KMAPI

Overview

The KMAPI software package allows you to communicate with softMC from popular programming languages, such as Visual Basic over TCP/IP and UDP. The KMAPI provides complete access to the command line interface of your system across a TCP/IP connection. Fast access to frequently changing data, such as axis set-points and feedback, is provided via a UDP connection, also called UDP fast data.

Introduction

The KMAPI addresses several concerns when interfacing your program with Kollmorgen drives and controllers, including:

• sending commands (and receiving responses)
• reading and setting amplifier or controller variables
• sending and retrieving files
• error handling

The KMAPI addresses these concerns by providing a library of functions which allow the user to describe their system in terms of devices (amplifiers, controllers, axes, groups) and then communicate with these devices individually.
Central to the KMAPI is the concept of a device table. The device table is a data store (database) which is managed by the KMAPI for the user.
The device table is populated with devices by the programmer, allowing the programmer to execute commands on any device in the device table. Most details of the communication techniques used are hidden allowing the programmer to focus on high level programming instead of communication protocols.

General Information

The KMAPI is available for Windows NT and is compatible with a wide variety of 32-bit programming tools including Microsoft Visual Basic and Microsoft Visual C++.
The KMAPI is provided as a Windows DLL which makes it accessible from most Windows programming languages.
Most KMAPI functions return an error code which indicates the success of the action requested by the programmer. Full text descriptions of the error are often associated with the error and can be accessed via KMAPI calls.

Initialization

The first step in using the KMAPI is to call the initialization function KMInitialize.
This ensures that the information which the KMAPI maintains internally about your application is correct.
No other KMAPI calls should be made before the KMAPI is initialized.

Error Messages

Most of the KMAPI functions return an error code. Successful KMAPI functions return KM_ERR_OK. Errors originate in the device itself or the KMAPI.
When the message originates within the KMAPI, an error number is returned which can be compared against the list of errors in the KMAPI header files (C/C++), or the global files (Visual Basic).
In addition the KMAPI also assigns a text message to the error which can be retrieved by calling KMErrorGetMessage. When the error originates in the device (drive or controller) the KMAPI “parses” the message and stores the relevant information including the error message and the error number as given by the device.
This information can be retrieved for the last error via KMErrorGetDeviceMessage similar to the Win32 KMAPI GetLastError function.
Finally, the text of the error message, as the device originally sent, can be retrieved via KMErrorGetOriginalDeviceMessage.

Sending/Retrieving Files

For the sending and retrieval of files the KMAPI provides users with two functions, KMPutFile and KMGetFile, respectively.
In addition to the device handle parameter, the path of the file and the actual command must be sent when calling either of these functions.

Advanced asynchronous message handling

Some controllers and drives generate messages not related to a specific command called asynchronous messages.
Some examples of asynchronous messages are overspeed warnings, limit switch closures and runtime error messages from softMC tasks.
When these messages are received the KMAPI converts them into Windows messages (events) which the programmer can request to have delivered to their application.

By default the KMAPI displays each asynchronous message in a modal dialog box (via the Win32 MessageBox function).
If the programmer wants to handle these messages differently the KMAsyncSetHandler KMAPI function allows a window to be registered as the destination for these messages.
KMAsyncGetHandler can be used to save the previous error handler to that the programmer can restore it on demand.

Like all Windows messages, WM_KM_ASYNC has two parameters, wParam and lParam.
lParam contains a handle to the buffer which contains the asynchronous message as received by the KMAPI.
The programmer can use KMAsyncGetMessage to get the asynchronous message from the KMAPI.

Asynchronous messages and Microsoft Visual Basic

Visual Basic does not provide an easy mechanism for directly handling Windows messages.
In order to overcome this limitation a custom control called KMAPI has been provided which has an event representing the receipt of an asynchronous message.
Placing this control on your form automatically initializes the KMAPI (KMInitialize) and registers the form for asynchronous messages.

Library Reference

KMAPI Initialization

KMInitialize

Prepares the KMAPI for use:

C/C++	KMErrorCode KMInitialize ( void )
Visual Basic	KMInitialize() As Long
C#	System.Int32 IKMInitialize ()

Return Value	KM_ERR_OK if KMAPI is successfully initialized. KM_ERR_WINDOWS_API if the asynchronous message window can’t be created. KM_ERR_MEM_LOCK if the application context was not successfully created.
Remarks	The KMInitialize function must be called before any other KMAPI functions are called.
See Also	KMTerminate
Example	See Example #1

KMTerminate

Performs KMAPI cleanup required for proper application termination.

C/C++	KMErrorCode KMTerminate ( void )
Visual Basic	KMTerminate() As Long
C#	IKMInitialize ()

Return Value	KM_ERR_OK if KMAPI is successfully terminated. KM_ERR_MEM_LOCK if the application context cannot be locked or removed. KM_ERR_NO_CONTEXT if the application context cannot be found in the application context registry.
Remarks	The KMTerminate function must be called before the application using the KMAPI terminates.
See Also	KMInitialize
Example	See Example #1

Device Management

KMCreateController

C/C++	KMDevice KMCreateController (KMProductType controllerProduct, LPSTR controllerName, KMCommType controllerCommType, short controllerID, LPSTR commOptions)
Visual Basic	KMCreateController (ByVal controllerProduct As Integer, ByVal controllerName$, ByVal controllerCommType As Integer, ByVal controllerID As Integer, ByVal commOptions$) As Long
C#	System.IntPtr IKMCreateController (System.UInt32 controllerProduct, System.String controllerName, System.UInt32 controllerCommType, System.UInt32 controllerID, System.String commOptions)

controllerProduct	Type of controller to create
controllerName	String name for the controller
controllerCommType	How the API should communicate with the controller (see communication type description)
controllerID	What the controller’s address is
commOptions	COM port used by the controller
Return Value	A handle referring to the controller.
Remarks	See product type description for controllerProduct. controllerName is provided for user convenience and is not used internally by the KMAPI. See communication type description for controllerCommType. commOptions is a general parameter that is intended for many uses. Presently, only connections of type COMM_TCPIP use this parameter. If COMM_TCPIP is selected then the commOptions parameter allows the user to specify what controller to connect to by IP address, controller name, serial number or DIP switch setting. The format for commOptions is as follows: “IP: xx.xx.xx.xx” where xx.xx.xx.xx is an IP address (e.g. “192.10.34.6”). “NM: yyyyy” where yyyyy is a name assigned by the user to the Sys.Name property of the controller. “SN: XXXXX-XXX” where XXXXX-XXX is the serial number assigned to the controller at the factory and printed on the model number label. “DP: XXXXXX” where XXXXXX is the value (in decimal) of the DIP switch setting on controllers that support. This is useful for user configuration of addresses. When connecting via serial the IP address should is always be specified as 91.0.0.2. If commOptions is not used, the parameter should be an empty string (“”). KMCreateController allocates memory on behalf of the user. This memory must be freed before program termination via KMDestroyDevice. The range for controllerDevice is 1 - 9.
See Also	____
Example	See Example #1

Device Access

KMExecuteCmd

Sends a command to a device.

C/C++	KMErrorCode KMExecuteCmd (KMDevice device, LPSTR cmdStr)
Visual Basic	KMExecuteCmd (ByVal device As Long, ByVal cmdStr$) As Long
C#	System.Int32 IKMExecuteCmd (System.IntPtr device , System.String cmdStr)

device	Handle for the device the command is being sent to.
cndStr	The command to send.
Return Value	KM_ERR_OK if command is successfully transmitted
Remarks	Sends the command cmdStr unmodified to the device specified by device. Should be used with commands that do not have responses.
See Also	KMExecuteCmdResponse
Example	See Example #1

KMExecuteCmdResponse

Sends a command to a device and waits for a response.

C/C++	KMErrorCode KMExecuteCmdResponse (KMDevice device, LPSTR cmdStr, LPSTR outStr, DWORD outSize)
Visual Basic	KMExecuteCmdResponse (ByVal device As Long, ByVal cmdStr$, ByVal outStr$, ByVal outSize As Long) As Long
C#	System.Int32 IKMExecuteCmdResponse (System.IntPtr device , System.String cmdStr , char[] outStr , System.UInt32 outSize)

device	Handle for the device the command is being sent to.
cndStr	The command to send.
outStr	A buffer for the response.
outSize	Size of the outStr buffer.
Return Value	KM_ERR_OK if command is successfully transmitted
Remarks	Sends the command cmdStr unmodified to the device specified by device. Should be used with commands that have responses.
See Also	KMExecuteCmd
Example	See Example #1

Example #1

This program shows how to initialize the KMAPI, create devices and access variables on each of the devices.

C/C++
Visual Basic

KMGetFile

Retrieve a file from a device.

C/C++	KMErrorCode KMGetFile (KMDevice device, LPSTR cmdStr, LPSTR filename)
Visual Basic	KMGetFile (ByVal device As Long, ByVal cmdStr$, ByVal filename$) As Long
C#	System.Int32 IKMGetFile (System.IntPtr device, System.String cmdStr, System.String fileName)

device	Handle for the device the file is being retrieved from.
cmdStr	The command string to cause the device to send a file.
filename	Filename to save file to on host computer.
Return Value	KM_ERR_OK if command is successfully transmitted
Remarks	The filename (if there is one) in cmdStr and filename parameters do not have to match.
See Also	KMPutFile
Example	See Example #2

KMPutFile

Sends a file to a device.

C/C++	KMErrorCode KMPutFile (KMDevice device, LPSTR cmdStr, LPSTR filename)
Visual Basic	KMPutFile(ByVal device As Long, ByVal cmdStr$, ByVal filename$) As Long
C#	System.Int32 IKMPutFile (System.IntPtr device, System.String cmdStr, System.String fileName)

device	Handle for the device the file is being sent to.
cmdStr	The command string to cause the device to retrieve a file.
filename	Filename of file on host computer..
Return Value	KM_ERR_OK if command is successfully transmitted
Remarks	The filename (if there is one) in cmdStr and filename parameters do not have to match.
See Also	KMGetFile
Example	See Example #2

Example #2

This program shows how to send and retrieve files to/from a device (controller or amplifier) via the KMAPI.

C/C++
Visual Basic

Error Handling

Error handling is one of the most important elements to creating a robust application.
The KMAPI provides comprehensive error handling which allows the programmer to properly handle all situations. While using the KMAPI errors can occur at the following levels:

• Internal to the KMAPI
  • host computer runs out of memory
• Communication between the API and the device
  • device fails to respond in time
• Internal to the device
  • a move cannot be made due to a limit switch being open

Every function in the KMAPI returns a result, which is almost always of the type KMErrorCode (Long for Visual Basic users). Each error type is well identified in the error code.
The following is an example of the proper method of handling errors returned from the KMAPI:

C/C++
Visual Basic

Error Codes

The following is a list of the error codes that can be returned by the KMAPI.

Error code	Description	Value (hex)
KM_ERR_OK		H00000000
KM_ERR_BAD		HFFFFFFFF
KM_ERR_BAD_CRC		H00800001
KM_ERR_TIME_OUT		H00800002
KM_ERR_BAD_DEVICE_ID		H00800003
KM_ERR_DEVICE_NOT_INSTALLED		H00800004
KM_ERR_LOCK_FAILED		H00800005
KM_ERR_NO_DATA		H00800006
KM_ERR_ASYNC		H00800008
KM_ERR_FAIL_SEND_MSG		H00800009
KM_ERR_FAIL_ACK_NAK		H0080000A
KM_ERR_FAIL_ACCEPT		H0080000B
KM_ERR_FAIL_PROTOCOL		H0080000C
KM_ERR_FAIL_RESPOND		H0080000D
KM_ERR_UNKNOWN_MESSAGE		H0080000E
KM_ERR_MEM_LOCK		H0080000F
KM_ERR_FAIL_CREATE_FILE		H00800010
KM_ERR_FAIL_OPEN_FILE		H00800011
KM_ERR_FAIL_FIND_FILE		H00800012
KM_ERR_UNEXPECTED_EOF		H00800013
KM_ERR_NO_CONTEXT		H00800014
KM_ERR_MEM_ALLOC		H00800015
KM_ERR_INVALID_PRODUCT		H00800016
KM_ERR_SYSTEM		H00800017
KM_ERR_FAIL_FIND_NAME		H00800018
KM_ERR_INVALID_TYPE		H00800019
KM_ERR_NO_DEFAULT		H0080001A
KM_ERR_NO_MAX_MIN		H0080001B
KM_ERR_BAD_IRQ_NUMBER		H0080001C
KM_ERR_INVALID_FORMAT		H0080001D
KM_ERR_NOT_IMPLEMENTED		H0080001E
KM_ERR_FAIL_FIND_MSG		H0080001F
KM_ERR_NOT_DEVICE		H00800020
KM_ERR_FAILED_OPEN_DEVICE		H00800021
KM_ERR_INVALID_VALUE		H00800022
KM_ERR_INVALID_DEVICE_CONTEXT		H00800023
KM_ERR_GROUP_MAX_EXCEEDED		H00800024
KM_ERR_AXIS_ALREADY_IN_GROUP		H00800025
KM_ERR_FAIL_FIND_DEVICE		H00800026
KM_ERR_FAIL_WRITE_FILE		H00800027
KM_ERR_FAIL_READ_FILE		H00800028
KM_ERR_CONFIG_ALREADY_EXISTS		H00800029
KM_ERR_DEVICE_ALREADY_EXISTS		H0080002A
KM_ERR_FAIL_PRODUCT_DLL		H0080002B
KM_ERR_WINDOWS_API		H0080002C
KM_ERR_VARIABLE_NOT_FOUND		H0080002D
KM_ERR_SERIAL_FRAMING		H0080002E
KM_ERR_FAILED_CLOSE_DEVICE		H0080002F
KM_ERR_FAIL_PRODUCT_DLL		H00800030
KM_ERR_SYNTAX_ERROR		H00800100
KM_ERR_SSMC_ERROR		H00030027
KM_ERR_SERVOSTAR_ERROR		H00010027
KM_ERR_SSMC_DRIVER_ERROR		H00040027