Connect on app launch?

[patel4prez]

Hello all, 

Was just introduced to DroidScript this morning and had a quick question.

Is there any way to automatically have the app connect to an NXT Brick when it is launched?

I have a system in place right now (my blinds get raised and lowered using a bluetooth-connected NXT Brick) that uses Tasker to input taps and navigate my current app (consists of 3 buttons), but it takes a while and isn't the "right way" to do it.

Here is the code I have so far:

//Called when application is started.

function OnStart()

{

    //Create our screen layout.

    CreateLayout();

    //Create NXT controller object.

    nxt = app.CreateNxt();   

}

//Create the screen layout.

function CreateLayout()

{    

    //Create the layout (with repeating pattern background).

    lay = app.CreateLayout( "Linear", "VCenter,FillXY" );

    lay.SetBackground( "/Sys/Img/Tile.png", "repeat" );

    //Create 'Connect' button.

    btn = app.CreateButton( "Connect", 0.3,0.1, "Lego" );

    btn.SetMargins( 0,0,0,0.1 );

    btn.SetOnTouch( btn_OnTouch );  

    lay.AddChild( btn );

    //Create 'Blinds - Up' Button

    btnUp = app.CreateButton( "Up", 0.3, 0.1, "Lego" );    

    btnUp.SetOnTouch( btnUp_OnTouch );     

    lay.AddChild( btnUp );

    //Create 'Blinds - Down' Button

    btnDown = app.CreateButton( "Down", 0.3, 0.1, "Lego" );    

    btnDown.SetOnTouch( btnDown_OnTouch );     

    lay.AddChild( btnDown );

    //Add layout to the app.

    app.AddLayout( lay );

}

//Called when user presses connect.

function btn_OnTouch()

{        

    //Show list of NXT devices.

    nxt.ShowDevices();

}

//Called when 'Blinds - Up' button is pressed.

function btnUp_OnTouch( e )

{                         

    nxt.StartProgram( "Blinds - Up.rxe" );

}

//Called when 'Blinds - Down' button is pressed.

function btnDown_OnTouch( f )

{                           

    nxt.StartProgram( "Blinds - Down.rxe" );

}

Any help is greatly appreciated. 

Thank you! 

[Steve Garman]

While you are waiting for someone to come along who knows the Next brick, have you had a chance to look at the recently added nxt stuff on the wiki?

http://wiki.droidscript.me.uk/doku.php?id=built_in:nxt

[patel4prez]

Hey Steve,

I checked out the Wiki (looks to be the similar to the in-app documentation) and the only methods I see regarding connectivity are used to check to see if there is a brick connected. It doesn't allow (as far as I can tell) for any sort of connection initiation.

Thanks for the tip though!

[Dave Smart]

Hi Guys,

You can connect to the brick at startup like this:-

(Sorry these methods are not documented yet)

//Called when application is started.

function OnStart()

{

//Create our screen layout.

CreateLayout();

//Create NXT controller object.

nxt = app.CreateNxt();   

//Connect to NXT by name.

var name = "NXT_BOB";

app.ShowProgress( "Connecting to "+name+"..." );

        nxt.SetOnConnect( nxt_OnConnect );

        nxt.Connect( name );

}

//Handle successful brick connection.

function nxt_OnConnect( success, nxt )

{

    if( success ) nxt.Beep( 2000, 200 );

    else app.Alert( "Failed to connect!" );

    app.HideProgress();

}

[Steve Garman]

Dave, is this the same name that is returned by nxt.GetBtName() when you connect to the brick manually?
http://wiki.droidscript.me.uk/doku.php?id=built_in:nxt_getbtaddress

I expect app.SaveText and app.LoadText will come in handy here.
http://wiki.droidscript.me.uk/doku.php?id=built_in:save_text

[patel4prez]

Just came to say that this worked beautifully! 

I modified the code a little bit to run a program upon successful connection, and now when I open the app from Tasker, I can get it to run the program without any interaction!

Thank you!

If anybody's wondering, the code I used to complete this task is as follows:

//Called when application is started.

function OnStart()

{

    //Create NXT controller object.

    nxt = app.CreateNxt();   

    //Connect to NXT by name.

    var name = "Blinds";

    app.ShowProgress( "Connecting to "+name+"..." );

        nxt.SetOnConnected( runProgram );

        nxt.Connect( name );

//Function to run program

function runProgram()

[Dave Smart]

I would love to see a youtube video of your blinds in action :)

[madlyR]

Hi Dave,

first I have to say I love DroidScript! 

I try to update wiki for NXT last days and most of my work is just reverse engineering based on modified Introspector app and guesses.

Thanks for tip on callback nxt_OnConnected - I see there are two parameters. I updated SetOnConnect

http://wiki.droidscript.me.uk/doku.php?id=built_in:nxt_setonconnect

Probably SetOnConnected callback has nxt object parameter too. Yes, or no?

Please see my last Wiki updates, my English is horrible and it's better to check and correct my language errors and my guesses about some undocumented functions.

Radek 

[patel4prez]

I'll try and put something together this weekend :-)