1 PLIN-API Documentation - PEAK-System

3.1 The LIN Client PLIN API Documentation Selecting a Hardware
Selecting a Hardware ( see page
6)
This section contains Information about locating and selecting a LIN hardware for
connection.
Configuring a Client ( see page 7) This section contains Information about configuring basic parameters of a client.
3.1.1 Creating a Client
A PLIN client is an entity registered in the PLIN system which allows an user application to communicates on a LIN bus. The
registration process is done using the function LIN_RegisterClient ( see page 106) which allocates the necessary
information needed for the interaction User-API-Hardware.
A client is identified twice on the PLIN system, one time through a name or label given by the user of the PLIN API at the
moment of registration and, the most important, a unique handle which is returned by the function LIN_RegisterClient ( see
page 106) when a client is successfully registered. This handle will be used for almost all calls to the API and for this reason
it should be saved by the client application as long as a PLIN client is needed. When a PLIN client is not needed anymore,
the opposite function, LIN_RemoveClient ( see page 107), should be called in order to liberate the resources occupied by
that client. It is not necessary to disconnect a client (eg. using LIN_DisconnectClient ( see page 108)) before calling the
LIN_RemoveClient ( see page 107) function. The disconnection is intrinsically done.
See Also
Selecting a Hardware ( see page 6)
LIN_RegisterClient ( see page 106) (.NET: RegisterCleint)
LIN_RemoveClient ( see page 107) (.NET: RemoveClient ( see page 52))
LIN_DisconnectClient ( see page 108) (.NET: DisconnectClient ( see page 53))
3.1.2 Selecting a Hardware
After having a client registered in the PLIN system, a hardware can be connected using the LIN_ConnectClient ( see page
108) function, in order to participate in a communication. A client must use the API to get connected to a hardware present in
the system.
The way to identify a hardware in the PLIN system is analog to the clients, using handles. The PLIN system assigns a
handle, beginning with 1, to each LIN hardware registered in the system. A client application can ask for the available
hardware, using the function LIN_GetAvailableHardware ( see page 117) which returns an array of handles from all LIN
hardware available for connection.
In many cases it is needed to physically identify a hardware before a client get connected, eg. when a computer has more
than one LIN devices connected to different LIN busses. In this case, a client application can use the function
LIN_IdentifyHardware ( see page 124) to identify a hardware. Calling this function with a valid hardware handle as
parameter causes the owner of that handle to blink its LED several times, leaving it recognizable.
The last step selecting a hardware is to connect the wanted hardware by using the function LIN_ConnectClient ( see page
108). Completes the function successfully, means that the caller (PLIN client handle) was successfully associated to the
hardware represented by the given hardware handle.
A client can also disconnect a hardware connected before, using the opposed function LIN_DisconnectClient ( see page
108). This function receives two handles, one representing the client requesting a separation and the other representing the
hardware to disconnect. In similar way as by connecting, a client application can use the function LIN_IdentifyHardware (
see page 124) to identify the hardware to disconnect.
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