Using OLA with Xcode

You can use OLA to implement your application in Objective-C++, a bridge between Objective-C and C++. This page explains how to integrate OLA client into your program. The content of this page is based on OLA 0.6.0 Universal Mac Binaries

What you'll need

• Xcode
• OLA 0.6.0 Universal Mac Binaries installed

Configure your project

1. Select menu: "Project" -> "Edit Project Settings". All settings below are referred in a "Build" tab
2. Set "Architectures" to 32-bit Universal
3. Set "Header Search Paths" to

/usr/local/include

Add dylib

1. In your project tree, right-click on a group that contain frameworks (e.g. "External Frameworks and Libraries", "Fromeworks/Linked Frameworks"), select "Add" -> "Existing Frameworks"
2. Select following frameworks:
   • libprotobuf.dylib
   • libola.dylib
   • libolacommon.dylib

Example code

The following code sends value 255 to channel 0 in universe 0. First, it creates a client from a SimpleClient object. Then, it creates a DMX data array and pack the array to a buffer. In the end, it sends the buffer to a server.

#import <Foundation/Foundation.h>
#include <errno.h>
#import <ola/DmxBuffer.h>
#import <ola/SimpleClient.h>

// define type for DMX message
typedef unsigned char dmx_t ;

// maximum number of channels
int MAXCHANNELS=512;

int main (int argc, const char * argv[]) {
    NSAutoreleasePool * pool = [[NSAutoreleasePool alloc] init];

    // get a client
	ola::SimpleClient simpleClient;
	if (!simpleClient.Setup()) {
		NSLog(@"Client setup failed %s", strerror(errno));
		return -1;
	}
	
	ola::OlaClient *client = simpleClient.GetClient();
	
	
	// prepare data
	int channel = 0;
	dmx_t *dmx = (dmx_t *)calloc(MAXCHANNELS + 10, sizeof(dmx_t));
	dmx[channel] = 255;
	ola::DmxBuffer buffer(dmx, MAXCHANNELS);

	
	// send DMX message
	int universe = 0;
	if (!client->SendDmx(universe, buffer)) {
		NSLog(@"Sending DMX failed %s", strerror(errno));
	}
	
    [pool drain];
    return 0;
}

Notice that DMX API is changed since the last documented client API. You can find more information by browsing the source file of DMX example. For me, the src/ola-client.cpp is quite useful.

Here is another example that create OlaServer and communicate with a pipe socket.

#import <Foundation/Foundation.h>
#include <errno.h>
#import <ola/DmxBuffer.h>
#import <ola/OlaClient.h>
#import <ola/network/SelectServer.h>
#import <ola/network/Socket.h>

using ola::network::PipeSocket;

// define type for DMX message
typedef unsigned char dmx_t ;

// maximum number of channels
int MAXCHANNELS=512;

int main (int argc, const char * argv[]) {
    NSAutoreleasePool * pool = [[NSAutoreleasePool alloc] init];

	// create a server 
	ola::network::SelectServer server;
	
	// create a select server 
	ola::network::SelectServer server;
	
	// create pipe socket
	PipeSocket *socket = new PipeSocket();
	if (!socket->Init())
	{
		NSLog(@"Cannot create pipe socket");
		return -1;
	}
	
	// add socket to select server
	server.AddSocket(socket, true);
	
	// create server daemon
       // *** see: olad/Olad.cpp for more detail ***

    // get a client
	ola::OlaClient client(socket);
	if (!client.Setup()) {
		NSLog(@"Client setup failed %s", strerror(errno));
		return -1;
	}
	
	// prepare data
	int channel = 0;
	dmx_t *dmx = (dmx_t *)calloc(MAXCHANNELS + 10, sizeof(dmx_t));
	dmx[channel] = 255;
	ola::DmxBuffer buffer(dmx, MAXCHANNELS);

	
	// send DMX message
	int universe = 0;
	if (!client.SendDmx(universe, buffer)) {
		NSLog(@"Sending DMX failed %s", strerror(errno));
	}
	
	// cleanup
	free(dmx);
	
    [pool drain];
    return 0;
}