The Library is released for the Masters 2021 C# for Crestron MCP-101, 201, 301 class. Assorted files for the class and to help the student are also included. A compiled version of the library is included as a DLL as well for ease of use by the students in class.
IMPORTANT NOTE: These are simplified classes in this library for students to use to learn concepts from. They are not 100% complete in regards to error testing and error recovery. For example the TCP Helper needs to be expanded and modified to handle different string encodings based on the target data. It is left up to the students to complete the work and finish the C# code in the classes on their own when they progress to that level. Do not expect these to be ready to use in a production environment.
Also, there are documents included for the student for the class as well as the class Xpanel used for the exercises included in this repository.
Complete Simplified MCP101 C# class code as an example will be provided here after masters is complete.
Please take note how this library has both documentation, and comments in the code. These things are considered a best practice both by CTI and the programming industry in general, and should be a part of every type of code you write.
This class simplifies making a TCP/IP connection to a server or device. It automatically creates a worker thread and utilizes a serial queue to emulate a serial port to the programmer.
NOTE: Strings in C# MUST use encoding. this means characters outside the 7bits will get changed or lost. in order to fix this you have to use a codepage that just happens to allow all 256 values in a byte. check the library sourcecode for more information.
You send your string that you want sent to the connection to the TX property and if connected to the device or service it will send that string. If not connects the string is simply discarded.
When a string comes in from the remote device it will raise an event with that information as well as update the RX property with the string that was received status changes like connect and disconnect will send STATUS and data incoming will send RX in the e.Message property. For Example:
if(e.Message == "STATUS")
bool Connected = e.Connected;
else if(e.Message = "RX")
string data = e.RX;Connect() and Disconnect() methods allow the programmer to have control over the connection. Limited status information is available as well as limited errors as to why a connection failed or disconnected.
The TCPHelper Class is an example on how to use the TCP Client method and leveraging a thread to make the code non blocking. The programmer is encouraged to expand its capabilities and add in the proper error checking to make it more robust and ready for production code use. This is provided as a learning tool.
This class will write time and date stamped lines that end in [0D][0A] to a file specified by the programmer. A Property for the path and properties to return the program path as well as the user folder path are included with a single method that will open, write, and close the file. It also creates the file if it does not exist.
This is also a simplified example class provided as a starting point for the programmer to expand. You are encouraged to expand and add in more error checking and safety features to ensure operation across platforms.
This is the Virtual Console class that was provided as a starting framework for students to expand and complete on their own at the Masters 2019 event with minor changes. It allows the user to leverage a minimal console for debugging and custom commands for a Crestron Virtual Control server room program. NOTE: You MUST open the port used on the host operating system. Failure to open the port in the OS firewall on Virtual Control will cause communication to not function.
There is no authentication, and it is a wide open telnet style connection. There is no security at all programmed into this class. It is recommended to the user to add such features or upgrade it to use AES encryption if security is needed. But, There is no access to any of the Processors Console commands. only any console commands that the programmer added to VirtualConsole for use inside the program.
This class will function on a 4 series processor if the programmer wanted a limited access console without authentication for the technicians to use for setting parameters or enabling features. This use case is completely up to the programmer.
In your C# program you need to add the DLL file to your references. In the solution Explorer select references, add reference and then the browse button to find where you placed the dll file. Select it and make sure it has a check mark next to it before hitting OK on the last dialog box.
Then at the top of your class files where you want to use the library add in the using statement for the namespace.
using MastersHelperLibrary;This class is a public class and needs to be instantiated. When you do you will supply the IP Address or hostname and the port number. There is also an event that needs to be subscribed to, do that as well right away.
myClient = new TCPClientHelper("127.0.0.1", 55555);
myClient.tcpHelperEvent += MyClient_tcpHelperEvent;The event has arguments that will contain information. RX is the last packet received by the client, Message contains what kind of event was thrown as well as Connected Boolean and a status integer.
to Send text to the connected device simply send a string to the myClient.TX property.
This is a public class so you instantiate it like any other. it takes no arguments for the default constructor.
myLog = new LogFileWriter();The path to the log file needs to be specified on the LogPath property. The processors path to the program and the User Folder are available in the ProgramPath and UserPath properties.
myLog.LogPath = myLog.UserPath + "logfilename.txt";The ProgramPath and UserPath read only properties will have the separator already at the end and is not needed to be added by the programmer.
Writing a line to the log by calling the WriteLog() Method. It accepts a string and will prepend the date and time stamp to the line before it is written.
myLog.WriteLog("Program has started");
myLog.WriteLog(string.Format(" Variable a={0}",a));This is a Static class and does not have to be instantiated. The Virtual Console can be started easily by calling the start method. NOTE: you MUST open the port you intend to use when using this class with Crestron Virtual Control. Failure to open the port desired in the Linux host OS will cause the VirtualConsole to not function. External Ports do not need to be opened on 4 series processors.
VirtualConsole.Start(40000);you can add in custom console commands to trigger methods in your program. The method you call MUST accept a string and return a string.
VirtualConsole.AddNewConsoleCommand(TestFunc, "Test", "This should respond with a message");
private string TestFunc(string s)
{
VirtualConsole.Send("RESPONSE MESSAGE");
return "test";
}Sending a message to the virtual console has the method Send that as an overload. One sends a single line the other can be used to send multiple lines. Setting the second property to True will have a command prompt right after the line. setting the property to false will not.
VirtualConsole.Send("RESPONSE MESSAGE");
VirtualConsole.Send("Welcome to Program Information", false);
VirtualConsole.Send("------------------------------",true);You can also wrap VirtualConsole.Send() around a String.Format() to send variables for debugging
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