Re: [Lazarus] Cross-compiling for Raspberry Pi2

[Bo Berglund]

On Thu, 24 Sep 2015 09:24:00 +0200, Michael Schnell
 wrote:

>On 09/24/2015 05:28 AM, Bo Berglund wrote:
>> The only caveat here would be if Indy10 will actually build and 
>> function correctly in RaspBian.
>Does you project including Indy 10 already run decently on PC-Linux ?
>
Sorry,
I left this hanging
The existing Windows/Delphi project does not use TCP/IP at all for
communicating with the data collection system. It uses serial comm and
it has not been ported to FPC/Lazarus yet.


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Re: [Lazarus] Cross-compiling for Raspberry Pi2

[Michael Van Canneyt]

On Thu, 24 Sep 2015, Sven Barth wrote:


Am 24.09.2015 09:44 schrieb "Michael Van Canneyt" :




On Thu, 24 Sep 2015, Sven Barth wrote:


Am 24.09.2015 05:24 schrieb "Bo Berglund" :





Since you plan to port to Linux a word of caution: the "Windows" unit
doesn't exist there (and "GetTickCount" does neither), so you either need
to use platform specific functionality from the "BaseUnix" unit or cross
platform one from "SysUtils" and friends.



GetTickCount(64) exists in sysutils.



You should maybe also tale a look into using conditional compilation

using

"$ifdef" and the defines the compiler already provides for you (e.g.
"windows", "linux", "unix", "cpui386", "cpuarm", etc.).
Note: in 3.0.0 TThread provides the cross platform class functions
TThread.GetTickCount and TThread.GetTickCount64.



Which simply refer to sysutils.getTickCount(64).


Ehm right... I forgot about them despite having added them myself. :P


Indeed. That is why I was slightly surprised to read your answer :)

Michael.

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Re: [Lazarus] Cross-compiling for Raspberry Pi2

[Sven Barth]

Am 24.09.2015 09:44 schrieb "Michael Van Canneyt" :
>
>
>
> On Thu, 24 Sep 2015, Sven Barth wrote:
>
>> Am 24.09.2015 05:24 schrieb "Bo Berglund" :
>>>
>>>
>>
>> Since you plan to port to Linux a word of caution: the "Windows" unit
>> doesn't exist there (and "GetTickCount" does neither), so you either need
>> to use platform specific functionality from the "BaseUnix" unit or cross
>> platform one from "SysUtils" and friends.
>
>
> GetTickCount(64) exists in sysutils.
>
>
>> You should maybe also tale a look into using conditional compilation
using
>> "$ifdef" and the defines the compiler already provides for you (e.g.
>> "windows", "linux", "unix", "cpui386", "cpuarm", etc.).
>> Note: in 3.0.0 TThread provides the cross platform class functions
>> TThread.GetTickCount and TThread.GetTickCount64.
>
>
> Which simply refer to sysutils.getTickCount(64).

Ehm right... I forgot about them despite having added them myself. :P Like
TThread.GetTickCount(64) however they are only available in 3.0.0 and newer
(they were added at the same time as the TThread ones).

Regards,
Sven
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Re: [Lazarus] Cross-compiling for Raspberry Pi2

[Michael Schnell]

On 09/24/2015 05:28 AM, Bo Berglund wrote:
The only caveat here would be if Indy10 will actually build and 
function correctly in RaspBian.

Does you project including Indy 10 already run decently on PC-Linux ?

-Michael

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Re: [Lazarus] Cross-compiling for Raspberry Pi2

[Sven Barth]

Am 24.09.2015 05:24 schrieb "Bo Berglund" :
>
> On Wed, 23 Sep 2015 17:48:24 -0400, Bo Berglund
>  wrote:
> I added code into the DoRun procedure of the new project so it looks
> like this:
> [code]
> procedure TSSCommTest.DoRun;
> var
>   FComm: TIdTCPClient;
>   T1, T2: Cardinal;
> begin
>   { add your program here }
>   Writeln('Creating TCP client');
>   FComm := TIdTCPClient.Create;
>   try
> Writeln('Connecting to 10.0.0.7 on port 2401 (CVS)');
> T1 := GetTickCount;
> FComm.Connect('10.0.0.7', 2401);
> T2 := GetTickCount;
> T2 := T2 - T1;
> Writeln('Connection succeeded in ' + IntToStr(T2) + ' ms, now
> closing down');
>   finally
> if FComm.Connected then
>FComm.Disconnect;
> FComm.Free;
>   end;
>   // stop program loop
>   Writeln('End of run');
>   Terminate;
> end;
> [/code]
> It compiled fine after I added Windows (for GetTickCount) and
> IdTCPClient to the uses clause.

Since you plan to port to Linux a word of caution: the "Windows" unit
doesn't exist there (and "GetTickCount" does neither), so you either need
to use platform specific functionality from the "BaseUnix" unit or cross
platform one from "SysUtils" and friends.
You should maybe also tale a look into using conditional compilation using
"$ifdef" and the defines the compiler already provides for you (e.g.
"windows", "linux", "unix", "cpui386", "cpuarm", etc.).
Note: in 3.0.0 TThread provides the cross platform class functions
TThread.GetTickCount and TThread.GetTickCount64.

Regards,
Sven
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Re: [Lazarus] Cross-compiling for Raspberry Pi2

[Michael Van Canneyt]

On Thu, 24 Sep 2015, Sven Barth wrote:


Am 24.09.2015 05:24 schrieb "Bo Berglund" :




Since you plan to port to Linux a word of caution: the "Windows" unit
doesn't exist there (and "GetTickCount" does neither), so you either need
to use platform specific functionality from the "BaseUnix" unit or cross
platform one from "SysUtils" and friends.


GetTickCount(64) exists in sysutils.


You should maybe also tale a look into using conditional compilation using
"$ifdef" and the defines the compiler already provides for you (e.g.
"windows", "linux", "unix", "cpui386", "cpuarm", etc.).
Note: in 3.0.0 TThread provides the cross platform class functions
TThread.GetTickCount and TThread.GetTickCount64.


Which simply refer to sysutils.getTickCount(64).

Michael.

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Re: [Lazarus] Cross-compiling for Raspberry Pi2

[Michael Schnell]

On 09/24/2015 05:24 AM, Bo Berglund wrote:
It compiled fine after I added Windows (for GetTickCount) and 
IdTCPClient to the uses clause.
So I say that this is milestone #1 on my way. 



Now I have to create a server...


IMHO milestone #2 should be to run the same project on a Linux PC

-Michael

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Re: [Lazarus] Cross-compiling for Raspberry Pi2

[Michael Schnell]

On 09/24/2015 02:22 PM, Bo Berglund wrote:
My first test was aginst our CVS server on port 2401 
Just for testing if a socket can receive data you can use any server in 
the Internet port 80 :-)


-Michael


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Re: [Lazarus] Cross-compiling for Raspberry Pi2

[Michael Schnell]

On 09/24/2015 02:55 PM, Michael Schnell wrote:

any server in the Internet port 80 :-)

or even better set up the Linux that you will need anyway. Linux always 
comes with telnet to a command line installed. You just need to activate 
it.


-Michael

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Re: [Lazarus] Cross-compiling for Raspberry Pi2

[Bo Berglund]

On Thu, 24 Sep 2015 08:04:26 +0200, Sven Barth
 wrote:

>
>Since you plan to port to Linux a word of caution: the "Windows" unit
>doesn't exist there (and "GetTickCount" does neither), so you either need
>to use platform specific functionality from the "BaseUnix" unit or cross
>platform one from "SysUtils" and friends.

I know...
I only added the GetTickCount in order to get something to display
with connection timing info. The test server is across a VPN channel
into the company network about 1500 miles away. So 62 ms is
acceptable.
 
>You should maybe also take a look into using conditional compilation using
>"$ifdef" and the defines the compiler already provides for you (e.g.
>"windows", "linux", "unix", "cpui386", "cpuarm", etc.).

Right you are!
BTW is there a define for FPC itself too so I can differentiate
between Delphi and FPC? THat way I could possibly use the exact same
sources and not have to make a copy.
Maybe there is a complete list of the defines in FPC?

>Note: in 3.0.0 TThread provides the cross platform class functions
>TThread.GetTickCount and TThread.GetTickCount64.

Is FPC 3.0 stable yet and does it exist on ARM?


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Re: [Lazarus] Cross-compiling for Raspberry Pi2

[Graeme Geldenhuys]

On 2015-09-24 13:27, Bo Berglund wrote:
> into the company network about 1500 miles away. So 62 ms is
> acceptable.

If only we could travel that fast! :)

> BTW is there a define for FPC itself too so I can differentiate
> between Delphi and FPC?

Yes, "FPC".  ;-)

{$ifdef FPC}...{$ELSE}..{$endif}


There is also FPC versions which include major, minor etc.


Regards,
  - Graeme -

-- 
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Re: [Lazarus] Cross-compiling for Raspberry Pi2

[Bo Berglund]

On Thu, 24 Sep 2015 09:31:06 +0200, Michael Schnell
 wrote:

>On 09/24/2015 05:24 AM, Bo Berglund wrote:
>> It compiled fine after I added Windows (for GetTickCount) and 
>> IdTCPClient to the uses clause.
>> So I say that this is milestone #1 on my way. 
>
>> Now I have to create a server...
>
>IMHO milestone #2 should be to run the same project on a Linux PC
>
Exactly!
But I will first build a decent simulation server on Windows so I have
something to talk to while developing the application. I cannot keep
the data collection system on hand during that phase.
My first test was aginst our CVS server on port 2401


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Developer in Sweden


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Re: [Lazarus] Cross-compiling for Raspberry Pi2

[Sven Barth]

Am 24.09.2015 11:59 schrieb "Michael Van Canneyt" :
>>> Which simply refer to sysutils.getTickCount(64).
>>
>>
>> Ehm right... I forgot about them despite having added them myself. :P
>
>
> Indeed. That is why I was slightly surprised to read your answer :)

I blame that my mind is filled by generics and dynamic packages, there's no
place anymore to remember such a small insignificant function :P

Regards,
Sven
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Re: [Lazarus] Cross-compiling for Raspberry Pi2

[Sven Barth]

Am 24.09.2015 14:28 schrieb "Bo Berglund" :
> >You should maybe also take a look into using conditional compilation
using
> >"$ifdef" and the defines the compiler already provides for you (e.g.
> >"windows", "linux", "unix", "cpui386", "cpuarm", etc.).
>
> Right you are!
> BTW is there a define for FPC itself too so I can differentiate
> between Delphi and FPC? THat way I could possibly use the exact same
> sources and not have to make a copy.
> Maybe there is a complete list of the defines in FPC?

The define is "FPC" ;)
The most important defines are available in the programmer's guide:
http://www.freepascal.org/docs-html/prog/progap7.html#x333-348000G

>
> >Note: in 3.0.0 TThread provides the cross platform class functions
> >TThread.GetTickCount and TThread.GetTickCount64.
>
> Is FPC 3.0 stable yet and does it exist on ARM?

We have already released the RC and thus only small fixes are still
expected to take place. AFAIK I've also seen a RC for the RPi somewhere...

Regards,
Sven
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Re: [Lazarus] Cross-compiling for Raspberry Pi2

[Graeme Geldenhuys]

On 2015-09-23 15:21, Bo Berglund wrote:
> I tried to find instructions on how to use Indy in Lazarus/FPC but
> what I found was very old and incomplete...

I've used Indy with FPC for years, in the tiOPF's 3-tier code. Tested
under Windows, Linux and FreeBSD. Usage was identical compared to
Delphi+Indy.

The only difference I remember was with server components (eg: HTTP
Server) which required root access to open the port, because the port
was below 1024. Using ports higher than 1024 could be run as a normal user.

Regards,
  - Graeme -

-- 
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Re: [Lazarus] Cross-compiling for Raspberry Pi2

[Bo Berglund]

On Wed, 23 Sep 2015 11:20:36 +0200, Michael Schnell
 wrote:

>On 09/23/2015 07:37 AM, Martin Schreiber wrote:
>> The MSEgui socket components (and the pipe reader and RS232 components 
>> too BTW) implement the model Michael describes.
>
>For Delphi we (company) use AsyncPro (as well for RS232 as for TCP/IP) 
>(Initially provided commercially  by TurboPower, but free and open 
>source now). Unfortunately this is Windows only and porting it it 
>Lazarus (Linux) would require a decent amount of work.
>

I have used the AsyncPro com port also and I noted that there is a
TCP/IP version of the com port as well (ApdWinsockPort) such that
using this in Delphi would make it possible to just switch from one to
the other by setting a property.

I once tried to look at the dependencies in order to cut down on the
number of needed units for my usage of the serial port, but it just
chained wider and wider so the task became insurmountable.

I tried to find instructions on how to use Indy in Lazarus/FPC but
what I found was very old and incomplete...
http://wiki.freepascal.org/Indy_with_Lazarus
http://www.indyproject.org/sockets/fpc/index.en.aspx


-- 
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Developer in Sweden


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Re: [Lazarus] Cross-compiling for Raspberry Pi2

[Michael Schnell]

On 09/23/2015 04:21 PM, Bo Berglund wrote:
I have used the AsyncPro com port also and I noted that there is a 
TCP/IP version of the com port as well (ApdWinsockPort) such that 
using this in Delphi would make it possible to just switch from one to 
the other by setting a property.
It would be grate to have a Lazarus Linux version of AsyncPro, but I 
don't have much hope...


-Michael

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Re: [Lazarus] Cross-compiling for Raspberry Pi2

[Paul Breneman]

On 09/23/2015 10:27 AM, Michael Schnell wrote:

On 09/23/2015 04:21 PM, Bo Berglund wrote:

I have used the AsyncPro com port also and I noted that there is a
TCP/IP version of the com port as well (ApdWinsockPort) such that
using this in Delphi would make it possible to just switch from one to
the other by setting a property.

It would be grate to have a Lazarus Linux version of AsyncPro, but I
don't have much hope...


I've done a lot with AsyncPro for about 27 years or so.  About six 
months ago I helped a company add Ethernet to their serial support using 
the ApdWinsockPort which works well.


www.CtrlTerm.com uses Synapse for both serial and TCP/IP but it isn't as 
nice as AsyncPro but if someone wants to hire me... :)


See the bottom of this page for more info:
  http://turbocontrol.com/APro.htm


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Re: [Lazarus] Cross-compiling for Raspberry Pi2

[Graeme Geldenhuys]

On 2015-09-23 05:18, Bo Berglund wrote:
> 3) Next port to Lazarus on Linux (I have a Linux Mint virtual machine)
> 4) Finally port over to Raspberry Pi

And you'll most likely find that the last step doesn't require any extra
development or "porting" - simply the setup of the FPC compiler. [Going
with the assumption that most RPi's run a Linux distro]

Regards,
  - Graeme -

-- 
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Re: [Lazarus] Cross-compiling for Raspberry Pi2

[Mark Morgan Lloyd]

Graeme Geldenhuys wrote:

On 2015-09-23 05:18, Bo Berglund wrote:

3) Next port to Lazarus on Linux (I have a Linux Mint virtual machine)
4) Finally port over to Raspberry Pi


And you'll most likely find that the last step doesn't require any extra
development or "porting" - simply the setup of the FPC compiler. [Going
with the assumption that most RPi's run a Linux distro]


From practical experience with Raspbian, it appears that once FPC and 
Lazarus are on an RPi the overall system behaves like any computer. 
Perhaps not quite as fast as a modern x86, but the difference is 
quantitative not qualitative.


That might not be the case with other distreax.

--
Mark Morgan Lloyd
markMLl .AT. telemetry.co .DOT. uk

[Opinions above are the author's, not those of his employers or colleagues]

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Re: [Lazarus] Cross-compiling for Raspberry Pi2

[Graeme Geldenhuys]

On 2015-09-23 21:05, Bo Berglund wrote:
> 1) I check out the Indy 10.5.7 sources (Core, Protocols, System) like
> I always do with new installs of Delphi into some subfolder of FPC.
> (WE keep the 10.5.7 version in our own version control in order to get
> some consistency in our development)


I just had a look... From what I can see on their support newsgroup
[news://news.atozed.com/atozedsoftware.indy.fpc], Indy 10.5.9 also works
with FPC. Seems I need to upgrade at some point. :)

Regards,
  - Graeme -

-- 
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Re: [Lazarus] Cross-compiling for Raspberry Pi2

[Bo Berglund]

On Wed, 23 Sep 2015 22:32:29 +0100, Graeme Geldenhuys
 wrote:

>On 2015-09-23 21:05, Bo Berglund wrote:
>> 
>> Is this the way to go?
>
>
>I'm using Indy 10.2.0.3 (the FPC & Lazarus version downloaded from their
>website). I don't know if they merged those changes into their latest
>code repository version. I would imagine they did. I haven't looked at
>Indy's website in ages to see if there is anything newer, but from the
>version number you quoted I guess there is. ;-)
>
>Then simply add the /fpc/ path to your project's "Unit Path" and
>"Include Path" and away you go. I don't bother installing most
>components into Lazarus's component palette. I simply instantiate the
>classes I need in my code and go from there.
>

Thanks,
I will try this.
Regarding Indy10 I got the 10.5.7 from Fulgan in 2010 when I decided
to freeze my versions for compatibility across IDE:s.

The current version on the Fulgan server, which is the one one gets to
from your posted link is 10.6.2.0 (and a nightly build at that) i.e.
the bleeding edge.
I'd rather stay with 10.5.7 as long as possible.


-- 
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Re: [Lazarus] Cross-compiling for Raspberry Pi2

[Graeme Geldenhuys]

On 2015-09-23 22:32, Graeme Geldenhuys wrote:
> I'm using Indy 10.2.0.3 (the FPC & Lazarus version downloaded from their
> website).

Sorry, I forgot to post the link to Indy's exact page.

  http://www.indyproject.org/Sockets/fpc/index.EN.aspx


Regards,
  - Graeme -

-- 
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Re: [Lazarus] Cross-compiling for Raspberry Pi2

[Graeme Geldenhuys]

On 2015-09-23 21:05, Bo Berglund wrote:
> 
> Is this the way to go?


I'm using Indy 10.2.0.3 (the FPC & Lazarus version downloaded from their
website). I don't know if they merged those changes into their latest
code repository version. I would imagine they did. I haven't looked at
Indy's website in ages to see if there is anything newer, but from the
version number you quoted I guess there is. ;-)

Then simply add the /fpc/ path to your project's "Unit Path" and
"Include Path" and away you go. I don't bother installing most
components into Lazarus's component palette. I simply instantiate the
classes I need in my code and go from there.


Regards,
  - Graeme -

-- 
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Re: [Lazarus] Cross-compiling for Raspberry Pi2

[Bo Berglund]

On Wed, 23 Sep 2015 15:30:53 +0100, Graeme Geldenhuys
 wrote:

>On 2015-09-23 15:21, Bo Berglund wrote:
>> I tried to find instructions on how to use Indy in Lazarus/FPC but
>> what I found was very old and incomplete...
>
>I've used Indy with FPC for years, in the tiOPF's 3-tier code. Tested
>under Windows, Linux and FreeBSD. Usage was identical compared to
>Delphi+Indy.
>
>The only difference I remember was with server components (eg: HTTP
>Server) which required root access to open the port, because the port
>was below 1024. Using ports higher than 1024 could be run as a normal user.
>
So do I take it as:

1) I check out the Indy 10.5.7 sources (Core, Protocols, System) like
I always do with new installs of Delphi into some subfolder of FPC.
(WE keep the 10.5.7 version in our own version control in order to get
some consistency in our development)

2) I add the path to these locations to somewhere in FPC or Lazarus.
Where is this done???

3) Then I start using the Indy stuff in my application. Just add the
proper units into the uses clause of teh applications as needed.

Is this the way to go?

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Re: [Lazarus] Cross-compiling for Raspberry Pi2

[Bo Berglund]

On Wed, 23 Sep 2015 08:42:43 +, Mark Morgan Lloyd
 wrote:

>Graeme Geldenhuys wrote:
>> On 2015-09-23 05:18, Bo Berglund wrote:
>>> 3) Next port to Lazarus on Linux (I have a Linux Mint virtual machine)
>>> 4) Finally port over to Raspberry Pi
>> 
>> And you'll most likely find that the last step doesn't require any extra
>> development or "porting" - simply the setup of the FPC compiler. [Going
>> with the assumption that most RPi's run a Linux distro]
>
> From practical experience with Raspbian, it appears that once FPC and 
>Lazarus are on an RPi the overall system behaves like any computer. 
>Perhaps not quite as fast as a modern x86, but the difference is 
>quantitative not qualitative.
>
>That might not be the case with other distreax.
>
Thanks for the info!
I planned on going with RaspBian for this project. :)

The only caveat here would be if Indy10 will actually build and
function correctly in RaspBian.
I will find that out in due time. I don't have the hardware available
right now since I am travelling, will purchase a dedicated Pi2B as
soon as I return to home base.


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Re: [Lazarus] Cross-compiling for Raspberry Pi2

[Michael Schnell]

On 09/23/2015 07:37 AM, Martin Schreiber wrote:
The MSEgui socket components (and the pipe reader and RS232 components 
too BTW) implement the model Michael describes.


For Delphi we (company) use AsyncPro (as well for RS232 as for TCP/IP) 
(Initially provided commercially  by TurboPower, but free and open 
source now). Unfortunately this is Windows only and porting it it 
Lazarus (Linux) would require a decent amount of work.


-Michael

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Re: [Lazarus] Cross-compiling for Raspberry Pi2

[Bo Berglund]

On Wed, 23 Sep 2015 17:48:24 -0400, Bo Berglund
 wrote:

>I will try this.

I checked out the Indy10 version from our own version control into a
new CMP folder for FPC.
Then added the Core, Protocols and System subfolders to the project
search path after creating a new Console project.

I added code into the DoRun procedure of the new project so it looks
like this:
[code]
procedure TSSCommTest.DoRun;
var
  FComm: TIdTCPClient;
  T1, T2: Cardinal;
begin
  { add your program here }
  Writeln('Creating TCP client');
  FComm := TIdTCPClient.Create;
  try
Writeln('Connecting to 10.0.0.7 on port 2401 (CVS)');
T1 := GetTickCount;
FComm.Connect('10.0.0.7', 2401);
T2 := GetTickCount;
T2 := T2 - T1;
Writeln('Connection succeeded in ' + IntToStr(T2) + ' ms, now
closing down');
  finally
if FComm.Connected then
   FComm.Disconnect;
FComm.Free;
  end;
  // stop program loop
  Writeln('End of run');
  Terminate;
end;
[/code]
It compiled fine after I added Windows (for GetTickCount) and
IdTCPClient to the uses clause.

Then I ran it and could see this:

D:\Engineering\Projects\Lazarus\TCPIPTST>SSTCPTest.exe
Creating TCP client
Connecting to 10.0.0.7 on port 2401 (CVS)
Connection succeeded in 62 ms, now closing down
End of run

So I say that this is milestone #1 on my way.
Now I have to create a server too and check comm between them.
But that will probably be OK


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Re: [Lazarus] Cross-compiling for Raspberry Pi2

[Bo Berglund]

On Tue, 22 Sep 2015 10:00:12 +0200, Michael Schnell
 wrote:

>On 09/21/2015 04:42 PM, Bo Berglund wrote:
>> Unfortunately since the existing code is built on non-blocking serial 
>> communications and events to handle the data reception ...
>
>You can convert a blocking socket (or serial port receive) to be a 
>non-blocking Event-triggering (i.e. Delphi-Paradigm based) code by 
>encapsulating the blocking API in a thread and fire an event to the main 
>threads by TThread.Synchronize, TThread.Queue or 
>Application.QueueAsyncCall. Now you can do the complex work in the main 
>Thread event.
>
That is what I figured I could do with the TInetSocket I found in some
response here. I have verified it ships with FPC so I don't have to do
any install or such to get it too.

But since I did not find any documentation "for Dummies" on
TInetSocket I am not at all sure what I should do to add a therad to
manage it via an event handler.
I looked at the ssocket unit and found the declaration of TInetSocket
as follows:
[code]
 TInetSocket = Class(TSocketStream)
  Private
FHost : String;
FPort : Word;
  Protected
Procedure DoConnect(ASocket : longint); Virtual;
  Public
Constructor Create(ASocket : longint); Override; Overload;
Constructor Create(const AHost: String; APort: Word); Overload;
Property Host : String Read FHost;
Property Port : Word Read FPort;
  end;
[/code]
At this level it seems very sparse so I have to drill down to its
ancestor TSocketStream:
[code]
  TSocketStream = class(THandleStream)
  Private
FReadFlags: Integer;
FSocketInitialized : Boolean;
FSocketOptions : TSocketOptions;
FLastError : integer;
FWriteFlags: Integer;
Procedure GetSockOptions;
Procedure SetSocketOptions(Value : TSocketOptions);
function GetLocalAddress: TSockAddr;
function GetRemoteAddress: TSockAddr;
  Public
Constructor Create (AHandle : Longint);virtual;
destructor Destroy; override;
function Seek(Offset: Longint; Origin: Word): Longint; override;
Function Read (Var Buffer; Count : Longint) : longint; Override;
Function Write (Const Buffer; Count : Longint) :Longint; Override;
Property SocketOptions : TSocketOptions Read FSocketOptions
Write SetSocketOptions;
property LocalAddress: TSockAddr read GetLocalAddress;
property RemoteAddress: TSockAddr read GetRemoteAddress;
Property LastError : Integer Read FLastError;
Property ReadFlags : Integer Read FReadFlags Write FReadFlags;
Property WriteFlags : Integer Read FWriteFlags Write FWriteFlags;
  end;
[/code]
And then I have to go further to THandleStream:
[code]
  THandleStream = class(TStream)
  private
FHandle: THandle;
  protected
procedure SetSize(NewSize: Longint); override;
procedure SetSize(const NewSize: Int64); override;
  public
constructor Create(AHandle: THandle);
function Read(var Buffer; Count: Longint): Longint; override;
function Write(const Buffer; Count: Longint): Longint; override;
function Seek(const Offset: Int64; Origin: TSeekOrigin): Int64;
override;
property Handle: THandle read FHandle;
  end;
[/code]

And I am lost.

In all of this where could I for instance check if there are received
data to read? The Read method being blocking would not really be
useful, right? I don't want to call anything that can potentially be
stuck and never return...
The minimum would be to be able to set a (short) timeout on the Read()
method. But I don't see that.

Do you have any pointers?
And btw thanks for your help so far! :)


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Bo Berglund
Developer in Sweden


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Re: [Lazarus] Cross-compiling for Raspberry Pi2

[Bo Berglund]

On Tue, 22 Sep 2015 16:18:23 +0100, Graeme Geldenhuys
 wrote:

>Here is the result of just one such case... You often end up with this
>after a 15 year development cycle.
>
>  http://geldenhuys.co.uk/~graemeg/datamodule.png
>
>
That was pretty impressively unreadable!
I know we have used data modules too in order to stuff non-visual
components on and then get the RAD studio help in fixing the GUI
dependencies, but we never walked this far
Thanks for showing it, it is a reminder to keep things tidy!

As for the thread topic, I think I have already gotten the info I
need:
1) Don't cross-compile
2) First port over to Lazarus in Windows <= I will start here soon
3) Next port to Lazarus on Linux (I have a Linux Mint virtual machine)
4) Finally port over to Raspberry Pi

This voids any need for cross-compilig, and the final step gets me the
end result compiled on the final hardware.

Other threads created for other related topics

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Re: [Lazarus] Cross-compiling for Raspberry Pi2

[Martin Schreiber]

On Wednesday 23 September 2015 06:33:02 Bo Berglund wrote:
> On Tue, 22 Sep 2015 10:00:12 +0200, Michael Schnell
>
>  wrote:
> >On 09/21/2015 04:42 PM, Bo Berglund wrote:
> >> Unfortunately since the existing code is built on non-blocking serial
> >> communications and events to handle the data reception ...
> >
> >You can convert a blocking socket (or serial port receive) to be a
> >non-blocking Event-triggering (i.e. Delphi-Paradigm based) code by
> >encapsulating the blocking API in a thread and fire an event to the main
> >threads by TThread.Synchronize, TThread.Queue or
> >Application.QueueAsyncCall. Now you can do the complex work in the main
> >Thread event.
>
> That is what I figured I could do with the TInetSocket I found in some
> response here. I have verified it ships with FPC so I don't have to do
> any install or such to get it too.
>
> But since I did not find any documentation "for Dummies" on
> TInetSocket I am not at all sure what I should do to add a therad to
> manage it via an event handler.

The MSEgui socket components (and the pipe reader and RS232 components too 
BTW) implement the model Michael describes. They have the event 
properties "oninputavailable" and "onsocketbroken". If you like to build 
something like this yourself based on "TInetSocket" the code is here:

https://gitlab.com/mseide-msegui/mseide-msegui/tree/master/lib/common/ifi
(msesockets.pas) 
https://gitlab.com/mseide-msegui/mseide-msegui/tree/master/lib/common/serialcomm
(msesercomm.pas)
https://gitlab.com/mseide-msegui/mseide-msegui/tree/master/lib/common/kernel
(msepipestream.pas).

Martin

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Re: [Lazarus] Cross-compiling for Raspberry Pi2

[Michael Schnell]

On 09/22/2015 11:16 AM, Marc Weustink wrote:


The Lazarus services I run here at work have zero GUI dependency.

Of course you can do programs that don't have a GUI dependency (e.g. a 
Service/Daemon) using Lazarus.


The question discussed is whether it is possible to use the "Event 
programming" paradigm to do the software (e.g. using TTimer) that is 
typical for Delphi/Lazarus enabled software and "makes the difference" 
that makes using such programming systems desirable over "legacy" 
programming methods.


-Michael

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Re: [Lazarus] Cross-compiling for Raspberry Pi2

[Michael Schnell]

On 09/21/2015 06:08 PM, Martin Schreiber wrote:

pport. Please compile
MSEide with -dmse_with_ifirem in order to activate them.
It also has "tnoguiapplication" in order to build daemon applications with an
event loop where all nonvisual components including ttimer can be used.

That is really nice !

Alternatively Bo could do a normal application and just ignore the GUI. 
I also would be happy to provide my NoGuiApplication code to him, if he 
would like to stay with Lazarus and try it.


-Michael

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Re: [Lazarus] Cross-compiling for Raspberry Pi2

[Marc Weustink]

Graeme Geldenhuys wrote:

On 2015-09-21 12:37, Michael Schnell wrote:



[...]

The Lazarus team did a great job but needs to draw a line at certain
locations.


I don't know what Lazarus does with regards to Service/Daemon apps - my
above mentioned application wasn't written with Lazarus (just a text
editor and fpc compiler). Do they (Lazarus) introduce a GUI dependency
for such applications? That would be stupid if they do.


The Lazarus services I run here at work have zero GUI dependency.

Marc



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Re: [Lazarus] Cross-compiling for Raspberry Pi2

[Michael Schnell]

On 09/21/2015 04:42 PM, Bo Berglund wrote:
Unfortunately since the existing code is built on non-blocking serial 
communications and events to handle the data reception ...


You can convert a blocking socket (or serial port receive) to be a 
non-blocking Event-triggering (i.e. Delphi-Paradigm based) code by 
encapsulating the blocking API in a thread and fire an event to the main 
threads by TThread.Synchronize, TThread.Queue or 
Application.QueueAsyncCall. Now you can do the complex work in the main 
Thread event.


-Michael


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Re: [Lazarus] Cross-compiling for Raspberry Pi2

[Michael Schnell]

On 09/21/2015 05:16 PM, Bo Berglund wrote:

I don't really know how Telnet could tie in here.
"Telnet" is just a synonym for "transfer Bytes via TCP/IP without any 
additional higher protocol".


-Michael


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Re: [Lazarus] Cross-compiling for Raspberry Pi2

[Michael Schnell]

On 09/21/2015 07:05 PM, Bo Berglund wrote:

Fine, then I just need to make it visible inside Lazarus...


I suppose you mean "accessible".

Is it not enough to include the appropriate unit in the "uses" clause ?

If not, I suppose you just  need to add the file to the search path.

-Michael

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Re: [Lazarus] Cross-compiling for Raspberry Pi2

[Lukasz Sokol]

On 22/09/15 08:47, Michael Schnell wrote:
> On 09/21/2015 05:16 PM, Bo Berglund wrote:
>> I don't really know how Telnet could tie in here.
> "Telnet" is just a synonym for "transfer Bytes via TCP/IP without any 
> additional higher protocol".
> 
> -Michael
> 

https://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc854, it is not a synonym for 'just bytes',
it is predominantly text - human readable oriented.

for 'just bytes' you'd rather use 'just sockets', IMO(YMMV)

el es


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Re: [Lazarus] Cross-compiling for Raspberry Pi2

[Michael Van Canneyt]

On Tue, 22 Sep 2015, Michael Schnell wrote:


On 09/22/2015 11:16 AM, Marc Weustink wrote:


The Lazarus services I run here at work have zero GUI dependency.

Of course you can do programs that don't have a GUI dependency (e.g. a 
Service/Daemon) using Lazarus.


The question discussed is whether it is possible to use the "Event 
programming" paradigm to do the software (e.g. using TTimer) that is typical 
for Delphi/Lazarus enabled software and "makes the difference" that makes 
using such programming systems desirable over "legacy" programming methods.


The answer is: Yes, it is.

Michael.

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Re: [Lazarus] Cross-compiling for Raspberry Pi2

[Michael Schnell]

On 09/22/2015 11:33 AM, Michael Van Canneyt wrote:


The answer is: Yes, it is.
I never saw a Linux project without GUI binding that use TTimer. (Other 
than my own TTimer implementation, done in a compatible way.)


-Michael

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Re: [Lazarus] Cross-compiling for Raspberry Pi2

[Michael Van Canneyt]

On Tue, 22 Sep 2015, Michael Schnell wrote:


On 09/22/2015 11:33 AM, Michael Van Canneyt wrote:


The answer is: Yes, it is.
I never saw a Linux project without GUI binding that use TTimer. (Other than 
my own TTimer implementation, done in a compatible way.)


Please !

sed/TTimer/TFPTimer/ and you're all done.

If you cannot do that as a programmer, you should have your license revoked.

Michael.

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Re: [Lazarus] Cross-compiling for Raspberry Pi2

[Graeme Geldenhuys]

On 2015-09-22 at 11:28, Michael Schnell wrote:
> Delphi/Lazarus enabled software and "makes the difference" 
> that makes using such programming systems desirable over "legacy" 
> programming methods.


Now you are approaching “dangerous” territory.  :-)  Just because Delphi
and Lazarus promotes the idea of RAD development - definitely doesn’t
mean you should.

If you want to develop any easy to maintain application over a long
term - definitely DO NOT USE RAD style development. This was proven
over and over. RAD is only good for prototyping or small utility apps.
There is no substitute for well designed code - like when using the
well documented (tried and tested) Design Patterns, or well separated
code (UI layer, Storage layer, Business rules).

Designing a Service or Daemon application without TTimer  usage
definitely doesn't mean it is “bad” or “legacy” coding style. It might
just mean you are not using RAD style development. Nothing wrong with
that!


Regards,
  - Graeme -

-- 
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Re: [Lazarus] Cross-compiling for Raspberry Pi2

[Graeme Geldenhuys]

On 2015-09-22 at 11:36, Michael Schnell wrote:

> I never saw a Linux project without GUI binding that use TTimer.

Michael said it is possible, and I agree. Martin Schreiber told you
many times in the past MSEgui's TTimer can be used in non-GUI projects.
The Lazarus team simply haven't had the need to go that route - that
doesn't mean it is impossible.


Regards,
  - Graeme -

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Re: [Lazarus] Cross-compiling for Raspberry Pi2

[Lukasz Sokol]

On 22/09/15 10:43, Graeme Geldenhuys wrote:
> On 2015-09-22 at 11:28, Michael Schnell wrote:
>> Delphi/Lazarus enabled software and "makes the difference" 
>> that makes using such programming systems desirable over "legacy" 
>> programming methods.
> 
> 
> Now you are approaching “dangerous” territory.  :-)  Just because Delphi
> and Lazarus promotes the idea of RAD development - definitely doesn’t
> mean you should.

RAD might not just mean 'drag a component from the palette to a form' ;)
In some sense, even the (responsibly applied) OOP paradigm leads to (more) 
rapid (program) development...

> 
> If you want to develop any easy to maintain application over a long
> term - definitely DO NOT USE RAD style development. This was proven
> over and over. RAD is only good for prototyping or small utility apps.

Mmmm, from your own garden ;)
Aren't you making the tiOPF designer and framework for that purpose actually?

> There is no substitute for well designed code - like when using the
> well documented (tried and tested) Design Patterns, or well separated
> code (UI layer, Storage layer, Business rules).
> 
True, that.

> Designing a Service or Daemon application without TTimer  usage
> definitely doesn't mean it is “bad” or “legacy” coding style. It might
> just mean you are not using RAD style development. Nothing wrong with
> that!
> 

Sometimes I want it to 'just work' and be based on well known and understood 
code base,
or just have no time to develop the intricacies of low-level e.g. timer 
handling stuff...
and/or agree to the price of being limited by the 'underlying libraries'.
Or find that when used the prototype it 'works well enough' for us (thanks to 
all the
optimization & fixes from the Teams of Lazarus and FPC). (it actually means 
'works amazingly')
Or just don't want to reinvent the wheel for the gazilionth time...

> 
> Regards,
>   - Graeme -
> 

el es


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Re: [Lazarus] Cross-compiling for Raspberry Pi2

[Graeme Geldenhuys]

On 2015-09-22 15:27, Lukasz Sokol wrote:
> 
> RAD might not just mean 'drag a component from the palette to a form' ;)

Show me one developer that doesn't think that. :) I haven't met any yet.

>> over and over. RAD is only good for prototyping or small utility apps.
> 
> Mmmm, from your own garden ;)

No, from commercial companies I worked for in the past - where Delphi
based projects have been in development of many years (eg: started with
D3 and upgraded as Delphi got released) and gone through stacks of
developers as they come and go.

Here is the result of just one such case... You often end up with this
after a 15 year development cycle.

  http://geldenhuys.co.uk/~graemeg/datamodule.png


> Aren't you making the tiOPF designer and framework for that purpose actually?

What is "tiOPF designer"?


> Sometimes I want it to 'just work' and be based on well known and understood 
> code base,

I understand my code just fine. :) I have also built up a "developers
toolbox" over the years which includes tons of code snippets, code
templates, template projects, template forms etc. Simply copy it in, do
a rename here or there, and away I go. This saves me stacks of time and
it 'just works' too. ;-)

But hey, we are seriously straying off-topic. Better stop here before I
get band from the mailing lists again.


Regards,
  - Graeme -

-- 
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Re: [Lazarus] Cross-compiling for Raspberry Pi2

[Lukasz Sokol]

On 22/09/15 16:18, Graeme Geldenhuys wrote:
> On 2015-09-22 15:27, Lukasz Sokol wrote:
>>
[...]
> 
>> Aren't you making the tiOPF designer and framework for that purpose actually?
> 
> What is "tiOPF designer"?
> 

sorry I meant fpGUI ;) and tiOPF. 



el es


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Re: [Lazarus] Cross-compiling for Raspberry Pi2

[Lukasz Sokol]

On 22/09/15 16:18, Graeme Geldenhuys wrote:
> On 2015-09-22 15:27, Lukasz Sokol wrote:
>>
[...]
>> Sometimes I want it to 'just work' and be based on well known and understood 
>> code base,
> 
> I understand my code just fine. :) I have also built up a "developers
> toolbox" over the years which includes tons of code snippets, code
> templates, template projects, template forms etc. Simply copy it in, do
> a rename here or there, and away I go. This saves me stacks of time and
> it 'just works' too. ;-)

It's more probably like, if I want to create a networked application,
even something that communicates through locally opened sockets on 127.0.0.1,
I have some usable options that separate me from the under-the-bonnet insides 
of TCP/IP stack,
i can use them or ... or I can reinvent Synapse... which I'd rather not.

In deep abstract sense, making T(FP)Timer and Event-Driven programming to work 
universally, 
whether as dragged component or as instantiated class, is more similar 
to the above. 
To me, as a rookie, anyway ;)

> 
> But hey, we are seriously straying off-topic. Better stop here before I
> get band from the mailing lists again.
> 

OK.

> 
> Regards,
>   - Graeme -
> 

el es


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Re: [Lazarus] Cross-compiling for Raspberry Pi2

[Michael Schnell]

Bo later said:

"As described my Windows application is a service"

I am rather positive that a Delphi "Service Application" can do TTimer etc.

-Michael



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Re: [Lazarus] Cross-compiling for Raspberry Pi2

[Michael Schnell]

On 09/18/2015 12:06 PM, Marco van de Voort wrote:

Could you please post your Delphi test for that? Thanks.

You are correct that this does not work in the way I assumed.

-Michael

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Re: [Lazarus] Cross-compiling for Raspberry Pi2

[Michael Schnell]

On 09/18/2015 06:19 PM, Bo Berglund wrote:


Or is there a better way on Linux?
A typical Linux way in fact is doing a cron job. A common Unix paradigm 
is to do any functionality in a small dedicated "run through" executable 
and chain those via pipes and/or call them via system functionality such 
as cron.


Of course it also is possible to to a complex program that internally 
handles events (e.g. timers that schedule certain activities) in a way 
Delphi suggests. But here the typical Delphi way is using TTimer (and 
threads with appropriate synchronization if appropriate) to handle the 
multiple events that occur. This is why I suggested to do an 
"Application" in Lazarus instead of a "Console program", as only same 
has support for TTimer etc, This does not harm on a Pi, as here GUI 
support is enabled by default, and showing status information on the GUI 
of our program can be a great help with debugging.



And I have to include an Indy TCP Client too
I did not ever try myself but I multiple times heard about problems with 
Indy on Lazarus/Linux. No Idea if this in fact is workable on ARM.


Please let us know what you find.

-Michael

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Re: [Lazarus] Cross-compiling for Raspberry Pi2

[Graeme Geldenhuys]

On 2015-09-21 12:11, Michael Van Canneyt wrote:
> Correct for console, not for service. Check svcmgr unit, it runs the
> message loop.

Ah yes, I see what you mean. I just double checked in Delphi 7. Wow, a
Service Application in Delphi (unlike under FPC - at least for *nix)
seems to be a full-on GUI application, just without a UI. It pulls in
Controls, Graphics, Dialogs (WTF??), Forms etc units.

Regards,
  - Graeme -

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Re: [Lazarus] Cross-compiling for Raspberry Pi2

[Michael Van Canneyt]

On Mon, 21 Sep 2015, Graeme Geldenhuys wrote:


On 2015-09-21 09:14, Michael Schnell wrote:


I am rather positive that a Delphi "Service Application" can do TTimer etc.


No it doesn't... At least not by simply creating an instance of TTimer
and hooking up the OnTimer event.

This applies to both Console and Service applications under Delphi. The
Delphi TTimer, in uses the WM_TIMER Windows message and a Console and
Service application don't have a message loop. So to get it to work, you
need to implement your own message loop.


http://stackoverflow.com/questions/12026951/using-vcl-ttimer-in-delphi-console-application

 http://objectmix.com/delphi/403332-ttimer-service.html


Correct for console, not for service. Check svcmgr unit, it runs the message 
loop.

Michael.

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Re: [Lazarus] Cross-compiling for Raspberry Pi2

[Michael Schnell]

On 09/21/2015 01:26 PM, Graeme Geldenhuys wrote:
Wow, a Service Application in Delphi (unlike under FPC - at least for 
*nix) seems to be a full-on GUI application, just without a UI.


... because this is easy to do in Windows, but not that easy in Linux ;-)

The Lazarus team did a great job but needs to draw a line at certain 
locations.


(As you might know I do have a working draft of an "Active NoGui" Widget 
Type implementation, and I suppose with fpc 3.0 - that seemingly finally 
provides TThread.Queue in a released version - it might be viable to 
push it. I'll re-check as soon as I find some time to do this.)


-Michael



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Re: [Lazarus] Cross-compiling for Raspberry Pi2

[Michael Schnell]

On 09/21/2015 12:48 PM, Graeme Geldenhuys wrote:

No it doesn't...
Sorry if I am wrong here. I do know that colleagues of mine do Services 
in Delphi by doing normal GUI applications that definitively do use 
TTimer, and in the end just do a small modification to have them run as 
Services.


I am not aware of the exact method how they do so.

-Michael

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Re: [Lazarus] Cross-compiling for Raspberry Pi2

[Graeme Geldenhuys]

On 2015-09-21 09:14, Michael Schnell wrote:
> 
> I am rather positive that a Delphi "Service Application" can do TTimer etc.

No it doesn't... At least not by simply creating an instance of TTimer
and hooking up the OnTimer event.

This applies to both Console and Service applications under Delphi. The
Delphi TTimer, in uses the WM_TIMER Windows message and a Console and
Service application don't have a message loop. So to get it to work, you
need to implement your own message loop.


http://stackoverflow.com/questions/12026951/using-vcl-ttimer-in-delphi-console-application

  http://objectmix.com/delphi/403332-ttimer-service.html



Regards,
  - Graeme -

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Re: [Lazarus] Cross-compiling for Raspberry Pi2

[Michael Schnell]

On 09/21/2015 01:50 PM, Graeme Geldenhuys wrote:
Just to be clear, using threads in this case didn't require 
Synchronize() either - because Synchronize() is purely there for GUI 
apps, which this wasn't. 


Of course it is *possible* (it even is _possible_ to code a complete 
application with a hex editor :-) ) But this is a point of view I don't 
share at all.


To me it is a very bad idea to have the Lazarus users use completely 
different paradigms for common stuff like timers, 
Worker-Thread-responses, and - in the end - the makeup of a project (as 
a number of events scheduled by the infrastructure vs as a thing that 
needs a loop just for waiting on anything).


Nowadays, even very small embedded boards do have GUI support. So it's 
not very important to have a NoGUI application like I did (just for fun, 
when I still had some spare time). You simply can always tolerate a link 
to a GUI framework an let same do it's thing, even if nobody will ever 
see it.


-Michael


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Re: [Lazarus] Cross-compiling for Raspberry Pi2

[Graeme Geldenhuys]

On 2015-09-21 13:05, Michael Schnell wrote:
> To me it is a very bad idea to have the Lazarus users use completely 
> different paradigms for common stuff like timers,

I don't know what Lazarus's TTimer uses in the back-end (hooks into the
GUI I presume), but FPC does includes a fptimer (which I wrote the
initial implementation of) which is thread based and doesn't require a
GUI. In my service application I used TThread to implement my own
file-system monitoring class (which is based on interval checking). I
don't consider using TThread a "different paradigm" - it's simply a
class like any other.


> You simply can always tolerate a link 
> to a GUI framework an let same do it's thing, even if nobody will ever 
> see it.

I wholeheartedly disagree with that! There is absolutely NO reason to
pull in the extra dependency when it is NOT needed.

I'm currently busy developing another cross-platform Daemon/Service
application. It uses multiple threads, IPC, multiple DB connections
etc... It must have absolutely *no GUI dependency*, because it must be
able to run on a truly headless server. Think Mail server, Database
server etc especially under Unix-type environments - Windows and Mac
servers are an abomination.


Regards,
  - Graeme -

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Re: [Lazarus] Cross-compiling for Raspberry Pi2

[Bo Berglund]

On Mon, 21 Sep 2015 17:00:43 +0200, Michael Schnell
 wrote:

>On 09/21/2015 04:42 PM, Bo Berglund wrote:
>> The intrument has already been modified by replacing the serial port 
>> by an internal WiFi AP module which connects to the instrument via 
>> RS232 and the outside world will get access via a TCP port on the AP 
>> host. 
>We (company) did tests with serial via WLAN (and Zigbee) and gave up due 
>to lack of reliability. We very happily use DECT instead

Well, we found a WiFi module that could implement an AP functionality
and then we created an Android app to communicate with TCP/IP on the
port that runs to the instrument RS232. It has worked very well for a
couple of years now.

>> Only one unit deals with the physical layer and it has already a
>> conditional to specify what kind of com port is used. That is where I
>> have to tie in the conditional for TCP/IP comm using whatever socket
>> implementation I find most suitable.
>The data path of the Serial via TCP/IP link supposedly is just Telnet, 
>i.e. just a TCP/IP Socket. So you really don't need Indy.

I don't really know how Telnet could tie in here. I belive the port we
use just channels whatever is received from either end to the other
end. There is no protocol involved inside the TCP link, just rawe
(binary) data streaming through. One level up in our software there is
a protocol though to handle the streamed data.
Isn't Telnet some kind of terminal emulation system with escape codes
and all?

-- 
Bo Berglund
Developer in Sweden


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Re: [Lazarus] Cross-compiling for Raspberry Pi2

[Sven Barth]

Am 21.09.2015 16:42 schrieb "Bo Berglund" :
> Unfortunately since the existing code is built on non-blocking serial
> communications and events to handle the data reception I am at a loss
> right now concerning what TCP socket component to use.
> Indy is blocking, synapse is blocking and ICS being non-blocking is
> not open for commercial use and even so not really maintained for FPC
> either...

You could take a look at the TInetSocket of the ssockets unit which is part
of FPC (at least in 3.0.0, don't remember about 2.6.4).

Regards,
Sven
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Re: [Lazarus] Cross-compiling for Raspberry Pi2

[Bo Berglund]

On Mon, 21 Sep 2015 10:24:59 +0200, Michael Schnell
 wrote:

>On 09/18/2015 03:44 PM, Bo Berglund wrote:
>> Now we need to shrink and ruggedize the system ...
>
>IMHO a Pi is nit suitable to "ruggedize" a system. The Pi is made for 
>education purpose not for embedded use. It's stability, EDS immunity,  
>and temperature range is not suitable for this. If there is any security 
>issue with this project you should choose another ARM Linux system. 
>There are lots of them that offer better specifications for embedded 
>use.

I believe you are partially correct, but in this case I thought of
activating the watchdog on the Pi thus ensuring that if it hangs it
will come back on-line within short.
The work is now on making a prototype and if the hardware is not up to
the task we will be able later to change it if the need arises and the
system is accepted as such.
I take your comment as meaning there are other platforms where FPC
also runs, right?

>Moreover Wifi is not usable for decent embedded application. it is 
>very prone to be temporarily unavailable by environmental influence 
>(such as microwave ovens and other Wifi routers nearby).

Don't have much choice here...
The intrument has already been modified by replacing the serial port
by an internal WiFi AP module which connects to the instrument via
RS232 and the outside world will get access via a TCP port on the AP
host. This was done to make it possible to use Android tablets for
managing the instrument.
OTOH, the whole monitoring system will be enclosed in an aluminum box
so outside WiFi disturbances are probably not going to enter into the
system.

>
>> yesterday I realized that it would be a large task to re-invent the
>> software on the Pi using for example python since I am not at all
>> familiar with that language
>To me it is a very viable idea to use the well tested Delphi code and 
>port the Project to fpc/Lazarus.
>
That was my second realization after first thinking it might be "easy"
to code in some Linux friendly language. After all we had a working
Delphi system, albeit running as a windows service.

But then I looked up the existing sources to check what was involved
and it turned out to be at least 4 different rather big unit files
implementing various aspects of the data handling. So porting the
object-pascal code became the probably most efficient way of doing
thus.
Only one unit deals with the physical layer and it has already a
conditional to specify what kind of com port is used. That is where I
have to tie in the conditional for TCP/IP comm using whatever socket
implementation I find most suitable.

Unfortunately since the existing code is built on non-blocking serial
communications and events to handle the data reception I am at a loss
right now concerning what TCP socket component to use.
Indy is blocking, synapse is blocking and ICS being non-blocking is
not open for commercial use and even so not really maintained for FPC
either...

Still looking...

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Developer in Sweden


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Re: [Lazarus] Cross-compiling for Raspberry Pi2

[Graeme Geldenhuys]

On 2015-09-21 15:56, Bo Berglund wrote:
> I could maybe use cron to start it every 1 minute (but then I would
> need to find a way to NOT start it if it is already running but has
> not finished yet).

If you must go the cron route, SimpleIPC is your friend for checking if
an instance of the application is already running. The same application
will be an IPC client and a server. The new instance will check for an
existing instance and if found, terminate immediately. Very simple to
implement, and I've been doing that for years.

Regards,
  - Graeme -

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Re: [Lazarus] Cross-compiling for Raspberry Pi2

[Bo Berglund]

On Mon, 21 Sep 2015 17:24:50 +0200, Sven Barth
 wrote:

>Am 21.09.2015 16:42 schrieb "Bo Berglund" :
>> Unfortunately since the existing code is built on non-blocking serial
>> communications and events to handle the data reception I am at a loss
>> right now concerning what TCP socket component to use.
>> Indy is blocking, synapse is blocking and ICS being non-blocking is
>> not open for commercial use and even so not really maintained for FPC
>> either...
>
>You could take a look at the TInetSocket of the ssockets unit which is part
>of FPC (at least in 3.0.0, don't remember about 2.6.4).

I tried to find information on this but it seems a bit difficult...
Since I have Lazarus installed in my Win7 PC it would be good to know
where in the installation I might find the units for this component.
A search from the top of Lazarus finds a number of files with socket
in their names but no ssocket file at all.
The sockets.pas file I found indicates that it is for OS/2 only

I also found a wiki page http://wiki.freepascal.org/Sockets where some
info could be gleaned.
But I am worried that this component actually is TEXT oriented such
that it strips off/adds line endings to whatever is sent/received...

Could you confirm that the TSocketClient can actually handle raw
binary data such taht one can send/receive a binary file over the TCP
connection?
If tha is the case then it might just be what I need to implement my
simple serial port interface via TCP/IP.


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Developer in Sweden


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Re: [Lazarus] Cross-compiling for Raspberry Pi2

[Martin Schreiber]

On Monday 21 September 2015 16:42:15 Bo Berglund wrote:

> That is where I
> have to tie in the conditional for TCP/IP comm using whatever socket
> implementation I find most suitable.
>
MSEgui also has nonblocking socket components with ssl support. Please compile 
MSEide with -dmse_with_ifirem in order to activate them.
It also has "tnoguiapplication" in order to build daemon applications with an 
event loop where all nonvisual components including ttimer can be used.

Martin

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Re: [Lazarus] Cross-compiling for Raspberry Pi2

[Bo Berglund]

On Mon, 21 Sep 2015 18:58:14 +0200, Sven Barth
 wrote:

>Am 21.09.2015 17:58 schrieb "Bo Berglund" :
>>
>> On Mon, 21 Sep 2015 17:24:50 +0200, Sven Barth
>>  wrote:
>>
>> >Am 21.09.2015 16:42 schrieb "Bo Berglund" :
>> >> Unfortunately since the existing code is built on non-blocking serial
>> >> communications and events to handle the data reception I am at a loss
>> >> right now concerning what TCP socket component to use.
>> >> Indy is blocking, synapse is blocking and ICS being non-blocking is
>> >> not open for commercial use and even so not really maintained for FPC
>> >> either...
>> >
>> >You could take a look at the TInetSocket of the ssockets unit which is
>part
>> >of FPC (at least in 3.0.0, don't remember about 2.6.4).
>>
>> I tried to find information on this but it seems a bit difficult...
>> Since I have Lazarus installed in my Win7 PC it would be good to know
>> where in the installation I might find the units for this component.
>> A search from the top of Lazarus finds a number of files with socket
>> in their names but no ssocket file at all.
>> The sockets.pas file I found indicates that it is for OS/2 only
>
>As I said it might be that you need at least 3.0.0. But you could try to
>install the release candidate for that.
>The code should be in lazarusdir/fpc/VER/packages/fcl-net/src (Note: path
>might be not entirely correct as I don't have a Windows installation of
>Lazarus in front of me right now).

Thanks,
in my installation it sits here:
C:\Programs\lazarus\fpc\2.6.4\source\packages\fcl-net\src\ssockets.pp

>
>I can't say anything about TSocketClient, but the TInetClient in the
>ssockets unit I mentioned is a class that's rather directly on top of the
>native socket API, so that should definitely be able to handle it.

Fine, then I just need to make it visible inside Lazarus...
Right now after firing up the Lazarus IDE I cannot see any trace of it
unfortunately.
I decided to give it a shot by creating a test application but the
palette does not sow even one internet component...


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Re: [Lazarus] Cross-compiling for Raspberry Pi2

[Michael Van Canneyt]

On Mon, 21 Sep 2015, Michael Schnell wrote:


Bo later said:

"As described my Windows application is a service"

I am rather positive that a Delphi "Service Application" can do TTimer etc.


That is because (at least up till Delphi XE) a Delphi service application runs the 
*GUI* processmessages loop (it uses unit forms for this).


Which, incidentally, also calls 'CheckSynchronize'.

A vanilla console application does not run a message loop, hence also in Delphi 
does not have TTimer, thread synchroniszation and whatnot.


But now you found out yourself :)

Michael.

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Re: [Lazarus] Cross-compiling for Raspberry Pi2

[Sven Barth]

Am 21.09.2015 17:58 schrieb "Bo Berglund" :
>
> On Mon, 21 Sep 2015 17:24:50 +0200, Sven Barth
>  wrote:
>
> >Am 21.09.2015 16:42 schrieb "Bo Berglund" :
> >> Unfortunately since the existing code is built on non-blocking serial
> >> communications and events to handle the data reception I am at a loss
> >> right now concerning what TCP socket component to use.
> >> Indy is blocking, synapse is blocking and ICS being non-blocking is
> >> not open for commercial use and even so not really maintained for FPC
> >> either...
> >
> >You could take a look at the TInetSocket of the ssockets unit which is
part
> >of FPC (at least in 3.0.0, don't remember about 2.6.4).
>
> I tried to find information on this but it seems a bit difficult...
> Since I have Lazarus installed in my Win7 PC it would be good to know
> where in the installation I might find the units for this component.
> A search from the top of Lazarus finds a number of files with socket
> in their names but no ssocket file at all.
> The sockets.pas file I found indicates that it is for OS/2 only

As I said it might be that you need at least 3.0.0. But you could try to
install the release candidate for that.
The code should be in lazarusdir/fpc/VER/packages/fcl-net/src (Note: path
might be not entirely correct as I don't have a Windows installation of
Lazarus in front of me right now).

>
> I also found a wiki page http://wiki.freepascal.org/Sockets where some
> info could be gleaned.
> But I am worried that this component actually is TEXT oriented such
> that it strips off/adds line endings to whatever is sent/received...

No, that's a different unit/component/class...

> Could you confirm that the TSocketClient can actually handle raw
> binary data such taht one can send/receive a binary file over the TCP
> connection?
> If tha is the case then it might just be what I need to implement my
> simple serial port interface via TCP/IP.

I can't say anything about TSocketClient, but the TInetClient in the
ssockets unit I mentioned is a class that's rather directly on top of the
native socket API, so that should definitely be able to handle it.

Regards,
Sven
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Re: [Lazarus] Cross-compiling for Raspberry Pi2

[Michael Schnell]

On 09/21/2015 04:07 PM, Michael Van Canneyt wrote:


So you are totally wrong in your argument.


This argument had been pointing against myself, as it invalidates my 
effort to do an ActiveNoGui WidgetType I had been requesting at the time 
I investigated about porting a large embedded Delphi project to a 
headless Linux system.


But as we stopped this effort (at that time due to lack of manpower, now 
we think it could stay being a Delphi project as with Windows IOT Core 
there finally is a (free) "embedded" Windows that can fun Delphi 
programs), "ActiveNoGui" is just a legacy hobby project of mine. If you 
think it is useful, I hope I can provide some code some day soon.


-Michael

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Re: [Lazarus] Cross-compiling for Raspberry Pi2

[Bo Berglund]

On Mon, 21 Sep 2015 16:07:50 +0200 (CEST), Michael Van Canneyt
 wrote:

>
>No. Because it will simply fail to run on a headless system.
>

Hi all,
being the topic creator I want to just intervene about the target
system:
It is intended to run on a *headless* RaspberryPi2 (or equivalent more
robust ARM platform as was pointed out in another response).

I could maybe use cron to start it every 1 minute (but then I would
need to find a way to NOT start it if it is already running but has
not finished yet).
Most executions would find that there is nothing to do since the time
for the next measurement has not arrived.

Or else I would have to have it running 24/7 (as a windows service
does) but be idle most of the time until a time trigger is detected at
which time it will run a measurement. Such a measurement may run for
several minutes before it finishes.
Meanwhile nothing else can be done towards the instrument.


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Re: [Lazarus] Cross-compiling for Raspberry Pi2

[Michael Schnell]

On 09/21/2015 04:42 PM, Bo Berglund wrote:
I take your comment as meaning there are other platforms where FPC 
also runs, right? 
Yep. You can always switch to another ARM/Linux board with not much 
porting effort.
The intrument has already been modified by replacing the serial port 
by an internal WiFi AP module which connects to the instrument via 
RS232 and the outside world will get access via a TCP port on the AP 
host. 
We (company) did tests with serial via WLAN (and Zigbee) and gave up due 
to lack of reliability. We very happily use DECT instead



Only one unit deals with the physical layer and it has already a
conditional to specify what kind of com port is used. That is where I
have to tie in the conditional for TCP/IP comm using whatever socket
implementation I find most suitable.
The data path of the Serial via TCP/IP link supposedly is just Telnet, 
i.e. just a TCP/IP Socket. So you really don't need Indy.


-Michael


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Re: [Lazarus] Cross-compiling for Raspberry Pi2

[Graeme Geldenhuys]

On 2015-09-21 09:24, Michael Schnell wrote:
> Moreover Wifi is not usable for decent embedded application. it is 
> very prone to be temporarily unavailable by environmental influence 
> (such as microwave ovens and other Wifi routers nearby).

Not just for embedded applications... anything wifi in general is prone
to network issues.

I had constant issue at my home-office where there are computers,
printers, game consoles, TV decoder, phones, tablets, ebook readers just
to name a few - all on the wifi network. Then add in the neighbours all
round also on wifi, and suddenly you see the issues clearly. So this
past weekend I wired my house with a gigabit network to all vital
locations and moved as many devices off the wifi network. Oh, what a
pleasure, and now suddenly everything is super fast - and my media
centre runs without a hitch (no more random disconnects). :-D

Regards,
  - Graeme -

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Re: [Lazarus] Cross-compiling for Raspberry Pi2

[Michael Van Canneyt]

On Mon, 21 Sep 2015, Michael Schnell wrote:


On 09/21/2015 01:50 PM, Graeme Geldenhuys wrote:
Just to be clear, using threads in this case didn't require Synchronize() 
either - because Synchronize() is purely there for GUI apps, which this 
wasn't. 


Of course it is *possible* (it even is _possible_ to code a complete 
application with a hex editor :-) ) But this is a point of view I don't share 
at all.


To me it is a very bad idea to have the Lazarus users use completely 
different paradigms for common stuff like timers, Worker-Thread-responses, 
and - in the end - the makeup of a project (as a number of events scheduled 
by the infrastructure vs as a thing that needs a loop just for waiting on 
anything).


Nowadays, even very small embedded boards do have GUI support. So it's not 
very important to have a NoGUI application like I did (just for fun, when I 
still had some spare time). You simply can always tolerate a link to a GUI 
framework an let same do it's thing, even if nobody will ever see it.


No. Because it will simply fail to run on a headless system.

We have countless virtual machines for webservers. 
None of them has X or X libraries installed. And that is as it should be.


The software should run on those, and that will not be the case if you allow 
such dirty hacks.

So you are totally wrong in your argument.

Michael.

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Re: [Lazarus] Cross-compiling for Raspberry Pi2

[Sven Barth]

Am 21.09.2015 19:05 schrieb "Bo Berglund" :
> >
> >I can't say anything about TSocketClient, but the TInetClient in the
> >ssockets unit I mentioned is a class that's rather directly on top of the
> >native socket API, so that should definitely be able to handle it.
>
> Fine, then I just need to make it visible inside Lazarus...
> Right now after firing up the Lazarus IDE I cannot see any trace of it
> unfortunately.
> I decided to give it a shot by creating a test application but the
> palette does not sow even one internet component...
>

Not everything is a component. TInetSocket is merely a class that you need
to instantiate in code.

Regards,
Sven
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Re: [Lazarus] Cross-compiling for Raspberry Pi2

[Michael Schnell]

On 09/21/2015 12:37 PM, Michael Van Canneyt wrote:


That is because (at least up till Delphi XE) a Delphi service 
application runs the *GUI* processmessages loop (it uses unit forms 
for this).


Maybe from the POV of the application but...

With Win XP a Service could optionally show a GUI Window which is 
depreciated as a security glitch as that window runs with system rights.


In fact in Windows >=7 (or so) the OS prevents that a Service shows a 
Window.



As pointed out above to the user it is not important how the 
implementation of the event queue (aka "message queue", aka " 
processmessages loop") is implemented,. If he does not want his project 
top show a GUI (e.g. with a Windows Service or with a GUI-less Linux 
project. He just needs to know how to set up a project that allows him 
to use the features he needs (be that TTimer, TThread.Queue, 
TThread.Synchronize and/or Application.QueueAsncCall) .


If that needs for doing an application with full GUI support in Linux, 
this is not really desirable, but IMHO not a problem that should prevent 
using Lazarus, but in very rare cases.


-Michael

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Re: [Lazarus] Cross-compiling for Raspberry Pi2

[Graeme Geldenhuys]

On 2015-09-21 12:37, Michael Schnell wrote:
> 
> ... because this is easy to do in Windows, but not that easy in Linux ;-)

That only applies to Delphi. :) The brilliant FPC developers managed it
just fine.

Last year I implemented a Windows Service / Linux Daemon application
using FCL's daemonapp.pp unit. It was a 100% non-GUI application, and I
used threads and all without issue. Just to be clear, using threads in
this case didn't require Synchronize() either - because Synchronize() is
purely there for GUI apps, which this wasn't.


> The Lazarus team did a great job but needs to draw a line at certain 
> locations.

I don't know what Lazarus does with regards to Service/Daemon apps - my
above mentioned application wasn't written with Lazarus (just a text
editor and fpc compiler). Do they (Lazarus) introduce a GUI dependency
for such applications? That would be stupid if they do.


Regards,
  - Graeme -

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Re: [Lazarus] Cross-compiling for Raspberry Pi2

[Sven Barth]

Am 21.09.2015 13:51 schrieb "Graeme Geldenhuys" <
mailingli...@geldenhuys.co.uk>:
> Last year I implemented a Windows Service / Linux Daemon application
> using FCL's daemonapp.pp unit. It was a 100% non-GUI application, and I
> used threads and all without issue. Just to be clear, using threads in
> this case didn't require Synchronize() either - because Synchronize() is
> purely there for GUI apps, which this wasn't.

Just for clarification: Synchronize() is not only for GUI. It's purpose is
to execute a piece of code in the main thread triggered by another thread.
If that piece of code uses GUI or not is secondary. (Of course it's often
used in that context, but it's not restricted to that!)

Regards,
Sven
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Re: [Lazarus] Cross-compiling for Raspberry Pi2

[Michael Schnell]

On 09/21/2015 02:21 PM, Graeme Geldenhuys wrote:

I don't know what Lazarus's TTimer uses in the back-end
I do. But this is completely irrelevant regarding what is desirable to 
offer to the users.


My ActiveNoGui draft does not use any GUI hook and it does work - 
according to first simple tests.


The "different paradigm" I meant is "event driven programming" that 
obviously requires an Event queue (but obviously does not require a GUI).


Or on a less sophisticated layer: Why have (force) the user use TTimer 
in one project and fptimer in another ?



I wholeheartedly disagree with that! There is absolutely NO reason to
pull in the extra dependency when it is NOT needed.


So you are (the only) one here who understand the implications and 
nonetheless supports the idea of an "ActiveNoGui" Widget Type ?


Maybe it some day could be accepted in Lazarus, but I doubt it, because 
I think I am able to take  the library to a decent level, but I am not 
able to do the integration in the IDE.


-Michael


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Re: [Lazarus] Cross-compiling for Raspberry Pi2

[Michael Schnell]

On 09/18/2015 06:08 PM, Michael Van Canneyt wrote:


Quite cheeky, posting this on a Lazarus list :)

I never installed MSE IDE, as for porting to Linux an large Delphi 
project with several Desktop applications and multiple Delphi-trained 
Developers (I intended to trigger that for a long time) Lazarus seemed a 
lot more appropriate.


But for Doing Cross projects (in my case for an ARM device with no GUI 
support), I needed to work around a lot of issues with Lazarus. 
Supposedly MSE would have been easier to use. (But as an old GUI I did 
not dare to start the learning curve.)


-Michael

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Re: [Lazarus] Cross-compiling for Raspberry Pi2

[Michael Schnell]

On 09/18/2015 03:44 PM, Bo Berglund wrote:

Now we need to shrink and ruggedize the system ...


IMHO a Pi is nit suitable to "ruggedize" a system. The Pi is made for 
education purpose not for embedded use. It's stability, EDS immunity,  
and temperature range is not suitable for this. If there is any security 
issue with this project you should choose another ARM Linux system. 
There are lots of them that offer better specifications for embedded 
use. Moreover Wifi is not usable for decent embedded application. it is 
very prone to be temporarily unavailable by environmental influence 
(such as microwave ovens and other Wifi routers nearby).





esterday I realized that it would be a large task to re-invent the
software on the Pi using for example python since I am not at all
familiar with that language
To me it is a very viable idea to use the well tested Delphi code and 
port the Project to fpc/Lazarus.


-Michael

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Re: [Lazarus] Cross-compiling for Raspberry Pi2

[Michael Schnell]

On 09/18/2015 04:08 PM, Martin Schreiber wrote:

3. Cross compile and cross debug the Linux application to RaspberryPi on the 
Linux X86 PC.
I did try rather hard but getting cross compiling running with Lazarus 
was not really amusing and I did not at all succeed in getting cross 
(aka remote) debugging with Lazarus going.


So I suggest to install fpc on the target and compile natively on the ARM.

Debugging there might be a problem, but I know that running Lazarus 
naively on a decent ARM system is possible and debugging should work in 
the normal way. Maybe a Pi oi to small a system for doing this with 
acceptable performance.


-Michael

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Re: [Lazarus] Cross-compiling for Raspberry Pi2

[Michael Schnell]

On 09/18/2015 07:00 AM, Martin Schreiber wrote:


On Linux X86 you could use MSEide and the FPC cross compiling environment from
here:
http://mseide-msegui.sourceforge.net/pics/crossarm.png
http://sourceforge.net/projects/mseide-msegui/files/fpcrossarm/


Maybe MSE is more suitable in this case, as (AFAIK) here console 
programs with an event queue is supported in Linux.


-Michael

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Re: [Lazarus] Cross-compiling for Raspberry Pi2

[Michael Van Canneyt]

On Fri, 18 Sep 2015, Michael Schnell wrote:


On 09/18/2015 10:42 AM, Michael Van Canneyt wrote:


To the best of my knowledge, Delphi itself does not offer an event queue 
either in console programs.


In fact I doubt that the OP really intends to do a pure "console program" 
that is called by e.g. bash and runs through without waiting for anything and 
then exits.


AFAIK, with Delphi a "console program" is just a normal application that only 
does not show a Windows, but that can use e.g. TTimer in the normal 
Delphi-way.


So, we are talking about the windows event queue.

The way your post was constructed, you made it sound as if lazarus fails to 
offer what Delphi offers.
It has nothing to do with Lazarus. Linux does not have an event queue as windows has it. 
One is emulated in e.g. X11 applications, and Lazarus uses that for it's GUI, and for TTimer.


Glad we straightened that out.

I'm still waiting for your patch to create a basic TEventApplication class 
descending from TCustomApplication.
When you do, I'll be glad to include it in FPC, and as a bonus I'll even throw in an item for it under 
"new project" in File|New in the lazarus IDE...


It will then hopefully put an end to this years long bickering about event 
queues :)

Michael.

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Re: [Lazarus] Cross-compiling for Raspberry Pi2

[Michael Schnell]

On 09/18/2015 11:28 AM, Michael Van Canneyt wrote:


The way your post was constructed, you made it sound as if lazarus 
fails to offer what Delphi offers.


Sorry for being unclear !! (This obviously is just an issue of the word 
"Console Application".)


The contrary is true. Lazarus (at least in Linux) is able to compile 
real "pure run through" command line tools, while Delphi (AFAIK) just 
does normal "Applications" that don't show the main Windows and calls 
this a "Console Program".


In Linux, a Lazarus Console application can be used on hardware with no 
GUI system installed.


So Bo supposedly is save if he selects "Application" and not "Console 
Application" when setting up his project. In fact on a PI a GUI system 
is active by default.


Other than MSE, a Lazarus "Console Application" can't use TTimer, this 
might not be relevant for Bo on Pi.


-Michael

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Re: [Lazarus] Cross-compiling for Raspberry Pi2

[Michael Schnell]

On 09/18/2015 01:28 AM, Bo Berglund wrote:

I have a need to port a Delphi console program written for Windows to
be used on Raspberry Pi2.


What are the steps needed to port to Pi2?


I would use a Linux desktop to do the port to Linux in the most 
comfortable way, before considering the port to ARM.


Especially with "console programs" Delphi/Windows is rather different 
from Lazarus/Linux, as in Lazarus console programs don't feature an 
Event queue.


-Michael

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Re: [Lazarus] Cross-compiling for Raspberry Pi2

[Marco van de Voort]

On Fri, Sep 18, 2015 at 11:02:23AM +0200, Michael Schnell wrote:
> AFAIK, with Delphi a "console program" is just a normal application that 
> only does not show a Windows, but that can use e.g. TTimer in the normal 
> Delphi-way.

Could you please post your Delphi test for that? Thanks.

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Re: [Lazarus] Cross-compiling for Raspberry Pi2

[Sven Barth]

Am 18.09.2015 11:41 schrieb "Michael Schnell" :
> The contrary is true. Lazarus (at least in Linux) is able to compile real
"pure run through" command line tools, while Delphi (AFAIK) just does
normal "Applications" that don't show the main Windows and calls this a
"Console Program".

Creating a new Console Application in Delphi creates a nearly empty project
file that contains an empty "begin...end." block with a "{$apptype
console}", so exactly what is needed for a console application that does
not show any GUI by default (the Lazarus analog is "Simple Program" or so).

Regards,
Sven
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Re: [Lazarus] Cross-compiling for Raspberry Pi2

[Martin Schreiber]

On Friday 18 September 2015 16:14:35 Bo Berglund wrote:

> I have not really used Lazarus except for some hello world tests and
> for checking how to port a Sentinel dongle function to FPC.
>
Now that is a chance to use MSEide instead. ;-)
MSEide runs amazingly fast on Raspberry Pi and has very good suport for 
development of embedded and microprocessor projects written in Pascal or C, 
cross development with MSEide is very comfortable. I use it daily for 
different ARM and AVR32 projects.
With MSEgui you also have a state of the art cross platform GUI toolkit with 
excellent database options at your fingertips. MSEgui probably is the most 
versatile GUI toolkit on the market.

Martin

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Re: [Lazarus] Cross-compiling for Raspberry Pi2

[Bo Berglund]

On Fri, 18 Sep 2015 11:02:23 +0200, Michael Schnell
 wrote:

>On 09/18/2015 10:42 AM, Michael Van Canneyt wrote:
>>
>> To the best of my knowledge, Delphi itself does not offer an event 
>> queue either in console programs.
>
>In fact I doubt that the OP really intends to do a pure "console 
>program" that is called by e.g. bash and runs through without waiting 
>for anything and then exits.
>
...
>
>I was just trying to be helpful to the OP, and I think - not only 
>because of the potential issue I described - it is a good idea to split 
>the porting task in porting from Delphi/ Windows to Lazarus/Linux and 
>then form PC to ARM. (Been there, learned my lesson.)  With a complex 
>Project, it even could be viable to do a port from Delphi to Lazarus on 
>Windows first).

Thanks for your suggestions!
I think I need to explain more what I am after

What I want to do is the following:

I want to create an automation function running on the RPi2 for
managing a data monitoring system to collect data for detecting
imminent risk of failure of dams.
The system would work as follows:
- An instrument collects data from a number of sensors on the dam
- The instrument is essentially designed to be manually operated so
the Pi is there to automate it
- It has a communications channel via a WiFi adapter hooked to its
serial port and there are commands to do whatever needed
- Via this channel it is possible to command a measure cycle and to
download the resulting data
- So a schedule needs to be set up to tell the instrument to do two
different measure cycles at certain times
- The data will be downloaded to the RPi2 when the cycle finishes in
order to free memory on the instrument
- Access to the data will be provided on the RPi2 via a mobile network
router also connected to the RPi2
- The whole system will be deployed unattended for long periods
(months-years)

I have previously built systems like this using a Windows PC to
automate the instrument and using serial communications. The software
was written using Delphi 7 as a Windows service controlled via
settings in the Registry.

Now we need to shrink and ruggedize the system and I wanted to use an
RPi2 to implement the controller. It would be dual homed with a wired
connection to the router and a WiFi connection to the instrument which
emulates the serial link.

Yesterday I realized that it would be a large task to re-invent the
software on the Pi using for example python since I am not at all
familiar with that language.
Then it dawned on me that freepascal is multi-platform and I colud
possibly port existing Delphi code over to the Pi, thus reducing the
amount of work needed. I have used a serial comm component in the
existing code but I figured I could replace that by an Indy TCP client
component instead. Apart from that there are only standard functions
used and no user interface.

So that is why I am here now. I have used RPi units for a lot of
things at home (I run media centers, printer servers, VPN servers and
such things using 4 different Pi:s). So it is a natural to try this
road...

I am still looking for the proper way to go. Possibly first starting
from my existing Delphi software and creating the cut down unattended
software on Windows and then porting over to the Pi. Windows services
is not possible of course so I figured I could make a console program
started by cron instead.

What would be the best way in your view?


-- 
Bo Berglund
Developer in Sweden


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Re: [Lazarus] Cross-compiling for Raspberry Pi2

[Martin Schreiber]

On Friday 18 September 2015 16:08:20 Martin Schreiber wrote:
> 2. Port the FPC Windows to FPC Linux X86 on a Linux X86 PC.
2. Port the FPC Windows application to FPC Linux X86 on a Linux X86 PC.

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Re: [Lazarus] Cross-compiling for Raspberry Pi2

[Graeme Geldenhuys]

On 2015-09-18 at 00:43, Bo Berglund wrote:

> It seems like an easier way to build directly on the end hardware than
> crosscompiling.

Yeah, that's what I've been doing for years, and it works very well. I
have an original RPi, so even less memory and CPU power, so I opted not
to use Lazarus IDE or LCL. Maximus or MSEide only use 15-25MB of RAM
(compared to Lazarus's 100+MB for the same project).

You can obviously compile from the command line too and use any
lightweight text editor if you want.


Regards,
  - Graeme -

-- 
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http://fpgui.sourceforge.net/

My public PGP key:  http://tinyurl.com/graeme-pgp

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Re: [Lazarus] Cross-compiling for Raspberry Pi2

[Martin Schreiber]

On Friday 18 September 2015 15:44:40 Bo Berglund wrote:
> On Fri, 18 Sep 2015 11:02:23 +0200, Michael Schnell

>
> What would be the best way in your view?

1. Port the Delphi 7 application to FPC Windows X86 on a Windows X86 PC.
2. Port the FPC Windows to FPC Linux X86 on a Linux X86 PC.
3. Cross compile and cross debug the Linux application to RaspberryPi on the 
Linux X86 PC.

Martin 


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Re: [Lazarus] Cross-compiling for Raspberry Pi2

[Bo Berglund]

On Fri, 18 Sep 2015 16:08:20 +0200, Martin Schreiber
 wrote:

>On Friday 18 September 2015 15:44:40 Bo Berglund wrote:
>> On Fri, 18 Sep 2015 11:02:23 +0200, Michael Schnell
>
>>
>> What would be the best way in your view?
>
>1. Port the Delphi 7 application to FPC Windows X86 on a Windows X86 PC.
>2. Port the FPC Windows to FPC Linux X86 on a Linux X86 PC.
>3. Cross compile and cross debug the Linux application to RaspberryPi on the 
>Linux X86 PC.
>
Thanks!
I have Lazarus installed on my laptop so I guess I can start right
away to cut and paste code from my existing project and create the
console app on Windows but in Lazarus then.
I have not really used Lazarus except for some hello world tests and
for checking how to port a Sentinel dongle function to FPC.

I'll probably ask some more, but how does one go about getting Indy10
onto Lazarus/FPC?


-- 
Bo Berglund
Developer in Sweden


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Re: [Lazarus] Cross-compiling for Raspberry Pi2

[Michael Van Canneyt]

On Fri, 18 Sep 2015, Michael Schnell wrote:


On 09/18/2015 01:28 AM, Bo Berglund wrote:

I have a need to port a Delphi console program written for Windows to
be used on Raspberry Pi2.


What are the steps needed to port to Pi2?


I would use a Linux desktop to do the port to Linux in the most comfortable 
way, before considering the port to ARM.


Especially with "console programs" Delphi/Windows is rather different from 
Lazarus/Linux, as in Lazarus console programs don't feature an Event queue.


To the best of my knowledge, Delphi itself does not offer an event queue either 
in console programs.

If you are talking about thread queues: the mechanisms in Delphi and Lazarus 
are exactly the same.
If you are talking about the windows 'event system': this is a windows concept, 
not a linux concept.
Linux has different mechanisms entirely. This is unrelated to 
Delphi/Lazarus/FPC whatever.

I really do not appreciate this kind of derogatory comments.

Michael.

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Re: [Lazarus] Cross-compiling for Raspberry Pi2

[Michael Schnell]

On 09/18/2015 10:42 AM, Michael Van Canneyt wrote:


To the best of my knowledge, Delphi itself does not offer an event 
queue either in console programs.


In fact I doubt that the OP really intends to do a pure "console 
program" that is called by e.g. bash and runs through without waiting 
for anything and then exits.


AFAIK, with Delphi a "console program" is just a normal application that 
only does not show a Windows, but that can use e.g. TTimer in the normal 
Delphi-way.




If you are talking about thread queues: the mechanisms in Delphi and 
Lazarus are exactly the same.
AS the OP did not mention threads, I was mainly thinking of TTimer (I 
should have better written "TTimer" instead of "Event-Queue", even 
though under the hood this means the same in that issue) .


If you are talking about the windows 'event system': this is a windows 
concept, not a linux concept. Linux has different mechanisms entirely. 
This is unrelated to Delphi/Lazarus/FPC whatever. 
With Lazarus the User does not need to be aware that under the hood the 
Event Queue in the Windows and Linux brand of the LCL is implemented in 
a different way. Lazarus rather perfectly hides this. (But not with 
"Console Applications").




I really do not appreciate this kind of derogatory comments.


I did not mean to sound derogatory at all. I am very happy that the 
maintainers of the FPC and Lazarus Project do this great work.


I was just trying to be helpful to the OP, and I think - not only 
because of the potential issue I described - it is a good idea to split 
the porting task in porting from Delphi/ Windows to Lazarus/Linux and 
then form PC to ARM. (Been there, learned my lesson.)  With a complex 
Project, it even could be viable to do a port from Delphi to Lazarus on 
Windows first).


-Michael


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Re: [Lazarus] Cross-compiling for Raspberry Pi2

[Mark Morgan Lloyd]

Bo Berglund wrote:

I found a guide t o install FPC-Lazarus directly on the Pi2 itself
here:
http://www.tweaking4all.com/hardware/raspberry-pi/install-lazarus-pascal-on-raspberry-pi-2/

It seems like an easier way to build directly on the end hardware than
crosscompiling. But the CPU power might be a limiting factor of
course. I will make an attempt at doing this first and see how it
goes.
I can always try cross-compilation later.


Bo, I did that on the original RPi at the end of last month. You'll need 
a couple of the Debian -dev packages (yell if you want me to check my 
notes) but the important things are (a) you'll need at least 512Mb of 
RAM+swap available and (b) remember that you can run the IDE etc. over 
SSH- you don't need a local screen and keyboard.


--
Mark Morgan Lloyd
markMLl .AT. telemetry.co .DOT. uk

[Opinions above are the author's, not those of his employers or colleagues]

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Re: [Lazarus] Cross-compiling for Raspberry Pi2

[Dennis]

FYI, I have done FPC daemon to run on RPi to communicate with Serial 
port and the feed the data back to a PC program from time to time via 
LAN.  It is not very difficult.
However, I had difficulties using Indy on FPC and eventually gave up. I 
later moved to lNet because it runs on linux and supports SSL.
If I had to redo it, I would do it in synapse, especially if I don't 
need SSL.


For the loop, I would loop infinitely in the console program.
A better way if you don't mind is to create a few threads. One for 
collection data and another for communicating on the LAN.


Nowadays, a raspberry pi has much more RAM and faster CPU. It would make 
it even easier.



For writing daemon, just refer to FPC wiki.


Dennis

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Re: [Lazarus] Cross-compiling for Raspberry Pi2

[Bo Berglund]

On Fri, 18 Sep 2015 11:40:53 +0200, Michael Schnell
 wrote:

>
>So Bo supposedly is save if he selects "Application" and not "Console 
>Application" when setting up his project. In fact on a PI a GUI system 
>is active by default.
>
>Other than MSE, a Lazarus "Console Application" can't use TTimer, this 
>might not be relevant for Bo on Pi.

On the Windows service application I am checking every minute if a
start time for a measure task has occurred and then I run the process
to get the measurement going.
I probably have to do something about the way to handle the scheduling
in Linux, either by programmatically setting up cron jobs or by having
my program run in an eternal loop and checking the time in every loop
iteration.
Or is there a better way on Linux?
As described my Windows application is a service and I am not porting
that, I only want to use all of the ObjectPascal classes I created for
the handling of the instrumentation but using whatever scheduling
functionality that may be available in Linux.
And I have to include an Indy TCP Client too

-- 
Bo Berglund
Developer in Sweden


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Re: [Lazarus] Cross-compiling for Raspberry Pi2

[Bo Berglund]

On Fri, 18 Sep 2015 16:43:38 +0200, Martin Schreiber
 wrote:

>On Friday 18 September 2015 16:14:35 Bo Berglund wrote:
>
>> I have not really used Lazarus except for some hello world tests and
>> for checking how to port a Sentinel dongle function to FPC.
>>
>Now that is a chance to use MSEide instead. ;-)
>MSEide runs amazingly fast on Raspberry Pi and has very good suport for 
>development of embedded and microprocessor projects written in Pascal or C, 
>cross development with MSEide is very comfortable. I use it daily for 
>different ARM and AVR32 projects.
>With MSEgui you also have a state of the art cross platform GUI toolkit with 
>excellent database options at your fingertips. MSEgui probably is the most 
>versatile GUI toolkit on the market.
>
>Martin

OK, I will have a look when I get a chance. Right now I am specing
down the project and am investigating my different options.
I know Delphi (obviously) and a little about Lazarus. But MSE is news
to me


-- 
Bo Berglund
Developer in Sweden


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Re: [Lazarus] Cross-compiling for Raspberry Pi2

[Graeme Geldenhuys]

Hello Bo,

On 2015-09-18 at 11:12, Bo Berglund wrote:
> Does that mean I can install FPC only on the Pi and then develop on a
> Linux box (x86) using Lazarus and then move the project to the Pi and
> recompile using the FPC from a terminal on the Pi?

Yes, that is an option too, and should work just fine - especially
since you said the project is a console program.

If you developed a GUI application, then the RPi would need the *.ppu
files for the GUI toolkit too. But this is irrelevant in your case.



Regards,
  - Graeme -

-- 
fpGUI Toolkit - a cross-platform GUI toolkit using Free Pascal
http://fpgui.sourceforge.net/

My public PGP key:  http://tinyurl.com/graeme-pgp

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Re: [Lazarus] Cross-compiling for Raspberry Pi2

[Bo Berglund]

On Fri, 18 Sep 2015 14:20:43 +0100, Graeme Geldenhuys
 wrote:

>On 2015-09-18 at 00:43, Bo Berglund wrote:
>
>> It seems like an easier way to build directly on the end hardware than
>> crosscompiling.
>
>Yeah, that's what I've been doing for years, and it works very well. I
>have an original RPi, so even less memory and CPU power, so I opted not
>to use Lazarus IDE or LCL. Maximus or MSEide only use 15-25MB of RAM
>(compared to Lazarus's 100+MB for the same project).
>
>You can obviously compile from the command line too and use any
>lightweight text editor if you want.
>

Does that mean I can install FPC only on the Pi and then develop on a
Linux box (x86) using Lazarus and then move the project to the Pi and
recompile using the FPC from a terminal on the Pi?
Anything I need to take into account for that to work?


-- 
Bo Berglund
Developer in Sweden


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Re: [Lazarus] Cross-compiling for Raspberry Pi2

[Michael Van Canneyt]

On Fri, 18 Sep 2015, Martin Schreiber wrote:


On Friday 18 September 2015 16:14:35 Bo Berglund wrote:


I have not really used Lazarus except for some hello world tests and
for checking how to port a Sentinel dongle function to FPC.


Now that is a chance to use MSEide instead. ;-)
MSEide runs amazingly fast on Raspberry Pi and has very good suport for
development of embedded and microprocessor projects written in Pascal or C,
cross development with MSEide is very comfortable. I use it daily for
different ARM and AVR32 projects.
With MSEgui you also have a state of the art cross platform GUI toolkit with
excellent database options at your fingertips. MSEgui probably is the most
versatile GUI toolkit on the market.


Quite cheeky, posting this on a Lazarus list :)

Michael.

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