How does .NET detect network device?

[MaxXx]

Hello,

I have an Aerotech Soloist CP controller and the driver that comes with the controller uses .NET which is not supported in Labview RT so I'm trying to write one w/out using .NET.  The controller is currently connected via ethernet and to a router with its own IP. I want to know how does .NET make connection via ethernet?

The Connect.vi is the one that does the connection. In the block diagram, the network constructor uses the file Aerotech.Soloist.Labview.dll which I do not have the source code for so I dont know how it work but when I run the VI, it detects the connection and returns the correct "Mapped controller name".

After figuring out how it makes a connection, then I can pass commands in ASCII directly to the controller and make a VI that will run with Labview RT. However I'm not sure if I can use the VISA write function to pass ASCII commands via ethernet?

Thank you,

Max

Message Edited by Support on 07-21-2009 05:01 PM

[smercurio_fc]

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MaxXx wrote:

I want to know how does .NET make connection via ethernet?

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It probably uses the System.Net namespace.

All of the LabVIEW code is based on the .NET assembly that they wrote. In order for you to figure out how they make the connection you could run an ethernet sniffer like Wireshark to see what's transmitted when the "Connect" method is done. It could be anything. It could be something as simple as a TCP Open Connection, or it could be that followed by some communication. Do they have any documentation on how to communicate with the controller from something other than .NET?

[MaxXx]

Thank you for the reply.

I have tried to sniff the connection with wireshark earlier but it only give back the binary gibberish. I am new to .NET and not sure how it works entirely but it seems like the computer send the compiled commands to the controller and that's what wireshark picked up.

I have gone over the documents many times and unless I missed something, they are not very helpful. They're just the helpfiles and do not provide details on how the controller communicates with the computer. 

Max.

Message Edited by MaxXx on 06-22-2009 09:09 PM

[Link to help file removed by Moderator]

Message Edited by Support on 07-21-2009 05:02 PM

[smercurio_fc]

Your best bet is to contact the manufacturer and talk to them. They seem to have written a pretty extensive help file so they seem to be up on the support part of this. Based on a skimming of the Soloist.chm file it seems that the unit has an RS-232 Command Interface to allow you to send commands over serial, so you could simply use that.

[MaxXx]

I have tried talking to them for the past several weeks via phone and emails. It is frustrating because they are very unhelpful and ignore my emails. I can not use RS-232 because the requirement for the operation is less than 30ms which RS-232 has high latency.