View source for OS - macOS

[[Category:OS]]
[[File:Icon-Mac-OS.png‎|64x64px|link=]] On OS X, Phidgets can be either plugged directly into a USB Port or run over a network using the [[#WebService|WebService]].

__TOC__

Phidgets are designed to run on '''OS X 10.4 Tiger or newer''', and can run on PPC, 32-bit, and 64-bit systems.

==Getting Started (Libraries and Drivers)==

If this is your first Phidget, we highly recommend working through the Getting Started guide [[Device List|for your specific Phidget device]].  If you already have the Preference Pane Installed and know how to use it, then you've already followed the guide and are ready to learn more about the workings behind the Preference Pane, the Phidget WebService, and more - all specific to OS X.

If you are already a pro, and just want the drivers:

*[http://www.phidgets.com/downloads/libraries/Phidget_2.1.8.20120216.dmg OS X Installer]
*[http://www.phidgets.com/Drivers_Info.html#osx Software License]

===Installing===

The Phidget installer will install the core Phidget files onto your system.

To install the libraries, follow these steps:

1. Download the Phidget installer for your system:
*[http://www.phidgets.com/downloads/libraries/Phidget_2.1.8.20120216.dmg OS X Installer]

2. Open up the installer, and double click on {{Code|Phidgets.mpkg}} to install the libraries.

[[File:OSX Install 1.png|link=|alt=OS X Install]]

3. Proceed through the wizard. 

[[File:OSX Install 2.png|link=|alt=OS X Install]]

4. Once the installation is complete, you are ready to program with Phidgets. To find out what files got installed, please see [[#Description of Installer files | Description of Installer files]] in the Appendix section.

Proceed onto to the [[#Phidget Preference Pane | next]] section where the Phidget Preference Pane will be discussed.

====Phidget Preference Pane====

The Phidget Preference Pane is a tool to quickly determine whether your system is able to communicate with Phidgets, and also act as a debugging tool. 

Once the Phidget libraries are installed using the installer, open up the {{Code|System Preferences}} window.

[[File:OSX System Preferences.png|link=|alt=OS X System Preferences]]

Click on the {{Code|Phidgets}} icon in the {{Code|Other}} section to bring up the Phidgets Preference Pane.

[[File:OSX PreferencePane General.png|link=|alt=OS X PreferencePane General]]

The {{Code|general}} tab shows the list of Phidgets currently physically attached to the computer. You can also view the currently installed Phidget library version. You can double click on a Phidget device to open up an example program for the device.

[[File:OSX PreferencePane Example.png|link=|alt=OS X PreferencePane Example]]

In the above screenshot, the RFID example was opened. These examples are intended for demonstration and debugging purposes. If you have not yet already, please see the '''Getting Started''' guide [[Device List|for your device]]. It is important to keep in mind that when an example Phidget application is opened from the Phidget Preference Pane or opened from any of your Phidget applications that you develop, it holds a lock on the Phidget. This prevents any other program from accessing the Phidget. Please ensure that this example application is closed(the Phidget Preference Pane can still be running) when you are running your own applications. 

The next tab is the {{Code|Web Service}} tab, which allows you to control Phidgets over a network. 

[[File:OSX PreferencePane Webservice Stopped.png|link=|alt=OS X PreferencePane WebService Stopped]]

Here, you can start and stop the WebService. Details are provided in the [[#WebService | WebService]] section. This screen also tells you whether the Phidget WebService is currently running. 

The next tab is the {{Code|Labels}} tab. In this section, you can view the currently assigned labels of any Phidget attached to your computer. It is also possible to set the labels of Phidgets here too. You might want to set a label to a Phidget device because you can refer to it by its label as opposed to its serial number. 

[[File:OSX PreferencePane Labels Local.png|link=|alt=OS X PreferencePane WebService Labels Local]]

You can also view the labels of any Phidget connected through the WebService

[[File:OSX PreferencePane Labels Remote.png|link=|alt=OS X PreferencePane WebService Labels Remote]]

The {{Code|Bonjour}} tab gives a list of all currently attached Phidgets that are connected to the WebService. You can also double click on the Phidget to connect to it over the network using one or more computers, but still use the Phidget on the computer it is directly connected to.

[[File:OSX PreferencePane Bonjour.png|link=|alt=OS X PreferencePane Bonjour]]

The last tab is the {{Code|PhidgetSBC}} tab, which displays the complete list of PhidgetSBCs connected to the network. 

[[File:OSX PreferencePane PhidgetSBC.png|link=|alt=OS X PreferencePane PhidgetSBC]]

You can double click on the PhidgetSBC to bring up the PhidgetSBC Administration Console log-in page in your default browser.

[[File:PhidgetSBCAdminConsole.PNG|link=|alt=PhidgetSBC Admin Console]]

The PhidgetSBC Administration Console is where you can go to configure the PhidgetSBC. For more details, please see the [[1072 0 - Getting Started | PhidgetSBC]] section.

===Checking===

To confirm the libraries were installed and work correctly, you can check both the hardware and software components of the interface. It is worth checking the software side first, because if it works then you know the hardware side is also okay.

====Software====

If you have the Phidgets library installed on your system, you can verify that the software side component is working by seeing if the Phidget device is listed in the General tab of the Phidget Preference Pane.

[[File:OSX PreferencePane General.png ‎|link=|alt=OS X Preference Pane General]]

The above screenshot shows that a PhidgetRFID and a PhidgetInterfaceKit are attached to the computer. If you see your Phidget in the list, you can continue to the [[#Programming Languages | programming languages]] section to learn more. If you are not able to see that the Phidget is in the list, there may be a hardware issue. Please see the [[#Hardware| hardware]] section for more details.

====Hardware====

You can verify that your computer detects that the Phidget is plugged in through a USB connection by going to the OS X System Profiler. You can access the System Profiler by selecting {{Code|About This Mac}} under the Apple icon. 

[[File:OSX About This Mac.png‎|link=|alt=OS X About This Mac]]

The new window will open up.

[[File:OSX More Info.png|link=|alt=OS X More Info]]

Select {{Code|More Info}}. The System Profiler will show up. In the USB section, you will be able to find all connected USB devices. 

[[File:OSX USB Devices.png ‎|link=|alt=OS X Attached USB Devices]]

In the above screenshot, The PhidgetInterfaceKit and PhidgetRFID are connected to the USB ports. 

If you don't see the Phidget in the list, then take a look at the [[#Troubleshooting|troubleshooting]] section below, as well as the '''Communications''' section of our [[General Troubleshooting#Communications Troubleshooting|general troubleshooting page]].

====Troubleshooting====

If the example programs '''do not''' work but USB '''does''' work (i.e. your computer can consistently see the device in the [[#Hardware|hardware]]), take a moment to check the basics:
* You are using OS X 10.4 or newer. 
* No other programs, drivers, or processes are using that USB port in software
* The Phidget libraries are the latest version (visit the [[#Getting Started (Libraries and Drivers)| getting started section]] to download them)

* Check the [[#Common Problems and Solutions|common problems]] section below, some specific combinations can cause problems

If your problem doesn't seem to be fixed by these steps, make sure that the Phidget is seen '''consistently''' by USB (if it is erratic, try our [[General Troubleshooting|general troubleshooting guide]]).  If you are still having problems after using the troubleshooting guide, please [[Contact Information|ask us]]!

==Programming Languages==
Phidgets’ philosophy is that you do not have to be an electrical engineer in order to do projects that use devices like sensors, motors, motor controllers, and interface boards. All you need to know is how to program.

After you have installed the drivers above, you should pick a programming language, install libraries, and run the examples for that specific language. You can learn more about what is needed to program in a particular language by choosing the language of your preference below. If you need help choosing a language, please look at the [[Software Overview#Language Support |language comparison table]]. 

We recommend the following languages for OS X:
* [[Language - Applescript|AppleScript]]
* [[Language - C/C++|C/C++]]
* [[Language - C#|C#(Using Mono)]]
* [[Language - Cocoa | Cocoa]]
* [[Language - Flash AS3 | Flash AS3]]
* [[Language - Flex AS3 | Flex AS3]]
* [[Language - LiveCode | LiveCode]]
* [[Language - Java | Java]]
* [[Language - Max/MSP|Max/MSP]]
* [[Language - Python | Python]]
* [[Language - Ruby|Ruby]]

You can also use these languages, but they do not support [[General Phidget Programming#Event Driven Code | event driven code]], and must use [[General Phidget Programming#Logic Code | logic code]] only:

*[[Language - MATLAB|MATLAB]]
*[[Language - Simulink|Simulink]]

==WebService==

The Phidget WebService allows you to remotely control a Phidget over a network.

Drivers for the Phidget WebService on OS X are already included in the [[#Getting Started (Libraries and Drivers) | Drivers]] above. If you see the Phidget Preference Pane in System Preferences, then you already have the WebService drivers installed.

There are two ways that you can connect to a Phidget hosted on another computer. The first method is by using the IP address/host name and port of the host computer. The second method makes the use of [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Multicast_DNS mDNS], which allows Phidgets to be found and opened on the network by a server id instead of an IP address/host name. When using a server id, both the client and server will need to be running an implementation of zero configuration networking. The Phidget WebService takes advantage [http://www.apple.com/support/downloads/bonjourforwindows.html Bonjour] software, which is built-in to OS X. It is a tool, developed by Apple to locate devices such as Phidgets, and printers.

This section helps you install, check, and use the WebService on Windows, but we also have an overview of the [[Phidget WebService]] in general.

===Turning the WebService On and Off===

There are two methods that can be used to turn the WebService on and off. The first method is through the Phidget Preference Pane. In the {{Code|WebService}} tab, you can start or stop the WebService. You can also choose to have the WebService start up automatically upon system boot up by selecting the {{Code|Start Automatically}} checkbox. 

[[File:OSX PreferencePane Webservice Stopped.png|link=|alt=OS X PreferencePane WebService]]

The second method of turning the WebService on and off is through command line. After using our installer, the WebService utility is automatically installed in {{Code|/usr/bin/phidget21webservice}}. 

You can get command line help with {{Code|phidgetwebservice21}} using the -h option:

<div class="source">
<syntaxhighlight lang=bash>
 phidgetwebservice21 -h
</syntaxhighlight>

<syntaxhighlight lang=text>
'phidgetwebservice21' is a Phidget and Dictionary server from Phidgets Inc. See www.phidgets.com for more information.
Usage: phidgetwebservice21 [OPTION]
All parameters are optional. The default parameters are: port=5001, ServerName=(Computer Name) and no password

Options:
  -p      Port
  -n      Server Name
  -P      Password
  -v      Debug mode
  -h      Display this help
</syntaxhighlight>
</div>

Mapping out which command line options to which Phidget Preference Pane option is as follows:

-p: {{Code|Port}} field

-n: {{Code|ServerID}} field

-P: {{Code|Password}} field

-v: Not supported under the Phidget Preference Pane

To find the defaults used by {{Code|phidget21webservice}}, the command line is the fastest way to learn the default server name and IP address of your computer:
*For the default server name, use {{Code|hostname}} on the command line.
*For your IP address, use {{Code|ifconfig -a}} on the command line.
**A line in the return text, under your main internet connection (usually {{Code|eth0}}) will say something like {{Code|inet addr:192.168.3.178}}, which is your IP.

Here are some usage examples:

To start the WebService with default parameters:
<div class="source">
<syntaxhighlight lang=bash>
 phidgetwebservice21
</syntaxhighlight>
</div>

To start the WebService with a server name of {{Code|myServer}}:
<div class="source">
<syntaxhighlight lang=bash>
 phidgetwebservice21-n myServer
</syntaxhighlight>
</div>

To stop the WebService, simply close the command line window or press {{Code|Control}} and {{Code|c}} at the same time in the command line window.

===Using the WebService===

To use a Phidget over the WebService, you'll want to:
* Have two different computers connected to the same network. We will call the computer that has the Phidget directly connected to the USB port the host. The client will be the computer that runs a Phidget application to connect to the Phidget attached to the host. Please note that if you only have a single computer, you can also connect to the Phidget over the WebService. The computer will simply act as both a host and client. This will allow you to bypass the [[General Phidget Programming # Details for Open() | one application per Phidget limitation]]. 

* Start the WebService on the computer that directly connects to the Phidget
* Run your program on the remote computer that will control the Phidget over the network

The easiest way to test these steps on OS X is to set up the WebService and run the Phidget program on the client. Please follow these steps:

1. On the host, open up the Phidget Preference Pane and traverse to the {{Code|Web Service}} tab.

[[File:OSX PreferencePane Webservice Stopped.png |link=|alt=OS X Preference Pane WebService]]

2. Leave all fields the way they are, and click on {{Code|Start WebService}} to run the WebService.

3. You can determine that the WebService is running by looking at the status on the right side.

[[File:OSX PreferencePane Webservice Running.png|link=|alt=OS X PreferencePane WebService Running]]

4. Ensure that the Phidget is plugged in to the host. 

5. On the client's Phidget Preference Pane, open up the {{Code|Bonjour}} tab. You will see the Phidget that is plugged into the host as one of the entries listed. Double click it to open the example application.

[[File:OSX PreferencePane Bonjour.png ‎‎ |link=|alt=OS X PreferencePane Bonjour.png ‎]]

6. The example application will open up, and you will be able to communicate with the Phidget over the WebService.

[[File:OSX PreferencePane Example.png ‎ |link=|alt=OS X PreferencePane Example]]

7. You can confirm that the WebService was indeed behind this exchange by terminating the WebService process while still allowing the remote program to run. On the host's Phidget Preference Pane, traverse to the {{Code|WebService}} tab. Hit {{Code|Stop WebService}} to terminate the WebService. 

[[File:OSX PreferencePane Webservice Running.png|link=|alt=OS X PreferencePane WebService Running]]

8. Take a look at the example application on the client. Since the application can no longer connect to the WebService, there is nothing attached. 

[[File:OSX PreferencePane Example Stopped.png |link=|alt=OS X PreferencePane Example Stopped]]

===Debugging the WebService===

In addition to enabling [[General Phidget Programming#Logging|logging]] in your Phidget code, you can get additional debugging information from the WebService itself.  This additional debugging can only be enabled from the command line approach to start the WebService. Debug information is enabled by specifying the {{Code|-v}} option:

<div class="source">
<syntaxhighlight lang=bash>
 phidgetwebservice21 -v -n "myServer"
</syntaxhighlight>
</div>

The debugging information will be shown as output in the command line console.

==Advanced Uses==


==Appendix==

===Description of Installer files===

Here is the list of files and their description for each file the installer puts onto your system. 
===Description of Library files===

This section will explain the files that were placed onto your system as part of the installation process.
* <b>{{Code|Phidget21.framework}}</b> contains the actual Phidget library, which is used at run-time.  It is placed into {{Code|/Library/Frameworks}}.
* <b>{{Code|Phidget.kext}}</b> is the kernel extension.  It is placed into {{Code|/System/Library/Extensions}}.
* <b>{{Code|libphidget21.jnilib}}</b> is the JNI library for Java.  It is placed into {{Code|/Library/Java/Extensions}}.
* <b>{{Code|Phidgets.prefpane}}</b> is the Phidgets Preference Pane.  It is placed into {{Code|/Library/PreferencePanes}}.
* <b>{{Code|phidgetwebservice21}}</b> is the Phidget WebService.  It is placed into {{Code|/usr/bin}}.
* <b>{{Code|PhidgetsOSA.app}}</b> is the the Phidgets agent for AppleScript.  It is placed into {{Code|/Library/ScriptingAdditions}}.

==Common Problems and Solutions==

None, yet.