Component: Network Communications (Comms: Networking)

Author	Matrix TSL
Version	1.5
Category	Comms: Networking

Network Communications component

A component designed to simplify the process of TCP/IP communications. Compatible with most of the Flowcode supported TCP/IP and WIFI components. A useful building block for creating components such as IoT and Modbus TCP.

Component Pack

FREE

Detailed description

No detailed description exists yet for this component

Examples

Here are some examples showing the Network Communications component in action.

By itself the component provides a generic TCP/IP layer to drive the simulation runtime.

Here is a simple example showing the component used by itself to request data from a remote server on the internet.

Example Network Comms Client

Library Components

Components such as Webserver (GENERIC), MQTT and Modbus TCP can connect to and control the network comms layer.

Here is a simple example showing the component used with the Webserver (GENERIC) component.

Example Network Comms Web Server

Embedded Components

The Network Communications component can also be connected to embedded TCP/IP and WIFI style modules allowing for the abstraction to work with specific networking hardware modules.

Here is the current status of the Network Communications component with the various embedded modules.

Embedded Component	Other Variants of Component	Support Status
TCP/IP (Raspberry Pi)	N/A	Fully Supported
WLAN (ESP8266)	WLAN (ESP-12S), WIFI (BL0136), WIFI (ESP8266)	Fully Supported
TCP/IP (W5500)	N/A	Fully Supported
ENC28J60	N/A	On Hold
TCP/IP (NM7010A)	TCP/IP (EB023v1)	On Hold
TCP/IP (W5100)	TCP/IP (EB023v2), TCP/IP (WIZ810MJ)	On Hold
WLAN (WIZ610WI)	WIFI (EB069)	On Hold

We are working through and adding support as and when we get chance so if you have a module that isn't listed or would like to try and prioritise a specific module then you can let us know via the user forums.

Downloadable macro reference

	Connect
Connects to an IP address as a client on the specified port. Some TCP/IP modules (RPI and ESP8266) will accept a URL instead of an IP address. Returns: 0=Fail, 1=OK
- STRING	Address
IP address as a string e.g. "192.168.1.1" or URL on some TCP/IP modules
- UINT	Port
Port number to connect to.
- BOOL	Return

	Receive
Attempts to receive up to a specified number of bytes from the active connection. Returns the number of bytes received.
- STRING	Data
Data Array to store the data into.
- UINT	Count
Maximum number of bytes to read
- UINT	Timeout
Maximum time to wait in mS (approx)
- UINT	Return

	Send
Sends the specified number of bytes via the active connection. Returns the number of bytes sent, 0=Fail.
- STRING	Data
Array containing the data to send
- UINT	Count
Number of bytes to send from the data array
- UINT	Return

	Listen
Bind the socket to a port on the local host and set to listen mode. First Open a Socket on the local host Returns: 0=Fail, 1=OK
- UINT	Port
Port number to listen on.
- BOOL	Return

	SocketOpen
Attempts to create a socket on the local device. This must be succesful to allow TCP/IP communications with a remote destination. Returns: 0=Fail / 1=OK
- BOOL	Return

	SocketClose
Closes the current socket connection
- VOID	Return

	AcceptOpen
Required for systems where there can be multiple incoming threads Returns 1 if there is incoming comms requiring a new thread, else returns 0
- BYTE	Return

	AcceptClose
Goes with the AcceptOpen function to close the new thread handle.
- VOID	Return

	Initialise
Initialises the network communications component.
- VOID	Return

Property reference

	Properties
	TCP/IP Component
Property to point to the TCP/IP or WIFI component you want to use. If unconnected then default to simulated TCP/IP network communications using the PC network adapter.
	TCP IP Channel
Allows for several parallel TCP/IP communications channels to be active at once by selecting unique TCP IP channels for each Network Comms component. Default 0.
	Status
	Simulation
	Simulation Control
Allows the user to decide what happens when simulating. Simulation DLL forces all simulated TCP/IP comms to go directly via the simulation DLL bypassing any additional components. Component simulation forces the attached component to provide the simulation and maybe other aspects such as SPI/I2C communications.
	Network Interface
Some computers may have several network interfaces such as ethernet ports and wifi access. Select the correct network interface for the network you wish to connect to. Use the IP address to confirm you are connected to the right network.
	IP Address
IP Address of the selected network interface.