SW_DevMCP

Device Module "MCP"

Module Information

System

System	Comments
RPi	OK
PC Linux	OK
PC Windows	OK
Mac	OK

Config File Parameter

Parameter	Default	Type or range	Comment
devices	{}	dict	Dictionary of device-node-IDs (modules)
errorlog_path	error_log	string	Directory path for error log
errorlog_level	"INFO"	"NOTSET", "DEBUG", "INFO", "WARN", "ERROR", "CRITICAL"	verbosity of error log (see python manual)
wru_id	[none]	string	Software-WRU-ID
wru_replace_always	false	false / true	if true, always replace Hardware-WRU by Software-WRU
continue_with_no_printer	true	false / true	if true, ignore missing / faulty printer device; if false, abort connections if teleprinter to start up
power_off_delay	20	non-neg. int	time in seconds from end-of-conection until switching off TTY power
power_button_timeout	300	non-neg. int	time in seconds from switching on TTY power by means of button PT until switch off PWR
dial_timeout	2.0	'+‘ / float (0.0...55.0)	idle time after last dialled digit to start dial process; if ‚+‘, „plus-dialling“ selected, if ‚0‘, instant dialling is used (see Configuration File )
welcome_msg	true	false/true	if true, print the welcome msg (DateTime stamp) at connection start
none

Description

The "MCP" Module (= Main Control Program? ) builds the central control instance for all the other modules. All modules read and write from/to a shared buffer, and the main routine telex.py hands out the buffer contents to all enabled device modules in sequence. Each device module can/react on the contents of the buffer which may hold text or commands, and finally write its results back to the buffer for further recognition/processing by the other modules (and MCP).

MCP contains the central "heartbeat" of the system, it monitors the different states of piTelex, issues commands to the other modules depending on the actual state, reads result codes from the modules and updates the current state of the system.

Main status codes

Code	Name	Description
ZZ	Sleeping	StandBy, Teleprinter off, waiting for action
Z	Offline	Teleprinter may be on (depending on module)
WB	Dialing "WählBereit"	1. Ready to dial
A	ActiveInit	Connection established, printer start command sent
AA	ActiveReady	Connection established, printer ready

Issuing commands

Commands are identified by a preceeding <ESC>, therefore issuing <ESC>-A<Enter> e.g. in the screen module will switch the teleprinter on and will output someting like <MCP:TP1><piT:AA>.

These are messages from different modules. To the left of the colon is the abbreviated module identifier, to the right the output of the module. In the above example MCP reacts to our A command by giving the command to switch in the teleprinter; after execution of the 'printer on' command the RPiTTY module sends message AA (printer ready).

Hint: For debbuging purposes you can use most of these codes as commands (i.e. embedded in <ESC> and <Enter>) to force the system into a specific state. But keep in mind that this might lead to an uncertain overall behaviour, because normal state transition conditions are neglected and overridden. For more commands see Screen Module

Available Module Identifiers

Module	ID
txBase	???
Archive	Arc
CH340TTY	chT
ED1000SC	edS
Eliza	Eza
IRC	IRC
ITelexClient	iTc
ITelexSrv	iTs
Log	Log
MCP	MCP
News	Nws
REST	Rst
RPiCtrl	piC
RPiTTY	piT
Screen	Scn
ShellCmd	ShC
Terminal	Trm
Twitter	Twt
TwitterV2	TwtV2