2012-03-29 Manual Q-8V100 and S-25A30 Rev. 0.1
preliminary
15
Available Camera Link serial software enhancements in the form of Dynamic Link Library
files will greatly simplify the setup of a communication channel.
Both camera manufacturers and frame grabber vendors have issued these DLL files which
will provide standard C, API and native Visual Basic support, so that applications written in C
or Visual Basic can communicate serially with Camera Link cameras.
5.2.1. Overview
The user application calls into the generic clserial.dll, which dynamically loads the.dll file(s)
specific to the frame grabber(s) referred to by the application. It then routes all calls to that
.dll file. The following diagram illustrates this sequence:
Features Provided by clserial.dll
Simultaneous, multi-port (including cross vendor) support
Support for binary or text based data transfers
Common API across vendors
Common error codes across vendors
Common error text across vendors
Strict, well defined behavior of all functions in specification
Openness to vendor specific error codes and text
Ability to enumerate ports on sytem
Inquireable/adjustable baud rate for ports
Win 32 support (open source for port to other platforms)
C/C++ support through import library
VisualBasic support through type library
Backwards compatibility with recommended specification of October 2000
Standard default communication settings for serial port
5.2.2. Mechanics of clserial.dll
When clserial.dll loads,
it searches the operating system’s system directory (for example,
C:\windows\system or c:\winnt\system) for all files that use the naming convention
clserxxx.dll (xxx is uniquely assigned to AIA member companies). Clserial.dll then
dynamically loads those .dll files and queries each one for its manufacturer name and port
names. This action produces a list of all possible ports.
