I'm currently trying to send raw binary data in the format of decimal to an external device over serial. I currently have the data in a buffer array but would like it in a structure like this:
struct packetData{
uint8_t sync1;
uint8_t sync2;
uint16_t messageId;
uint16_t dataWordCount;
uint16_t flags;
uint16_t checksum;
};
I'm also using 9600 baud, and have all the termios settings set using cfmakeraw and I'm currently writing using:
#include <stdio.h>
#include <stdint.h>
#include <unistd.h>
#include <fcntl.h>
#include <termios.h>
#include <string.h>
#include <errno.h>
#include <stdlib.h>
int flags = O_RDWR | O_NOCTTY | O_NDELAY;
fd = open(device, flags);
uint16_t buf_tx[BUFFER_SIZE] = {255,129,191,0,2057,0};
if(fd == -1){
printf("\n Failed to open port! ");
return -1;
}
tcgetattr(fd, &tty); //Get the current attributes of the Serial port
cfmakeraw(&tty);
cfsetispeed(&tty, B9600); //Set read speed as 9600 baud
cfsetospeed(&tty, B9600); //Set write speed as 9600 baud
if((tcsetattr(fd, TCSANOW, &tty)) != 0){
printf("Error! Can't set attributes.\n");
return -1;
}
else{
printf("Connection successful! \n");
}
while(x < 1000){
memset(buf_tx, 0, sizeof(buf_tx));
tcflush(fd, TCOFLUSH);
if(y < 5){
if(write(fd, buf_tx, 5) == -1){
printf("\n");
printf("Error>>: %s\n",strerror(errno));
y++;
}
}
tcflush(fd, TCIOFLUSH);
usleep(1000);
x++;
}
This code isnt the full code, just the setup/write parts so no need to worry about its syntax. if possible it would be nice not to have that buffer array and just use the struct directly, but I'll take what I can get.
It seems you have the serial port opening more or less in hand. I prefer to set the termios member components explicitly myself, but cfmakeraw() is perfectly fine too.
What you should consider, is having a separate function to send one or more of those structures at a time. For example,
int write_all(const int fd, const void *buf, const size_t len)
{
const char *data = buf;
size_t written = 0;
ssize_t n;
while (written < len) {
n = write(fd, data + written, len - written);
if (n > 0) {
written += n;
} else
if (n != -1) {
/* C library bug, should never occur */
errno = EIO;
return -1;
} else {
/* Error; n == -1, so errno is already set. */
return -1;
}
}
/* Success. */
return 0;
}
The function will return 0 if all data was successfully written, and -1 with errno set if an error occurs.
To send a struct packetData pkt; just use write_all(fd, &pkt, sizeof pkt).
To send a full array struct packetData pkts[5]; use write_all(fd, pkts, sizeof pkts).
To send n packets starting at pkts[i], use write_all(fd, pkts + i, n * sizeof pkts[0]).
However, you do not want to use tcflush(). It does not do what you think it does; it actually just discards data.
Instead, to ensure that the data you have written has been transmitted, you need to use tcdrain(fd).
I recommend against adding tcdrain(fd) at the end of write_all() function, because it blocks, pauses the program, until the data has been transmitted. This means that you should only use tcdrain() before you do something that requires the other end has received the transmission; for example before trying to read the response.
However, if this is a query-response interface, and you do intend to also read from the serial device, you should set tty.c_cc[VMIN] and tty.c_cc[VTIME] to reflect how you intend to use the interface. I prefer asynchronous full-duplex operation, but that requires select()/poll() handling. For half-duplex, with these exact structures only, you can use tty.c_cc[VMIN] = sizeof (struct packetData) with say tty.c_cc[VTIME] = 30, which causes read() to try and wait until a full structure is available, but at most 30 deciseconds (3.0 seconds). Something like tty.c_cc[VMIN] = 1; tty.c_cc[VTIME] = 1; is more common; that causes read() to return a short count (even 0!) if there is no additional data received within a decisecond (0.1 seconds). Then, the receive function could be along the following lines:
int read_all(const int fd, void *buf, const size_t len)
{
char *const ptr = buf;
size_t have = 0;
ssize_t n;
/* This function is to be used with half-duplex query-response protocol,
so make sure we have transmitted everything before trying to
receive a response. Also assumes c_cc[VTIME] is properly set for
both the first byte of the response, and interbyte response interval
in deciseconds. */
tcdrain(fd);
while (have < len) {
n = read(fd, ptr + have, len - have);
if (n > 0) {
have += n;
} else
if (n == 0) {
/* Timeout or disconnect */
errno = ETIMEDOUT;
return -1;
} else
if (n != -1) {
/* C library bug, should never occur */
errno = EIO;
return -1;
} else {
/* Read error; errno set by read(). */
return -1;
}
}
/* Success; no errors. */
return 0;
}
If this returns -1 with errno == ETIMEDOUT, the other side took too long to answer. There may be remainder of the late response in the buffer, which you can discard with tcflush(TCIFLUSH) (or with tcflush(TCIOFLUSH), which also discards any written data not yet transmitted). Synchronization in this case is a bit difficult, because the above read_all() function doesn't return how many bytes it received (and therefore how many bytes to discard of a partial structure).
Sometimes the interface used always returns the number of bytes, but also sets errno (to 0 if no error occurred, and a nonzero error constant otherwise). That would be better for a query-response interface read and write functions, but many programmers find this use case "odd", even though it is perfectly okay by POSIX.1 standard (which is the relevant standard here).