Working with Objects and Object Types
-------------------------------------
Using objects to structure information models
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Assume a situation where we want to model a set of pumps and their runtime
state in an OPC UA information model. Of course, all pump representations
should follow the same basic structure, For example, we might have graphical
representation of pumps in a SCADA visualisation that shall be resuable for
all pumps.
Following the object-oriented programming paradigm, every pump is represented
by an object with the following layout:
.. graphviz::
digraph tree {
fixedsize=true;
node [width=2, height=0, shape=box, fillcolor="#E5E5E5", concentrate=true]
node_root [label=< ObjectNode
Pump >]
{ rank=same
point_1 [shape=point]
node_1 [label=< VariableNode
ManufacturerName >] }
node_root -> point_1 [arrowhead=none]
point_1 -> node_1 [label="hasComponent"]
{ rank=same
point_2 [shape=point]
node_2 [label=< VariableNode
ModelName >] }
point_1 -> point_2 [arrowhead=none]
point_2 -> node_2 [label="hasComponent"]
{ rank=same
point_4 [shape=point]
node_4 [label=< VariableNode
Status >] }
point_2 -> point_4 [arrowhead=none]
point_4 -> node_4 [label="hasComponent"]
{ rank=same
point_5 [shape=point]
node_5 [label=< VariableNode
MotorRPM >] }
point_4 -> point_5 [arrowhead=none]
point_5 -> node_5 [label="hasComponent"]
}
The following code manually defines a pump and its member variables. We omit
setting constraints on the variable values as this is not the focus of this
tutorial and was already covered.
.. code-block:: c
static void
manuallyDefinePump(UA_Server *server) {
UA_NodeId pumpId; /* get the nodeid assigned by the server */
UA_ObjectAttributes oAttr = UA_ObjectAttributes_default;
oAttr.displayName = UA_LOCALIZEDTEXT("en-US", "Pump (Manual)");
UA_Server_addObjectNode(server, UA_NODEID_NULL, UA_NS0ID(OBJECTSFOLDER),
UA_NS0ID(ORGANIZES), UA_QUALIFIEDNAME(1, "Pump (Manual)"),
UA_NS0ID(BASEOBJECTTYPE),
oAttr, NULL, &pumpId);
UA_VariableAttributes mnAttr = UA_VariableAttributes_default;
UA_String manufacturerName = UA_STRING("Pump King Ltd.");
UA_Variant_setScalar(&mnAttr.value, &manufacturerName, &UA_TYPES[UA_TYPES_STRING]);
mnAttr.displayName = UA_LOCALIZEDTEXT("en-US", "ManufacturerName");
UA_Server_addVariableNode(server, UA_NODEID_NULL, pumpId, UA_NS0ID(HASCOMPONENT),
UA_QUALIFIEDNAME(1, "ManufacturerName"),
UA_NS0ID(BASEDATAVARIABLETYPE), mnAttr, NULL, NULL);
UA_VariableAttributes modelAttr = UA_VariableAttributes_default;
UA_String modelName = UA_STRING("Mega Pump 3000");
UA_Variant_setScalar(&modelAttr.value, &modelName, &UA_TYPES[UA_TYPES_STRING]);
modelAttr.displayName = UA_LOCALIZEDTEXT("en-US", "ModelName");
UA_Server_addVariableNode(server, UA_NODEID_NULL, pumpId, UA_NS0ID(HASCOMPONENT),
UA_QUALIFIEDNAME(1, "ModelName"),
UA_NS0ID(BASEDATAVARIABLETYPE), modelAttr, NULL, NULL);
UA_VariableAttributes statusAttr = UA_VariableAttributes_default;
UA_Boolean status = true;
UA_Variant_setScalar(&statusAttr.value, &status, &UA_TYPES[UA_TYPES_BOOLEAN]);
statusAttr.displayName = UA_LOCALIZEDTEXT("en-US", "Status");
UA_Server_addVariableNode(server, UA_NODEID_NULL, pumpId, UA_NS0ID(HASCOMPONENT),
UA_QUALIFIEDNAME(1, "Status"), UA_NS0ID(BASEDATAVARIABLETYPE),
statusAttr, NULL, NULL);
UA_VariableAttributes rpmAttr = UA_VariableAttributes_default;
UA_Double rpm = 50.0;
UA_Variant_setScalar(&rpmAttr.value, &rpm, &UA_TYPES[UA_TYPES_DOUBLE]);
rpmAttr.displayName = UA_LOCALIZEDTEXT("en-US", "MotorRPM");
UA_Server_addVariableNode(server, UA_NODEID_NULL, pumpId, UA_NS0ID(HASCOMPONENT),
UA_QUALIFIEDNAME(1, "MotorRPMs"),
UA_NS0ID(BASEDATAVARIABLETYPE),
rpmAttr, NULL, NULL);
}
Object types, type hierarchies and instantiation
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Building up each object manually requires us to write a lot of code.
Furthermore, there is no way for clients to detect that an object represents
a pump. (We might use naming conventions or similar to detect pumps. But
that's not exactly a clean solution.) Furthermore, we might have more devices
than just pumps. And we require all devices to share some common structure.
The solution is to define ObjectTypes in a hierarchy with inheritance
relations.
.. graphviz::
digraph tree {
fixedsize=true;
node [width=2, height=0, shape=box, fillcolor="#E5E5E5", concentrate=true]
node_root [label=< ObjectTypeNode
Device >]
{ rank=same
point_1 [shape=point]
node_1 [label=< VariableNode
ManufacturerName
(mandatory) >] }
node_root -> point_1 [arrowhead=none]
point_1 -> node_1 [label="hasComponent"]
{ rank=same
point_2 [shape=point]
node_2 [label=< VariableNode
ModelName >] }
point_1 -> point_2 [arrowhead=none]
point_2 -> node_2 [label="hasComponent"]
{ rank=same
point_3 [shape=point]
node_3 [label=< ObjectTypeNode
Pump >] }
point_2 -> point_3 [arrowhead=none]
point_3 -> node_3 [label="hasSubtype"]
{ rank=same
point_4 [shape=point]
node_4 [label=< VariableNode
Status
(mandatory) >] }
node_3 -> point_4 [arrowhead=none]
point_4 -> node_4 [label="hasComponent"]
{ rank=same
point_5 [shape=point]
node_5 [label=< VariableNode
MotorRPM >] }
point_4 -> point_5 [arrowhead=none]
point_5 -> node_5 [label="hasComponent"]
}
Children that are marked mandatory are automatically instantiated together
with the parent object. This is indicated by a `hasModellingRule` reference
to an object that representes the `mandatory` modelling rule.
.. code-block:: c
/* predefined identifier for later use */
UA_NodeId pumpTypeId = {1, UA_NODEIDTYPE_NUMERIC, {1001}};
static void
defineObjectTypes(UA_Server *server) {
/* Define the object type for "Device" */
UA_NodeId deviceTypeId; /* get the nodeid assigned by the server */
UA_ObjectTypeAttributes dtAttr = UA_ObjectTypeAttributes_default;
dtAttr.displayName = UA_LOCALIZEDTEXT("en-US", "DeviceType");
UA_Server_addObjectTypeNode(server, UA_NODEID_NULL,
UA_NS0ID(BASEOBJECTTYPE), UA_NS0ID(HASSUBTYPE),
UA_QUALIFIEDNAME(1, "DeviceType"), dtAttr,
NULL, &deviceTypeId);
UA_VariableAttributes mnAttr = UA_VariableAttributes_default;
mnAttr.displayName = UA_LOCALIZEDTEXT("en-US", "ManufacturerName");
UA_NodeId manufacturerNameId;
UA_Server_addVariableNode(server, UA_NODEID_NULL, deviceTypeId,
UA_NS0ID(HASCOMPONENT),
UA_QUALIFIEDNAME(1, "ManufacturerName"),
UA_NS0ID(BASEDATAVARIABLETYPE),
mnAttr, NULL, &manufacturerNameId);
/* Make the manufacturer name mandatory */
UA_Server_addReference(server, manufacturerNameId, UA_NS0ID(HASMODELLINGRULE),
UA_NS0EXID(MODELLINGRULE_MANDATORY), true);
UA_VariableAttributes modelAttr = UA_VariableAttributes_default;
modelAttr.displayName = UA_LOCALIZEDTEXT("en-US", "ModelName");
UA_Server_addVariableNode(server, UA_NODEID_NULL, deviceTypeId,
UA_NS0ID(HASCOMPONENT),
UA_QUALIFIEDNAME(1, "ModelName"),
UA_NS0ID(BASEDATAVARIABLETYPE),
modelAttr, NULL, NULL);
/* Define the object type for "Pump" */
UA_ObjectTypeAttributes ptAttr = UA_ObjectTypeAttributes_default;
ptAttr.displayName = UA_LOCALIZEDTEXT("en-US", "PumpType");
UA_Server_addObjectTypeNode(server, pumpTypeId, deviceTypeId, UA_NS0ID(HASSUBTYPE),
UA_QUALIFIEDNAME(1, "PumpType"), ptAttr,
NULL, NULL);
UA_VariableAttributes statusAttr = UA_VariableAttributes_default;
statusAttr.displayName = UA_LOCALIZEDTEXT("en-US", "Status");
statusAttr.valueRank = UA_VALUERANK_SCALAR;
UA_NodeId statusId;
UA_Server_addVariableNode(server, UA_NODEID_NULL, pumpTypeId,
UA_NS0ID(HASCOMPONENT), UA_QUALIFIEDNAME(1, "Status"),
UA_NS0ID(BASEDATAVARIABLETYPE), statusAttr, NULL, &statusId);
/* Make the status variable mandatory */
UA_Server_addReference(server, statusId, UA_NS0ID(HASMODELLINGRULE),
UA_NS0EXID(MODELLINGRULE_MANDATORY), true);
UA_VariableAttributes rpmAttr = UA_VariableAttributes_default;
rpmAttr.displayName = UA_LOCALIZEDTEXT("en-US", "MotorRPM");
rpmAttr.valueRank = UA_VALUERANK_SCALAR;
UA_Server_addVariableNode(server, UA_NODEID_NULL, pumpTypeId,
UA_NS0ID(HASCOMPONENT), UA_QUALIFIEDNAME(1, "MotorRPMs"),
UA_NS0ID(BASEDATAVARIABLETYPE), rpmAttr, NULL, NULL);
}
Now we add the derived ObjectType for the pump that inherits from the device
object type. The resulting object contains all mandatory child variables.
These are simply copied over from the object type. The object has a reference
of type ``hasTypeDefinition`` to the object type, so that clients can detect
the type-instance relation at runtime.
.. code-block:: c
static void
addPumpObjectInstance(UA_Server *server, char *name) {
UA_ObjectAttributes oAttr = UA_ObjectAttributes_default;
oAttr.displayName = UA_LOCALIZEDTEXT("en-US", name);
UA_Server_addObjectNode(server, UA_NODEID_NULL,
UA_NS0ID(OBJECTSFOLDER), UA_NS0ID(ORGANIZES),
UA_QUALIFIEDNAME(1, name),
pumpTypeId, /* this refers to the object type
identifier */
oAttr, NULL, NULL);
}
Often we want to run a constructor function on a new object. This is
especially useful when an object is instantiated at runtime (with the
AddNodes service) and the integration with an underlying process cannot be
manually defined. In the following constructor example, we simply set the
pump status to on.
.. code-block:: c
static UA_StatusCode
pumpTypeConstructor(UA_Server *server,
const UA_NodeId *sessionId, void *sessionContext,
const UA_NodeId *typeId, void *typeContext,
const UA_NodeId *nodeId, void **nodeContext) {
UA_LOG_INFO(UA_Log_Stdout, UA_LOGCATEGORY_USERLAND, "New pump created");
/* Find the NodeId of the status child variable */
UA_RelativePathElement rpe;
UA_RelativePathElement_init(&rpe);
rpe.referenceTypeId = UA_NS0ID(HASCOMPONENT);
rpe.isInverse = false;
rpe.includeSubtypes = false;
rpe.targetName = UA_QUALIFIEDNAME(1, "Status");
UA_BrowsePath bp;
UA_BrowsePath_init(&bp);
bp.startingNode = *nodeId;
bp.relativePath.elementsSize = 1;
bp.relativePath.elements = &rpe;
UA_BrowsePathResult bpr =
UA_Server_translateBrowsePathToNodeIds(server, &bp);
if(bpr.statusCode != UA_STATUSCODE_GOOD ||
bpr.targetsSize < 1)
return bpr.statusCode;
/* Set the status value */
UA_Boolean status = true;
UA_Variant value;
UA_Variant_setScalar(&value, &status, &UA_TYPES[UA_TYPES_BOOLEAN]);
UA_Server_writeValue(server, bpr.targets[0].targetId.nodeId, value);
UA_BrowsePathResult_clear(&bpr);
/* At this point we could replace the node context .. */
return UA_STATUSCODE_GOOD;
}
static void
addPumpTypeConstructor(UA_Server *server) {
UA_NodeTypeLifecycle lifecycle;
lifecycle.constructor = pumpTypeConstructor;
lifecycle.destructor = NULL;
UA_Server_setNodeTypeLifecycle(server, pumpTypeId, lifecycle);
}
It follows the main server code, making use of the above definitions.
.. code-block:: c
int main(void) {
UA_Server *server = UA_Server_new();
manuallyDefinePump(server);
defineObjectTypes(server);
addPumpObjectInstance(server, "pump2");
addPumpObjectInstance(server, "pump3");
addPumpTypeConstructor(server);
addPumpObjectInstance(server, "pump4");
addPumpObjectInstance(server, "pump5");
UA_Server_runUntilInterrupt(server);
UA_Server_delete(server);
return 0;
}