C to python conversion

[Michele Petrazzo]

Hi all,
I'm trying to translate a simple C code into a python + ctypes (where
need), but I have some problems on char conversion. The code have
to work on Linux and talk with the serial port. I think that the problem
is that I don't translate correctly the strings.

C code:
#define START 0x33
#define RETURN_START 0x22
#define ADDR 0x01
#define WRITE_CMD 0x03
#define ALL_CMD 0xFF
....
char buf[10];
char buf_ret[10];

buf[0]=0;
buf[0]=START;
buf[1]=ADDR;
buf[2]=WRITE_CMD;

write(_fd, buf, 6);
read(_fd,buf_ret,6);

It works

python:
START = 0x33
RETURN_START = 0x22
ADDR = 0x01
WRITE_CMD = 0x03
ALL_CMD = 0xFF

lib = C.CDLL('libc.so.6')

items = [START, ADDR, WRITE_CMD]
buf = C.c_char * 10
buffer_rec = buf()
buffer_send = buf(*items)

(Here I receive: TypeError: one character string expected)
If I do:
chr(int()) of every value, it work, but:

lib.write(fd, buffer_send, 6)
lib.read(fd, buffer_rec, 6)

I stay there and block the program execution, until a CTRL+C

What can I do?

Thanks,
Michele

[Paul McGuire]

On Apr 12, 5:58*am, Michele Petrazzo <[e-mail]>
wrote:

Hi all,
I'm trying to translate a simple C code into a python + ctypes (where
need), but I have some problems on char conversion. The code have
to work on Linux and talk with the serial port. I think that the problem
is that I don't translate correctly the strings.

C code:
#define START 0x33
#define RETURN_START 0x22
#define ADDR 0x01
#define WRITE_CMD 0x03
#define ALL_CMD 0xFF
...
char buf[10];
char buf_ret[10];

buf[0]=0;
buf[0]=START;
buf[1]=ADDR;
buf[2]=WRITE_CMD;

write(_fd, buf, 6);
read(_fd,buf_ret,6);

It works

python:
START = 0x33
RETURN_START = 0x22
ADDR = 0x01
WRITE_CMD = 0x03
ALL_CMD = 0xFF

lib = C.CDLL('libc.so.6')

items = [START, ADDR, WRITE_CMD]
buf = C.c_char * 10
buffer_rec = buf()
buffer_send = buf(*items)

(Here I receive: TypeError: one character string expected)
If I do:
chr(int()) of every value, it work, but:

lib.write(fd, buffer_send, 6)
lib.read(fd, buffer_rec, 6)

I stay there and block the program execution, until a CTRL+C

What can I do?

Thanks,
Michele

Here are some differences between the C and Python programs:
- the C program uses a separate buffer for reading and writing - the
Python program uses buf for both
- the C program *may* have null-filled the output buffer, I don't know
what the Python buffer contains after the first 3 characters
- in the Python program, items has only 3 characters to write; the C
program has a buffer of 10 characters

Here are some things to try in the Python program:

items = [START, ADDR, WRITE_CMD] + [0]*7

inbuf = C.c_char * 10
outbuf = C.c_char * 10
buffer_rec = inbuf()
buffer_send = outbuf(*items)

-- Paul

[Gabriel Genellina]

En Sat, 12 Apr 2008 07:58:47 -0300, Michele Petrazzo
<mi**************@TOGLIunipex.itescribió:

Hi all,
I'm trying to translate a simple C code into a python + ctypes (where
need), but I have some problems on char conversion. The code have
to work on Linux and talk with the serial port. I think that the problem
is that I don't translate correctly the strings.

C code:
#define START 0x33
#define RETURN_START 0x22
#define ADDR 0x01
#define WRITE_CMD 0x03
#define ALL_CMD 0xFF
...
char buf[10];
char buf_ret[10];

buf[0]=0;
buf[0]=START;
buf[1]=ADDR;
buf[2]=WRITE_CMD;

write(_fd, buf, 6);
read(_fd,buf_ret,6);

You don't even need ctypes. In C, `char` is a small integer: 'A' and the
number 65 are interchangeable. In Python, there are no chars but strings
of length 1, which are not the same thing as their ordinal integer.
The easiest way is to define those constants as strings instead:

START = chr(0x33)
RETURN_START = chr(0x22)
ADDR = chr(0x01)
WRITE_CMD = chr(0x03)
ALL_CMD = chr(0xFF)
NUL = chr(0)

buf = START + ADDR + WRITE_CMD + NUL + NUL + NUL
# I assume the buffer was initialized to NULs, because only 3 bytes
# are filled but 6 bytes are written.
os.write(_fd, buf)
buf_ret = os.read(_fd, 6)

--
Gabriel Genellina

[Gabriel Genellina]

En Sat, 12 Apr 2008 07:58:47 -0300, Michele Petrazzo
<mi**************@TOGLIunipex.itescribió:

Hi all,
I'm trying to translate a simple C code into a python + ctypes (where
need), but I have some problems on char conversion. The code have
to work on Linux and talk with the serial port. I think that the problem
is that I don't translate correctly the strings.

C code:
#define START 0x33
#define RETURN_START 0x22
#define ADDR 0x01
#define WRITE_CMD 0x03
#define ALL_CMD 0xFF
...
char buf[10];
char buf_ret[10];

buf[0]=0;
buf[0]=START;
buf[1]=ADDR;
buf[2]=WRITE_CMD;

write(_fd, buf, 6);
read(_fd,buf_ret,6);

You don't even need ctypes. In C, `char` is a small integer: 'A' and the
number 65 are interchangeable. In Python, there are no chars but strings
of length 1, which are not the same thing as their ordinal integer.
The easiest way is to define those constants as strings instead:

START = chr(0x33)
RETURN_START = chr(0x22)
ADDR = chr(0x01)
WRITE_CMD = chr(0x03)
ALL_CMD = chr(0xFF)
NUL = chr(0)

buf = START + ADDR + WRITE_CMD + NUL + NUL + NUL
# I assume the buffer was initialized to NULs, because only 3 bytes
# are filled but 6 bytes are written.
os.write(_fd, buf)
buf_ret = os.read(_fd, 6)

--
Gabriel Genellina

[Ivan Illarionov]

On Apr 13, 7:58 am, "Gabriel Genellina" <[e-mail]>
wrote:

En Sat, 12 Apr 2008 07:58:47 -0300, Michele Petrazzo
<[e-mail]ó:

Hi all,
I'm trying to translate a simple C code into a python + ctypes (where
need), but I have some problems on char conversion. The code have
to work on Linux and talk with the serial port. I think that the problem
is that I don't translate correctly the strings.

C code:
#define START 0x33
#define RETURN_START 0x22
#define ADDR 0x01
#define WRITE_CMD 0x03
#define ALL_CMD 0xFF
...
char buf[10];
char buf_ret[10];

buf[0]=0;
buf[0]=START;
buf[1]=ADDR;
buf[2]=WRITE_CMD;

write(_fd, buf, 6);
read(_fd,buf_ret,6);

You don't even need ctypes. In C, `char` is a small integer: 'A' and the
number 65 are interchangeable. In Python, there are no chars but strings
of length 1, which are not the same thing as their ordinal integer.
The easiest way is to define those constants as strings instead:

START = chr(0x33)
RETURN_START = chr(0x22)
ADDR = chr(0x01)
WRITE_CMD = chr(0x03)
ALL_CMD = chr(0xFF)
NUL = chr(0)

buf = START + ADDR + WRITE_CMD + NUL + NUL + NUL
# I assume the buffer was initialized to NULs, because only 3 bytes
# are filled but 6 bytes are written.
os.write(_fd, buf)
buf_ret = os.read(_fd, 6)

--
Gabriel Genellina

The easiest way is to use struct:

START = 0x33
RETURN_START = 0x22
ADDR = 0x01
WRITE_CMD = 0x03
ALL_CMD = 0xFF

buf = struct.pack('3b3x', START, ADDR, WRITE_CMD)
os.write(_fd, buf)
buf_ret = os.read(_fd, 6)

And, definitely, no need for ctypes here.

--
Ivan Illarionov