device from userspace in OSX [duplicate]

I am attempting to communicate with a rather specific USB device and developing both Windows and Mac code to do so.
The device is a USB device with a HID interface (class 3) with two endpoints, an interrupt input and an interrupt output. The nature of the device is such that data is sent out from the device on the input endpoint only when data is requested from the host: the host sends it data which the device responds to on its input interrupt endpoint. Getting data to the device (a write) is much more simple...
The code for Windows is rather straight-forward: I get a handle to the device and then call either ReadFile or WriteFile. Apparently much of the underlying asynchronous behavior is abstracted out. It appears to work fine.
On Mac, however, it is a bit stickier. I have tried a number of things, none which have been fully successful, but here are the two things which seemed most promising...
1.) Attempt to get access to the device (as USB) via IOUSBInterfaceInterface, iterate through the endpoints to determine the input and output endpoints, and (hopefully) use ReadPipe and WritePipe to communicate. Unfortunately I am unable to open the interface once I have it, with the return value (kIOReturnExclusiveAccess) noting that something already has the device open exclusively. I have tried using IOUSBinterfaceInterface183, so that I could call USBInterfaceOpenSeize, but that results in the same return error value.
--- update 7/30/2010 ---
Apparently, the Apple IOUSBHIDDriver matches early to the device and this is what likely is preventing opening the IOUSBInterfaceInterface. From some digging about it seems that the common way to prevent the IOUSBHIDDriver from matching is to write a code-less kext (kernel extension) with a higher probe score. This would match early, preventing the IOUSBHIDDriver from opening the device, and should, in theory, permit me to open the interface and to write and read to endpoints directly. This is OK, but I would much prefer not having to install something additional on the user machine. If anyone knows of a solid alternative I would be thankful for the information.
2.) Open the device as an IOHIDDeviceInterface122 (or later). To read, I set up an async port, event source and callback method to be called when data is ready - when data is sent from the device on the input interrupt endpoint. However, to write the data — that the device needs — to initialize a response I can't find a way. I'm stumped. setReport typically writes to the control endpoint, plus I need a write that does not expect any direct response, no blocking.
I have looked around online and have tried many things, but none of them is giving me success. Any advice? I can not use much of the Apple HIDManager code since much of that is 10.5+ and my application must work on 10.4 as well.
I have now a working Mac driver to a USB device that requires communication through interrupt endpoints. Here is how I did it:
Ultimately the method that worked well for me was option 1 (noted above). As noted, I was having issues opening the COM-style IOUSBInterfaceInterface to the device. It became clear over time that this was due to the HIDManager capturing the device. I was unable to wrest control of the device from the HIDManager once it was captured (not even the USBInterfaceOpenSeize call or the USBDeviceOpenSeize calls would work).
To take control of the device I needed to grab it before the HIDManager. The solution to this was to write a codeless kext (kernel extension). A kext is essentially a bundle that sits in System/Library/Extensions that contains (usually) a plist (property list) and (occasionally) a kernel-level driver, among other items. In my case I wanted only the plist, which would give the instructions to the kernel on what devices it matches. If the data gives a higher probe score than the HIDManager then I could essentially capture the device and use a user-space driver to communicate with it.
The kext plist written, with some project-specific details modified, is as follows:
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<!DOCTYPE plist PUBLIC "-//Apple//DTD PLIST 1.0//EN" "http://www.apple.com/DTDs/PropertyList-1.0.dtd">
<plist version="1.0">
<dict>
<key>OSBundleLibraries</key>
<dict>
<key>com.apple.iokit.IOUSBFamily</key>
<string>1.8</string>
<key>com.apple.kernel.libkern</key>
<string>6.0</string>
</dict>
<key>CFBundleDevelopmentRegion</key>
<string>English</string>
<key>CFBundleGetInfoString</key>
<string>Demi USB Device</string>
<key>CFBundleIdentifier</key>
<string>com.demiart.mydevice</string>
<key>CFBundleInfoDictionaryVersion</key>
<string>6.0</string>
<key>CFBundleName</key>
<string>Demi USB Device</string>
<key>CFBundlePackageType</key>
<string>KEXT</string>
<key>CFBundleSignature</key>
<string>????</string>
<key>CFBundleVersion</key>
<string>1.0.0</string>
<key>IOKitPersonalities</key>
<dict>
<key>Device Driver</key>
<dict>
<key>CFBundleIdentifier</key>
<string>com.apple.kernel.iokit</string>
<key>IOClass</key>
<string>IOService</string>
<key>IOProviderClass</key>
<string>IOUSBInterface</string>
<key>idProduct</key>
<integer>12345</integer>
<key>idVendor</key>
<integer>67890</integer>
<key>bConfigurationValue</key>
<integer>1</integer>
<key>bInterfaceNumber</key>
<integer>0</integer>
</dict>
</dict>
<key>OSBundleRequired</key>
<string>Local-Root</string>
</dict>
</plist>
The idVendor and idProduct values give the kext specificity and increase its probe score sufficiently.
In order to use the kext, the following things need to be done (which my installer will do for clients):
Change the owner to root:wheel (sudo chown root:wheel DemiUSBDevice.kext)
Copy the kext to Extensions (sudo cp DemiUSBDevice.kext /System/Library/Extensions)
Call the kextload utility to load the kext for immediate use without restart (sudo kextload -vt /System/Library/Extensions/DemiUSBDevice.kext)
Touch the Extensions folder so that the next restart will force a cache rebuild (sudo touch /System/Library/Extensions)
At this point the system should use the kext to keep the HIDManager from capturing my device. Now, what to do with it? How to write to and read from it?
Following are some simplified snippets of my code, minus any error handling, that illustrate the solution. Before being able to do anything with the device, the application needs to know when the device attaches (and detaches). Note that this is merely for purposes of illustration — some of the variables are class-level, some are global, etc. Here is the initialization code that sets the attach/detach events up:
#include <IOKit/IOKitLib.h>
#include <IOKit/IOCFPlugIn.h>
#include <IOKit/usb/IOUSBLib.h>
#include <mach/mach.h>
#define DEMI_VENDOR_ID 12345
#define DEMI_PRODUCT_ID 67890
void DemiUSBDriver::initialize(void)
{
IOReturn result;
Int32 vendor_id = DEMI_VENDOR_ID;
Int32 product_id = DEMI_PRODUCT_ID;
mach_port_t master_port;
CFMutableDictionaryRef matching_dict;
IONotificationPortRef notify_port;
CFRunLoopSourceRef run_loop_source;
//create a master port
result = IOMasterPort(bootstrap_port, &master_port);
//set up a matching dictionary for the device
matching_dict = IOServiceMatching(kIOUSBDeviceClassName);
//add matching parameters
CFDictionarySetValue(matching_dict, CFSTR(kUSBVendorID),
CFNumberCreate(kCFAllocatorDefault, kCFNumberInt32Type, &vendor_id));
CFDictionarySetValue(matching_dict, CFSTR(kUSBProductID),
CFNumberCreate(kCFAllocatorDefault, kCFNumberInt32Type, &product_id));
//create the notification port and event source
notify_port = IONotificationPortCreate(master_port);
run_loop_source = IONotificationPortGetRunLoopSource(notify_port);
CFRunLoopAddSource(CFRunLoopGetCurrent(), run_loop_source,
kCFRunLoopDefaultMode);
//add an additional reference for a secondary event
// - each consumes a reference...
matching_dict = (CFMutableDictionaryRef)CFRetain(matching_dict);
//add a notification callback for detach event
//NOTE: removed_iter is a io_iterator_t, declared elsewhere
result = IOServiceAddMatchingNotification(notify_port,
kIOTerminatedNotification, matching_dict, device_detach_callback,
NULL, &removed_iter);
//call the callback to 'arm' the notification
device_detach_callback(NULL, removed_iter);
//add a notification callback for attach event
//NOTE: added_iter is a io_iterator_t, declared elsewhere
result = IOServiceAddMatchingNotification(notify_port,
kIOFirstMatchNotification, matching_dict, device_attach_callback,
NULL, &g_added_iter);
if (result)
{
throw Exception("Unable to add attach notification callback.");
}
//call the callback to 'arm' the notification
device_attach_callback(NULL, added_iter);
//'pump' the run loop to handle any previously added devices
service();
}
There are two methods that are used as callbacks in this initialization code: device_detach_callback and device_attach_callback (both declared at static methods). device_detach_callback is straightforward:
//implementation
void DemiUSBDevice::device_detach_callback(void* context, io_iterator_t iterator)
{
IOReturn result;
io_service_t obj;
while ((obj = IOIteratorNext(iterator)))
{
//close all open resources associated with this service/device...
//release the service
result = IOObjectRelease(obj);
}
}
device_attach_callback is where most of the magic happens. In my code I have this broken into multiple methods, but here I'll present it as a big monolithic method...:
void DemiUSBDevice::device_attach_callback(void * context,
io_iterator_t iterator)
{
IOReturn result;
io_service_t usb_service;
IOCFPlugInInterface** plugin;
HRESULT hres;
SInt32 score;
UInt16 vendor;
UInt16 product;
IOUSBFindInterfaceRequest request;
io_iterator_t intf_iterator;
io_service_t usb_interface;
UInt8 interface_endpoint_count = 0;
UInt8 pipe_ref = 0xff;
UInt8 direction;
UInt8 number;
UInt8 transfer_type;
UInt16 max_packet_size;
UInt8 interval;
CFRunLoopSourceRef m_event_source;
CFRunLoopSourceRef compl_event_source;
IOUSBDeviceInterface245** dev = NULL;
IOUSBInterfaceInterface245** intf = NULL;
while ((usb_service = IOIteratorNext(iterator)))
{
//create the intermediate plugin
result = IOCreatePlugInInterfaceForService(usb_service,
kIOUSBDeviceUserClientTypeID, kIOCFPlugInInterfaceID, &plugin,
&score);
//get the device interface
hres = (*plugin)->QueryInterface(plugin,
CFUUIDGetUUIDBytes(kIOUSBDeviceInterfaceID245), (void**)&dev);
//release the plugin - no further need for it
IODestroyPlugInInterface(plugin);
//double check ids for correctness
result = (*dev)->GetDeviceVendor(dev, &vendor);
result = (*dev)->GetDeviceProduct(dev, &product);
if ((vendor != DEMI_VENDOR_ID) || (product != DEMI_PRODUCT_ID))
{
continue;
}
//set up interface find request
request.bInterfaceClass = kIOUSBFindInterfaceDontCare;
request.bInterfaceSubClass = kIOUSBFindInterfaceDontCare;
request.bInterfaceProtocol = kIOUSBFindInterfaceDontCare;
request.bAlternateSetting = kIOUSBFindInterfaceDontCare;
result = (*dev)->CreateInterfaceIterator(dev, &request, &intf_iterator);
while ((usb_interface = IOIteratorNext(intf_iterator)))
{
//create intermediate plugin
result = IOCreatePlugInInterfaceForService(usb_interface,
kIOUSBInterfaceUserClientTypeID, kIOCFPlugInInterfaceID, &plugin,
&score);
//release the usb interface - not needed
result = IOObjectRelease(usb_interface);
//get the general interface interface
hres = (*plugin)->QueryInterface(plugin, CFUUIDGetUUIDBytes(
kIOUSBInterfaceInterfaceID245), (void**)&intf);
//release the plugin interface
IODestroyPlugInInterface(plugin);
//attempt to open the interface
result = (*intf)->USBInterfaceOpen(intf);
//check that the interrupt endpoints are available on this interface
//calling 0xff invalid...
m_input_pipe = 0xff; //UInt8, pipe from device to Mac
m_output_pipe = 0xff; //UInt8, pipe from Mac to device
result = (*intf)->GetNumEndpoints(intf, &interface_endpoint_count);
if (!result)
{
//check endpoints for direction, type, etc.
//note that pipe_ref == 0 is the control endpoint (we don't want it)
for (pipe_ref = 1; pipe_ref <= interface_endpoint_count; pipe_ref++)
{
result = (*intf)->GetPipeProperties(intf, pipe_ref, &direction,
&number, &transfer_type, &max_packet_size, &interval);
if (result)
{
break;
}
if (transfer_type == kUSBInterrupt)
{
if (direction == kUSBIn)
{
m_input_pipe = pipe_ref;
}
else if (direction == kUSBOut)
{
m_output_pipe = pipe_ref;
}
}
}
}
//set up async completion notifications
result = (*m_intf)->CreateInterfaceAsyncEventSource(m_intf,
&compl_event_source);
CFRunLoopAddSource(CFRunLoopGetCurrent(), compl_event_source,
kCFRunLoopDefaultMode);
break;
}
break;
}
}
At this point we should have the numbers of the interrupt endpoints and an open IOUSBInterfaceInterface to the device. An asynchronous writing of data can be done by calling something like:
result = (intf)->WritePipeAsync(intf, m_output_pipe,
data, OUTPUT_DATA_BUF_SZ, device_write_completion,
NULL);
where data is a char buffer of data to write, the final parameter is an optional context object to pass into the callback, and device_write_completion is a static method with the following general form:
void DemiUSBDevice::device_write_completion(void* context,
IOReturn result, void* arg0)
{
//...
}
reading from the interrupt endpoint is similar:
result = (intf)->ReadPipeAsync(intf, m_input_pipe,
data, INPUT_DATA_BUF_SZ, device_read_completion,
NULL);
where device_read_completion is of the following form:
void DemiUSBDevice::device_read_completion(void* context,
IOReturn result, void* arg0)
{
//...
}
Note that to receive these callbacks the run loop must be running (see this link for more information about the CFRunLoop). One way to achieve this is to call CFRunLoopRun() after calling the async read or write methods at which point the main thread blocks while the run loop runs. After handling your callback you can call CFRunLoopStop(CFRunLoopGetCurrent()) to stop the run loop and hand execution back to the main thread.
Another alternative (which I do in my code) is to pass a context object (named 'request' in the following code sample) into the WritePipeAsync/ReadPipeAsync methods - this object contains a boolean completion flag (named 'is_done' in this example). After calling the read/write method, instead of calling CFRunLoopRun(), something like the following can be executed:
while (!(request->is_done))
{
//run for 1/10 second to handle events
Boolean returnAfterSourceHandled = false;
CFTimeInterval seconds = 0.1;
CFStringRef mode = kCFRunLoopDefaultMode;
CFRunLoopRunInMode(mode, seconds, returnAfterSourceHandled);
}
This has the benefit that if you have other threads that use the run loop you won't prematurely exit should another thread stop the run loop...
I hope that this is helpful to people. I had to pull from many incomplete sources to solve this problem and this required considerable work to get running well...
After reading this question a few times and thinking about it for a bit, I thought of another solution for emulating blocking read behavior, but using the HID manager instead of replacing it.
A blocking read function can register an input callback for the device, register the device on the current run loop, and then block by calling CFRunLoopRun(). The input callback can then copy the report into a shared buffer and call CFRunLoopStop(), which causes CFRunLoopRun() to return, thereby unblocking read(). Then, read() can return the report to the caller.
The first issue I can think of is the case where the device is already scheduled on a run loop. Scheduling and then unscheduling the device in the read function may have adverse affects. But that would only be a problem if the application is trying to use both synchronous and asynchronous calls on the same device.
The second thing that comes to mind is the case where the calling code already has a run loop running (Cocoa and Qt apps for example). But, the documentation for CFRunLoopStop() seems to indicate that nested calls to CFRunLoopRun() are handled properly. So, it should be ok.
Here's a bit of simplified code to go with that. I just implemented something similar in my HID Library and it seems to work, although I haven't tested it extensively.
/* An IN report callback that stops its run loop when called.
This is purely for emulating blocking behavior in the read() method */
static void input_oneshot(void* context,
IOReturn result,
void* deviceRef,
IOHIDReportType type,
uint32_t reportID,
uint8_t* report,
CFIndex length)
{
buffer_type *const buffer = static_cast<HID::buffer_type*>(context);
/* If the report is valid, copy it into the caller's buffer
The Report ID is prepended to the buffer so the caller can identify
the report */
if( buffer )
{
buffer->clear(); // Return an empty buffer on error
if( !result && report && deviceRef )
{
buffer->reserve(length+1);
buffer->push_back(reportID);
buffer->insert(buffer->end(), report, report+length);
}
}
CFRunLoopStop(CFRunLoopGetCurrent());
}
// Block while waiting for an IN interrupt report
bool read(buffer_type& buffer)
{
uint8_t _bufferInput[_lengthInputBuffer];
// Register a callback
IOHIDDeviceRegisterInputReportCallback(deviceRef, _bufferInput, _lengthInputBuffer, input_oneshot, &buffer);
// Schedule the device on the current run loop
IOHIDDeviceScheduleWithRunLoop(deviceRef, CFRunLoopGetCurrent(), kCFRunLoopDefaultMode);
// Trap in the run loop until a report is received
CFRunLoopRun();
// The run loop has returned, so unschedule the device
IOHIDDeviceUnscheduleFromRunLoop(deviceRef, CFRunLoopGetCurrent(), kCFRunLoopDefaultMode);
if( buffer.size() )
return true;
return false;
}
I ran into this same kIOReturnExclusiveAccess. Instead of fighting it (building a kext, etc). I found the device and used the POSIX api's.
//My funcation was named differently, but I'm using this for continuity..
void DemiUSBDevice::device_attach_callback(void * context,
io_iterator_t iterator)
{
DeviceManager *deviceManager = (__bridge DADeviceManager *)context;
io_registry_entry_t device;
while ((device = IOIteratorNext(iterator))) {
CFTypeRef prop;
prop = IORegistryEntrySearchCFProperty(device,
kIOServicePlane,
CFSTR(kIODialinDeviceKey),
kCFAllocatorDefault,
kIORegistryIterateRecursively);
if(prop){
deviceManager->devPath = (__bridge NSString *)prop;
[deviceManager performSelector:#selector(openDevice)];
}
}
}
once devPath is set you can call open and read/write..
int dfd;
dfd = open([devPath UTF8String], O_RDWR | O_NOCTTY | O_NDELAY);
if (dfd == -1) {
//Could not open the port.
NSLog(#"open_port: Unable to open %#", devPath);
return;
} else {
fcntl(fd, F_SETFL, 0);
}

OSX Serial read freeze / hang

I'm writing a serial communication wrapper class in Objective-C. To list all serial available modems and setup the connection I'm using pretty much the same code as used in this example project by Apple.
I could read and write the ways apple does it. But I want to implement a loop on a second thread and write to the stream if a NSString *writeString longer 0 and read after write if bytes are available.
I got writing working quite straight forward. I just used the write function declared in unistd.h.
Reading will not work. Whenever I call read(), the function hangs and my loop does not proceed.
Here is the code used in my loop:
- (void)runInCOMLoop {
do {
// write
} while (bytesWritten < strlen([_writeString UTF8String]));
NSMutableString *readString = [NSMutableString string];
ssize_t bytesRead = 0;
ssize_t readB = 0;
char buffer[256];
do {
readB = read(_fileDescriptor, &buffer, sizeof(buffer));
// ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ this function hangs
bytesRead += readB;
if (readB == -1 {
// error
}
else if (readB > 0) {
if(buffer[bytesRead - 1] == '\r' ]] buffer[bytesRead - 1] == '\n') {
break;
}
[readString appendString:[NSString stringWithUTF8String:buffer]];
}
} while (readB > 0);
What am I doing wrong here?
read() will block if there is nothing to read. Apple probably has their own of doing things, but you can use select() to see if there is anything to read on _fileDescriptor. Google around for examples on how to use select.
Here's one link on StackOverflow:
Can someone give me an example of how select() is alerted to an fd becoming "ready"
This excerpt from the select man is pertains:
To effect a poll, the timeout argument should be
non-nil, pointing to a zero-valued timeval structure. Timeout is not
changed by select(), and may be reused on subsequent calls, however it is
good style to re-initialize it before each invocation of select().
You can set the non-blocking flag (O_NONBLOCK) on the file descriptor using fcntl() to keep read() from waiting for data, but if you do that, you have to continuously poll looking for data, which is obviously bad from a CPU usage standpoint. As Charlie Burns' answer explains, the best solution is to use select() which will allow your program to efficiently wait until there is some data to be read on the port's file descriptor. Here's some example code taken from my own Objective-C serial port class, ORSSerialPort (slightly modified):
fd_set localReadFDSet;
FD_ZERO(&localReadFDSet);
FD_SET(self.fileDescriptor, &localReadFDSet);
timeout.tv_sec = 0;
timeout.tv_usec = 100000; // Check to see if port closed every 100ms
result = select(localPortFD+1, &localReadFDSet, NULL, NULL, &timeout);
if (!self.isOpen) break; // Port closed while select call was waiting
if (result < 0) {
// Handle error
}
if (result == 0 || !FD_ISSET(localPortFD, &localReadFDSet)) continue;
// Data is available
char buf[1024];
long lengthRead = read(localPortFD, buf, sizeof(buf));
NSData *readData = nil;
if (lengthRead>0) readData = [NSData dataWithBytes:buf length:lengthRead];
Note that select() indicates that data is available by returning. So, your program will sit suspended at the select() call while no data is available. The program is not hung, that's how it's supposed to work. If you need to do other things while select() is waiting, you should put the select() call on a different queue/thread from the other work you need to do. ORSSerialPort does this.

User triggered event in libevent

I am currently writing a multi-threaded application using libevent.
Some events are triggered by IO, but I need a couple of events that are triggered accross threads by the code itself, using event_active().
I have tried to write a simple program that shows where my problem is:
The event is created using event_new(), and the fd set to -1.
When calling event_add(), if a timeout struct is used, the event is later properly handled by event_base_dispatch.
If event_add(ev, NULL) is used instead, it returns 0 (apparently successful), but event_base_dispatch() returns 1 (which means no the event was not properly registered.)
This behavior can be tested using the following code and swapping the event_add lines:
#include <event2/event.h>
#include <unistd.h>
void cb_func (evutil_socket_t fd, short flags, void * _param) {
puts("Callback function called!");
}
void run_base_with_ticks(struct event_base *base)
{
struct timeval one_sec;
one_sec.tv_sec = 1;
one_sec.tv_usec = 0;
struct event * ev1;
ev1 = event_new(base, -1, EV_PERSIST, cb_func, NULL);
//int result = event_add(ev1, NULL);
int result = event_add(ev1, &one_sec);
printf("event_add result: %d\n",result);
while (1) {
result = event_base_dispatch(base);
if (result == 1) {
printf("Failed: event considered as not pending dispite successful event_add\n");
sleep(1);
} else {
puts("Tick");
}
}
}
int main () {
struct event_base *base = event_base_new();
run_base_with_ticks(base);
return 0;
}
Compilation: g++ sample.cc -levent
The thing is, I do not need the timeout, and do not want to use a n-years timeout as a workaround. So if this is not the right way to use user-triggered events, I would like to know how it is done.
Your approach is sound. In Libevent 2.0, you can use event_active() to activate an event from another thread. Just make sure that you use evthread_use_windows_threads() or evthread_use_pthreads() as appropriate beforehand, to tell Libevent to use the right threading library.
As for needing an extra event: in Libevent 2.0 and earlier, an event loop will exit immediately when there are no pending events added. Your best bet there is probably the timeout trick you discovered.
If you don't like that, you can use the internal "event_base_add_virtual" function to tell the event_base that it has a virtual event. This function isn't exported, though, so you'll have to say something like:
void event_base_add_virtual(struct event_base *);
// ...
base = event_base_new();
event_base_add_virtual(base); // keep it from exiting
That's a bit of a hack, though, and it uses an undocumented function, so you'd need to watch out in case it doesn't work with a later version of Libevent.
Finally, this method won't help you now, but there's a patch pending for future versions of Libevent (2.1 and later) to add a new flag to event_base_loop() to keep it from exiting when the loop is out of events. The patch is over on Github; it is mainly waiting for code review, and for a better name for the option.
I just got burned by this with libevent-2.0.21-stable. It is quite clearly a bug. I hope they fix it in a future release. In the meantime, updating the docs to warn us about it would be helpful.
The best workaround seems to be the fake timeout as described in the question.
#nickm, you didn't read the question. His example code uses event_new() like you described; there is a bug in libevent that causes it to fail when using a NULL timeout (but return 0 when you call event_add()).