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gpioTool#

The gpioTool command-line tool allows you to configure the physical properties of the trigger signals received or sent by a frame grabber or trigger board.

  • You can configure the input lines to receive single-ended or differential signals.
  • You can configure the input lines to operate in pull-up or pull-down mode.
  • You can specify whether output signals should be inverted.

The gpioTool is included in the Framegrabber SDK and in the pylon Software Suite.

To start the tool:

  1. Open a command line.
  2. If you're using the Framegrabber SDK, change to the bin directory of your Framegrabber SDK installation: cd /D %BASLER_FG_SDK_DIR%\bin.

  3. If you're using pylon, change to the bin directory of your pylon installation:

    • Windows: %programfiles%\Basler\pylon[version]\Runtime\x64\pylonCXP\bin
    • Linux: /opt/pylon/lib/pylonCXP/bin

  4. Start the gpioTool using the options described below.

Options#

The following options are available:

gpioTool -b [board_index]
         -g
         -v
         -s [bank]:[settings]
         -h

-b [board_index]
Specify which board (frame grabber or trigger board) in your system you want to address. This parameter is mandatory for all options except -h.
The value range of [board_index] is the index numbers of all boards installed in your system. If you only have one board in your system, set [board_index] to 0.

-b [board_index] -g
Show the current GPIO bank settings of the board specified.

-b [board_index] -v
Show the current GPIO bank settings with verbose output.

-b [board_index] -s [bank]:[settings]
Configure the GPIO bank on the board specified.
[bank] specifies the index number of the GPIO bank.
[settings] configures the settings. See below.

-h
Show help.

Settings#

For the [settings] part in -b [board_index] -s [bank]:[settings], the following settings are available:

Setting Value Result
[signal] se Configures the input lines to receive single-ended signals.
[signal] ds Configures the input lines to receive differential signals.
[pull-up-down] pu Configures the input lines to operate in pull-up mode.a
[pull-up-down] pd Configures the input lines to operate in pull-down mode.b
[inversion] ni Disables inversion for the output lines.
[inversion] in Enables inversion for the output lines.

  1. For most applications, use this mode. The board activates a 10 kΩ pull-up resistor to receive signals from NPN transistors (open collector, open drain). ↩

  2. The board activates a 10 kΩ pull-down resistor to receive signals from PNP transistors (open emitter, open source). ↩

You must enter the settings in the following format: [signal],[pull-up-down],[inversion]. Example: ds,pu,ni

Alternatively, you can set [settings] to default. This resets the configuration of a GPIO bank.

Example#

gpioTool -b 0 -s 0:ds,pu,ni

This command configures the board as follows:

  • -b 0: Configure the GPIOs on board 0.
  • -s: Start the actual configuration.
  • 0:: Configure GPIO bank 0 (front GPIO).
  • ds,pu,ni: Configure the front GPIO to receive differential signals (ds), to work in pull-up mode (pu), and to send the outgoing signals not inverted (ni).

Resetting the Configuration#

To reset a board and GPIO bank to the default settings, start the gpioTool with [settings] set to default:

gpioTool -b [board_index] -s [bank]:default

Example: gpioTool -b 0 -s 0:default

Resetting to DIP Switch Settings#

You can reset a board to the current DIP switch settings. This overrides the software configuration.

To reset a board to DIP switch settings, start the gpioTool with [settings] set to dip-switch:

gpioTool -b [board_index] -s [bank]:dip-switch

Example: gpioTool -b 0 -s 0:dip-switch