User MCode Template Questions

[5ocworkshop]

The templates you recently added are great, but I haven't been able to get the user mcode example one to work. I was wondering if you could take a look and see if there is something obvious that is wrong. I copied and edited your code. It compiles fine within my tree.

I am calling the mcode from the MDI in IOSender with: M356 Q1 and I receive ok but nothing visible happens.

Is this the correct way to call it? I'm new to user mcodes.

I have temporarily added an entry in gcode.h that looks like this:
RGB_Inspection_Light = 356, //!< 356 - M356 // ** Collides with Plasma ** On = 1, Off = 2, RGB white LED inspection light in RGB plugin

I am not currently including the plasma module and I don't see the plasma codes defined in this file, but I did notice that $356 is referred to on the github summary page. Is this possibly the issue?

Here is the code section:

// check - check if M-code is handled here.
// parameters: mcode - M-code to check for (some are predefined in user_mcode_t in grbl/gcode.h), use a cast if not.
// returns:    mcode if handled, UserMCode_Ignore otherwise (UserMCode_Ignore is defined in grbl/gcode.h).
static user_mcode_t check (user_mcode_t mcode)
{
    return mcode == RGB_Inspection_Light 
                     ? mcode                                                            // Handled by us.
                     : (user_mcode.check ? user_mcode.check(mcode) : UserMCode_Ignore); // If another handler present then call it or return ignore.
}

// validate - validate parameters
// parameters: gc_block - pointer to parser_block_t struct (defined in grbl/gcode.h).
//             gc_block->words - holds a bitfield of parameter words available.
//             If float values are NAN (Not A Number) this means they are not available.
//             If integer values has all bits set to 1 this means they are not available.
// returns:    status_code_t enum (defined in grbl/gcode.h): Status_OK if validated ok, appropriate status from enum if not.

static status_code_t validate (parser_block_t *gc_block, parameter_words_t *deprecated)
{
    status_code_t state = Status_GcodeValueWordMissing;

    switch(gc_block->user_mcode) {

        case RGB_Inspection_Light:
            if(gc_block->words.p && !isnan(gc_block->values.p))             // Check if P parameter value is supplied.
                state = Status_BadNumberFormat;                             // Return error if so.

            if(gc_block->words.q && isnan(gc_block->values.q))              // Check if Q parameter value is supplied.
                state = Status_BadNumberFormat;                             // Return error if not.

            if(state != Status_BadNumberFormat && gc_block->words.q) {      // Are required parameters provided?
                if(gc_block->values.q > 0.0f && gc_block->values.q <= 5.0f) // Yes, is Q parameter value in range (1-5)?
                    state = Status_OK;                                      // Yes - return ok status.
                else
                    state = Status_GcodeValueOutOfRange;                    // No - return error status.
                if(gc_block->words.q)                                       // If P parameter is present set
                    gc_block->values.p = 1.0f;                              // value to 1 for execution.
                gc_block->words.p = gc_block->words.q = Off;                // Claim parameters.
                gc_block->user_mcode_sync = true;                           // Optional: execute command synchronized
            }
            break;

        default:
            state = Status_Unhandled;
            break;
    }

    // If not handled by us and another handler present then call it.
    return state == Status_Unhandled && user_mcode.validate ? user_mcode.validate(gc_block, deprecated) : state;
}

// execute - execute M-code
// parameters: state - sys.state (bitmap, defined in system.h)
//             gc_block - pointer to parser_block_t struct (defined in grbl/gcode.h).
// returns:    -
static void execute (sys_state_t state, parser_block_t *gc_block) {

    bool handled = true;

    switch(gc_block->user_mcode) {

        case RGB_Inspection_Light:
            // do something: Q parameter value can be found in gc_block->values.q.
            //               P parameter has its value in gc_block->values.p set to 1 if present, NAN if not.
            if (gc_block->values.q == 1) {
                rgb_set_state(RGB_WHITE);
            }
            else {
                if (gc_block->values.q == 2)
                   rgb_set_state(RGB_OFF);
            }
            break;

        default:
            handled = false;
            break;
    }


    if(!handled && user_mcode.execute)          // If not handled by us and another handler present
        user_mcode.execute(state, gc_block);    // then call it.
}

And I have the relevant sections in my init function:

`void my_plugin_init() // Init function called from drivers_init()
{
    if(hal.port.num_digital_out >= 3) {

        hal.port.num_digital_out -= 3;  // Remove the our outputs from the list of available outputs
        base_port = hal.port.num_digital_out;

        if(hal.port.set_pin_description) {  // Viewable from $PINS command in MDI
            uint32_t idx = 0;
            do {
                hal.port.set_pin_description(true, true, base_port + idx, rgb[idx]);
                if (idx == 0) { red_port = idx; } else
                if (idx == 1) { blue_port = idx; } else
                if (idx == 2) { green_port = idx; }
                idx++;                
            } while(idx <= 2);
        }
        startMS = hal.get_elapsed_ticks();

        // Save away current HAL pointers so that we can use them to keep
        // any chain of M-code handlers intact.
        memcpy(&user_mcode, &hal.user_mcode, sizeof(user_mcode_ptrs_t));

        // Redirect HAL pointers to our code.
        hal.user_mcode.check = check;
        hal.user_mcode.validate = validate;
        hal.user_mcode.execute = execute;
       
        driver_reset = hal.driver_reset;                // Subscribe to driver reset event
        hal.driver_reset = driverReset;

        on_report_options = grbl.on_report_options;     // Subscribe to report options event
        grbl.on_report_options = onReportOptions;

        on_state_change = grbl.on_state_change;         // Subscribe to the state changed event by saving away the original
        grbl.on_state_change = onStateChanged;          // function pointer and adding ours to the chain.

        on_realtime_report = grbl.on_realtime_report;   // Subscribe to realtime report events AKA ? reports
        grbl.on_realtime_report = onRealtimeReport;     

        on_program_completed = grbl.on_program_completed; // Subscribe to on program completed events (lightshow on complete?)
        grbl.on_program_completed = onProgramCompleted;   // Not using this yet, will add back if needed

        on_execute_realtime = grbl.on_execute_realtime;     // Subscribe to the realtime execution event
        grbl.on_execute_realtime = realtimeIndicators;      // Spindle monitoring, flashing LEDs etc live here

    } else
        protocol_enqueue_rt_command(warning_msg);
}`
 

[5ocworkshop]

It's after midnight here and I posted my message and shut things down and left the shop. As I was about to turn in for the night I thought "I wonder if I'm blocking the light by accident". So I stuck a delay(2000) in after the rgb_set_state(RGB_WHITE) call and sure enough the light popped on.

I'll improve my state handling in the morning, so you can disregard my request.

Before I forget though, I did have to change something in your code to get it to compile. I changed line 86 in your mcode example from:

return state == Status_Unhandled && user_mcode.validate ? user_mcode.validate(gc_block, parameter_words) : state;

to

return state == Status_Unhandled && user_mcode.validate ? user_mcode.validate(gc_block, deprecated) : state;

It was a guess on my part, please advise if this is a valid change.

Thanks.

[terjeio]

So I stuck a delay(2000) in

If you want your plugin to be generic (usable by all drivers having enough ioports) use
hal.delay_ms(2000, NULL);
instead.

It was a guess on my part, please advise if this is a valid change.

It is valid, I'll fix the template.

[5ocworkshop]

If you want your plugin to be generic (usable by all drivers having enough ioports) use
hal.delay_ms(2000, NULL);
instead.

Yes, I would like it to be usable by all drivers.

I only threw the delay in temporarily as a debug method since I knew it would block, but is that hal call a non-blocking way to generate a delay? That would be very helpful.

[5ocworkshop]

Also, I noticed the "plugins" link in the last sentence of the readme summary on the Templates repo is a broken link.

"The HAL supports a wide range of extension possibilities, this without touching the core grbl codebase. Some examples can be found in the plugins folder."

[5ocworkshop]

I was just looking through the codes at Marlin and this one caught my eye (amusingly, only 1 off from the code I chose). Is it your preference to adopt codes already in use at Marlin, in applicable? This one is a reasonable approximation of the inspection light function I am adding: https://marlinfw.org/docs/gcode/M355.html

[terjeio]

First stop for determining a new M-code is LinuxCNC then Marlin. If no good match is found I try to avoid Marlin codes that has a fair chance of beeing relevant for grblHAL.

[terjeio]

but is that hal call a non-blocking way to generate a delay

Yes, if you supply a callback function. Note that currently only one callback can be active at any time - I plan to change this.