Echelon FTXL - Manual (Page 68)

56 Using the LonTalk Interface Developer Utility
Running the LonTalk Interface Developer
You use the LonTalk Interface Developer utility to create the application
framework files that are required for your FTXL application. The LonTalk
Interface Developer utility also generates the device interface files (*.xif and
*.xfb) that can be used by network management tools to design a network that
uses your device.
To create the device interface data and device interface files for your device,
perform the following tasks:
1. Create a model file as described in Chapter 3, Creating a Model File , on
page 23.
2. Start the LonTalk Interface Developer utility: from the Windows Start
menu, select Programs → Echelon FTXL Developer’s Kit → LonTalk
Interface Developer.
3. In the LonTalk Interface Developer utility, specify the program ID, the
model file for the device, and other preferences for the utility. The utility
uses this information to generate a number of files that your application
uses. See Using the LonTalk Interface Developer Files on page 61.
4. Add the FtxlDev.h ANSI C header file to your FTXL application with an
include statement:
#include "FtxlDev.h"
The LonTalk Interface Developer utility creates the application framework files
and copies other necessary files (such as the FTXL LonTalk API files and FTXL
LonTalk protocol stack library, libFtxl100.a) to your project directory.
In general, you should limit changes to the LonTalk Interface Developer utility-
generated files. Any changes that you make will be overwritten the next time
you run the utility. However, the LonTalk Interface Developer utility does not
overwrite or modify the FTXL LonTalk API files.
After you have created the LonTalk Interface Developer utility-generated files,
you need to modify and add code to your application, using the FTXL LonTalk
API, to implement desired L
ON W ORKS functionality into your FXTL application.
See Chapter 5, Developing an FTXL Application , on page 73, for information
about how to use the FXTL LonTalk API calls to implement L ON W ORKS tasks.
Specifying the Project File
From the Welcome to LonTalk Interface Developer page of the utility, you can
enter the name and location of a new or existing FTXL project file (.lidprj
extension). The LonTalk Interface Developer utility uses this project file to
maintain your preferences for this project. The base name of the project file is
also used as the base name for the device interface files that the utility generates.
Recommendation: Include a project version number in the name of the project to
facilitate version control and project management for your LonTalk Interface
Developer projects.
The utility creates all of its output files in the same directory as the project file.
Your application’s model file does not need to be in this directory; from the