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libnodave/doc/daveReadBytes.html
2015-03-16 10:19:07 +00:00

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<H1>daveReadBytes</H1>
Reads a sequence of bytes from PLC memory.
<pre>
int daveReadBytes(daveConnection * dc, int area, int DB, int start, int len, void * buffer);
</pre>
<H3>Parameters:</H3>
<li>dc: A pointer to a daveConnection structure representing an established connection.</li>
<li><a href=area.html>area</a>: A constant that specifies a memory area in the PLC.</li>
<li>DB: The number of a data block. Only meaningful if area is daveDB. Use 0 oterwise.</li>
<li>start: The address of the first byte in the block.</li>
<li>len: The number of bytes to read.</li>
<li>buffer: A pointer to some memory space where you want the result to be copied too.</li>
<H3>Result:</H3>
The function returns 0 on success. Nonzero return codes may be passed to daveStrerror() to
get a textual explanation of what happened. Generally, positive error codes represent errors
reported by the PLC, while negative ones represent errors detected by LIBNODAVE, e.g. no
response from the PLC.
<H3>Hints:</H3>
<H4>len:</H4>
Note that timer, counters and the analog input/output words of the 200 family are
allways words (2 bytes). To read n of them, you have to specify 2xn bytes as len.
<H4>buffer:</H4>
You may call daveReadBytes() without a buffer specifying NULL (C) or nil (Pascal). There is,
however, an internal buffer that is part of the <a href=daveConnection.html>daveConnection</a>
structure. This internal buffer allways holds the result from the last read operation.
<H4>Maximum length:</H4>
The maximum size of a block in S7-Communication is limited by the size of a message structure
called<a href=pdu.html>PDU</a>. Each call to daveReadBytes causes a the exchange of a request
and a response PDU. The result data must fit into the "payload" area of a response PDU. This
means a maximum block length is PDU size -18 bytes for read. A typical PDU size is 240 Byte,
limiting read calls to 222 byte result length. If you need more data, you need to use multiple
calls to daveReadBytes().
<H4>Efficiency:</H4>
Each call to daveReadBytes() causes a the exchange of a request
and a response PDU together with prefixes, ackknowledges and what else the transport layer
requires. Therefore you should try to read as much as possible in a single call. Example:<br>
<pre>
daveReadBytes(dc, daveDB, 5, 68, 14, appBuffer);
</pre>
reads DBD68 and DBD78 and everything in between and fills the range appBuffer+4 to appBuffer+9
with 6 unwanted bytes, but it is much faster than:
<pre>
daveReadBytes(dc, daveDB, 5, 68, 4, appBuffer);
daveReadBytes(dc, daveDB, 5, 78, 4, appBuffer+4);
</pre>