Help for bacnet and bacnet4J

[ilyass]

Hi,

I am new in Bacnet and Bacnet4J. I am developping an slave bacnet application. this application has to discover a list of bacnet objects/devices and after to manage its. I am using VTS (Virtual Tset Shell) to test my application.
I have some questions, so :

1- i create a localDevice

LocalDevice localDevice = new LocalDevice(1, "10.193.224.255", "10.193.224.239");

10.193.224.255 : address broadcast
and after i initialise it

try {
         	localDevice.initialize();
         }catch(IOException e) {
         	System.out.println("IO Error!");
         	e.printStackTrace();
         	return;
         }

finally i send a broadcast request

localDevice.sendBroadcast(0xBAC0, new WhoIsRequest(null, null));

but the list of object is empty and VTS doesn't receive any thing, i don't know why because with VTS i create devices and objects that have "10.193.224.177" address IP. So i don't know how i can do this

2- what is the different between remoteDevice and localDevice ?

3- second test : with VTS i send WhoIsRequest

after i create a bacnet object in my application

LocalDevice localDevice = new LocalDevice(1, "10.193.224.255", "10.193.224.239");         
         BACnetObject bacnetObj = new BACnetObject(localDevice, new ObjectIdentifier(ObjectType.analogInput, 10));
         bacnetObj.setProperty(PropertyIdentifier.objectName, new CharacterString("TemperatureSensorOneRF"));
         bacnetObj.setProperty(PropertyIdentifier.description, new CharacterString("Controller of TemperatureSensor"));

after i send :

 localDevice.sendBroadcast(0xBAC0, new IAmRequest(new ObjectIdentifier(ObjectType.analogInput, 10), new UnsignedInteger(1024), Segmentation.noSegmentation, new UnsignedInteger(236)));

But VTS doesn't receive any thing

thanks for help

[mlohbihler]

Can you use wireshark to try and figure out what's going on? At least to produce some message traces?

[ilyass]

Hi,

I found the solution of my problem. On VTS I configured the network as remote network but i test in local network. So i changed it and now i receive informations from my application

Thank you for your help.

Just an other question, i have this exception when i send UnconfirmedTextMessage via VTS :

com.serotonin.bacnet4j.exception.BACnetException: Error while creating APDU: 
	at com.serotonin.bacnet4j.npdu.ip.IpMessageControl$IncomingMessageExecutor.runImpl(IpMessageControl.java:501)
	at com.serotonin.bacnet4j.npdu.ip.IpMessageControl$IncomingMessageExecutor.run(IpMessageControl.java:455)
	at java.util.concurrent.ThreadPoolExecutor$Worker.runTask(ThreadPoolExecutor.java:886)
	at java.util.concurrent.ThreadPoolExecutor$Worker.run(ThreadPoolExecutor.java:908)
	at java.lang.Thread.run(Thread.java:619)
Caused by: com.serotonin.bacnet4j.exception.BACnetException: java.lang.reflect.InvocationTargetException
	at com.serotonin.bacnet4j.type.Encodable.read(Encodable.java:174)
	at com.serotonin.bacnet4j.type.Encodable.read(Encodable.java:186)
	at com.serotonin.bacnet4j.type.constructed.Choice.read(Choice.java:65)
	at com.serotonin.bacnet4j.type.constructed.Choice.<init>(Choice.java:54)
	at com.serotonin.bacnet4j.service.unconfirmed.UnconfirmedTextMessageRequest.<init>(UnconfirmedTextMessageRequest.java:100)
	at com.serotonin.bacnet4j.service.unconfirmed.UnconfirmedRequestService.createUnconfirmedRequestService(UnconfirmedRequestService.java:46)
	at com.serotonin.bacnet4j.apdu.UnconfirmedRequest.<init>(UnconfirmedRequest.java:62)
	at com.serotonin.bacnet4j.apdu.APDU.createAPDU(APDU.java:38)
	at com.serotonin.bacnet4j.npdu.ip.IpMessageControl$IncomingMessageExecutor.runImpl(IpMessageControl.java:498)
	... 4 more
Caused by: java.lang.reflect.InvocationTargetException
	at sun.reflect.NativeConstructorAccessorImpl.newInstance0(Native Method)
	at sun.reflect.NativeConstructorAccessorImpl.newInstance(NativeConstructorAccessorImpl.java:39)
	at sun.reflect.DelegatingConstructorAccessorImpl.newInstance(DelegatingConstructorAccessorImpl.java:27)
	at java.lang.reflect.Constructor.newInstance(Constructor.java:513)
	at com.serotonin.bacnet4j.type.Encodable.read(Encodable.java:171)
	... 12 more
Caused by: com.serotonin.bacnet4j.exception.BACnetErrorException: 29
	at com.serotonin.bacnet4j.type.primitive.CharacterString.validateEncoding(CharacterString.java:138)
	at com.serotonin.bacnet4j.type.primitive.CharacterString.<init>(CharacterString.java:80)
	... 17 more

do you know why ?

thanks

[mlohbihler]

The character encoding you are using is not recognized. The reference value is 29, but the only valid values AFAIK are:

    public interface Encodings {
        byte ANSI_X3_4 = 0;
        byte IBM_MS_DBCS = 1;
        byte JIS_C_6226 = 2;
        byte ISO_10646_UCS_4 = 3;
        byte ISO_10646_UCS_2 = 4;
        byte ISO_8859_1 = 5;
    }

Can you provide a trace of the message?

[ilyass]

With VTS, when i sent UnconfirmedTextMessage, i specified a numeric class witch doesn't exists, so my application throws exception

thank you for your help

Attachment: download link

[mlohbihler]

Code changes have been made so that a more informative error message is provided.

[ilyass]

Hi,

I have a question about SubscribeCOVRequest; it is possible to make the subscription COV for all time and not for a specific lifetime ?

thanks for help

[mlohbihler]

From the spec:

13.14.1.5 Lifetime

This parameter, of type Unsigned, shall convey the desired lifetime of the subscription in seconds. A value of zero shall
indicate an indefinite lifetime, without automatic cancellation. A non-zero value shall indicate the number of seconds that
may elapse before the subscription shall be automatically cancelled. If both the 'Issue Confirmed Notifications' and 'Lifetime'
parameters are absent, then this shall indicate a cancellation request. If the 'Lifetime' parameter is present then the 'Issue
Confirmed Notifications' parameter shall be present.

[ilyass]

Hi,

I have a problem with a new ObjectType that i added, it's CREDENTIAL_INPUT

when i execute
for each propertyReference i do

Encodable encodable = props.getNoErrorCheck(oid, pr);

pr is **PropertyReference **and props is PropertyValues and oid is my ObjectIdentifier

the result is

type.toString()=Credential Input
+pr.toString()=Object name--AmbiguousValue
+encodable.toString()=Ambiguous([75,e,0,4f,54,45,53,20,52,45,41,44,45,52,20,31])
+pr.toString()=Object identifier--AmbiguousValue
+objectIdentifier=Ambiguous([c4,9,40,40,0])
+pr.toString()=Object type--AmbiguousValue
+pr.toString()=Description--AmbiguousValue
+pr.toString()=Present value--AmbiguousValue
+pr.toString()=Status flags--AmbiguousValue
+pr.toString()=Reliability--AmbiguousValue
+pr.toString()=Out of service--AmbiguousValue
+pr.toString()=Update time--AmbiguousValue
updateTime=Ambiguous([])
+pr.toString()=Profile name--AmbiguousValue
instanceNumber=16384

Do you have an Idea ?

thanks for help

[mlohbihler]

Did you define the object type with all of its attributes in com.serotonin.bacnet4j.obj.ObjectProperties?

[ilyass]

Hi,

Thanks for your help, i didn't do that

It works know

[ilyass]

Hi,

I have always the same problem with the subscriptionCOV service. I want to make it without cancellation. So from the spec we have :

13.14.1.5 Lifetime

This parameter, of type Unsigned, shall convey the desired lifetime of the subscription in seconds. A value of zero shall
indicate an indefinite lifetime, without automatic cancellation. A non-zero value shall indicate the number of seconds that
may elapse before the subscription shall be automatically cancelled. If both the 'Issue Confirmed Notifications' and 'Lifetime'
parameters are absent, then this shall indicate a cancellation request. If the 'Lifetime' parameter is present then the 'Issue
Confirmed Notifications' parameter shall be present.
So i put this

SubscribeCOVRequest service = new SubscribeCOVRequest(
					new UnsignedInteger(1), objectIdentifier,
					new Boolean(true), new UnsignedInteger(0));
try {
        localDevice.send(remoteDevice, service);
	log.info("subsciption of " + objectIdentifier.getObjectType()
						+ "-" + objectIdentifier.getInstanceNumber() + " done");
} catch (BACnetException e) {
	log.error("unable to send <SubscribeCOVRequest> for the Object "
		+ objectIdentifier.getObjectType()+  "-"+objectIdentifier.getInstanceNumber()+ "\t"+ e.getMessage());
}

I tested lifetime = null, but it doesn't work

thanks for help

[mlohbihler]

I tested lifetime = null, but it doesn't work

You mean the request fails? If so, can you provide details of the BACnet exception?

Or do you mean that the subscription still expires? This may be due to the equipment to which you are sending the request. Or maybe not.

[ilyass]

I mean that the notification doesn't work, but no exception is made.

when i send this subscription, i received just one time the notification.

[mlohbihler]

Still don't understand. If you received any notification at all, doesn't that mean the subscription worked, at least for some time?

[jeremie]

Hi,

I think I have an idea what Ilyass tries to mean :

when he uses COV on an object with a lifetime greater than 0, he receives correcty events when the PresentValue of the COVing object changes.

But when he tries with a lifetime equals to 0 (no timeout for COV subscription), he catchs only one time the COV event.

For information, in Mango, the point COVing mechanism is configure with a lifetime greather than 0 : you use COV for a certain time, and when this time is finished, you COV again. Have you got a reason to do this, instead of use a lifetime of 0?

[mlohbihler]

It works fine for me. But let's be sure we're talking about the same thing...

In my tests i used BACnet4J as subscriber and subscribee. The subscriber sent the following request:

            ObjectIdentifier oid = new ObjectIdentifier(ObjectType.binaryInput, 0);
            SubscribeCOVRequest req = new SubscribeCOVRequest(new UnsignedInteger(0), oid, new Boolean(true),
                    new UnsignedInteger(0));

... received regular COV notifications from the subscribee. (Specifically, the test code is SimpleSubscriptionClient and SlaveDeviceTest, both of which are now checked into the CVS.

Note that COV subscriptions are only supported by certain object types, as enumerated in the static code block in ObjectCovSubscription (notably excuding analog objects).

[jeremie]

Thank for your SimpleSubscriptionClient test file :)
Maybe you can add the unsubscribe code (because COV is done with an indefinite lifetime) :

localDevice.send(d, new SubscribeCOVRequest(new UnsignedInteger(0), oid, null, null));

[mlohbihler]

Good point. And i never answered your question...

For information, in Mango, the point COVing mechanism is configure with a lifetime greather than 0 : you use COV for a certain time, and when this time is finished, you COV again. Have you got a reason to do this, instead of use a lifetime of 0?

Infinite subscription lifetimes are convenient, but in practice they are problematic. Say the subscriber sends a 0 (infinite) lifetime. As far as it is concerned it will get COVs until it unsubscribes. But if the subscribee suffers a power failure it will likely lose the subscription, the COV notifications will stop, and the subscriber will never be the wiser.

Conversely, if the subscriber restarts unexpectedly, the subscribee will continue to send notifications that will never be received (worst case).

Using finite lease times and regular resubscriptions isn't a perfect solution to power failure (et al) situations, but it at least tends toward system stability.

[R-GiGgS84]

hi there, i am currently working on a way to retrieve information from a bacnet object if there are changes. Can anyone guide me on how this can be done or is there any sample for me to understand it?

Thanks in advance! :)