Basic Python programming in Interstacks

Please refer to the “Make a software block in My Blocks” document before reading this document. In addition, there are other support documents that cover advanced topics.

Interstacks software blocks are made using the Python scripting language. Python is very powerful and yet easy to learn. We will make no attempt here to be a Python programming manual. There are many online resources that serve that purpose. In this document, we will show some basic Python scripting for Interstacks with emphasis on classes and usage that are unique to Interstacks. We also include a brief survey of Python, included as more of a quick reference.

Every Interstacks block has input terminals that receive messages and output terminals that send messages. When you make a new software block, you can add multiple Input Handlers for input terminals, multiple output terminals, a single Startup Handler, and an Interval Handler. The Startup Handler runs once, before any other handlers, when the block receives its first message.

The message received by an input terminal’s message handler is in the variable “message”.

Send Message
You send a message out of an output terminal by using I.sendmessage.
For example: I.sendmessage(2, ‘hello world’) sends the message ‘hello world’ out of terminal 2.
I.sendmessage(4, mylist[3] ) sends the fourth entry of the list “mylist” out of terminal 4.

I.debug
Using I.debug, will display its arguments on the console trace. This is useful for testing your software block.
For example: I.debug(“Put this on the console trace”, mylist[3] )

Get Next Message
If you need to receive an input message from an input terminal that is different from the input handler you are scripting, you can use the I.getnextmessage function.
I.getnextmessage returns a tuple with (terminal, value)
Example:

    getnextval = I.getnextmessage((4,), wait=1) # returns tuple with (terminal,value)
    myval = getnextval[1] # we just want the value

The above example gets the value received by input terminal 4. It will wait until it receives that message. Alternatively, you can provide a timeout value that will cause the function to return if that time is exceeded without receiving a message.
Example:

    getnextval = I.getnextmessage((4,), wait=1, timeout = 0.5) # returns tuple with (terminal,value)
    myval = getnextval[1] # we just want the value

In the above example, the timeout value is in seconds. I.getnextmessage is often used to provide a transactional, or synchronizing mechanism to a data flow.

Base – Stack Ready
Sometimes a message flow needs to be kick started when the stack is powered up. There is an output terminal on the Base hardware block called “Stack Ready”. It sends a message one time, as soon as the stack is powered up and running.

Indentation Syntax
Python does not require the type (e.g. integer, character, string, list) of a variable to be declared. It also has minimal syntax requirements. Its primary one is that control blocks are defined by white space i.e. indentation.

If – Else If – Else
Example:

# This is a Python message handler
#

x = message
if x == '1':
    I.sendmessage(2,’hello world')

Example:

# This is a Python message handler
# Lights Control Block
# Input Color

x = message
I.debug('gk test print', x) # FOR TEST ONLY. print to console trace

if x == '6':
  I.sendmessage(2, 'rrrrrrrrrrrr')
elif x == '2':
  I.sendmessage(2, 'gggggggggggg')
elif x == '3':
  I.sendmessage(2, 'bbbbbbbbbbbb')
elif x == '4':
  I.sendmessage(2,'cccccccccccc')

In the above examples, the input message is assigned to the variable “x”. “x” is then compared to various values in sequence.
if x is equal to the character ‘6’ then send the message out of terminal 2, else if x is equal to the character ‘2’ then send a different message out of terminal 2.

Other comparison operators include:
!= not equal < less than > greater than.
Boolean operations include or, and, not.
For example:

if foo != 7 and bar < 10:
  I.sendmessage(4, ‘All is well’)

Loops
while loops are a general looping tool.

     while True:
          reply = getinput('enter')
          if reply == 'stop' : break
          I.debug(‘send to console trace’, reply)
     else:
          I.sendmessage(3, 42)

break jumps out of closest enclosing loop
continue jumps to the top of the closest enclosing loop

Global Variables and Functions
Variables that you want to be shared across handlers within a software block are called global variables. They are typically declared and initialized in the startup handler by saying:

G.foo = 0 or G.foo = “hello world” or G.foo = [1,2,3] The uppercase “G” followed by the “.” then the name is required. They can then be referenced in any handler by just using G.foo

To declare functions that you want to use across handlers within a software block, do the following in the startup handler:

@gdef
def myfunc() :
        x = 7
        I.sendmessage(4, ‘Good job’)

Then in any handler, you can use G.myfunc()

Note: the scope of the globals is within the software block only, not across all software blocks. If you want to share information across software blocks, send messages between them. If you want to share functions across software blocks, you must create a library and then add it to every software block that wants to use the functions.

Lists
Lists are ordered collections of other objects.
Examples: L = [1, 2, 3] L = [1, [2, ‘three’], 4] L = [123, ‘spam’, 1.23 ] L = [ ] len(L) returns length
L + [4 , 5, 6] concatenation. doesn’t change original list.
L.append(‘NI’) add object at end of list.
L.pop(2) or del L[2] deletes item.
L.insert L.remove L.sort() L.reverse()

 valueread = [ UUID(‘~110044559988334422’),  [‘value1’, 7], [‘value2’, 8] ]
 theUUID = valueread[0]
 firstName = valueread[1][0]
 firstValue = valueread[1][1]

Strings
s = ‘spam’
len(s) returns length
s[0] s[1] s[-1] would be m. s[1:3] is pa
s + ‘xyz’ concatenates. s *4 repeats 4 times into 4x bigger string.
s.find(‘pa’) returns offset.
s.replace(‘pa’, ‘xyz’) returns replace result, doesn’t change s.
line = ‘aaa,bob,ccc,ddd’
line.split(‘,’) split on delimiter and return list of strings. […..] \n \t ord(‘\n’) returns 10.
Strings are immutable, so can’t do s[0] = ‘z’. need to do s = ‘z’ + s[1:]

Refer to the support document “More Python programming in Interstacks” for additional information.

Refer to documentation on many other topics at interstacks.com/knowledge-base.
Please email info@interstacks.com with any questions.