Niagara AX Developer Guide

NiagaraAX Developer Guide (build 3.0.100) from docDeveloper.
jar
AX
Niagara Developer Guide
Framework
Niagara Overview ........................................................................................................................... 8
Mile High View .......................................................................................................................... 8
Problem Space ............................................................................................................................ 8
Component Software .................................................................................................................. 8
Architecture..................................................................................................................................... 9
Overview..................................................................................................................................... 9
Stations........................................................................................................................................ 9
Daemon ..................................................................................................................................... 10
Workbench................................................................................................................................ 10
Web UI...................................................................................................................................... 10
Fox ............................................................................................................................................ 10
API Stack .................................................................................................................................. 11
API Information ............................................................................................................................ 12
Overview................................................................................................................................... 12
Stability ..................................................................................................................................... 12
What is Baja? ............................................................................................................................ 12
Specification versus Implementation........................................................................................ 12
javax.baja versus com.tridium ............................................................................................ 13
Modules......................................................................................................................................... 14
Overview................................................................................................................................... 14
Versions .................................................................................................................................... 14
Manifest .................................................................................................................................... 14
Object Model ................................................................................................................................ 16
Niagara Types ........................................................................................................................... 16
BObject ..................................................................................................................................... 16
BInterface.................................................................................................................................. 16
BObject Semantics.................................................................................................................... 16
Building BObject ...................................................................................................................... 16
Component Model ........................................................................................................................ 18
Introduction............................................................................................................................... 18
Slots........................................................................................................................................... 18
BValue ...................................................................................................................................... 18
Building BValues...................................................................................................................... 19
Building Simples........................................................................................................................... 20
Overview................................................................................................................................... 20
Example .................................................................................................................................... 20
Building Enums ............................................................................................................................ 22
Overview................................................................................................................................... 22
Example .................................................................................................................................... 22
Building Complexes...................................................................................................................... 24
BStructs vs BComponents ........................................................................................................ 24
Building BComplexes............................................................................................................... 24
July 21, 2006 Copyright © 2000-2006 Tridium Inc. All rights reserved. Page 1 of 133
NiagaraAX Developer Guide (build 3.0.100) from docDeveloper.jar
Introspection Patterns................................................................................................................ 24
Frozen Properties ...................................................................................................................... 24
Frozen Actions .......................................................................................................................... 25
Frozen Topics............................................................................................................................ 26
Dynamic Slots........................................................................................................................... 26
Registry ......................................................................................................................................... 28
Overview................................................................................................................................... 28
API ............................................................................................................................................ 28
Defs ........................................................................................................................................... 28
Spy ............................................................................................................................................ 28
Naming.......................................................................................................................................... 29
Overview................................................................................................................................... 29
APIs........................................................................................................................................... 29
Parsing....................................................................................................................................... 29
Common Schemes .................................................................................................................... 29
Links ............................................................................................................................................. 31
Overview................................................................................................................................... 31
Links ......................................................................................................................................... 31
Link Check................................................................................................................................ 31
Direct and Indirect Links .......................................................................................................... 31
Activation.................................................................................................................................. 32
Execution ...................................................................................................................................... 33
Overview................................................................................................................................... 33
Running State............................................................................................................................ 33
Links ......................................................................................................................................... 33
Timers ....................................................................................................................................... 33
Async Actions........................................................................................................................... 33
System Clock Changes ............................................................................................................. 34
Station ........................................................................................................................................... 35
Overview................................................................................................................................... 35
Bootstrap ................................................................................................................................... 35
Remote Programming ................................................................................................................... 36
Overview................................................................................................................................... 36
Fundamentals ............................................................................................................................ 36
Proxy Features .......................................................................................................................... 37
Proxy States .............................................................................................................................. 37
Subscription .............................................................................................................................. 38
Leasing...................................................................................................................................... 38
Batch Calls ................................................................................................................................ 38
Debugging................................................................................................................................. 39
Files............................................................................................................................................... 40
Overview................................................................................................................................... 40
API ............................................................................................................................................ 40
Mapping File Extensions .......................................................................................................... 40
Security ......................................................................................................................................... 41
Overview................................................................................................................................... 41
Authentication and Encryption ................................................................................................. 41

Categories ................................................................................................................................. 42
Permissions ............................................................................................................................... 42
Auditing .................................................................................................................................... 44
Code Samples............................................................................................................................ 45
Localization................................................................................................................................... 46
Overview................................................................................................................................... 46
Context...................................................................................................................................... 46
Lexicon ..................................................................................................................................... 46
BFormat .................................................................................................................................... 46
Slots........................................................................................................................................... 46
Facets ........................................................................................................................................ 46
FrozenEnums ............................................................................................................................ 47
DynamicEnums......................................................................................................................... 47
User Interface............................................................................................................................ 47
Locale Selection........................................................................................................................ 47
Time Formatting ....................................................................................................................... 48
Unit Conversion ........................................................................................................................ 48
Spy ................................................................................................................................................ 49
Overview................................................................................................................................... 49
Licensing....................................................................................................................................... 50
Overview................................................................................................................................... 50
License File............................................................................................................................... 50
Predefined Features................................................................................................................... 51
API Usage ................................................................................................................................. 51
Checking Licenses .................................................................................................................... 51
XML.............................................................................................................................................. 52
Overview................................................................................................................................... 52
Example XML .......................................................................................................................... 52
Working with XElem................................................................................................................ 52
Working with XParser .............................................................................................................. 53
Bog Files ....................................................................................................................................... 55
Overview................................................................................................................................... 55
API ............................................................................................................................................ 55
Syntax ....................................................................................................................................... 55
Example .................................................................................................................................... 56
Distributions.................................................................................................................................. 57
Overview................................................................................................................................... 57
JAR Entry Paths........................................................................................................................ 57
Manifest .................................................................................................................................... 57
User Interface
Gx Graphics Toolkit ..................................................................................................................... 60
Overview................................................................................................................................... 60
Color ......................................................................................................................................... 60
Font ........................................................................................................................................... 60
Brush ......................................................................................................................................... 60
Pen............................................................................................................................................. 60
Coordinates ............................................................................................................................... 61
Geom......................................................................................................................................... 61
Transform.................................................................................................................................. 62
Image......................................................................................................................................... 62
Graphics .................................................................................................................................... 62
Bajaui Widget Toolkit................................................................................................................... 64
Overview................................................................................................................................... 64
Layout ....................................................................................................................................... 64
Painting ..................................................................................................................................... 65
Input .......................................................................................................................................... 65
Design Patterns ......................................................................................................................... 65
Commands ................................................................................................................................ 65
Data Binding ............................................................................................................................. 66
Performance Tuning.................................................................................................................. 66
Workbench.................................................................................................................................... 67
Overview................................................................................................................................... 67
Layout ....................................................................................................................................... 67
Browser Based Navigation ....................................................................................................... 68
WbPlugins................................................................................................................................. 68
WbView .................................................................................................................................... 68
WbFieldEditor........................................................................................................................... 69
WbSideBar................................................................................................................................ 69
WbTool ..................................................................................................................................... 69
WbProfiles ................................................................................................................................ 70
Web ............................................................................................................................................... 71
Overview................................................................................................................................... 71
Servlet ....................................................................................................................................... 71
ServletView............................................................................................................................... 71
Web Workbench ....................................................................................................................... 72
Hx.............................................................................................................................................. 72
WebProfileConfig ..................................................................................................................... 72
Hx.................................................................................................................................................. 73
Overview................................................................................................................................... 73
HxOp......................................................................................................................................... 73
HxView ..................................................................................................................................... 73
HxFieldEditor ........................................................................................................................... 74
HxProfiles ................................................................................................................................. 74
Theming .................................................................................................................................... 74
Px .................................................................................................................................................. 76
Overview................................................................................................................................... 76
Px Views ................................................................................................................................... 76
PxMedia .................................................................................................................................... 76
API ............................................................................................................................................ 76
Syntax ....................................................................................................................................... 76
Example .................................................................................................................................... 77
Horizontal Applications
Control .......................................................................................................................................... 78
Overview................................................................................................................................... 78
Design Patterns ......................................................................................................................... 78
Extensions ................................................................................................................................. 78
History........................................................................................................................................... 80
Overview................................................................................................................................... 80
Access ....................................................................................................................................... 80
Configuration and Collection.................................................................................................... 81
Compatibility ............................................................................................................................ 81
Archiving .................................................................................................................................. 82
History Exceptions.................................................................................................................... 82
Alarm ............................................................................................................................................ 83
Introduction............................................................................................................................... 83
Object Model ............................................................................................................................ 83
Lifecycle ................................................................................................................................... 84
Usage......................................................................................................................................... 84
Schedule........................................................................................................................................ 86
Overview................................................................................................................................... 86
Creating New Schedule Types.................................................................................................. 86
Using Existing Schedules ......................................................................................................... 86
BQL
BQL............................................................................................................................................... 88
Introduction............................................................................................................................... 88
Select......................................................................................................................................... 88
Simple Expressions................................................................................................................... 89
BQL Paths................................................................................................................................. 89
BQL from Java.......................................................................................................................... 89
BQL Expressions .......................................................................................................................... 91
Operator Precedence ................................................................................................................. 91
Typed Literals ........................................................................................................................... 91
BQL Examples.............................................................................................................................. 92
Driver Framework......................................................................................................................... 94
Overview................................................................................................................................... 94
Driver Hiearchy ........................................................................................................................ 94
Status......................................................................................................................................... 94
DeviceExts ................................................................................................................................ 94
User Interfaces .......................................................................................................................... 95
Drivers
Point Devicelet Framework .......................................................................................................... 96
Overview................................................................................................................................... 96
Point Modes .............................................................................................................................. 96
Proxy Ext .................................................................................................................................. 96

Framework to Driver Callbacks................................................................................................ 96
Driver to Framework Callbacks................................................................................................ 96
Tuning ....................................................................................................................................... 96
Utilities...................................................................................................................................... 97
History Devicelet Framework....................................................................................................... 98
Overview................................................................................................................................... 98
Alarm Devicelet Framework......................................................................................................... 99
Receiving Alarms...................................................................................................................... 99
Sending Alarms......................................................................................................................... 99
Schedule Device Extensions ....................................................................................................... 100
Overview................................................................................................................................. 100
BScheduleDeviceExt .............................................................................................................. 100
BScheduleExport .................................................................................................................... 100
BScheduleImportExt............................................................................................................... 100
BScheduleExportManager ...................................................................................................... 101
BScheduleImportManager ...................................................................................................... 101
Basic Driver ................................................................................................................................ 102
Overview................................................................................................................................. 102
Supporting Classes.................................................................................................................. 103
Messages ................................................................................................................................. 104
Utility Classes ......................................................................................................................... 104
Serial Driver............................................................................................................................ 104
BACnet Driver ............................................................................................................................ 105
Overview................................................................................................................................. 105
Server ...................................................................................................................................... 105
Client....................................................................................................................................... 106
Lonworks Driver......................................................................................................................... 107
Overview................................................................................................................................. 107
LonDevice............................................................................................................................... 107
Lon Data Model ...................................................................................................................... 107
Proxy points ............................................................................................................................ 108
Network Management............................................................................................................. 108
LonComm ............................................................................................................................... 108
LonMessage ............................................................................................................................ 108
Mapping ProgramId to Device Representation....................................................................... 108
Lon Markup Language................................................................................................................ 110
Overview................................................................................................................................. 110
LonXMLInterfaceFile............................................................................................................. 110
TypeDefs................................................................................................................................. 110
LonDevice............................................................................................................................... 111
DeviceData.............................................................................................................................. 111
NVs, NCIs, ConfigProps......................................................................................................... 111
File Attribute........................................................................................................................... 112
XDeviceData Definition ......................................................................................................... 113
Element Qualifier.................................................................................................................... 116
Development Tools
Build............................................................................................................................................ 117
Contents .................................................................................................................................. 117
Overview................................................................................................................................. 117
Directory Structure.................................................................................................................. 117
build.xml ................................................................................................................................. 118
module-include.xml ................................................................................................................ 119
module.palette......................................................................................................................... 119
module.lexicon........................................................................................................................ 119
Grouping Modules .................................................................................................................. 120
devkit.properties...................................................................................................................... 120
Using Build ............................................................................................................................. 120
Deploying Help........................................................................................................................... 121
Overview................................................................................................................................. 121
Slot-o-matic 2000........................................................................................................................ 124
Overview................................................................................................................................. 124
Usage....................................................................................................................................... 124
Architecture Diagrams
Architecture - Software Stack..................................................................................................... 128
Architecture - Class Diagram...................................................................................................... 129
Architecture - Communication ................................................................................................... 130
Architecture - Remote Programming.......................................................................................... 131
Architecture - Driver Hierarchy.................................................................................................. 132
Architecture - ProxyExt .............................................................................................................. 133
NiagaraAX Developer Guide (build 3.0.100) from docDeveloper.jar Niagara Overview
Mile High View
Niagara Overview
Mile High View
Niagara: a Java software framework and infrastructure with a focus on three major problems:
• Integrating heterogeneous systems, protocols, and fieldbuses;
• Empowering non-programmers to build applications using graphical programming tools;
• Targeted for highly distributed, embedded systems;
Problem Space
Java
The framework uses the Java VM as a common runtime environment across various operating systems and hardware
platforms. The core framework scales from small embedded controllers to high end servers. The framework runtime
is targeted for J2ME compliant VMs. The user interface toolkit and graphical programming tools are targetted for
J2SE 1.4 VMs.
Integrating Heteregenous Systems
Niagara is designed from the ground up to assume that there will never be any one "standard" network protocol,
distributed architecture, or fieldbus. Niagara's design center is to integrate cleanly with all networks and protocols.
The Niagara Framework standardizes what's inside the box, not what the box talks to.
Programming for Non-programmers
Most features in the Niagara Framework are designed for dual use. These features are designed around a set of Java
APIs to be accessed by developers writing Java code. At the same, most features are also designed to be used
through high level graphical programming and configuration tools. This vastly increases the scope of users capable
of building applications on the Niagara platform.
Embedded Systems
Niagara is targeted for embedded systems capable of running a Java VM. This excludes low devices without 32-bit
processors or several megs of RAM. But even embedded systems with the horsepower of low end workstations have
special needs. They are always headless and require remote administration. Embedded systems also tend to use solid
state storage with limited write cycles and much smaller volume capacities than hard drives.
Distributed Systems
The framework is designed to provide scalability to highly distributed systems composed of 10,000s of nodes
running the Niagara Framework software. Systems of this size span a wide range of network topologies and usually
communicate over unreliable Internet connections. Niagara is designed to provide an infrastructure for managing
systems of this scale.
Component Software
Niagara tackles these challenges by using an architecture centered around the concept of "Component Oriented
Development". Components are pieces of self-describing software that can be assembled like building blocks to
create new applications. A component centric architecture solves many problems in Niagara:
• Components provide a model used to normalize the data and features of heterogeneous protocols and
networks so that they can be integrated seamlessly.
• Applications can be assembled with components using graphical tools. This allows new applications to be
built without requiring a Java developer.
• Components provide unsurpassed visibility into applications. Since components are self-describing, it is
very easy for tools to introspect how an application is assembled, configured, and what is occurring at any
point in time. This provides immense value in debugging and maintaining Niagara applications.
• Components enable software reuse.
NiagaraAX Developer Guide (build 3.0.100) from docDeveloper.jar Architecture
Overview
Architecture
Overview
This chapter introduces key concepts and terminology used in the Niagara architecture.
Programs
There are typically four different programs (or processes) associated with a Niagara system. These programs and
their network communication are illustrated via the Communications Diagram:
• Station: is the Niagara runtime - a Java VM which runs a Niagara component application.
• Workbench: is the Niagara tool - a Java VM which hosts Niagara plugin components.
• Daemon: is a native daemon process. The daemon is used to boot stations and to manage platform
configuration such as IP settings.
• Web Browser: is standard web browser such as IE or FireFox that hosts one of Niagara's web user
interfaces.
Protocols
There are typically three network protocols that are used to integrate the four programs described above:
• Fox: is the proprietary TCP/IP protocol used for station-to-station and workbench-to-station
communication.
• HTTP: is the standard protcol used by web browsers to access web pages from a station.
• Niagarad: is the proprietary protocol used for workbench-to-daemon communication.
Platforms
Niagara is hosted on a wide range of platforms from small embedded controllers to high end servers:
• Jace: the term Jace (Java Application Control Engine) is used to describe a variety of headless, embedded
platforms. Typically a Jace runs on a Flash file system and provides battery backup. Jaces usually host a
station and a daemon process, but not workbench. Jaces typically run QNX or embedded Windows XP as
their operating system.
• Supervisor: the term Supervisor is applied to a station running on a workstation or server class machine.
Supervisors are typically stations that provide support services to other stations within a system such as
history or alarm concentration. Supervisors by definition run a station, and may potentially run the
daemon or workbench.
• Client: most often clients running a desktop OS such as Windows or Linux access Niagara using the
workbench or a web browser.
Stations
The Niagara architecture is designed around the concept of component oriented programming. Components are self
contained units of code written in Java and packaged up for deployment as modules. Components are then wired
together to define an application and executed using the station runtime.
A Niagara application designed to be run as a station is stored in an XML file called config.bog. The bog file
contains a tree of components, their property configuration, and how they are wired together using links. Station
databases can be created using a variety of mechanisms:
• Created on the fly and in the field using workbench graphical programming tools.
• Created offline using workbench graphical programming tools.
• Predefined and installed at manufacturing time.
• Programmatically generated in the field, potentially from a learn operation.
Stations which restrict their programmability to accomplish a dedicated task are often called appliances.
Often the term Supevisor or Jace will be used interchangeably with station. Technically the term station describes
the component runtime environment common all to all platforms, and Supervisor and Jace describe the hosting
platform.
Daemon
Daemon
The Niagara daemon is the one piece of Niagara written in native code, not Java. The daemon provides functionality
used to commission and bootstrap a Niagara platform:
• Manages installing and backing up station databases;
• Manages launching and monitoring stations;
• Manages configuration of TCP/IP settings;
• Manages installation and upgrades of the operating system (QNX only);
• Manages installation and upgrades of the Java virtual machine;
• Manages installation and upgrades of the Niagara software;
• Manages installation of lexicons for localization;
• Manages installation of licenses;
On Windows platforms, the daemon is run in the background as a Window's service. On QNX it is run as a daemon
process on startup.
The most common way to access daemon functionality is through the workbench. A connection to the daemon is
established via the "Open Platform" command which opens a PlatformSession to the remote machine. A suite of
views on the PlatformSession provides tools for accomplishing the tasks listed above.
Another mechanism used to access daemon functionality is via the plat.exe command line utility. This utility
provides much of the functionality of the workbench tools, but via a command line program suitable for scripting.
Run plat.exe in a console for more information.
Workbench
Niagara includes a powerful tool framework called the workbench. The workbench is built using the bajaui widget
framework which is itself built using the standard Niagara component model.
The workbench architecture is designed to provide a common shell used to host plugins written by multiple vendors.
The most common type of plugin is a view which is a viewer or editor for working with a specific type of object
such as a component or file. Other plugins include sidebars and tools.
Workbench itself may be morphed into new applications using the BWbProfile API. Profiles allow developers to
reuse the workbench infrastructure to create custom applications by adding or removing menu items, toolbar
buttons, sidebars, and views.
Web UI
An important feature of Niagara is the ability to provide a user interface via a standard web browser such as IE or
FireFox. Niagara provides both server side and client side technologies to build web UIs.
On the server side, the WebService component provides HTTP and HTTPS support in a station runtime. The
WebService provides a standard servlet engine. Servlets are deployed as components subclassed from BWebServlet.
Additional classes and APIs are built upon this foundation to provide higher level abstractions such as
BServletView.
There are two client side technologies provided by Niagara. The first is web workbench which allows the standard
workbench software to be run inside a web browser using the Java Plugin. The web workbench uses a small applet
called wbapplet to download modules as needed to the client machine and to host the workbench shell. These
modules are cached locally on the browser's hard drive.
In addition to the web workbench, a suite of technology called hx is available. The hx framework is a set of server
side servlets and a client side JavaScript library. Hx allows a real-time user interface to be built without use of the
Java Plugin. It requires only web standards: HTML, CSS, and JavaScript.
Fox
The Niagara Framework includes a proprietary protocol called Fox which is used for all network communication
between stations as well as between Workbench and stations. Fox is a multiplexed peer to peer protocol which sits
on top of a TCP connection. The default port for Fox connections is 1911. Fox features include:
API Stack
• Layered over a single TCP socket connection

• Digest authentication (username/passwords are encrypted)
• Peer to peer
• Request / response
• Asynchronous eventing
• Streaming
• Ability to support multiple applications over a single socket via channel multiplexing
• Text based framing and messaging for easy debugging
• Unified message payload syntax
• High performance
• Java implementation of the protocol stack
API Stack
Niagara provides a broad suite of Java APIs used to customize and extend the station and workbench. The software
stack diagram illustrates the various software layers of the architecture:
• Baja: The foundation of the architecture is defined via the baja module APIs. These APIs define the basics
such as modules, component model, naming, navigation, and security.
• Horizontal: Niagara includes an extensive library of prebuilt components applicable to various M2M
domains. The modules provide standard components and APIs, including: control, alarming, historical
data collection, scheduling, and BQL.
• Drivers: Niagara is designed from the ground up to support multiple heterogeneous protocols. Modules
designed to model and synchronize data with external devices or systems are called drivers and are
typically built with the driver framework. Drivers integrate both fieldbus protocols like BACnet and
Lonworks as well as enterprise systems like relational databases and web services.
• Human Interfaces: An extensive software stack is provided for user interfaces. The gx framework
provides a standard model and APIs for low level graphics. Built upon gx is the bajaui module which
provides a professional toolkit of standard widgets. Built upon bajaui is the workbench framework which
provides the standard APIs for writing plugin tools. The px framework and tools are used to enable non-
programmers and developers alike to create new user interfaces via XML.
NiagaraAX Developer Guide (build 3.0.100) from docDeveloper.jar API Information
Overview
API Information
Overview
There are a huge number of APIs available which are documented to varying degrees. In working with a specific
API there are a couple key points to understand:
• Stability: a designation for the maturity of the API and its likelihood for incompatible changes;
• Baja vs Tridium: public APIs are published under java.baja packages, and implementation specific
code is published under com.tridium;
Stability
Public APIs are classified into three categories:
• Stable: this designation is for mature APIs which have been thoroughly evaluated and locked down. Every
attempt is made to keep stable APIs source compatible between releases (a recompile may be necessary).
Only critical bug fixes or design flaws are just cause to break compatibility, and even then only between
major revisions (such 3.0 to 3.1). This does not mean that stable APIs are frozen, they will continue to be
enhanced with new classes and new methods. But no existing classes or methods will be removed.
• Evaluation: this designation is for a functionally complete API published for public use. Evaluation APIs
are mature enough to use for production development. However, they have not received enough
utilization and feedback to justify locking them down. Evaluation APIs will likely undergo minor
modification between major revisions (such 3.0 to 3.1). These changes will likely break both binary and
source compatibility. However, any changes should be easily incorporated into production code with
reasonable refactoring of the source code (such as a method being renamed).
• Development: this designation is for code actively under development. It is published for customers who
need the latest development build of the framework. Non-compatible changes should be expected, with
the potential for large scale redesign.
What is Baja?
Baja is a term coined from Building Automation Java Architecture. The core framework built by Tridium is
designed to be published as an open standard. This standard is being developed through Sun's Java Community
Process as JSR 60. This JSR is still an ongoing effort, but it is important to understand the distinction between Baja
and Niagara.
Specification versus Implementation

Fundamentally Baja is an open specification and the Niagara Framework is an implementation of that specification.
As a specification, Baja is not a set of software, but rather purely a set of documentation. The Baja specification will
include:
• Standards for how Baja software modules are packaged;
• The component model and its APIs;
• Historical database components and APIs;
• Alarming components and APIs;
• Control logic components and APIs;
• Scheduling components and APIs;
• BACnet driver components and APIs;
• Lonworks driver components and APIs;
Over time many more specifications for features will be added to Baja. But what is important to remember is that
Baja is only a specification. Niagara is an implementation of that specification. Furthermore you will find a vast
number of features in Niagara, that are not included under the Baja umbrella. In this respect Niagara provides a
superset of the Baja features.
NiagaraAX Developer Guide (build 3.0.100) from docDeveloper.jar API Information
Tjavax.bajaT versus Tcom.tridiumT
javax.baja versus com.tridium

Many features found in Niagara are exposed through a set of Java APIs. In the Java world APIs are grouped together
into packages, which are scoped using DNS domain names. Software developed through the Java Community
Process is usually scoped by packages starting with java or javax. The APIs developed for Baja are all grouped
under javax.baja. These are APIs that will be part of the open Baja specification and maybe implemented by
vendors other than Tridium. Using these APIs guarantees a measure of vendor neutrality and backward
compatibility.
Software developed by Tridium which is proprietary and outside of the Baja specification is grouped under the
com.tridium packages. The com.tridium packages contain code specific to how Niagara implements the
Baja APIs. The com.tridium code may or may not be documented. Most often these packages have their
components and slots documented (doc=bajaonly), but not their low level fields and methods. In general
com.tridium APIs should never be used by developers, and no compatibility is guaranteed.
Note: Tridium has developed some APIs under javax.baja even though they are not currently part of the Baja
specification. These are APIs that Tridium feels may eventually be published through Baja, but are currently in a
development stage.
NiagaraAX Developer Guide (build 3.0.100) from docDeveloper.jar Modules
Overview
Modules
Overview
The first step in understanding the Niagara architecture is to grasp the concept of modules. Modules are the smallest
unit of deployment and versioning in the Niagara architecture. A module is:
• A JAR file compliant with PKZIP compression;
• Contains a XML manifest in meta-inf/module.xml;
• Is independently versioned and deployable;
• States its dependencies on other modules and their versions;
Versions
Versions are specified as a series of whole numbers separated by a period, for example "1.0.3042". Two versions
can be compared resulting in equality, less than, or greater than. This comparision is made by comparing the version
numbers from left to right. If two versions are equal, except one contains more numbers then it is considered greater
than the shorter version. For example:
2.0 > 1.0

2.0 > 1.8
2.0.45 > 2.0.43
1.0.24.2 > 1.0.24
Every module has two versions. The first is the "bajaVersion" which maps the module to a Baja specification
version. If the module is not published under the Baja process then this value is "0". Secondly every module declares
a "vendor" name and "vendorVersion". The vendor name is a case insensitive identifier for the company who
developed the module and the vendorVersion identifies the vendor's specific version of that module.
Tridium's vendorVersions are formatted as "major.minor.build[.patch]:
• Major and minor declare a feature release such as 3.0.
• The third number specifies a build number. A build number starts at zero for each feature release and
increments each time all the softwares modules are built.
• Addition numbers may be specified for code changes made off a branch of a specific build. These are
usually patch builds for minor changes and bug fixes.
So the vendorVersion "3.0.22" represents a module of build 22 in Niagara release 3.0. The vendorVersion "3.0.45.2"
is the second patch of build 45 in release 3.0.
Manifest
All module JAR files must include a manifest file in "meta-inf/module.xml". The best way to examine the contents
of this file is to take an example:
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>

<module
name = "control"
bajaVersion = "1.0"
vendor = "Tridium"
vendorVersion = "3.0.20"
description = "Niagara Control Module"
preferredSymbol = "c"
>
<dependencies>
<dependency name="baja" vendor="Tridium" vendorVersion="3.0"/>
<dependency name="bajaui" vendor="Tridium" vendorVersion="3.0"/>
<dependency name="bql" vendor="Tridium" vendorVersion="3.0"/>
<dependency name="gx" vendor="Tridium" vendorVersion="3.0"/>
<dependency name="workbench" vendor="Tridium" vendorVersion="3.0"/>
NiagaraAX Developer Guide (build 3.0.100) from docDeveloper.jar Modules
Manifest
</dependencies>
<dirs>
<dir name="javax/baja/control" install="runtime"/>
<dir name="javax/baja/control/enum" install="runtime"/>
<dir name="javax/baja/control/ext" install="runtime"/>
<dir name="javax/baja/control/trigger" install="runtime"/>
<dir name="javax/baja/control/util" install="runtime"/>
<dir name="com/tridium/control/ui" install="ui"/>
<dir name="com/tridium/control/ui/trigger" install="ui"/>
<dir name="doc" install="doc"/>
</dirs>
<defs>
<def name="control.foo" value="something"/>
</defs>
<types>
<type name="FooBar" class="javax.baja.control.BFooBar"/>
</types>
</module>
Looking at the root module element the following attributes are required:
• name: The globally unique name of the module. Developers should use a unique prefix for their modules
to avoid name collisions. Module names must be one to 25 ASCII characters in length.
• bajaVersion: Baja specification version as discussed above.
• vendor: The company name of the module's owner.
• vendorVersion: Vendor specific version as discussed above.
• description: A short summary of the module's purpose.
• preferredSymbol: This is used during XML serialization.
All modules must include a dirs element, which contains a dir subelement for each of the module's content
directories. Each dir has a name attribute which contains a system-home relative file path for a directory in the
module, and an install attribute which has one of the following values:
• runtime: The contents of the directory are to be installed to all hosts.
• ui: The contents of the directory are to be installed only to hosts having module content filter levels of "ui"
or "doc".
• doc: The contents of the directory are to be installed only to hosts having the "doc" module content filter
level.
All modules include zero or one dependencies element. This element contains zero or more dependency
elements which enumerate the module's dependencies. Dependencies must be resolved by the framework before the
module can be successfully used. Each dependency has one required attribute. The name attribute specifies the
globally unique name of the dependent module. A dependency may also specify a bajaVersion and/or a vendor
version. If the bajaVersion attribute is declared then it specifies the lowest bajaVersion of the dependent module
required. It is assumed that higher versions of a module are backward compatible, thus any version greater than the
one specified in a dependency is considered usable. Likewise the vendor and vendorVersion may be specified to
declare a dependency on a specific implementation of a module. The vendor attribute may be specified without the
vendorVersion attribute, but not vise versa. The required embed attribute specifies whether the dependency should
be enforced on embedded Niagara devices.
Modules can declare zero or more def elements which store String name/value pairs. The defs from all modules are
collapsed into a global def database by the registry.
Modules which contain concrete Niagara BObjects also include a types element. This element includes zero or
more type elements. Each type element defines a mapping between a Baja type name and a Java class name. This
definition is specified in the two required attributes type and class.
NiagaraAX Developer Guide (build 3.0.100) from docDeveloper.jar Object Model
Niagara Types
Object Model
Niagara Types
The heart of Niagara is its type system layered above Java type system. Niagara Types are monikers to a Java class
in a specific module. The interface javax.baja.sys.Type is used to represent Types in the Niagara
Framework. Every Type is globally identified by its module name and its type name. As previously discussed, a
module name globally identifies a Niagara software module. The type name is a simple String name which is
mapped to a Java class name by the "module.xml" manifest file. Type's are commonly identified using a format of:
{module name}:{type name}
Examples:
baja:AbsTime
bajaui:TextField
Note: to avoid confusion with the various uses of the word type, we will use capitalization when talking about a
Niagara Type.
BObject
All Java classes which implement a Niagara Type are subclassed from BObject . It is useful to compare Type
and BObject to their low level Java counter parts:
Java Niagara
java.lang.Object javax.baja.sys.BObject
java.lang.Class javax.baja.sys.Type
java.lang.reflect.Member javax.baja.sys.Slot (discussed later)
Type and Slot capture the concepts of meta-data, while BObject provides the base class of Niagara object
instances themselves.
BInterface
Java interfaces may be mapped into the Niagara type system by extending BInterface. You can query whether a
Type maps to a class or an interface using the method isInterface().
Classes which implement BInterface must also extent BObject. All BInterfaces class names should be
prefixed with "BI".
BObject Semantics
Subclassing from BObject provides some common semantics that all instances of Niagara Types share:
• They all support a getType() method.
• Types installed on a system can be extensively queried using the registry.
• All BObjects have an icon accessed via getIcon().
• All BObjects have a set of agents accessed via getAgents(). Most agents are user agents which
provide some visualization or configuration mechanism for the BObject.
Building BObject
By subclassing BObject you make an ordinary Java class into a Nigara Type. You must obey the following rules
when creating a Type:
• Types must declare a mapping between their type name and their qualified Java class
name in "module.xml". The Java class name must always be prefixed with 'B', but the
type name doesn't include this leading 'B'. For example:
• <type name="FooBar" class="javax.baja.control.BFooBar"/>
NiagaraAX Developer Guide (build 3.0.100) from docDeveloper.jar Object Model
Building BObject
• All Types must override the getType() method to return a statically cached Type instance created by
the Sys.loadType() method:
•
• public Type getType() { return TYPE; }
• public static final Type TYPE = Sys.loadType(BFooBar.class);
NiagaraAX Developer Guide (build 3.0.100) from docDeveloper.jar Component Model
Introduction
Component Model
Introduction
Built upon Niagara's object model is the component model. Components are a special class of BObjects used to
assemble applications using graphical programming tools.
Slots
Niagara components are defined as a collection of Slots. There are three types of slots:
• javax.baja.sys.Property: Properties represent a storage location of another Niagara object.
• javax.baja.sys.Action: An action is a slot that specifies behavior which may be invoked either through a
user command or by an event.
• javax.baja.sys.Topic: Topics represent the subject of an event. Topics contain neither a storage location,
nor a behavior. Rather a topic serves as a place holder for a event source.
The Java interfaces used to model slots in the Niagara framework are:
javax.baja.sys.Slot
|
+ javax.baja.sys.Property
|
+ javax.baja.sys.Action
|
+ javax.baja.sys.Topic
Every slot is identified by a String name which is unique within its Type. Slot names must contain ASCII letters or
numbers. Other characters may be escaped using "$xx" or "$uxxxx". Refer to SlotPath for the formal grammar of
slot names and utilities for escaping and unescaping.
Slots also contain a 32-bit mask of flags which provide additional meta-data about the slot. These flag constants are
defined in the javax.baja.sys.Flags class. Additional meta-data which is not predefined by a flag constant
may be specified using BFacets which support arbitrary name/value pairs
Slots are either frozen or dynamic. A frozen slot is defined at compile time within a Type's Java class. Frozen slots
are consistent across all instances of a specified Type. Dynamic slots may be added, removed, renamed, and
reordered during runtime. The power of the Niagara Framework is in providing a consistent model for both compile
time slots and runtime slots. Frozen and dynamic slots are discussed in detail in Building Complexes.
BValue
All values of Property slots are instances of javax.baja.sys.BValue. The BValue class hierarchy is:
javax.baja.sys.BObject
|
+ javax.baja.sys.BValue
|
+ javax.baja.sys.BSimple
|
+ javax.baja.sys.BComplex
|
+ javax.baja.sys.BStruct
|
+ javax.baja.sys.BComponent
BSimples are atomic Types in the Niagara Framework, they never contain any slots themselves. The BComplex
class is used to built Types which are composed of slots. Every BComplex can be recursively broken down into its
primitive BSimples.
NiagaraAX Developer Guide (build 3.0.100) from docDeveloper.jar Component Model
Building BValues
Building BValues
To define new BValues types refer to the following for rules and design patterns:
• Building Simples Details for building BSimple Types;
• Building Enums Details for building BEnum Types;
• Building Complexes Details for building BComplex and BComponent Types;
NiagaraAX Developer Guide (build 3.0.100) from docDeveloper.jar Building Simples
Overview
Building Simples
Overview
BSimple is the base class for all atomic data types in Niagara. As an atomic data type, BSimples store a simple
piece of data which cannot be decomposed. All simples are immutable, that is once an instance is created it may
never change its state. Concrete subclasses of BSimples must meet the following requirements:
• Meet the common rules applicable to all BObjects;
• Must declare a public static final field named DEFAULT which contains a reference to the
default instance for the BSimple;
• All BSimples must be immutable! Under no circumstances should there be any way for an instance of
BSimple to have its state changed after construction;
• Every concrete subclass of BSimple must be declared final;
• Every BSimple must implement the equals() method to compare the equality of its atomic data;
• Every BSimple must implement binary serialization:
•
• public abstract void encode(DataOutput out);
• public abstract BSimple decode(DataInput in);
• Every BSimple must implement text serialization:
•
• public abstract String encodeToString();
• public abstract BSimple decodeFromString(String s);
• Convention is to make constructors private and provide one or more factory methods called make.
Example
The following source provides a example:
/*
* Copyright 2000 Tridium, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
*/
package javax.baja.sys;
import java.io.*;
/**
* The BInteger is the wrapper class for Java primitive
* int objects.
*/
public final class BInteger
extends BNumber
{
public static BInteger make(int value)

{
if (value == 0) return DEFAULT;
return new BInteger(value);
}
private BInteger(int value)

{
this.value = value;
}
public int getInt()

{
return value;
NiagaraAX Developer Guide (build 3.0.100) from docDeveloper.jar Building Simples
Example
public float getFloat()

{
return (float)value;
}
public int hashCode()

{
return value;
}
public boolean equals(Object obj)

{
if (obj instanceof BInteger)
return ((BInteger)obj).value == value;
return false;
}
public String toString(Context context)

{
return String.valueOf(value);
}
public void encode(DataOutput out)

throws IOException
{
out.writeInt(value);
}
public BSimple decode(DataInput in)

throws IOException
{
return new BInteger( in.readInt() );
}
public String encodeToString()

throws IOException
{
return String.valueOf(value);
}
public BSimple decodeFromString(String s)

throws IOException
{
try
{
return new BInteger( Integer.parseInt(s) );
}
catch(Exception e)
{
throw new IOException("Invalid integer: " + s);
}
}
public static final BInteger DEFAULT = new BInteger(0);
public Type getType() { return TYPE; }

public static final Type TYPE = Sys.loadType(BInteger.class);
private int value;

}
NiagaraAX Developer Guide (build 3.0.100) from docDeveloper.jar Building Enums
Overview
Building Enums
Overview
The BEnum base class is used to define enumerated types. An enum is composed of a fixed set of int/String pairs
called its range. The int identifiers are called ordinals and the String identifiers are called tags. Enum ranges are
managed by the BEnumRange class.
There are three subclasses of BEnum. BBoolean is a special case which models a boolean primitive. The
BDynamicEnum class is used to manage weakly typed enums which may store any ordinal and range. Strongly
typed enums may be defined at compile time by subclassing BFrozenEnum. The Niagara Framework builds a
BFrozenEnum's range using the following set of introspection rules:
• Meet the common rules applicable to all BSimples (although BFrozenEnum is not required to declare
a DEFAULT field);
• Define a set of public static final fields which reference instances of the BFrozenEnum's
range. Each of these BFrozenEnum must declare a unique ordinal value starting with zero and
incrementing by one. Each of these BFrozenEnum must have a type exactly equal to the declaring class.
• There can be no way to create other instances of the BFrozenEnum outside of the fields declaring its
range. This means no other instances declared in static fields, returned by a static method, or instantable
through non-private constructors.
• There must be at least one BFrozenEnum declared in the range.
• The default value of a BFrozenEnum is the instance with an ordinal value of zero.
• By convention a public static final int field is defined for each BFrozenEnum in the range
to provide access to the ordinal value.
Example
The following source provides a complete example of the implementation for BOrientation:
/*
* Copyright 2000 Tridium, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
*/
package javax.baja.ui.enum;
import javax.baja.sys.*;
/**
* BOrientation defines a widget's orientation as
* either horizontal or vertical.
*/
public final class BOrientation
extends BFrozenEnum
{
public static final int HORIZONTAL = 0;

public static final int VERTICAL = 1;
public static final BOrientation horizontal = new BOrientation(HORIZONTAL);

public static final BOrientation vertical = new BOrientation(VERTICAL);
public Type getType() { return TYPE; }

public static final Type TYPE = Sys.loadType(BOrientation.class);
public static BOrientation make(int ordinal)

{
return (BOrientation)horizontal.getRange().get(ordinal);
}
NiagaraAX Developer Guide (build 3.0.100) from docDeveloper.jar Building Enums
Example
public static BOrientation make(String tag)

{
return (BOrientation)horizontal.getRange().get(tag);
}
private BOrientation(int ordinal) { super(ordinal); }
NiagaraAX Developer Guide (build 3.0.100) from docDeveloper.jar Building Complexes
BStructs vs BComponents
Building Complexes
BStructs vs BComponents
BComplex is the base class for both BStruct and BComponent. Classes never subclass BComplex directly (it
doesn't support any public or protected constructors). Rather developers subclass from BStruct or BComponent
depending on their needs. In general structs are used as complex data types. BStructs can be built only using
frozen properties. BComponents support much more flexibility and are built using frozen and dynamic slots of all
types:
BStruct BComponent
Frozen Property X X
Frozen Action X
Frozen Topic X
Dynamic Property X
Dynamic Action X
Dynamic Topic X
As you will learn, BComponents are also the basis for many other features such as BOrds, links, and the event
model. You may wonder why you would use a BStruct? There are two main reasons. The first is that because of
its limited feature set, it is more memory efficient. The other reason is that properties containing BComponents
cannot be linked, but BStructs can be (see Links).
Building BComplexes
All concrete subclasses of BComplex must meet the following requirements:
• Must declare a public constructor which takes no arguments;
• Declare frozen slots using the introspection patterns defined below.
Introspection Patterns
We have discussed how frozen slots are defined at compile time. Let's take a look at the frameworks knows when
frozen slots have been declared. Every slot is composed of two or three Java members. A member is the technical
term for a Java field, method, or constructor. At runtime the framework uses Java reflection to examine the members
of each class, looking for patterns to self-discover slots. These patterns are based on the patterns used by JavaBeans,
with significant extensions. Remember introspection is used only to define frozen slots, dynamic slots are not
specified in the classfile itself. There is a different pattern for each slot type.
These introspection patterns require a fair amount of boiler plate code. Although it is not too painful to write this
code by hand, you may use Slot-o-matic to generate the boiler plate code for you.
Frozen Properties
Rules
Every frozen property must follow these rules:
• Declare a public static final Property field where the field name is the property name.
• The property field must be allocated a Property instance using the BComplex.newProperty()
method. This method takes a set of flags for the property, and a default value.
• Declare a public getter method with JavaBean conventions: type getCapitalizedName().
• Declare a public setter method with JavaBean conventions: void setCapitalizedName(type v).
• The getter must call BObject.get(Property). The method must not perform any addition behavior.
• The setter must call BObject.set(Property, BObject). The method must not perform any
additional behavior.
Frozen Actions
• The only types which may be used in a property are: subclasses of BValue, boolean, int,
long, float, double, and String. The six non-BValue types have special accessors which
should be used in the getter and setter implementations.
Semantics
The introspection rules map Property meta-data as follows:
• Name: The Property name is the same as the field name.
• Type: The Property type is the one declared in the getter and setter methods.
• Flags: The Property flags are the ones passed to newProperty().
• Default Value: The Property's default value is the instance passed to newProperty().
Example
The following illustrates an example for different property types:
// boolean property: fooBar

public static final Property fooBar = newProperty(0, true);
public boolean getFooBar() { return getBoolean(fooBar); }
public void setFooBar(boolean v) { setBoolean(fooBar, v); }
// int property: cool

public static final Property cool = newProperty(0, 100);
public int getCool() { return getInt(cool); }
public void setCool(int v) { setInt(cool, v); }
// double property: analog

public static final Property analog = newProperty(0, 75.0);
public double getAnalog() { return getDouble(analog); }
public void setAnalog(double v) { setDouble(analog, v); }
// float property: description

public static final Property description = newProperty(0, "describe me");
public String getDescription() { return getString(description); }
public void setDescription(String x) { setString(description, v); }
// BObject property: timestamp

public static final Property timestamp = newProperty(0, BAbsTime.DEFAULT);
public BAbsTime getTimestamp() { return (BAbsTime)get(timestamp); }
public void setTimestamp(BAbsTime v) { set(timestamp, v); }
Frozen Actions
Rules
Every frozen action must follow these rules:
• Declare a public static final Action field where the field name is the action name.
• The action must be allocated an Action instance using the BComponent.newAction() method. This
method takes a set of flags for the action and an optional default argument.
• Declare a public invocation method with the action name. This method must return void or a BObject
type. This method must take zero or one parameters. If it takes a parameter, it should be a BObject
type.
• Declare a public implementation method, which is named doCapitalizedName. This method must have the
same return type as the invocation method. This method must have the same parameter list as the
invocation method.
• The implementation of the invocation method must call BComponent.invoke(). No other behavior is
permitted in the method.
Frozen Topics
Semantics
The introspection rules map Action meta-data as follows:
• Name: The Action name is the same as the field name.
• Return Type: The Action return type is the one declared in the invocation method.
• Parameter Type: The Action parameter type is the one declared in the invocation method.
• Flags: The Action flags are the ones passed to newAction().
Example
The following illustrates two examples. The first action contains neither a return value nor an argument value. The
second declares both a return and argument value:
// action: makeMyDay
public static final Action makeMyDay = newAction(0);
public void makeMyDay() { invoke(makeMyDay, null, null); }
public void doMakeMyDay() { System.out.println("Make my day!"); }
// action: increment
public static final Action increment = newAction(0, new BInteger(1));
public BInteger increment(BInteger v)
{ return (BInteger)invoke(increment, v, null); }
public BInteger doIncrement(BInteger i)
{ return new BInteger(i.getInt()+1); }
Frozen Topics
Rules
Every frozen topic must follow these rules:
• Declare a public static final Topic field where the field name is the topic name.
• Declare a fire method of the signature: void fireCapitalizedName(EventType).
• The implementation of the fire method is to call BComponent.fire(). No other behavior is permitted
in the method.
Semantics
The introspection rules map Topic meta-data as follows:
• Name: The Topic name is the same as the field name.
• Event Type: The Topic event type is the one declared in the fire method.
• Flags: The Topic flags are the ones passed to newTopic().
Example
The following code example illustrates declaring a frozen topic:
// topic: exploded
public static final Topic exploded = newTopic(0);
public void fireExploded(BString event) { fire(exploded, event, null); }
Dynamic Slots
Dynamic slots are not declared as members in the classfile, but rather are managed at runtime using a set of methods
on BComponent. These methods allow you to add, remove, rename, and reorder dynamic slots. A small sample of
these methods follows:
Property add(String name, BValue value, int flags);

void remove(Property property);
void rename(Property property, String newName);
void reorder(Property[] properties);
Dynamic Slots
Note: You will notice that methods dealing with dynamic slots take a Property, not a Slot. This is because all
dynamic slots including dynamic Actions and Topics are also Properties. Dynamic Actions and Topics are
implemented by subclassing BAction and BTopic respectively.
NiagaraAX Developer Guide (build 3.0.100) from docDeveloper.jar Registry
Overview
Registry
Overview
The registry is a term for a small database built by the Niagara runtime whenever it detects that a module has been
added, changed, or removed. During the registry build process all the types in all the modules are scanned. Their
classfiles are parsed to build an index for the class hiearchy of all the Niagara types available in the installation.
Some of the functions the registry provides:
• query modules installed without opening each jar file
• query class hiearhcy without loading actual Java classes
• query agents registered on a given Type
• map file extensions to their BIFile Types
• map ord schemes to their BOrdScheme Types
• defs provide a global map of name/value pairs
API
The Registry database may be accessed via Sys.getRegistry(). Since the primary use of the registry is to
interrogate the system about modules and types without loading them into memory, the registry API uses light
weight wrappers:
Registry Wrapper Real McCoy
ModuleInfo BModule
TypeInfo Type
Defs
Module's can declare zero or more defs in their module manifest. Defs are simple String name/value pairs that are
collapsed into a single global map by the registry. A good use of defs is to map a device id to a typespec, bog file, or
some other metadata file. Then the registry may be used to map devices to Niagara information at learn time.
Since the defs of all modules are collapsed into a single map, it is important to avoid name collisions. Convention is
to prefix your defs using module name plus a dot, for example "lonworks."
When using Niagara's standard build tools, defs are defined in your "module-include.xml":
<defs>
<def name="test.a" value="alpha"/>
<def name="test.b" value="beta"/>
</defs>
Use the registry API to query for defs:
String val = Sys.getRegistry().getDef("test.a");
Spy
A good way to learn about the registry is to navigate its spy pages.
NiagaraAX Developer Guide (build 3.0.100) from docDeveloper.jar Naming
Overview
Naming
Overview
Niagara provides a uniform naming system to identify any resource which may be represented using an instance of
BObject. These names are called ords for Object Resolution Descriptor. You can think of a ords as URIs on
steriods.
An ord is a list of one or more queries separated by the "|" pipe symbol. Each query is an ASCII string formatted as
"<scheme>:<body>". The scheme name is a globally unique identifier which instructs Niagara how to find a piece
of code to lookup an object from the body string. The body string is opaque and is formatted differently depending
on the scheme. The only rule is that it can't contain a pipe symbol.
Queries can be piped together to let each scheme focus on how to lookup a specific type of object. In general
absolute ords are of the format: host | session | space. Some examples:
ip:somehost|fox:|file:/dir/somefile.txt
ip:somehost|fox:1912|station:|slot:/Graphics/Home
local:|module://icons/x16/cut.png
In the examples above note that the "ip" scheme is used to identify a host machine using an IP address. The "fox"
scheme specifies a session to that machine usually on a specific IP port number. In the first example we identify an
instance of a file within somehost's file system. In the second example we identify a specific component in the
station database.
The third example illustrates a special case. The scheme "local" which always resolves to
BLocalHost.INSTANCE is both a host scheme and a session scheme. It represents objects found within the local
VM.
APIs
The core naming APIs are defined in the javax.baja.naming package. Ords are represented using the BOrd
class.
Ords may be resolved using the BOrd.resolve() or BOrd.get() methods. The resolve method returns an
intermediate OrdTarget that provides contextual information about how the ord was resolved. The get method is
a convenience for resolve().get().
Ords may be absolute or relative. When resolving a relative ord you must pass in a base object. If no base object is
specified then BLocalHost.INSTANCE is assumed. Some simple examples of resolving an ord:
BIFile f1 = (BIFile)BOrd.make("module://icons/x16/cut.png").get();
BIFile f2 = (BIFile)BOrd.make("file:somefile.txt").get(baseDir);
Parsing
Ords may be parsed into their constituent queries using the method BOrd.parse() which returns OrdQuery[].
In many cases you migth cast a OrdQuery into a concrete class. For example:
// dump the names in the file path

BOrd ord = BOrd.make("file:/a/b/c.txt");
OrdQuery[] queries = ord.parse();
FilePath path = (FilePath)queries[0];
for(int i=0; i<path.depth(); ++i)
System.out.println("path[" + i + "] = " + path.nameAt(i));
Common Schemes
The following is an informal introduction some common ord schemes used in Niagara.
ip:
The "ip" scheme is used to identify a BIpHost instance. Ords starting with "ip" are always absolute and ignore any
base which may be specified. The body of a "ip" query is a DNS hostname or an IP address of the format
"dd.dd.dd.dd".
NiagaraAX Developer Guide (build 3.0.100) from docDeveloper.jar Naming
Common Schemes
fox:
The "fox" scheme is used to establish a Fox session. Fox is the primary protocol used by Niagara for IP
communication. A "fox" query is formatted as "fox:" or "fox:<port>". If port is unspecified then the default 1911
port is assumed.
file:
The "file" scheme is used to identify files on the file system. All file ords resolve to instances of
javax.baja.file.BIFile. File queries always parse into a FilePath File ords come in the following
flavors:
• Authority Absolute: "//hostname/dir1/dir2"
• Local Absolute: "/dir1/dir2"
• Sys Absolute: "!lib/system.properties"
• User Absolute: "^config.bog"
• Relative: "myfile.txt"
• Relative with Backup: "../myfile.txt"
Sys absolute paths indicate files rooted under the Niagara installation directory identified via
Sys.getBajaHome(). User absolute paths are rooted under the user home directory identified via
Sys.getUserHome(). In the case of station VMs, user home is the directory of the station database.
module:
The "module" scheme is used to access BIFiles inside the module jar files. The module scheme uses the "file:"
scheme's formating where the authority name is the module name. Module queries can be relative also. If the query
is local absolute then it is assumed to be relative to the current module. Module queries always parse into a
FilePath
module://icons/x16/file.png
module://baja/javax/baja/sys/BObject.bajadoc
module:/doc/index.html
station:
The "station" scheme is used to resolve the BComponentSpace of a station database.
slot:
The "slot" scheme is used to resolve a BValue within a BComplex by walking down a path of slot names. Slot
queries always parse into a SlotPath.
h:
The "h" scheme is used to resolve a BComponent by its handle. Handles are unique String identifiers for
BComponents within a BComponentSpace. Handles provide a way to persistently identify a component
independent of any renames which modify a component's slot path.
service:
The "service" scheme is used to resolve a BComponent by its service type. The body of the query should be a type
spec.
spy:
The "spy" scheme is used to navigate spy pages. The javax.baja.spy APIs provide a framework for making
diagnostics information easily available.
bql:
The "bql" scheme is used to encapsulate a BQL query.
NiagaraAX Developer Guide (build 3.0.100) from docDeveloper.jar Links
Overview
Links
Overview
Links are the basic mechanism of execution flow in the Niagara Framework. Links allow components to be wired
together graphically by propogating an event on a one slot to another slot. An event occurs:
• When property slot of a BComponent is modified.
• When an action slot is invoked.
• When a topic slot is fired.
Links
A link is used to establish an event relationship between two slots. There are two sides to the relationship:
• Source: The source of the link is the BComponent generating the event either because one its properties
is modified or one its topics is fired. The source of a link is always passive in that is has no effect on the
component itself.
• Target: The target is the active side of the link. The target BComponent responds to an event from the
source.
A link is established using a property slot on the target BComponent which is an instance of BLink . The BLink
struct stores:
• Source Ord: identifier for the source BComponent;
• Source Slot: name of the source component's slot;
• Target Slot: name of the target component's slot to act upon;
Note: The target ord is not stored explictly in a BLink because it is implicitly derived by being a direct child of the
target component.
The following table diagrams how slots may be linked together:
Source Target Semantics
Property Property When source property changes, set the target property
Property Action When source property changes, invoke the action
Action Action When source action is invoked, invoke target action (action chaining)
Action Topic When source action fires, fire target topic
Topic Action When source topic fires, invoke the action
Topic Topic When source topic fires, fire target topic (topic chaining)
Link Check
Every component has a set of predefined rules which allow links to be established. These rules are embodied in the
LinkCheck class. Subclasses may override the BComponent.doLinkCheck() method to provide additional
link checking.
Direct and Indirect Links

Links are constructed as either direct or indirect. A direct link is constructed with a direct Java reference to its
source BComponent, source slot, and target slot. A direct link may be created at anytime. Neither the source nor
target components are required to be mounted or running. These links must be explicitly removed by the developer.
Direct links are never persisted. Examples of creating direct links:
target.linkTo("linkA", source, source.slot, target.slot);
...or...
BLink link = new BLink(source, source.slot, target.slot);
NiagaraAX Developer Guide (build 3.0.100) from docDeveloper.jar Links
Activation
target.add("linkA", link);
link.activate();
An indirect link is created through indirect names. A BOrd specifies the source component and Strings are used for
the source and target slot names. Since an indirect link requires resolution of a BOrd to get its source component, the
source is required to be mounted when the link is activated. Indirect links are automatically removed if their source
component is unmounted while the link is activated. Examples of creating an indirect link:
BLink link = new BLink(BOrd.make("h:77"), "sourceSlot", "targetSlot");

target.add("linkA", link);
Note: Links are rarely created programmatically, but rather are configured using the graphical programming tools.
The major exception to this rule is building GUIs in code. In this case it is best to establish direct links in your
constructor.
Activation
Links exist in either an activated or deactivated state. When a link is activated it is actively propagating events from
the source slot to the target slot. Activated links also maintain a Knob on the source component. Knobs are basically
a mirror image of a link stored on the source component to indicate the source is actively propagating events over
one or more links. When a link is deactivated event propagation ceases and the Knob is removed from the source
component.
Activation:
1. Links are activated when the BLink.activate() method is called. If the link is indirect, then the
source ord must be resolvable otherwise an UnresolvedException is thrown.
2. If creating a direct link using the BComponent.linkTo() method the link is automatically activated.
3. Enabled links are activated during BComponent start. This is how most indirect links are activated (at
station boot time).
4. Anytime a BLink value is added as a dynamic property on a running BComponent it is activated.
Deactivation:
1. Links are deactivated when the BLink.deactivate() method is called.
2. Anytime a property with a BLink value is removed from BComponent it is deactivated and the target
property is set back to its default value.
3. Anytime the source component of a active indirect link is unmounted, the link is deactivated and removed
from the target component.
NiagaraAX Developer Guide (build 3.0.100) from docDeveloper.jar Execution
Overview
Execution
Overview
It is important to understand how BComponents are executed so that your components play nicely in the Niagara
Framework. The Niagara execution model is based upon:
• Running State: Every component may be started or stopped.
• Links: Links allow events to propagate between components.
• Timers: Timers are established using the Clock class.
• Async Actions: Async actions are an important feature which prevent tight feedback loops.
Running State
Every BComponent maintains a running state which may be checked via the BComponent.isRunning()
method. A component may be put into the running state via the BComponent.start() method and taken out of
the running state via the BComponent.stop() method.
By default whenever a BComponent is started, all of its descendent components are also started recursively. This
behavior may be suppressed using the Flags.NO_RUN flag on a property. During startup, any properties
encountered with the noRun flag set will not be recursed.
Every BComponent may add its component specific startup and shutdown behavior by overriding the
started() and stopped() methods. These methods should be kept short; any lengthy tasks should be spawned
off on another thread.
Note: Developers will rarely call start() and stop() themselves. Rather these methods are automatically called
during station bootup and shutdown. See Station Bootstrap.
Links
The primary mechanism for execution flow is via the link mechanism. Links provide a powerful tool for configuring
execution flow at deployment time using Niagara's graphical programming tools. Developers should design their
components so that hooks are exposed via property, action, and topic slots.
One of the requirements for link propagation is normalized types. Therefore Niagara establishes some standard types
which should be used to provide normalized data. Any control point data should use one of the standard types found
in the javax.baja.status package.
Timers
Niagara provides a standard timer framework which should be used by components to setup periodic and one-shot
timers. Timers are created using the schedule() and schedulePeriodically()methods on Clock. Timer
callbacks are an action slot. The BComponent must be mounted and running in order to create a timer.
There are four types of timers created with four different methods on Clock. Two are one-shot timers and two are
periodic timers. The difference between the two one-shots and periodic timers is based on how the timers drift.
Refer to the Clock bajadoc for more information.
Async Actions
The Niagara execution model is event based. What this means is that events are chained through link propagation.
This model allows the possibility of feedback loops when a event will loop forever in a cyclical link chain. To
prevent feedback loops, component which might be configured with cyclical links should use async actions. An
async action is an action slot with the Flags.ASYNC flag set.
Normal actions are invoked immediately either through a direct invocation or a link propagation. This invocation
occurs on the callers thread synchronously. On the other hand, async actions are designed to run asynchronously on
another thread and immediately return control to the callers thread. Typically async actions will coalesce multiple
pending invocations.
By default async actions are scheduled by the built in engine manager. The engine manager automatically coalesces
action invocations, and schedules them to be run in the near future (100s of ms). Thus between actual execution
NiagaraAX Developer Guide (build 3.0.100) from docDeveloper.jar Execution
System Clock Changes
times if the action is invoked one or one hundred times, it is only executed once every execution cycle. This makes it
a very efficient way to handle event blasts such as dozens of property changes at one time. However all timer
callbacks and async actions in the VM share the same engine manager thread, so developers should be cautious not
to consume this thread except for short periods.
Niagara also provides a hook so that async actions may be scheduled by subclasses by overriding the post()
method. Using this method subclasses may schedule the action using their own queues and threads. A standard
library for managing invocations, queues, and threads is provided by the following utility classes:
• Invocation
;
• Queue
;
• CoalesceQueue
;
• Worker
;
• ThreadPoolWorker
;
• BWorker
;
• BThreadPoolWorker
;
System Clock Changes

Some control algorithms are based on absolute time, for example a routine that runs every minute at the top of the
mintue. These algorithms should insure that they operate correctly even after system clock changes using the
callback BComponent.clockChanged(BRelTime shift).
NiagaraAX Developer Guide (build 3.0.100) from docDeveloper.jar Station
Overview
Station
Overview
A station is the main unit of server processing in the Niagara architecture:
• A station database is defined by a single .bog file "file:!stations/{name}/config.bog";
• Stations are booted from their config.bog file into a single VM/process on the host machine;
• There is usually a one to one correspondance between stations and host machines (Supervisors or Jaces).
However it is possible to run two stations on the same machine if they are configured to use different IP
ports;
Bootstrap
The following defines the station boot process:
1. Load: The first phase of bootstrap is to deserialize the config.bog database into memory as a
BStation and mount it into the ord namespace as "local:|station:".
2. Service Registration: Once the bog file has been loaded into memory and mounted, the framework
registers all services. Services are defined by implementing the BIService. After this step is complete
each service from the bog file may be resolved using the Sys.getService() and
Sys.getServices() methods.
3. Service Initialization: Once all services are registered by the framework, each service is initialized via the
Service.serviceStarted() callback. This gives services a chance to initialize themselves after
other services have been registered, but before general components get started.
4. Component Start: After service initialization the entire component tree under "local:|station:" is
started using BComponent.start(). This call in turn results in the started() and
descendentsStarted() callbacks. Once this phase is complete the entire station database is in the
running state and all active links continue propagation until the station is shutdown.
5. Steady State: Some control algorithms take a few seconds before the station should start sending control
commands to external devices. To handle this case there is a built-in timer during station bootstrap that
waits a few seconds, then invokes the BComponent.atSteadyState() callback. The steady state
timer may be configured using the "nre.steadystate" system property. Use Sys.atSteadyState() to
check if a station VM has completed its steady state wait period.
NiagaraAX Developer Guide (build 3.0.100) from docDeveloper.jar Remote Programming
Overview
Remote Programming
Overview
Remote programming is one of the most powerful features of Niagara. It is also the number one cause of confusion
and performance problems. The term remote programming broadly applies to using the component model across a
network connection. Some topics like subscription are critical concepts for many subsystems. But most often remote
programming applies to programming with components in the workbench across a fox connection to a station
(illustration).
The component model provides a number features for network programming:
• Lazy loading of a component tree across the network;
• Automatic synchronization of database tree structure over network;
• Ability to subscribe to real-time property changes and topic events;
• Ability to invoke an action over the network like an RPC;
• Support for timed subscriptions called leasing;
• Automatic support for propagating components changes over network;
• Ability to batch most network calls;
Fundamentals
The component model has the ability to make remote programming virtually transparent. In this diagram, the
component "/a/b" is accessed in the workbench VM, but actually lives and is executing in the station VM. The
instance of the component in the workbench is called the proxy and the instance in the station is called the master.
The first thing to note in Niagara is that both the proxy and master are instances of the same class. This is unlike
technologies such as RMI where the proxy is accessed using a special interface. Also unlike RMI and its brethren,
nothing special is required to make a component remote accessible. All Niagara components are automatically
remotable by virtue of subclassing BComponent.
From an API perspective there is no difference between programming against a proxy or a master component. Both
are instances of the same class with the same methods. However, sometimes it is important to make a distinction.
The most common way to achieve this is via the BComponent.isRunning() method. A master component will
return true and a proxy false. Although isRunning() is usually suitable for most circumstances, technically it
covers other semantics such as working offline. The specific call for checking proxy status is via
BComponent.getComponentSpace().isProxyComponentSpace().
Proxy Features
Note that proxy components receive all the standard change callbacks like changed() or added(). Typically
developers should short circuit these callbacks if the component is not running since executing callback code within
a proxy can produce unintended side effects.
Proxy Features
The framework provides a host of features which lets you program against a proxy component transparently:
• The proxy can maintain the state of the master by synchronizing all properties in real-time;
• Actions on the proxy act like RPCs;
• Any changes to the proxy are automatically propagated to the master;
The framework provides the ability to keep a proxy's properties completely synchronized in real-time to the master
using subscription. While subscribed all property changes are immediately reflected in the proxy. This enables easy
development of user interfaces that reflect the current state of a component. Note that only properties support this
feature - other fields of your class will not be synchronized, and likely will be invalid if they are populated via
station execution. Subscription is covered in more detail later.
Another feature of Niagara is that all actions automatically act like RPCs (Remote Procedure Calls). When you
invoke an action on a proxy, it automatically marshals the argument across the network, invokes the action on the
master, and then marshals the result back to the proxy VM. Note that all other methods are invoked locally.
Perhaps the most powerful feature of proxies is the ability to transparently and automatically propagate proxy side
changes to the master. For example when you set a property on a proxy, it actually marshals the change over the
network and makes the set on the master (which in turn synchronizes to the proxy once complete). This functionality
works for all component changes: sets, adds, removes, renames, reorders, flag sets, and facet sets. Note that if
making many changes it is more economical to batch the changes using a Transaction; this is discussed later.
Proxy States
A proxy component exists in three distinct states:
• Unloaded: in this state the proxy has not even been loaded across the network.
• Loaded: in this state the proxy is loaded across the network and is known to the proxy VM; it may or may
not be out-of-date with the master.
• Subscribed: in this state the proxy is actively synchronized with the master.
When a session is first opened to a station, none of the components in the station are known in the workbench.
Rather components are lazily loaded into the workbench only when needed. Components which haven't been loaded
yet are called unloaded.
Components become loaded via the BComplex.loadSlots() method. Components must always be loaded
according to their tree structure, thus once loaded it is guaranteed that all a component's ancestors are also loaded.
Rarely does a developer use the loadSlots() method. Rather components are loaded as the user expands the
navigation tree or a component is resolved by ord.
A loaded component means that a proxy instance representing the master component has been created in the
workbench. The proxy instance is of the same class as the master, and occupies a slot in the tree structure identical
to the master (remember all ancestors must also be loaded). The proxy has the same identity as the master. That
means calling methods such as getName(), getHandle(), and getSlotPath() return the same result.
However, note that the absolute ords of a proxy and master will be different since the proxy's ord includes how it
was accessed over the network (see diagram).
Once a proxy component has been loaded, it remains cached in the loaded state until the session is closed. Loaded
proxies maintain their structure and identity automatically through the use of NavEvents. NavEvents are always
routed across the network to maintain the proxy tree structure independent of the more fine grained component
eventing. For example if a loaded component is renamed, it always reflects the new name independent of
subscription state. Or if removed it is automatically removed from the cache.
Loaded components provide a cache of structure and identity, but they do not guarantee access to the current state of
the master via its properties. The subscribed state is used to synchronize a proxy with it's master. Subscription is
achieved using a variety of mechanisms discussed next. Once subscribed a component is guaranteed to have all its
Subscription
property values synchronized and kept up-to-date with the master. Subscription is an expensive state compared to
just being loaded, therefore it is imporant to unsubscribe when finished working with a proxy.
Subscription
Subscription is a concept used throughout the framework. Components commonly model entities external to the
VM. For example, proxy components model a master component in the station VM. Likewise, components in a
station often model an external system or device. Keeping components synchronized with their external
representations is usually computationally expensive. Therefore all components are built with a mechanism to be
notified when they really need to be synchronized. This mechanism is called subscription.
Subscription is a boolean state. A component can check it's current state via the
BComponent.isSubscribed() method. The subscribed() callback is invoked when entering the
subscribed state, and unsubscribed() when exiting the subscribed state. The subscribed state means that
something is currently interested in the component. Subscribed usually means the component should attempt to keep
itself synchronized through polling or eventing. The unsubscribed state may be used to disable synchronization to
save CPU, memory, or bandwidth resources.
Subscriptions often chain across multiple tiers. For example when you subscribe to a component in the workbench,
that subscribes to the master in a station. Suppose the station component is a proxy point for a piece of data running
in a Jace. That causes a subscription over the station-to-station connection resulting in the Jace's component to be
subscribed. If the Jace component models an external device, that might initiate a polling operation. Keep in mind
that n-tier subscribes might introduce delays. The stale status bit is often used with subscription to indicate that a
value hasn't yet been updated from an external device.
A component is moved into the subscribed state if any of the following are true:
• If the component is running and any slot in the component is used as the source of an active link:
isRunning() && getKnobs().length > 0.
• There are one or more active Subscribers.
• The component is permanently subscribed via the setPermanentlySubscribed() method. A
typical example is a control point with an extension that returns true for
requiresPointSubscription().
Collectively these three cases are used by the framework to indicate interest in a component. The framework does
not make a distinction between how a component is subscribed, rather all three cases boil down to a simple boolean
condition: subscribed or unsubscribed.
The Subscriber API is the standard mechanism to register for component events. You can think of Subscriber as
the BComponent listener API. Subscriber maintains a list of all the components it is subscribed to, which makes
cleanup easy via the unsubscribeAll() method. Subscribers receive the event() callback for any component
event in their subscription list. Note that workbench developers typically use BWbComponentView which wraps
the Subscriber API and provides automatic cleanup.
Leasing
A common need is to ensure that a component is synchronized, but only as a snapshot for immediate use. The
framework provides a feature called leasing to handle this problem. A lease is a temporary subscription, typically for
one minute. After one minute, the component automatically falls back to the unsubscribed state. However, if the
component is leased again before the minute expires, then the lease time is reset.
Leasing is accomplished via the BComponent.lease() method.
Batch Calls
Although the framework provides a nice abstraction for remote programming, you must be cognizant that network
calls are occuring under the covers and that network calls are extremely expensive operations. The number one
cause of performance problems is too many round robin network calls. The golden rule for remote programming is
that one large batch network call is almost always better performing than multiple small network calls. Niagara
provides APIs to batch many common operations.
Debugging
Batch Resolve
The first opportunity to batch network calls is when resolving more than one ord to a component. Resolving a
component deep down in the tree for the first time requires loading the component and all it's ancestors across the
network. And if the ord is a handle ord, a network call is needed to translate the handle into a slot path. The most
efficient way to batch resolve is the via the BatchResolve API.
Batch Subscribe
Subscription is another key area to perform batch network calls. There are three mechanisms for batch subscribe:
1. The first mechanism is to subscribe using a depth. The common case for subscription is when working
with a subsection of the component tree. Depth based subscribe allows a component and a number of
descendent levels to be subscribed via one operation. For example if working with the children and
grandchildren of a component, then subscribe with a depth of 2.
2. On rare occasions you may need to subscribe to a set of components scattered across the database. For this
case there is a subscribe method that accepts an array of BComponents. Both the Subscriber and
BWbComponentView classes provide methods that accept a depth or an array.
3. The third mechanism for batch subscribe is do a batch lease. Batch leasing is accomplished via the static
BComponent.lease() method.
Transactions
By default, when making changes to a proxy component, each change is immediately marshaled over the network to
the master. However, if making many changes, then it is more efficient to batch these changes using
Transaction. Note most Transactions are used to batch a network call, but do not provide atomic commit
capability like a RDBMS transaction.
Transactions are passed as the Context to the various change methods like set() or add(). Instead of committing
the change, the change is buffered up in the Transaction. Note that Transaction implements Context and is a
SyncBuffer. Refer to Transaction's class header documentation for code examples.
Debugging
The following provides some tips for debugging remote components:
The spy pages provide a wealth of information about both proxy and master components including their subscribe
state. A component spy's page also contains information about why a component is subscribed including the knobs
and registered Subscribers. Note that right clicking a proxy component in the workbench causes a local lease, so it
does introduce a Heisenberg effect; one work around is to bookmark the spy page to avoid right clicks.
The outstanding leases of a VM can be accessed via the LeaseManager spy page.
The most common performance problem is not batching up network calls. The mechanism for diagnosis is to turn on
fox tracing. Specially the "fox.broker" log will illustrate network calls for loads, subscribes (sub), unsubscribes
(unsub), and proxy side changes (syncToMaster). The simplest way to turn on this tracing is Log Setup spy page.
NiagaraAX Developer Guide (build 3.0.100) from docDeveloper.jar Files
Overview
Files
Overview
The Niagara Framework is built upon the fundamental principle that everything of interest is modeled as a
BObject. Files are one of the most basic entities which are mapped into the object model.
The Niagara file model is a comprehensive architecture for mapping all files into a consistent set of APIs:
• Files on the local file system (java.io.File);
• Files stored within modules and zip files;
• Files over the network using Fox;
• Files over the network using HTTP;
• Files over the network using FTP;
• Files in memory;
• Files which are autogenerated;
API
The javax.baja.file package provides the core APIs used for file acess. There are three core concepts in the
file model:
1. BIFile: represents a file. In general file extensions are mapped to specific Types of BIFile using the
registry. Effectively the Niagara Type wraps the MIME type. For example common file types include
file:TextFile, file:XmlFile, file:ImageFile, file:WordFile. The "file" module
contains mappings for common file extensions.
2. BIFileStore: models a BIFile backing store. For example a file:TextFile might exist on the
file system, in a zip file, or over a network. Each of these file storage mechanism reads and writes the file
differently. There a BIFileStore for every BIFile which may be accessed via the
BIFile.getStore() method. Common store types include baja:LocalFileStore,
baja:MemoryFileStore, and baja:ZipFileEntry.
3. BFileSpace: represents a set of files with a common storage model. BFileSpaces are responsible
for resolving FilePaths into BIFiles. The prototypical file space is the singleton for local file
system BFileSystem. The ord "local:|file:" always maps to BFileSystem.INSTANCE.
Mapping File Extensions

You can create custom file types for specific file extensions by following these rules:
• Create an implementation of BIFile. Utilize one of the existing base classes such as baja:DataFile.
If you wish to utilize agents such as file text editors then you must extent file:TextFile or at least
implement file:ITextFile.
• Make sure you override getMimeType() to return the MIME type for the file's contents:
• public String getMimeType() { return "text/html"; }
• Provide a custom icon if you wish by overriding the getIcon() method:
• public BIcon getIcon() { return icon; }
• private static final BIcon icon = BIcon.std("files/html.png");
• Map one of more file extensions to your type using in "module-include.xml":
• <type name="HtmlFile" class="javax.baja.file.types.text.BHtmlFile">
• <file>
• <ext name="html"/>
• <ext name="htm"/>
• </file>
• </type>
NiagaraAX Developer Guide (build 3.0.100) from docDeveloper.jar Security
Overview
Security
Overview
Security in the Niagara framework covers a couple of broad topics:
• Authentication: Logging in and verifying a user;
• Encryption: When and how to use cryptography to secure data;
• Categories: Categorizing objects we wish to protect via the security model;
• Permissions: Configuring and verifying user permissions on objects through categories;
• Auditing: Logging user actions to create an audit trail;
The following steps are used to setup a Niagara security model:
1. First we have to define the users, which are modeled as BUsers.
2. We have to authenticate users, to make sure they are who they say they are. This is done via a login with a
username and password.
3. We have to determine what each user can do with each object. The objects we typically wish to protect are
Components, Files, and Histories. Each of these objects is categorized into one or more categories.
4. We grant each user a set of permissions in each category. This defines exactly what each user can do with
each object in the system.
5. Last we audit anything a user does for later analysis.
Users
The BUser component models security principles in a Niagara system. Typically BUsers map to a human user, but
can also be used to represent machine accounts for machine to machine logins.
The BUserService is used to store and lookup BUsers during login. The default implementation of
BUserService simply stores the system users as dynamic slots. You can alternatively use BLdapUserService to
lookup users via the LDAP protocol.
BUser is used to store the authentication credentials, permissions, as well as any other required meta-data for each
user. As a developer if you wish to add additional meta-data to users, then you might consider declaring your own
BIMixIn.
Authentication and Encryption

All authentication in the Niagara framework is based on the BUserService configured for a station database. The
BUserService is used to lookup BUsers by username. The BUser is then used to check passwords and security
permissions. Encryption is usually negotiated at authentication time.
There are three primary authentication points in the Niagara system:
1. Fox Workbench to Station: When a connection is made from workbench to a station, the user is
prompted for a username and password which is used to authenticate the Fox connection.
2. Fox Station to Station: When a connection is made from a station to another station, a preconfigured
username/password is used to authenticate the Fox connection. These credentials are stored in the
NiagaraStation.clientConnection component.
3. HTTP Browser to Station: When a browser hits a station URL, an HTTP authentication mechanism is
used to validate the user.
Fox Authentication
The Fox authentication mechanism is configurable via the FoxService (usually under the NiagaraNetwork).
Authentication can be either basic or digest. Digest is the preferred mechanism since the password is never passed in
cleartext. However if using LDAP, then basic authentication must be used.
HTTP Authentication
The BWebService is used to manage HTTP requests to a Niagara station. The HTTP realm is always the value of
BStation.stationName. The default authentication mechanism used by the WebService is cookie based
Categories
authentication. Cookie authentication is required if using the workbench with the Java plugin. If you are deploying
an application without web workbench support, you can change the authentication mechaism via the
WebService.authenticationScheme property.
You can use the guest account to provide access to some or all of your station without requiring a web login. If the
guest account is enabled, then any object the guest has operator read access to may be accessed via the web UI
without a logon. As soon as an object is accessed which guest does not have operator read on, then the logon
challenge is issued. Set the guest user to disabled to turn this feature off.
Categories
All objects designed to be protected by the security model implement the BIProtected interface. The
BIProtected interface extends from the BICategorizable interface. An ICategorizable object has the ability
to be assigned to one or more categories. In essense a category is just a number: Category 1, Category 2, Category 3,
etc. You can give meaningful names categories by mapping category numbers to a BCategory component within the
BCategoryService. Most objects of interest implement the BIProtected interface including BComponent,
BIFile, and BIHistory.
Categories are just arbitrary groups - you can use categories to model whatever your imagination dreams up.
Typically for security they will map to some type of role, for example any device associated with lighting may be
assigned to a "lighting" category. But that same device may also be assigned to a "floor3" category.
Categories are implemented as variable length bit strings with each bit representing a category number: bit 1 for
Category 1, bit 2 for Category 2, etc. This bit mask is encapsulated via the BCategoryMask class.
CategoryMasks are stored and displayed as hex strings, for example the mask for membership in category 2 and
4 would be "a". There are two special CategoryMasks, the "" empty string represents the NULL mask
(membership in no categories) and "*" represents the WILDCARD mask (membership in all categories).
The BICategorizable interface provides a getCategoryMask() method to get the configured category
mask for the object. However most objects support the notation of category inheritence, where the configured mask
is null and the applicable category mask is inherited from an ancestor. This is called the applied category mask and
is accessed via the getAppliedCategoryMask() method.
Permissions
Once a user has been authenticated, the user is granted or denied permissions for each protected object in the system
using the user's configured BPermissionsMap. This map grants the user permissions for each category, thereby
granting the user permissions for objects assigned to that category. Users may be configured as super users by
setting their permissions map to BPermissionsMap.SUPER_USER. Super users are automatically granted every
permission in every category for every object.
Permission Levels
Niagara defines two permission levels called operator and admin. Each slot in a BComponent is assigned to be
operator or admin based on whether the Flags.OPERATOR bit is set.
Permissions
Each slot is defined as admin or operator level. Six permissions are derived to control access to slots:
• Operator-Read: Allows the user to view operator level information;
• Operator-Write: Allows the user to change operator level information;
• Operator-Invoke: Allows the user to view and invoke operator level operations;
• Admin-Read: Allows the user to view admin level information;
• Admin-Write: Allows the user to change admin level information;
• Admin-Invoke: Allows the user to view and invoke admin level operations;
The BPermissions class is used to store a bitmask of these six permissions.
Permissions
Component Permission Semantics

The following are the standard semantics applied to BComponents:
Operation On Slot Permission Required
read operator non-BComponent properties operatorRead
write operator non-BComponent properties operatorWrite
read admin non-BComponent properties adminRead
write admin non-BComponent properties adminWrite
read operator BComponent properties operatorRead on child
read admin BComponent properties operatorRead on child
invoke operator actions operatorInvoke
invoke admin actions adminInvoke
read operator topics operatorRead
read admin topics adminRead
Note that the permissions required to access a property containing a BComponent are based on the child
BComponent regardless of access to its parent or whether the containing slot is marked operator or admin.
File Permission Semantics
BIFiles use the operatorRead permissions to check read access for the file and operatorWrite to check write
access. For a directory operatorRead is required to list the directory, and operatorWrite to create a new file.
Computing Permissions
To check the permissions available for a specific object use the BIProtected.getPermissions(Context)
method. If working with an OrdTarget, then it is preferable to use
OrdTarget.getPermissionsForTarget(), which computes the permissions once and then caches the
result.
The standard mechanism to compute permissions by an IProtected object is:
1. If the Context is null or doesn't specify a user, then return BPermissions.all
2. Route to BUser.getPermissionsFor(). Note: don't use this method directly, because it might by-
pass special cases within IProtected.getPermissionsFor() (see below).
3. Get the object's mask using getAppliedCategoryMask().
4. Map the category mask to a permissions mask via
BPermissionsMap.getPermissions(BCategoryMask), which is a logical "OR" of each
permission asssigned to the configured categories.
There are a couple special cases to note. First is that BComponent access requires access to the entire ancestor tree.
For example to access "c" in "/a/b/c", requires at least operatorRead access to "a" and "b". The system will
automatically grant operatorRead to all ancestors of a component which a user has at least one permission on. Note
that this calculation is only done periodically, but can be forced using the CategoryService.update action.
Another special case is BIFile which applies these special rules for file system protection:
1. Files in a BModule are automatically granted operatorRead (this does not include .class files which are
never mapped into the ord name space).
2. If the user is not a super user, automatically deny any permissions outside of the station home directory
3. Any remaining cases map to user's configured permissions via the file's categories
Checking Permissions
Permission checks are built-in at several layers of the framework:
• Checked on the BComponent modification methods.
• Checked on all Fox network traffic.
Auditing
• Access in Workbench.
Each of these checks is discussed in detail.
BComponent Modification
The following methods will check user permissions if a non-null Context is passed with a non-null BUser. If the
permission is not available then a PermissionException is thrown.
• set(): If the property is operator, then must have operator write, otherwise admin write of the containing
BComponent.
• setFlags(): Must have admin write of containing BComponent.
• add(): Must have admin write.
• remove(): Must have admin write.
• rename(): Must have admin write.
• reorder(): Must have admin write.
• invoke(): If the action is operator, then must have operator invoke, otherwise admin invoke.
Developers should take care to use the proper version of the method with a user context when applicable.
Fox Traffic
Fox is the primary protocol used for workbench-to-station and station-to-station communication. Fox automatically
performs all permission checks on the server side before sensitive data can be accessed or modified by a client. By
the time a BComponent reaches the client Fox insures the following:
• Dynamic slots which the user lacks permission to read are never sent across the network and will never
appear in the client.
• Frozen slots which is the user lacks permission to read/invoke will automatically have the hidden flag set.
• Frozen properties which the user lacks permission to write will automatically have the readonly flag set.
Furthermore all attempts to modify components are checked by the server being committed.
Workbench Access
Each view declares the permissions a user is required to have on a given BComponent in order to access the view.
These permissions are usually declared in the module manifest (module-include). By default views require
adminWrite. To override the default:
<type name="PropertySheet" class="com.tridium.workbench.propsheet.BPropertySheet">

<agent requiredPermissions="r"><on type="baja:Component"/></agent></type>
Note that required permissions for a dynamic PxViews are configured via the
BPxView.requiredPermissions property.
Auditing
One of the important aspects of security is the ability to analyze what has happened after the fact. The Niagara
component model is designed to audit all property modifications and action invocations. Auditable actions include:
• Property changed
• Property added
• Property removed
• Property renamed
• Properties reordered
• Action invoked
Component modifications are only audited when the modification method is passed a non-null Context with a non-
null BUser. The history module includes a standard implementation of an audit trail stored to a history database file.
Code Samples
Code Samples
In order to check if a BUser has a operator read permission on specified component:
target.getPermissionsFor(user).has(BPermissions.operatorRead) // BUser implements

Context
This snippet of code will throw a PermissionException if the user lacks the admin invoke permission:
user.check(target, BPermissions.adminInvoke)
To filter a list of INavNode children for security:
BINavNode[] kids = node.getNavChildren();

kids = BNavContainer.filter(kids, context);
Use an AccessCursor to automatically skip slots that a user lacks permission to read/invoke:
SlotCursor c = AccessSlotCursor.make(target.getSlots(), user)

while(c.next()) {}
NiagaraAX Developer Guide (build 3.0.100) from docDeveloper.jar Localization
Overview
Localization
Overview
All aspects of the Niagara framework are designed for localization. The basic philosophy for localization is that one
language may supported in-place or multiple languages may be supported via indirection. The foundation of
localization is based on the Context and Lexicon APIs.
Context
Any framework API which is designed to return a string for human display, takes a Context parameter. Context
provides information to an API about the context of the call including the desired locale. Many APIs implement
Context directly including OrdTarget, ExportOp, and WebOp. For example if you are processing a web HTTP
request, you can pass the WebOp instance as your Context and the framework will automatically localize display
strings based on the user who is logged in for that HTTP session.
Note that Workbench code always uses the default locale of the VM, so it is typical to just use null for Context.
However code designed to run in a station VM should always pass through Context.
Lexicon
Lexicons are Java properties files which store localized key/value pairs. A directory called "file:!lexicon/lang" is
used to store the lexicon files for a specific language, where lang is the locale code. Within the directory there is a
file per module named "moduleName.lexicon". Every module with a lexicon should also provide a fallback lexicon
bundled in the root directory of module's jar file: "module://moduleName/moduleName.lexicon" (note in the source
tree it is just "module.lexicon").
Access to lexicons is provided via the Lexicon API.
BFormat
Many Niagara APIs make use of the BFormat class to store a formatted display string. BFormat provides the ability
to insert special function calls into the display string using the percent sign. One of these calls maps a string defined
in a lexicon via the syntax "%lexicon(module:key)%. Whenever a display string is stored as a BFormat, you may
store one locale in-place or you may use the %lexicon()% call to indirectly reference a lexicon string.
Slots
One of the first steps in localization, is to provide locale specific slot names. Every slot has a programmatic name
and a context sensitive display name. The process for deriving the display name for a slot:
1. BComplex.getDisplayName(Slot, Context): The first step is to call this API. You may override this
method to provide your own implementation for localization.
2. NameMap: The framework looks for a slot called "displayName" that stores a BNameMap. If a
NameMap is found and it contains an entry for the slot, that is used for the display name. Note the
NameMap value is evaluated as a BFormat, so it may contain a lexicon call. NameMaps are useful ways
to localize specific slots, localize instances, or to localize dynamic slots.
3. Lexicon: Next the framework attempts to find the display name for a slot using the lexicon. The lexicon
module is based on the slot's declaring type and the key is the slot name itself.
4. Slot Default: If we still haven't found a display name, then we use a fallback mechanism. If the slot is
frozen, the display name is the result of TextUtil.toFriendly(name). If the slot is dynamic the
display name is the result of SlotPath.unescape(name).
Facets
Sometimes facets are used to store display string. In these cases, the string is interpreted as a BFormat so that a
%lexicon()% call may be configured. This design pattern is used for:
• Boolean trueText
• Boolean falseText
FrozenEnums
FrozenEnums
Compile time enums subclass from BFrozenEnum. Similar to slot names and display names, enums have a
programmatic tag and a display tag. Localization of display tags uses the following process:
1. Lexicon: The framework first attempts to map the display tag to a lexicon. The module is the declaring
type of the FrozenEnum and the key is the programmatic tag.
2. Default: If a display tag isn't found in the lexicon, then the fallback is the result of
TextUtil.toFriendly(tag).
DynamicEnums
Localization of BDynamicEnums is done via the BEnumRange API. An EnumRange may be associated with a
DynamicEnum directly via DynamicEnum.make() or indirectly via Context facets. An EnumRange may be
composed of a FrozenEnum's range and/or dynamic ordinal/tag pairs. Any portion of the frozen range uses the same
localization process as FrozenEnun. The dynamic portion of the range uses the following process:
1. Lexicon: If BEnumRange.getOptions() contains a "lexicon" value, then we attempt to map the display tag
to a lexicon where the module is the value of the "lexicon" option and the key is the programmatic tag.
2. Default: If a display tag is not found using the lexicon, and the ordinal does map to a programmatic tag,
then the result of SlotPath.unescape(tag) is returned.
3. Ordinal: The display tag for an ordinal that isn't included in the range is the ordinal itself as a decimal
integer.
User Interface
When building a user interface via the bajaui APIs, all display text should be localizable via lexicons. In the case of
simple BLabels, just using the Lexicon API is the best strategy.
The Command and ToggleCommand APIs also provide built-in support for fetching their label, icon, accelerator,
and description from a lexicon. Take the following code example:
class DoIt extends Command

{
DoIt(BWidget owner) { super(owner, lex, "do.it"); }
static final Lexicon lex = Lexicon.make(MyCommand.class);

}
In the example above DoIt would automatically have it's display configured from the declaring module's lexicon:
do.it.label=Do It
do.it.icon=module://icons/x16/build.png
do.it.accelerator=Ctrl+D
do.it.description=Do it, whatever it is.
Locale Selection
Every time a Niagara VM is started it attempts to select a default locale using the host operating system. The OS
default may be overridden via the command line flag "-locale:lang", where lang is the locale code. The locale code
can be any string that maps to a lexicon directory, but typically it is a ISO 639 locale code such as "fr". The default
locale of the VM may be accessed via the Sys.getLanguage() API.
When the workbench is launched as a desktop application it follows the rules above to select it's locale. Once
selected the entire workbench uses that locale independent of user accounts used to log into stations.
The locale for web browser access to a station follows the rules:
1. User.language: If the language property of user is a non-empty string, then it defines the locale to
use.
2. Accept Language: Next the framework tries to select a locale based on the "Accept-Language"
passed in the browser's HTTP request. Typically this is configured in the browser's options.
Time Formatting
3. Default: If all else fails, then the default locale of the station's VM is used.
Time Formatting
The default time format is defined by the lexicon key baja:timeFormat. But it may be selectively overridden by
users. To change the time format in the Workbench use General Options under Tools | Options. Use the User.facets
property to change it for browser users.
Niagara' time format uses a simple pattern language:
Pattern Description
YY Two digit year
YYYY Four digit year
M One digit month
MM Two digit month
MMM Abbreviated month name
D One digit day of month
DD Two digit day of month
h One digit 12 hour
hh Two digit 12 hour
H One digit 24 hour
HH Two digit 24 hour
mm Two digit minutes
ss Seconds (and milliseconds if applicable)
a AM/PM marker
z Timezone
anything else Character literal
In addition to the time format configured by the user, developers may customize the resolution via the following
facets:
BFacets.SHOW_TIME
BFacets.SHOW_DATE
BFacets.SHOW_SECONDS
BFacets.SHOW_MILLISECONDS
BFacets.SHOW_TIME_ZONE
To programmatically format a time using this infrastructure use the BAbsTime or BTime APIs.
Unit Conversion
By default the framework displays all numeric values using their configured units (via Context facets). Users may
override this behavior to have all values converted to the US/English system or SI/Metric systems. To enable this
feature in Workbench use General Options under Tools | Options. Use the User.facets property to enable it for
browser users.
The list of units known to the system and how to convert is configured via the file:!lib/units.xml XML file. The
mapping of those units between English and Metric is done in the file:!lib/unitConversion.xml XML file.
To programmatically format and auto-convert numerics use the BFloat or BDouble APIs.
Note this unit conversion is independent of the conversion which may be performed by ProxyExts when mapping a
point into a driver.
NiagaraAX Developer Guide (build 3.0.100) from docDeveloper.jar Spy
Overview
Spy
Overview
The Niagara Framework is built upon a principle of high visibility. By modeling everything as a BObjects most
data and functionality is automatically made visible using the tools built into the workbench. However it is
infeasible to model all data using the component model. The spy framework provides a diagnostics window into the
system internals for debugging which goes beyond the component model.
Spy pages are accessed via the spy:/ ord.
See javax.baja.spy package for more details.
NiagaraAX Developer Guide (build 3.0.100) from docDeveloper.jar Licensing
Overview
Licensing
Overview
The Niagara licensing model is based upon the following elements:
• HostId A short String id which uniquely identifies a physical box which runs Niagara. This could a
Windows workstation, Jace-NP, or any Jace-XXX embedded platform. You can always check your
hostId using the command "nre -version".
• Certificate: A file ending in "certificate" which matches a vendor id to a public key. Certificates are
granted by Tridium, and digitally signed to prevent tampering. Certificates are stored in the
"{home}\certificates" directory.
• License File: A file ending in "license" which enables a set of vendor specific features. A licenses file is
only valid for a machine which matches its hostId. Licenses are digitally signed by a specific vendor to
prevent tampering. License files are stored in the "{home}\licenses" directory.
• Feature: A feature is a unique item in the license database keyed by a vendor id and feature name. For
example "Tridium:jade" is required to run the Jade tool.
• API: The javax.baja.license package provides a simple API to perform checks against the license
database.
License File
A license file is an XML file with a ".license" extension. License files are placed in "{home}\licenses". The
filename itself can be whatever you like, but convention is to name the file based on the file's vendor id. The
following is an example license file:
<license
version="1.0"
vendor="Acme"
generated="2002-06-01"
expiration="never"
hostId="Win-0000-1111-2222-3333">
<feature name="alpha"/>
<feature name="beta" expiration="2003-01-15"/>
<feature name="gamma" count="10"/>
<signature>MC0CFACwUvUwA+mNXMfogNb6PVURneerAhUAgZnTYb6kBCsvsmC2by1tUe/5k/4=</signature
>
</license>
Validation
During bootstrap, the Niagara Framework loads its license database based on the files found in the
"{home}\licenses" directory. Each license file is validated using the following steps:
1. The hostId attribute matches the license file to a specific machine. If this license file is placed onto a
machine with a different hostId, then the license is automatically invalidated.
2. The expiration attribute in the root element specifies the master expiration. Expiration must be a
format of "YYYY-MM-DD". If the current time is past the expiration, the license file is invalidated. The
string "never" may be used to indicate no expiration.
3. The generated attribute in the root element specifies the license file generation date as "YYYY-MM-
DD". If the current time is before the generated date, the license file is invalidated.
4. The vendor attribute is used to inform the framework who has digitally signed this license file. In order
to use a license file, there must be a corresponding certificate file for that vendor in the
"{home}\certificates" directory.
5. The signature element contains the digital signature of the license file. The digital signature is created
by the vendor using the vendor's private key. The signature is verified against the vendor's public key as
found in the vendor's certificate. If the digital signature indicates tampering, the license file is invalid.
NiagaraAX Developer Guide (build 3.0.100) from docDeveloper.jar Licensing
Predefined Features
Features
A license database is a list of features merged from the machine's license files that are validated using the procedure
discussed above. Each feature is defined using a single XML element called feature. Features are identified by
the vendor id which is signed into the license file and a feature name defined by the name attribute.
The expiration attribute may be specified in the feature element to declare a feature level expiration. Expiration
is a string in the format of "never" or "YYYY-MM-DD". If expiration is not specified then never is assumed.
Each feature may declare zero or more name/value properties as additional XML attributes. In the example license
above the "gamma" feature has one property called "count" with a value of "10".
Predefined Features
The following is a list of predefined features used by the Niagara Framework. All of these features require a vendor
id of "Tridium":
• workbench: Required to run the workbench tool.
• station: Required to run a station database.
API Usage
The following are some snippets of Java code used to access the license database:
// verify that the "Acme:CoolFeature" is licensed on this machine

try
{
Sys.getLicenseManager().checkFeature("Acme", "CoolFeature");
System.out.println("licensed!");
}
catch(LicenseException e)
{
System.out.println("not licensed!");
}
// get some feature properties

Feature f = Sys.getLicenseManager().getFeature("Acme", "gamma");
f.check();
String count = f.get("count");
Checking Licenses
You may use the following mechanisms to check your license database:
1. Use the console command "nre -licenses".
2. Use the spy page.
NiagaraAX Developer Guide (build 3.0.100) from docDeveloper.jar XML
Overview
XML
Overview
The javax.baja.xml package defines the core XML API used in the Niagara architecture. The two cornerstones of
this APIs are:
1. XElem: Provides a standard representation of an XML element tree to be used in memory. It is similar to
the W3's DOM, but much lighter weight.
2. XParser: XParser is a light weight XML parser. It may be used in two modes: to read an entire XML
document into memory or as a pull-parser.
The Baja XML APIs are designed to be small, fast, and easy to use. To achieve this simplicity many advanced
features of XML are not supported by the javax.baja.xml APIs:
• Only UTF-8 and UTF-16 encodings are supported. Unicode characters in attributes and text sections are
escaped using the standard entity syntax '&#dd;' or '&#xhh;'.
• All element, attribute, and character data productions are supported.
• CDATA sections are supported.
• Namespaces are supported at both the element and attribute level.
• Doctype declarations, DTDs, entity declarations are all ignored by the XML parser. XML used in Niagara
is always validated at the application level for completeness and efficiency.
• Processing instructions are ignored by the XML parser.
• No access to comments is provided by the XML parser.
• Character data consisting only of whitespace is always ignored.
Example XML
For the code examples provided we will use this file "test.xml":
<root xmlns="ns-stuff" xmlns:u="ns-user">

<u:user name="biff" age="29">
<u:description>Biff rocks</u:description>
<u:skills sing="true" dance="false"/>
</u:user>
<user name="elvis" alive="maybe" xmlns="">
<skills sing="true" dance="true"/>
</user>
<attr1="1" u:attr2="2"/>
</root>
Working with XElem

The XElem class is used to model an XML element tree. An element is defined by:
• Namespace: Elements which are in a namespace will return a non-null value for ns(). You may also use
the prefix() and uri() methods to access the namespace prefix and URI. The "xmlns" attribute
defines the default namespace which will apply to all child elements without an explicit prefix. The
"xmlns:{prefix}" attribute defines an namespace used by child elements with the specified prefix.
• Name: The name() method returns the local name of the element without the prefix. You may also use
qname() to get the qualified name with the prefix.
• Attributes: Every element has zero or more attributes declared within the element start tag. There are an
abundance of convenience methods used to access these attributes. Attributes without an explicit prefix
are assumed to be in no namespace, not the default namespace.
• Content: Every element has zero of more content children. Each content child is either an XText or
XElem instance. Character data (including CDATA) is represented using XText.
Working with XParser
The following code illustrates many of the commonly used methods on XElem:
// parse the test file

XElem root = XParser.make(new File("test.xml")).parse();
// dump xml tree to standard out

root.dump();
// dump root identity

System.out.println("root.name = " + root.name());
System.out.println("root.ns = " + root.ns());
// get elements
System.out.println("elems() = " + root.elems().length);
System.out.println("elems(user) = " + root.elems("user").length);
// biff
XElem biff = root.elem(0);
System.out.println("biff.name = " + biff.name());
System.out.println("biff.ns = " + biff.ns());
System.out.println("biff.age = " + biff.get("age"));
// elvin
XElem elvis = root.elem(1);
XElem skills = elvis.elem("skills");
System.out.println("elvis.name = " + elvis.name());
System.out.println("elvis.ns = " + elvis.ns());
System.out.println("skills.sing = " + skills.getb("sing"));
Output from code above:
root.name = root
root.ns = ns-stuff
elems() = 3
elems(user) = 2
biff.name = user
biff.ns = ns-user
biff.age = 29
elvis.name = user
elvis.ns = null
skills.sing = true

The XParser class is used to parse XML input streams into XElems. The easiest way to do this is to parse the entire
document into memory using the parse() method:
// parse and close input stream

XElem root = XParser.make(in).parse();
The above code follows the W3 DOM model of parsing a document entirely into memory. In most cases this is
usually acceptable. However it can create efficiency problems when parsing large documents, especially when
mapping the XElems into other data structures. To support more efficient parsing of XML streams, XParser may
also be used to read elements off the input stream one at a time. This is similar to the SAX API, except you pull
events instead of having them pushed to you. A pull model is much easier to work with.
To work with the pull XParser APIs you will use the next() method to iterate through the content instances. This
effectively tokenizes the stream into XElem and XText chunks. Each call to next() advances to the next token and
returns an int constant: ELEM_START, ELEM_END, TEXT, or EOF. You may also check the type of the current
token using type(). You may access the current token using elem() or text().
XParser maintains a stack of XElems for you from the root element down to the current element. You may check the
depth of the stack using the depth() method. You can also get the current element at any position in the stack
using elem(int depth).
It is very important to understand the XElem at given depth is only valid until the parser returns ELEM_END for
that depth. After that the element will be reused. The XText instance is only valid until the next call to next().
You can make a safe copy of the current token using copy().
The following code illustrates using XParser in pull mode:
XParser p = XParser.make(new File("test.xml"));
p.next(); // /root start

System.out.println("root.start: " + p.elem().name() + " " + p.depth());
p.next(); // root/user(biff) start
System.out.println("biff.start: " + p.elem().name() + " " + p.depth());
p.next(); // root/user/description start
System.out.println("desc.start: " + p.elem().name() + " " + p.depth());
p.next(); // root/user/description text
System.out.println("desc.text: " + p.text() + " " + p.depth());
p.next(); // root/user/description end
System.out.println("desc.end: " + p.elem().name() + " " + p.depth());
p.skip(); // skip root/user/skills
p.next(); // root/user(biff) end
System.out.println("biff.end: " + p.elem().name() + " " + p.depth());
p.next(); // root/user(elvis) start
System.out.println("elvis.start: " + p.elem().name() + " " + p.depth());
Output from code above:
root.start: root 1
biff.start: user 2
desc.start: description 3
desc.text: Biff rocks 3
desc.end: description 3
biff.end: user 2
elvis.start: user 2
NiagaraAX Developer Guide (build 3.0.100) from docDeveloper.jar Bog Files
Overview
Bog Files
Overview
Niagara provides a standard XML format to store a tree of BValues. This XML format is called "bog" for Baja
Object Graph. The bog format is designed for the following criteria:
• Easy to serialize a graph to an output stream using one pass;
• Easy to deserialize a graph from an input stream using one pass;
• Compact XML, using single letter element and attribute names;
• Ability to compress using zip;
Bog files are typically given a ".bog" extention. Although the ".palette" extension can be used to distinguish a bog
designed for use as palette; other than extension bog and palette files are identical.
Bog files can be flat XML files or stored inside zip files. If zipped, then the zip file contains a single entry called
"file.xml" with the XML document. You use workbench to copy any BComponent to a directory on your file system
to easily generate a bog.
API
In general the best way to read and write bog files is via the standard APIs. The BogEncoder class is used to write
BValues to an output stream using bog format. Note that BogEncoder subclasses XWriter for generating an
XML document. You can use the XWriter.setZipped() method to compress the bog file to to a zip file with
one entry called "file.xml". In general you should use the encodeDocument() method to generate a complete
bog document. However you can also use BogEncoder to stream multiple BValues to an XML document using
encode().
The BogDecoder class is used to decode a bog document back into BValue instances. Note that BogDecoder
subclasses XParser for parsing XML. When decoding a bog file, XParser will automatically detect if the file is
zipped or not. General usage is to use decodeDocument() in conjunction with
BogEncoder.encodeDocument() for decoding the entire XML document as a BValue. However
BogDecoder can also be used to decode BValues mixed with other XML data using BogDecoder.decode()
and the standard XParser APIs.
BogEncoder.marshal() and BogDecoder.unmarshal() are convenience methods to encode and decode
a BValue to and from a String.
Syntax
The bog format conforms to a very simple syntax. The root of a bog document must always be "bajaObjectGraph".
Under the root there are only three element types, which map to the three slot types:
Element Description
p Contains information about a property slot
a Contains information about a frozen action slot
t Contains information about a frozen topic slot
NiagaraAX Developer Guide (build 3.0.100) from docDeveloper.jar Bog Files
Example
All other information is encoded into XML attributes:

Attribute Description
n This required attribute stores the slot name.
Defines a module symbol using the format "symbol=name". Once defined, the symbol is used in
m
subsequent t attributes.
Specifies the type of a property using the format "symbol:typename", where symbol must map to a
t module declaration earlier in the document. If unspecified, then the type of the property's default value is
used.
f Specifies slot flags using the format defined by Flags.encodeToString()
h This attribute specifies the handle of BComponents
x Specifies the slot facets using format defined by BFacets.encodeToString()
v Stores the string encoding of BSimples.
In practice the XML will be a series of nested p elements which map to the structure of the BComplex tree. The
leaves of tree will be the BSimples stored in the v attribute.
Example
A short example of a kitControl:SineWave linked to a kitControl:Add component. The Add component has a
dynamic slot called description where value is "hello", operator flag is set, and facets are defined with
multiLine=true.

<bajaObjectGraph version="1.0">
<p m="b=baja" t="b:UnrestrictedFolder">
<p n="SineWave" h="1" m="kitControl=kitControl" t="kitControl:SineWave">
</p>
<p n="amplitude" v="35"/>
</p>
<p n="Add" h="3" t="kitControl:Add">
</p>
<p n="Link" t="b:Link">
<p n="sourceOrd" v="h:1"/>
<p n="sourceSlotName" v="out"/>
<p n="targetSlotName" v="inA"/>
</p>
<p n="description" f="o" x="multiLine=b:true" t="b:String" v="hello"/>
</p>
</p>
</bajaObjectGraph>
NiagaraAX Developer Guide (build 3.0.100) from docDeveloper.jar Distributions
Overview
Distributions
Overview
A distribution is a platform-specific archive of deployable software. The distribution file:
• Is a JAR file compliant with PKZIP compression;
• Contains an XML manifest in meta-inf/dist.xml;
• Contains files to be deployed;
• States its dependencies on any parts such as hardware, operating system, Niagara or third-party software
JAR Entry Paths

The JAR entry paths mirror their intended filesystem paths directly. Paths are mapped either to the target host's root
directory or the {baja home} directory, according to the manifest. Unless specified otherwise by the manifest or end-
user request, and except for the dist.xml manifest itself, each file will be copied to the target host (i.e., there is no
facility provided for the user or an installation program to choose which specific pieces to install).
Manifest
The distribution manifest is found in the meta-inf/dist.xml JAR entry. It
• provides some high-level descriptive information about the distribution,
• specifies the distribution's external dependencies,
• provides a summary description of its contents to assist installer software in dependency analysis,
• identifies modifications that need to be made to the host's platform.bog file, and
• specifies under which conditions existing files are to be replaced.
An example distribution file manifest is provided as a reference for the remaining specification:
<dist name="ppc-qnx-j9-york"
version="3.0.18"
vendor="Tridium"
description="Baja Core for QNX PPC"
buildDate="Thu Dec 05 10:40:17 Eastern Standard Time 2002"
buildHost="mboon"
reboot="true"
noStation="true"
absoluteElementPaths="true"
osInstall="true"
>
<platform>
<p n="system" m="p=platform" t="p:SystemPlatletQnx"/>
<p n="tcpip" m="p=platform" t="p:TcpPlatletQnx" />
<p n="lon" m="pl=platLon" t="pl:LonPlatletQnx"/>
</platform>
<dependencies>
<arch name="ppc" />
<part name="york" description="York System Board" />
<model name="J404" description="Model J404" />
</dependencies>
<provides>
<os name="qnx" version="6.2" />
<vm name="J9" vendor="IBM Corporation" version="1.5" />
<module bajaVersion="0"
vendor="Tridium"
buildDate="Wed Dec 04 09:46:09 EST 2002"
description="Niagara Framework"
buildHost="mboon"
Manifest
buildTZ="America/New_York"
vendorVersion="3.0.18"
preferredSymbol="b"
buildLocalMillis="1039013169394"
name="baja"
uri="/niagara/lib/baja.jar"
entry="lib/baja.jar"
size="524063" />
. . .
</provides>
<fileHandling replace="crc">
<remove name="niagara/lib" >
<keep name="niagara/lib/brand.properties" />
</remove>
<path name="tmp/york.image" replace="oscrc" />
<path name="niagara/bin/nre" replace="always" />
<path name="niagara/daemon/daemon.properties" replace="never" />
</fileHandling>
</dist>
The root dist element has the following attributes:
• name [required]: Name of the distribution.
• version [required]: Version of the distribution, dot delimited.
• vendor [optional]: Vendor name for the provider of the distribution.
• description [optional]: Brief description of the what the distribution provides.
• buildDate [optional]: Timestamp for when the distribution was created. May be generated by a build tool,
useful in tracking development builds.
• buildHost [optional]: Host on which the distribution was created. May be generated by a build tool, useful
in tracking development builds.
• reboot [optional]: true or false, defaults to true. If true, the host to which this distribution is installed must
be rebooted after installation is complete.
• noStation [optional]: true or false, defaults to true. If true, then the distribution may not be installed while
any Niagara stations are running.
• absoluteElementPaths [optional]: true or false, defaults to false. If true, then the JAR entry path maps
directly to the host's root directory, otherwise the entry path maps to {baja_home}.
• osInstall [optional]: true or false, defaults to false. Meaningless for Win32 platforms. If true, then the
distribution contains an operating system image that must be installed after the files are downloaded and
before the host is rebooted.
platform Element [optional]
Sub-elements are XML in bog file format and will be merged by name into the host's existing platform.bog file, or
will be used to initialize a new platform.bog file. This allows a distribution to provide new platlets without
clobbering or re-initializing any existing platlets.
dependencies Element [optional]
describes the parts which must be present on a target host before the distribution can be installed. Each part is
identified by a sub-element:
arch element [optional]
Describes a chipset dependency. Required name attribute specifies the chipset architecture name.
model element [optional]
Describes a model dependency. Required name attribute specifies the model name.
Manifest
os element [optional]
Describes an operating system dependency. Attributes:
• name [required]: operating system name
• vendor [optional]: operating system vendor
• version [required]: operating system version, dot delimited.
module element [optional]
Describes a module dependency. This element will never be encountered if the design goal of producing only self-
contained distributions is realized. Attributes are the same as those for the dependency element in the module.xml
manifest (see modules.html).
part element [optional]
Describes a dependency on any other kind of part, such as a piece of hardware. Required attribute name is a unique
name for the part, and required attribute description provides a brief description.
provides Element [optional]
Describes the parts that are to be installed by this distribition. Each part is described by a sub-element:
os element [optional]
Describes an operating system element. Attributes:
• name [required]: operating system name
• vendor [optional]: operating system vendor
• version [required]: operating system version, dot delimited.
module element [optional]
Describes a module JAR. Attributes are identical to the header module element in each module.xml manifest (see
modules.html), and include the following attributes:
• uri [required]: the niagarad uri at which this module can be found
• entry [required]: the entry path in this dist JAR for the module JAR
• size [required]: size in bytes of the module JAR
fileHandling Element [optional]
Specifies the rules by which files are replaced, and identifies directories and files which must be removed before
installation begins. The optional replace attribute specifies the rules for replacing existing files - its values can be
"always" if the file is always to be replaced, "never" if it is never to be replaced, and "crc" if the file is to be replaced
only if the CRC checksums for the distribution and current versions of the file are not the same. By default, no files
or directories are to be removed by the installer prior to installation, and the "crc" replacement rule is used. The
fileHandling element may contain the following sub-elements:
remove element
Specifies a file or directory to be removed prior to installation. Its required name attribute specifies the path
(according to absoluteElementPaths element) to the file/directory. If name specifies a directory, exceptions may be
specified using the keep sub-element.
keep element [optional]
Specifies a file or directory that should not be removed as the result of a remove element. Its required name
attribute specifies the path.
path element [optional]
Specifies a file replacement rule that differs from the default in the fileHandling element. Its required name
attribute specifies the file path, and the required replace attribute specifies the rules for replacing the existing file -
its values can be "always" if the file is always to be replaced, "never" if it is never to be replaced, "crc" if the file is
to be replaced only if the CRC checksums for the distribution and current versions of the file are not the same, and
"oscrc" if the file's CRC checksum is to be checked against a CRC value returned by the niagarad for the OS image.
NiagaraAX Developer Guide (build 3.0.100) from docDeveloper.jar Gx Graphics Toolkit
Overview
Gx Graphics Toolkit
Overview
The gx module defines the graphics primitives used for rendering to a display device. For example there implements
for "painting" to computer screens and another for "painting" a PDF file. Many of the simple types used in the rest
of the stack are defined in gx including BColor, BFont, BPen, BBrush, BGeom, and BTransform.
The gx APIs use a vector coordinate system based on x and y represented as doubles. The origin 0,0 is the top left
hand corner with x incrementing to the right and y incrementing down. This coordinate system is called the logical
coordinate space (sometimes called the user space). How the logical coordinate space maps to the device coordinate
space is environment specific. Usually a logical coordinate maps directly into pixels, although transforms may alter
this mapping.
Color
BColor stores an RGBA color. It's string syntax supports a wide range of formats including most specified by CSS3:
• SVG Keywords: the full list of X11/SVG keywords is available by name and also defined as constants on
BColor. Examples: red, springgreen, navajowhite.
• RGB Function: the rgb() function may be used with the red, green, and blue components specified as an
integer between 0-255 or as a percent 0%-100%. Examples: rgb(0,255,0), rgb(0%,100%,0%).
• RGBA Function: the rgba() function works just like rgb(), but adds a fourth alpha component expressed
as a float between 0.0 and 1.0. Example: rgba(0,100,255,0.5).
• Hash: the following hash formats are supported #rgb, #rrggbb, and #aarrggbb. The first two follow CSS
rules, and the last defines the alpha component using the highest 8 bits. Examples: #0b7, #00bb77,
#ff00bb77 (all are equivalent).
Font
BFont is composed of three components:
• Name: a font family name stored as a String.
• Size: a point size stored as a double.
• Style: a set of attributes including bold, italics, and underline.
The format of fonts is "[italic || bold || underline] {size}pt {name}". Examples: "12pt Times New Roman", "bold
11pt sans-serif", "italic underline 10pt Arial". The BFont class also provides access to a font's metrics such as
baseline, height, ascent, descent, and for calculating character widths.
Brush
The BBrush class encapsulates how a shape is filled. The gx brush model is based on the SVG paint model. There
are four types of brushes:
• Solid Color: the string format is just a standard color string such as "red"
• Inverse: uses an XOR painting mode
• Gradients: linear and radial gradients
• Image: based on a bitmap image file which may tiled or untiled
Pen
The BPen class models how a geometric shape is outlined. A pen is composed of:
• Width: as double in logical coordinates
• Cap: how a pen is terminated on open subpaths - capButt, capRound, capSquare.
• Join: how corners are drawn - joinMiter, joinRound, joinBevel
• Dash: a pattern of doubles for on/off lengths
Coordinates
Coordinates
The following set of classes is designed to work with the gx coordinate system. Each concept is modeled by three
classes: an interface, a mutable class, and an immutable BSimple version that manages the string encoding.
Point
The IPoint, Point, and BPoint classes store an x and y location using two doubles. The string format is "x, y".
Example "40,20", "0.4,17.33".
Size
The ISize, Size, and BSize classes store a width and height using two doubles. The string format is "width,height".
Examples include "100,20", "10.5, 0.5".
Insets
The IInsets, Insets, and BInsets classes store side distances using four doubles (top, right, bottom, and right). The
string format for insets follows CSS margin style: "top,right,bottom,left". If only one value is provided it applies to
all four sides. If two values are provided the first is top/bottom and the second right/left. If three values are provided
the first is top, second is right/left, and third is bottom. Four values apply to top, right, bottom, left respectively.
Examples "4" expands to "4,4,4,4"; "2,3" expands to "2,3,2,3"; "1,2,3" expands to "1,2,3,2".
Geom
The geometry classes are used to model rendering primitives. They all following the pattern used with Point, Size,
and Insets with an interface, mutable class, and immutable BSimple. Geometries can be used to stroke outlines, fill
shapes, or set clip bounds.
Geom
The IGeom, Geom, and BGeom classes are all abstract base classes for the geometry APIs.
LineGeom
The ILineGeom, LineGeom, and BLineGeom classes model a line between two points in the logical coordinate
system. The string format of line is "x1,y1,x2,y2".
RectGeom
The IRectGeom, RectGeom, and BRectGeom classes model a rectangle in the logical coordinate system. The string
format of rectangle is "x,y,width,height".
EllipseGeom
The IEllipseGeom, EllipseGeom, and BEllipseGeom classes model a ellipse bounded by a rectangle in the logical
coordinate space. The string format is "x,y,width,height".
PolygonGeom
The IPolygonGeom, PolygonGeom, and BPolygonGeom classes model a closed area defined by a series of line
segments. The string format of polygon is "x1,y1 x2,y2,...".
PathGeom
The IPathGeom, PathGeom, and BPathGeom classes define a general path to draw or fill. The model and string
format of a path is based on the SVG path element. The format is a list of operations. Each operation is denoted by a
single letter. A capital letter implies absolute coordinates and a lowercase letter implies relative coordinates.
Multiple operations of the same type may omit the letter after the first declaration.
• Moveto: move to the specified point. "M x,y" or "m x,y".
• Lineto: draw a line to the specified point: "L x,y" or "l x,y".
• Horizontal Lineto: draw a horizontal line at current y coordinate: "H x" or "h x".
• Vertical Lineto: draw a vertical line at the current x coordinate: "V y" or "v y".
• Close: draw a straight line to close the current path: "Z" or "z".
• Curveto: draws a Bezier curve from current point to x,y using x1,y1 as control point of beginning of curve
and x2,y2 as control point of end of curve: "C x1,y1 x2,y2 x,y" or "c x1,y1 x2,y2 x,y".
Transform
• Smooth Curveto: draws a Bezier curve from current point to x,y. The first control point is assumed to be
the reflection of the second control point on the previous command relative to the current point. "S x2,y2
x,y" or "s x2,y2 x,y".
• Quadratic Curveto: draws a quadratic Bezier curve from current point to x,y using x1,y1 as control point:
"Q x1,y1 x,y" or "q x1,y1 x,y".
• Smooth Quadratic Curveto: draws a quadratic Bezier curve from current point to x,y with control point a
reflection of previous control point: "T x,y" or "t x,y".
• Arc: draws an elliptical arc from the current point to x,y: "A rx,ry x-axis-rotation large-arc-flag sweep-flag
x y" or "a rx,ry x-axis-rotation large-arc-flag sweep-flag x y".
Refer to the W3 SVG spec (http://www.w3.org/TR/SVG/) for the formal specification and examples.
Transform
Transforms allow a new logical coordinate system to be derived from an existing coordinate system. The gx
transform model is based on SVG and uses the exact string formatting. BTransform stores a list of transform
operations:
• Translate: moves the origin by a tx and ty distance.
• Scale: scales the coordinates system by an sx and sy size.
• Skew: skew may be defined along the x or y axis.
• Rotate: rotate the coordinate system around the origin using a degree angle.
Image
The BImage class is used to manage bitmap images. Image's are typically loaded from a list of ords which identify a
list of files (GIF, PNG, and JPEG supported). When more than file is specified, the image is composited using alpha
transparency from bottom to top (useful for "badging" icons). Images may also be created in memory and "painted"
using the Graphics API.
The framework will often load images asynchronsouly in a background thread to maintain performance. Developers
using BImages directly can poll to see if the image is loaded via the isLoaded() method. Use the sync()
method to block until the image is fully loaded. Animated GIFs require that the developer call animate() at a
frame rate of 10frames/second. Typically developers should display images using BLabel which automatically
handles async loading and animation.
The framework caches images based on their size and how recently they are used. You may use the Image Manager
spy page to review the current cache.
Graphics
Painting to a device is encapsulated by the Graphics class. The primitive paint operations are:
• fill(IGeom): filling a geometry involves painting a geometry's interior area with the current brush.
Remember a brush can be a solid color, a gradient, or texture.
• stroke(IGeom): stroking a geometry is to draw its outline or line segments. Stroking uses the current pen
to derive the "stroke geometry" based on the pen's width and style. Then the interior of the stroke is filled
using the current brush.
• drawString(): this draws a set of characters to the device. The shape of the characters is derived from the
current font. The interior of the font is filled with the current brush. Note: we don't currently support
stroking fonts like SVG.
• drawImage(): this draws an bitmap image to the device; the image may be scaled depending on the
parameters and/or current transform.
All paint operations perform compositing and clipping. Compositing means that colors are combined as painting
occurs bottom to top. For example drawing a GIF or PNG file with transparent pixels allows the pixels drawn
underneath to show through. Alpha transparency performs color blending with the pixels underneath. Clipping is the
processing of constraining paint operations to a specified geometry. Any pixels from a paint operation which would
be drawn outside the clip geometry are ignored. Use the clip() method to clip to a specific region.
Graphics
Often it is necessary to save the current state of the graphics to perform a temporary paint operation, and then to
restore the graphics. An example is to set a clip region, paint something, then restore the original clip. The push()
and pop() are used to accomplish this functionality by maintaining a stack of graphics state. You should always
call pop() in a try finally block to ensure that your code cleans up properly.
NiagaraAX Developer Guide (build 3.0.100) from docDeveloper.jar Bajaui Widget Toolkit
Overview
Bajaui Widget Toolkit

Overview
The bajaui module contains a widget toolkit for building rich user interfaces. This toolkit is built using the Niagara
component model. Widgets are BComponents derived from BWidget. Widgets define basic UI functions:
• Layout: defines the layout model - how widget trees are positioned on the graphics device
• Painting: defines how widgets paint themselves using graphical composition and clipping
• Input: defines how user widgets process user input in the form of mouse, keyboard, and focus events
• Data Binding: defines are how widgets are bound to data sources
Widgets are organized in a tree structure using the standard component slot model. Typically the root of the tree is a
widget modeling a top level window such as BFrame or BDialog.
Layout
All widgets occupy a rectangular geometry called the bounds. Bounds includes a position and a size. Position is a
x,y point relative to the widget parent's coordinate system. Size is the width and height of the widget. The widget
itself defines its own logical coordinate system with its origin in the top left corner, which is then used to position its
children widgets. Every widget may define a preferred size using computePreferredSize(). Layout is the
process of assigning bounds to all the widgets in a widget tree. Every widget is given a chance to set the bounds of
all its children in the doLayout() callback. When a layout refresh is needed, you may call relayout(). The
relayout call is asynchronous - it merely enqueues the widget (and all its ancestors) for layout at some point in the
near future.
Panes
Widget's which are designed to be containers for child widgets derive from the BPane class. A summary of
commonly used panes:
• BCanvasPane: used for absolute positioning (discussed below);
• BBorderPane: is used to wrap one widget and provide margin, border, and padding similar to the CSS box
model.
• BEdgePane: supports five potential children top, bottom, left, right, and center. The top and bottom
widgets fill the pane horizontally and use their preferred height. The left and right widgets use their
preferred width, and occupy the vertical space between the top and bottom. The center widget gets all the
remainder space.
• BGridPane: lays out it children as a series of columns and rows. Extra space in the rows and columns is
configurable a number of ways.
• BSplitPane: supports two children with a movable splitter between them.
• BTabbedPane: supports any number of children - only one is currently selected using a set of tabs.
• BScrollPane: supports a single child that may have a preferred size larger than the available bounds using
a set of scroll bars.
Absolute Layout
Every widget also has a frozen property called layout of type BLayout. The BLayout class is used to store absolute
layout. Widgets which wish to use absolute layout should be placed in a BCanvasPane. BLayout is a simple with
the following string format "x,y,width,height". Each value may be a logical coordinate within the parent's coordinate
space or it may be a percent of the parent's size. Additionally width and height may use the keyword "pref" to
indicate use of preferred width or height. Examples include "10,5,100,20" "0,0,30%,100%", and
"10%,10%,pref,pref".
Lastly the keyword "fill" may be used as a shortcut for "0,0,100%,100%" which means fill the parent pane. Fill is
the default for the layout property which makes it easy to define layers and shapes.
Painting
Painting
All widgets are given a chance to paint themselves using the paint(Graphics) callback. The graphics is always
translated so that the origin 0,0 is positioned at the top, left corner of the widget. The graphic's clip is set to the
widget's size. Widget's with children, should route to paintChild() or paintChildren(). Painting follows the gx
compositing rules. Alpha and transparent pixels blend with the pixels already drawn. Widgets are drawn in property
order. So the first widget is drawn first (at the bottom), and the last widget drawn last (on the top). Note that hit
testing occurs in reverse order (last is checked first). Effective z-order is reverse of property order (consistent with
SVG).
Input
User events are grouped into keyboard input, mouse input, and focus events. The following events are defined for
each group:
BKeyEvent
• keyPressed
• keyReleased
• keyTyped
BMouseEvent
• mouseEntered
• mouseExited
• mousePressed
• mouseReleased
• mouseMoved
• mouseDragged
• mouseDragStarted
• mouseHover
• mousePulse
• mouseWheel
BFocusEvent
• focusGained
• focusLost
Design Patterns
Some complicated widgets have mini-frameworks all to their own. These include BTable, BTree, BTreeTable, and
BTextEditor. All of these widgets use a consistent design pattern based on a set of support APIs:
• Model: defines the underlying logical model of the widget visualization
• Controller: processes all user input events, handles popup menus, and manages commands
• Renderer: responsible for painting the widget
• Selection: manages the current selection of the widget
Commands
The bajaui module provides a standard API for managing user commands using the Command and ToggleCommand
classes. Commands are associated with one or more widgets which invoke the command. Typically this association
happens by using a special constructor of the widget such as BButton(Command cmd) or using a
setCommand() method. Commands are commonly used with BButton and BActionMenuItem.
ToggleCommands are commonly used with BCheckBox, BRadioButton, BCheckBoxMenuItem, and
BRadioButtonMenuItem.
Data Binding
Commands provide several functions. First they provide a centralized location to enable and disable the command. It
is common for a command to be available via a menu item, a toolbar button, and a popup menu. By enabling and
disabling the command all the widgets are automatically enabled and disabled.
Commands also provide a standard mechanism used for localization via the lexicon APIs. If one of the module or
lexicon constructors is used the command automatically loads its visualization from a lexicon using a naming
pattern: keyBase+".label", keyBase+".icon", keyBase+".accelerator", and keyBase+".description". The icon value
should be an ord to a 16x16 png file. Widgets created with the Command will automatically set their properties
accordingly.
The Command API also defines the basic framework for undo and redo. Whenever a command is invoked via the
invoke() method, the Command can return an instance of CommandArtifact to add to the undo stack. Commands
which don't support undo can just return null.
Data Binding
All widgets may be bound to zero or more data sources using the BBinding class. Bindings are added to the widget
as dynamic child slots. You may use the BWidget.getBindings() to access the current bindings on a given
widget. Bindings always reference a data source via an ord. The BBinding API defines the basic hooks given to
bindings to animate their parent widget.
The most common type of binding is the BValueBinding class. Value binding provides typical functionality
associated with building real-time graphics. It supports mouse over status and right click actions. Additionally it
provides a mechanism to animate any property of its parent widget using BConverters to convert the target
object into property values. Converters are added as dynamic properties using the name of the widget property to
animate. For example to animate the "text" property of a BLabel you might add a ObjectToString converter
to the binding using the property name "text".
Performance Tuning
The gx and bajaui toolkits are built using the AWT and Java2D. A key characteristic of performance is based on
how widgets are double buffered and drawn to the screen. The following system properties may be used to tune
widget renderering:
• niagara.ui.volatileBackBuffer: Defines whether the back buffer used for widget rendering uses
createVolatile() or createImage(). Volatile back buffers can take advantage of Video RAM
and hardware acceleration, non-volatile back buffers are located in system memory. Note: this feature is
currently disabled.
• sun.java2d.noddraw: Used to disable Win32 DirectDraw. Often disabling DirectDraw can correct
problems with flickering.
NiagaraAX Developer Guide (build 3.0.100) from docDeveloper.jar Workbench
Overview
Workbench
Overview
The workbench module define's the framework for building standardized user interfaces. The workbench provides
enhancements to the bajaui widget toolkit:
• Standard layout with menu, toolbar, sidebars, and view;
• Standard browser based navigation model with an active ord, back, and forward;
• Bookmarking;
• Tabbed browsing;
• Options management;
• Plugin APIs;
• Ability to customize using WbProfiles;
• Enables both desktop and browser based applications;
Note: The term workbench applies both to the actual application itself as well as the underlying technology used to
build customized applications. As you will see, all apps are really just different veneers of the same workbench
customized using WbProfiles.
Layout
The illustration aboves shows the key components of the Workbench layout:
• MenuBar: The bar of standard and view specific pulldown menus;
• ToolbarBar: The bar of standard and view specific toolbar buttons;
• LocatorBar: Visualization and controls for active ord;
• SideBar: Pluggable auxiliary bars including navigation and palette;
• View: The main tool currently being used to view or edit the active object;
• Console: Used to run command line programs such as the Java compiler;
• StatusBar: Standard location to display status messages;
Browser Based Navigation
The BWbShell class is used to model the entire workbench window (or the applet in a browser environment). The
getActiveOrd() method provides access to the current location, and hyperlink() is used to hyperlink to a
new ord.
Browser Based Navigation

The fundamental navigation model of workbench is like a web browser. A web browser always has a current URL.
As the current URL is changed, it fetches and displays the contents of that URL. A history of URLs is remembered
allowing back and forward navigation. Most web browsers also allow the user to bookmark URLs for quick
retrieval.
The workbench follows the same model. Instead of a URL to identity current location, the workbench uses an ord.
The ord currently being viewed is called the active ord. Every ord resolves to a BObject. The target of the active
ord is called the active object.
BWbViews are the plugins used to work with the active object. Views are the primary content of the workbench and
provide a user interface to view or edit the active object. The workbench discovers the available views by searching
the registry for WbViews registered on the active object.
The workbench provides a ready to use bookmark system that allows users to save and organize ords as bookmarks.
Bookmarks are also used to store NavSideBar and FileDialog favorites. The bookmark system provides a public API
via the javax.baja.ui.bookmark package.
Workbench also provides tab based browsing similar to modern browsers such as Mozilla and FireFox. Most places
in the interface which allow double clicking to hyperlink support Ctrl+double click to open the object in a new tab.
Also see the File menu for the menu items and shortcuts used to manupilate and navigate open tabs.
WbPlugins
The workbench is fundamentally a command and navigation shell, with all of it's functionality provided by plugins.
The plugins available to the workbench are discovered by searching the registry for the appriopate type (WbProfiles
allow further customization). This means that installing a new workbench plugin is as simple as dropping in a
module.
All plugins subclass BWbPlugin, which is itself a BWidget. The following common plugins are discussed in the
following sections:
• WbViews
• WbFieldEditor
• WbSideBars
• WbTools
WbView
Views are the workhorses of the workbench. Views provide the content viewers and editors for working with the
active objects. Views also have the unique ability to do menu and toolbar merging. To implementing a new view
plugin follow these rules:
• Create a subclass of BWbView, or if your view is on a BComponent, then subclass
BWbComponentView;
• Override doLoadValue(BObject, Context) to update the user interface with the active object.
• If your view allows editing of the object, then call setModified() when the user makes a change
which requires a save.
• If your view allows editing and setModified() has been called, override
doSaveValue(BObject, Context) to save the changes from the user interface back to the active
object.
• Register your view as an agent on the appriopate object type (or types):
•
• <type name="AlarmConsole" class="com.tridium.alarm.ui.BAlarmConsole">
WbFieldEditor
• <agent requiredPermissions="r"><on type="alarm:ConsoleRecipient"/></agent>

• </type>
Writing a view for a BIFile typically involved reading the file's content for display on doLoadValue(), and
writing back the contents on doSaveValue().
Writing a BWbComponentView for a BComponent typically involves subscribing to the necessary component or
components on doLoadValue(), and saving back changes on doSaveValue(). The WbComponentView
class provides a series of registerX() methods for managing the view's subscriptions. Remember that if
working with remote components, batching resolves, subscribes, and transactions can make significant performance
improvements. Refer to Remote Programming for more information.
WbFieldEditor
Field editors are similar to views, except they typically are smaller editors used to edit a BSimple or BStruct.
Unlike views, a field editor never fills the view content area, but rather is used inside views like the PropertySheet.
The rules for building a field editor are very similar to views:
• Create a subclass of BWbFieldEditor.
• Override doLoadValue(BObject, Context) to update UI from object.
• Fire setModified() when the user makes a change.
• Override doSaveValue(BObject, Context) to update the object from the UI.
• Register your view as an agent on the appriopate object type (or type).
BWbFieldEditor also provides some convenience methods for displaying a dialog to input a specific BObject
type. For example to prompt the user input a street address:
BStreetAddress addr = new BStreetAddress();

addr = (BStreetAddress)BWbFieldEditor.dialog(null, "Enter Address", addr);
if (addr != null) { /* do something! */ }
WbSideBar
Sidebars are auxiliary tools designed to be used in conjunction with the active view. Sidebars are displayed along the
left edge of the view. Multiple sidebars can be open at one time. Unlike views, sidebars are independent of the active
ord.
The rules for building a sidebar:
• Create a subclass of BWbSideBar.
• Provide display name and icon in your lexicon according to TypeInfo rules:
•
• BookmarkSideBar.displayName=Bookmarks
• BookmarkSideBar.icon=module://icons/x16/bookmark.png
WbTool
Tools are plugins to the workbench Tools menu. Tools provide functionality independent of the active ord.
Typically tools are dialogs or wizards used to accompish a task. There are three types of tools:
• BWbTool: is the base class of all tools. It provides a single invoke(BWbShell shell) callback
when the tool is selected from the Tools menu. Often invoke is used to launch a dialog or wizard.
• BWbNavNodeTool: is a tool which gets mounted into the ord namespace as "tool:{typespec}|slot:/".
Selecting the tool from the Tools menu hyperlinks as the tool's ord and then standard WbViews are used
to interact with the tool. Typically in this scenerio the tool itself is just a dummy component used to
register one or more views.
• BWbService: is the most sophisticated type of tool. Services are WbNavNodeTools, so selecting them
hyperlinks to the tool's ord. Services also provide the ability to run continuously in the background
WbProfiles
independent of the active ord. This is useful for monitoring tools or to run drivers locally inside the
workbench VM. Services can be configured to start, stop, and auto start via the WbServiceManager.
The rules for building a tool:
• Create a subclass of BWbTool, BWbNavNodeTool, or BWbService.
• Provide display name and icon in your lexicon according to TypeInfo rules:
•
• NewModuleTool.displayName=New Module
• NewModuleTool.icon=module://icons/x16/newModule.png
WbProfiles
The BWbProfile class provides the ability to create new customized versions of the workbench. WbProfile
provides hooks to replace all of the standard layout components such as the MenuBar, ToolBar, LocatorBar, and
StatusBar. Plus it provides the ability to customize which views, sidebars, and tools are available. Using WbProfiles
you can quickly create custom applications that provide just the functionality needed for your domain.
You can launch workbench with a specific profile via a command parameter: wb -profile:{typespec}.
Note that if you wish to create an application that runs in the web browser you will need to subclass
BWbWebProfile.
NiagaraAX Developer Guide (build 3.0.100) from docDeveloper.jar Web
Overview
Web
Overview
The web module is used to provide HTTP connectivity to a station via the BWebService. The web module
provides a layered set of abstractions for serving HTTP requests and building a web interface:
• Servlet: a standard javax.servlet API provides the lowest level of web integration.
• ServletView: is used to provide object views in a web interface.
• Web Workbench: is technology which enables the standard workbench to be run in a browser.
• Hx: is technology used to build web interfaces using only standards: HTML, JavaScript, and CSS.
Servlet
Niagara provides a standard javax.servlet API to service HTTP requests. The WebOp class is used to wrap
HttpServletRequest and HttpServletResponse. WebOp implements Context to provide additional
Niagara specific information. These APIs form the basis for the rest of the web framework.
The BWebServlet component is used to install a basic servlet which may be installed into a station database. The
servletName is used to define how the servlet is registered into the URI namespace. A servletName of "foo"
would receive all requests to the host that started with "/foo". Servlets are automatically registered into the URI
namespace on their component started() method and unregistered on stopped(). The service() or
doGet()/doPost() methods are used to process HTTP requests.
Note: The current javax.servlet implementation is based on version 2.4. The following interfaces and methods
are not supported:
• javax.servlet.Filter: Unsupported interface
• javax.servlet.FilterChain: Unsupported interface
• javax.servlet.FilterConfig: Unsupported interface
• javax.servlet.RequestDispatcher: Unsupported interface
• javax.servlet.ServletContext: Unsupported methods
o getNamedDispatcher(String)
o getRequestDispatcher(String)
o getResource(String)
o getResourceAsStream(String)
o getResourcePaths(String)
o getServlet(String)
o getServlets()
o getServletContextName(String)
• javax.servlet.ServletRequest: Unsupported method
o getRequestDispatcher(String)
• javax.servlet.ServletRequestAttributeListener: Unsupported interface
• javax.servlet.ServletRequestListener: Unsupported interface
• javax.servlet.http.HttpSessionActivationListener: Unsupported interface
• javax.servlet.http.HttpSessionAttributeListener: Unsupported interface
• javax.servlet.http.HttpSessionListener: Unsupported interface
ServletView
The web framework follows an object oriented model similar to the workbench. The user navigates to objects within
the station using ords. One or more web enabled views are used to view and edit each object.
NiagaraAX Developer Guide (build 3.0.100) from docDeveloper.jar Web
Web Workbench
When navigating objects using ords, Niagara must map ords into the URI namespace. This is done with the URI
format of "/ord?ord".
The BServletView class is used to build servlets that plug into the ord space using the "view:" scheme. For
example if you wish to display an HTML table for every instance of component type "Foo", you could create a
ServletView called "FooTable". Given an instance of "Foo", the URI to access that view might be
"/ord?slot:/foo3|view:acme:FooTable". The WebOp passed to BServletView.service() contains the target
object being viewed (note WebOp subclasses from OrdTarget).
Web Workbench
A nice feature of Niagara's web framework is the ability to run the entire workbench right in a browser. This web
workbench technology allows almost any view (or plugin) to run transparently in both a desktop and browser
environment. The following process illustrates how web workbench works:
1. User requests a workbench view for a specific object via its ord.
2. An HTML page is returned that fills the entire page with a small signed applet called wbapplet.
3. The wbapplet is hosted by the Java Plugin which must be preinstalled on the client's machine.
4. The wbapplet loads modules from the station as needed, and caches them on the browser's local drive.
5. The workbench opens a fox connection under the covers for workbench to station communication.
6. The workbench displays itself inside the wbapplet using the respective WbProfile and WbView.
Web workbench technology allows a sophisticated UI to be downloaded to a user's browser straight out of a Jace. It
is downloaded the first time and cached - subsequent access requires only the download of wbapplet (13kb).
Development for web versus desktop workbench is completely transparent. The only difference is that the
BWbProfile used for a web interface must subclass from BWbWebProfile. Some functionality is limited only
to the desktop like the ability to access the console and Jikes compiler. Also note that web workbench session is
limited to a specific station. So it doesn't make sense to navigate to ords outside that station such a "local:|file:".
Note: in order for web workbench to be used, the client browser machine must have access to the station's fox port.
This may require the fox port to be opened up in the firewall.
Hx
There are cases where using the workbench is overkill or we don't wish to require the Java Plugin. For these use
cases, Niagara provides the hx technology. Hx is a mini-framework used to build real-time web interfaces only with
standard HTML, JavaScript, and CSS. See the hx chapter for details.
WebProfileConfig
The web experience of a given user is controlled via the BWebProfileConfig class. WebProfileConfig is a
MixIn added to every User component. The web profile determines whether web workbench or hx is used by
specifying an WbProfile or HxProfile for the user.
NiagaraAX Developer Guide (build 3.0.100) from docDeveloper.jar Hx
Overview
Hx
Overview
The hx module defines the framework for building HTML-based user interfaces using HTML, CSS, JavaScript, and
XmlHttp.
HxOp
HxOp maintains all the state for the current request, and provides the interface for creating and consuming a
document. The original HxOp wraps the WebOp for the current request. Sub-views should be given a new HxOp
from the current op via the HxOp.make() method. There should always be a one-to-one mapping of HxOps to
HxViews.
HxView
HxView extends ServletView, and provides the content viewers and editors for working with the active objects.
HxViews are composed of four methods:
write
Write is used to output the HTML markup for the current view. HxViews should only write the markup that
directly pertains to itself. Avoid writing any containing markup - this is handled by the parent view or the profile.
Especially avoid writing outer tags like html, head, and body - these are handled on the profile. Additionally,
there is only form tag in an hx page, and is written by the profile. HxViews should never write their own form
blocks.
save
Save is used to save changes made from the view back to the target object. This is usually just a standard response to
a form post, where the form values are accessed from the HxOp. Views on BSimples should return a new instance
based on their new value. Views on BComponents should modify the existing instance and return that instance.
update
Update is automatically called periodically on all views if at least one view was marked as dynamic (via HxOp).
This is a background request made using JavaScript and XmlHttp. The content returned to the browser must be
executable JavaScript.
process
Process is used to handle non-update background requests. A process request is targeted and serviced by a single
HxView.
Writing Reusable HxViews
Hx is designed to allow for reusing and nesting HxViews within other HxViews. This is accomplished by building
unique paths to each HxOp created - which effectively scopes the local names created in each HxView. To make
sure your HxView is nestable, use the HxOp.scope() for all control names in your view.
HxOp.getFormValue() will automatically handle the "unscoping" for you.
public void write(HxOp op) throws Exception

{
HtmlWriter out = op.getHtmlWriter();
out.w("<input type='text' name='").w(op.scope("foo")).w("'/>");
...
}
public BObject save(HxOp op) throws Exception

{
String foo = op.getFormValue("foo");
...
}
The resulting HTML could look something like this:
HxFieldEditor
...
<input type='text' name='uid1.editor.uid5.foo'/>
...
Note: When using the auto name constructor of HxOp, names are created by appending the current counter value to
a string ("uid0", "uid1", etc). So its very important that the order in which HxOps are created is always the same so
the produced paths are always the same. Otherwise views will not be able to correctly resolve their control values.
Writing HxView Agents for WbViews
Another feature of the hx framework is a transparent transition from the Workbench enviornment to the hx
enviorment. For example, if you have created a WbView called WbFooView, all references to that view can be
made to transparently map to your hx implementation. You just need to register your HxView directly on the
WbView, and expect the input argument to be the same type as loaded into the WbView.
<type name="HxFooView" class="foo.BHxFooView">

<agent><on type="foo:WbFooView"/></agent>
</type>
public void write(HxOp op)

throws Exception
{
// Assume object is what the corresponding WbView would
// receive in its doLoadValue() method.
BFoo foo = (BFoo)op.get();
...
}
Then this ord will work correctly in both enviornments:
station:|slot:/bar|view:foo:WbFooView
HxFieldEditor
Field editors are similar to views, except they typically are smaller editors used to edit a BSimple or BStruct.
Unlike views, a field editor never fills the view content area, but rather is used inside views like the PropertySheet.
Generally these should be normal write/save form views. You should avoid implementing update/process - as these
are better handled by the containing HxView.
HxProfiles
The BIHxProfile is used to customize the HTML page around the current HxView. The profile is responsible
for writing out the outer HTML tags ( html, head, and body), any custom markup, and the current view. It is
important that your profile respect the order HxOps are created in these methods: writeDocument,
updateDocument, processDocument, and saveDocument. If any HxView uses the auto name
contructor of HxOp to create a unqiue path name, it must be called in the exact same order in order to resolve
correctly.
BHxProfile implements IHxProfile and handles the boilerplate code, exposing the hooks needed to
customize your head and body. You will probably always extend this class to create a custom profile.
Theming
All styling in hx is handled with CSS. The core colors and fonts are defined in
module://hx/lib/default.css. In order for your view to use the default theme, you should write your
markup like this:
<div class="controlShadow-bg myCustomClass" style="...">
...
</div>
This order is important. The default class should always come first in the selector list, and before any style tag
(though you should avoid using style directly in your view) - so that styles are overridden correctly.
Theming
Note: HxProfiles that override the theme should always place their custom stylesheet last to make sure it
overrides any stylesheets loaded during the write() phase.
NiagaraAX Developer Guide (build 3.0.100) from docDeveloper.jar Px
Overview
Px
Overview
Px is a technology used to package a UI presentation as an XML file. A px file defines a tree of bajaui widgets and
their data bindings. Any BWidget and BBinding may be used, including those custom developed by you.
Typically px files are created using a WYSIWYG tool called the PxEditor, although they can also be handcoded or
auto-generated.
Px files are always given a ".px" extension, and modeled with the file:PxFile type.
Px Views
A px file may be used in a UI via a variety of mechanisms:
• Navigating directly to a px file will display its presentation
• The px file may be attached to a component as a dynamic view
• Many px files can be automatically translated into HTML using hx
The WbPxView is the standard presentation engine for px files. WbPxView is the default view of file:PxFile,
so you can use px files just like an HTML file - by navigating to one.
The BPxView class may be used to define dynamic views on components. Dynamic views are like dynamic slots, in
that they are registered on an instance versus a type. A dynamic view is automatically available for every BPxView
found in a component. Each BPxView provides an ord to the px file to use for that view. PxViews may be added
through the workbench or programmatically. Since the bindings within a px file are always resolved relative to the
current ord, you can reuse the same px file across multiple components by specifying bindings with relative ords.
If all the widgets used in a px file have a translation to hx, then the entire px file can be automatically translated into
HTML for hx users. See hx for more details.
PxMedia
As a general rule any BWidget is automatically supported when viewing a px file. However, viewing a px file in
hx only supports a subset of widgets (those that have a hx agent). This means that you must target the lowest
common denominator when creating px presentations. The target media for a px presentation is captured via the
BPxMedia class. Both the px file and the PxView can store a PxMedia type. Currently there are only two available
media types: workbench:WbPxMedia and hx:HxPxMedia. The PxEditor will warn you if you attempt to use
widgets and bindings not supported by the target media.
API
The bajaui module provides a standard API for serializing and deserializing a widget tree to and from it's XML
representation. The PxEncoder class writes a widget tree to an XML document. PxDecoder is used to read an
XML document into memory as a widget tree.
Syntax
The bog XML format is optimized to be very concise with equal weight given to both read and write speed. The px
XML format is designed to be more human usable. All px files have a root px element with a required version
and optional media attribute. Within the root px element is an import element and a content element.
The import section contains a list of module elements. Each module specifies a Niagara module name using the
name attribute. This module list is used to resolve type names declared in the content section.
The content section contains a single element which is the root of the px file's widget tree. Each component in the
tree uses a type name as the element name. These type names are resolved to fully specified type specs via the
import section.
Frozen simple properties of each component are declared as attributes in the component's start tag. Complex and
dynamic slots are specified as children elements. The name of the slot inside the parent component may be specified
using the name attribute. Dynamic simple properties specify their string encoding using the value attribute.
NiagaraAX Developer Guide (build 3.0.100) from docDeveloper.jar Px
Example
Example
The following example shows a BoundLabel placed at 20,20 on a CanvasPane, which is itself nested in a
ScrollPane. Note since the CanvasPane is the value of ScrollPane's frozen property content, it uses the name
attribute. Note how frozen simple properties like viewSize, layout, and ord are defined as attributes.

<px version="1.0" media="workbench:WbPxMedia">
<import>
<module name="baja"/>
<module name="bajaui"/>
<module name="converters"/>
<module name="gx"/>
<module name="kitPx"/>
</import>
<content>
<ScrollPane>
<CanvasPane name="content" viewSize="500.0,400.0">
<BoundLabel layout="20,20,100,20">
<BoundLabelBinding ord="station:|slot:/Playground/SineWave" statusEffect="none">
<ObjectToString name="text"/>
</BoundLabelBinding>
</BoundLabel>
</CanvasPane>
</ScrollPane>
</content>
</px>
NiagaraAX Developer Guide (build 3.0.100) from docDeveloper.jar Control
Overview
Control
Overview
The control module provides normalized components for representing control points. All control points subclass
from the BControlPoint base class. Control points are typically used with the driver framework to read and write
points in external devices.
There are four normalized categories of data matching the four BStatusValue types. Within each of the four
categories is a readonly component and a writable component. These eight components are:
Type Mode Data
BBooleanPoint RO Models boolean data with BStatusBoolean
BBooleanWritable RW / WO Models boolean data with BStatusBoolean
BNumericPoint RO Models numeric or analog data with BStatusNumeric
BNumericWritable RW / WO Models numeric or analog data with BStatusNumeric
BEnumPoint RO Models discrete values within a fixed range with BStatusEnum
BEnumWritable RW / WO Models discrete values within a fixed range with BStatusEnum
BStringPoint RO Models unicode strings with BStatusString
BStringWritable RW / WO Models unicode strings with BStatusString
Design Patterns
All control points use BStatusValues to represent their inputs and output. All points have one output called
"out". The readonly points contain no inputs. Typically they model a value being read from a device via the driver
framework.
The writable points all contain 16 inputs and a fallback value. These 16 inputs are prioritized with 1 being the
highest and 16 being the lowest. The value to write is calculated by finding the highest valid input (1, 2, 3, down to
16). An input is considered valid if none of the following status bits are set: disabled, fault, down, stale, or null. If all
16 levels are invalid, then the fallback value is used. Note that the fallback value itself can have the null bit set in
which case the point outputs null. The active level is indicated in the output as a status facet.
Each of the writable points reserves level 1 and level 8 for user invoked overrides. Level 1 is an emergency override
which when invoked remains in effect permanently until the emergencyAuto action is invoked. Level 8 overrides are
for normal manual overrides. Manual overrides may be timed to expire after a period of time, or may be explicitly
canceled via the auto action. Whenever level 1 or 8 is the active level then the overridden status bit is set in the
output. If a timed override is in effect then the overrideExpiration property indicates when the override will expire.
Extensions
Extensions provide building blocks to extend and change the behavior of control points. Every extension must
derive from BPointExtension. They are added as dynamic properties on a control point. Extensions can process and
modify the value of a control point whenever it executes. For example, an alarm extension can monitor the value and
set the alarm bit of the output's status if an alarm condition was detected. A list of extensions include:
• BDiscreteTotalizerExt
• BNumericTotalizerExt
• BProxyExt
• BAlarmSourceExt
• BIntervalHistoryExt
• BCovHistoryExt
Extensions are always invoked in the order they are declared in the slot list. They may be reordered using the
standard reorder API and workbench commands.
NiagaraAX Developer Guide (build 3.0.100) from docDeveloper.jar Control
Extensions
When the execute method is invoked on a BControlPoint, the pointChanged(ControlPoint pt) method is
in turn invoked on each extension.
Note that when using extensions with driver proxy points, only the value being read is processed by extensions.
NiagaraAX Developer Guide (build 3.0.100) from docDeveloper.jar History
Overview
History
Overview
Refer to the javax.baja.history API.
The History module manages the storage, collection, and archiving of data logs (historical data). A data log in
Niagara is often referred to as a Baja history (or history for short) and is an implementation of BIHistory. Within
Niagara, histories can be accessed locally or remotely (via Niagara's Fox communication). The History API provides
the basis for creating, configuring, modifying, accessing, and deleting histories. The Driver History API provides the
means for archiving histories (pulling/pushing histories from one station to another).
In order to provide support for a database of histories in a Niagara station, the History Service must be added
(BHistoryService). It is responsible for creating the database and enables collection and storage of histories in the
database. Once the History Service is in place, the basis for managing access to histories in the database is through
the History Space (BHistorySpace). Whenever you wish to gain access to a history, it is handled by resolving
through the BHistorySpace. BHistoryDatabase is a local implementation of BHistorySpace. It handles
opening and closing history files as they are needed and also provides efficient access to these files.
Access
As mentioned, in order to access histories in the database, you must first gain access to the database itself. This is
done by resolving the history ord scheme (as defined by BHistoryScheme). The unique history scheme name is
"history". Refer to the Naming documentation for details on Niagara's naming system. For example, if you want to
access a history named "TestLog" in a station's database (the station being named "demo"), your ord would contain
the query, "history:/demo/TestLog". You will notice that histories are organized by their source station (device), or
BHistoryDevice.
When a history is retrieved from the database, it is always an implementation of BIHistory. BIHistory provides
access to the following:
• The history's identification. Histories are uniquely identified by a String identification composed of two
parts, the source device name and the history name. This identification information is encapsulated in
BHistoryId. For example, if you have a history named "TestLog" and it is located uder the local station
named "demo", the history id would be the combination of device (station) name and history name:
"demo/TestLog".
Note: For convenience when importing/exporting histories between Niagara stations (refer to Driver
History), you can use the shorthand character '^' to refer to the parent device name. For example, if you
are exporting a local history generated by the local station, the shorthand representation for the previous
example would be: "^TestLog".
• Summary information about the history. This information is encapsulated in BHistorySummary. It
provides such things as the history ID, number of records in the history, the timestamp of the first record
in the history, and the timestamp of the last record in the history.
• The type of records in the history. This is normally a concrete type of BHistoryRecord which will be
described in more detail later.
• The configuration of the history. This is defined in BHistoryConfig which will be described in more detail
later.
• The data in the history itself. It provides support for scanning the records in the history, performing a time
based query for records, and appending or updating records within the history.
A history contains records which are keyed by timestamp. A record is an instance of BHistoryRecord which supplies
the timestamp key (records can always be identified by timestamp) and implements the BIHistoryRecordSet
interface (always a set of 1 for a single history record). A BTrendRecord is a special extension of a
BHistoryRecord which adds two more tidbits of information to a history record: trend flags (BTrendFlags) and
status (BStatus). Trend flags are used to provide extra context information about the record data, such as the starting
record, out of order records, hidden records, modified records, or interpolated records. The status ("ok", "alarm",
"fault", etc.) is associated with the collected data value. The standard Niagara data value types are supported via
extensions of BTrendRecord: BBooleanTrendRecord, BEnumTrendRecord, BNumericTrendRecord, and
BStringTrendRecord.
Configuration and Collection
Note: When a BIHistory is scanned or queried for its data records, it most often returns a Cursor
(HistoryCursor) or a BICollection. When iterating through this Cursor or BICollection, it is important to note
that it returns the same instance of BHistoryRecord for each iteration. This is done for performance reasons. So,
if you need to store the records for later use as you iterate through them, be sure to make a copy of the instance (you
can use the newCopy() method).
You can also query the database via a history ordQuery as defined in HistoryQuery. This allows you to find histories
and filter the data returned.
Configuration and Collection

When a user is ready to start logging data in Niagara, the most common way accomplish this is by adding a concrete
instance of a history extension (BHistoryExt) to a control point. This is just like adding any point extension
(BPointExtension) to a control point, extending its behavior. BHistoryExt is an extension of
BPointExtension, however it also implements the BIHistorySource interface which allows it to be the creator
of a history. BHistoryExt is an abstract class which provides the following among other things:
• The configuration of the history to create. This information is contained in a BHistoryConfig instance. It
contains the following:
o The unique identifier for the history within the entire system (BHistoryId).
o The original source of the history.
o The timezone where the history was originally collected.
o The type of records contained in the history (i.e. BBooleanTrendRecords,
BNumericTrendRecords, etc.).
o The schema (BHistorySchema) for the records which allows the history to be read even if the
original record type class has changed or is not available.
o The amount of data that can be stored in the history (BCapacity).
o The behavior when an attempt is made to write records to the (limited capacity) history that is
already full (BFullPolicy).
o The mechanism for storage of the history records (BStorageType). This defaults to a file.
o The amount of time between records in the history (BCollectionInterval).
• The time period when the history extension should be collecting history records (BActivePeriod). This is
normally a BBasicActivePeriod which allows the user to specify the days of the week and time of day
that history records should be recorded.
• A definition of the pattern for deriving the name of the history created by the history extension. This
property is of type BFormat and it can be static text or a simple pattern that allows the actual history
name to be derived from the context.
There are two main types of BHistoryExts supported in the History module. These are the typed instances of
BCovHistoryExt and BIntervalHistoryExt. BCovHistoryExt provides support for collecting history records
triggered on changes to the value of the parent control point while BIntervalHistoryExt provides support for
collecting history records based on a user defined fixed interval.
Compatibility
It is important to remember that there are two types of changes that an end user can make to a history extension (or
BIHistorySource) to cause its history to be split (recreated with a new name). If the record type changes (i.e. a
switch from numeric records to String records), this is an incompatible change. Another incompatible change is if
the interval of collection changes. In both of these cases, the generated history will be split; the old history will keep
its name, and the new history will have the same root name, but with a postfix ("_cfg#") appended to the end of it.
For example, if the history "TestLog" encounters an incompatible change, the old history will keep its records and
the name "TestLog", while any new records will be placed in a new history named "TestLog_cfg0". If yet another
incompatible change occurs after the first, the next split will have the new history named "TestLog_cfg1", and so on.
Archiving
Archiving
Refer to the Driver History documentation.
History Exceptions
The History API defines a few standard history exceptions. These all extend from HistoryException which is a
BajaRuntimeException.
• A ConfigurationMismatchException is thrown when the properties of a BIHistory do not match the
properties for that history that are stored in the actual database.
• A DatabaseClosedException is thrown when an operation is attempted on a history database that is not
open.
• A DuplicateHistoryException is thrown when an attempt is made to create a history with an id that already
exists.
• A HistoryClosedException is thrown when a history is closed at a time when it is expected to be open.
• A HistoryDeletedException is thrown when an attempt is made to access a history that has been deleted.
• A HistoryNameException is thrown when an attempt is made to create a history with an invalid name.
• A HistoryNotFoundException is thrown when a history cannot be found in the history database.
• An IllegalConfigChangeException is thrown when an attempt is made to reconfigure a history in an
unsupported way.
• An InvalidHistoryIdException is thrown when an attempt is made to open a history without a valid history
id.
NiagaraAX Developer Guide (build 3.0.100) from docDeveloper.jar Alarm
Introduction
Alarm
Introduction
The Alarm module provides core functionality for lifecycle managment of alarms within the Baja framework.
Alarms are used to indicate that some value is not within an appropriate or expected range. Alarms may be routed
from the system to a variety of external sources, be it email, a printer or a console application.
Object Model
All alarms in the Baja Framework are generated by objects implementing the BIAlarmSource interface. Those
alarms (BAlarmRecord) are then routed to the BAlarmService. The service for storing and routing of alarms. Alarms
are then routed to one or more recipients (BAlarmRecipient) via their BAlarmClass.
Alarm Sources
While BIAlarmSource is an interface, most alarm sources are instances of
javax.baja.control.alarm.BAlarmSourceExt, the alarm point extension. The alarm extension
determines when it's parent point is in an alarmable condition, and uses the AlarmSupport class to take care of
routing and issuing alarms to the alarm service. The alarm source updates the alarm when the parent point goes back
to its normal condition as well as notifies the point that an acknowledgement has been received.
Objects implementing BIAlarmSource that have a status (BStatus) should use the following rules when setting the
status bits.
• Generate Offnormal alarm: set the BStatus.ALARM and BStatus.UNACKED_ALARM bits.
• Generate Fault alarm: set the BStatus.ALARM, BStatus.UNACKED_ALARM and BStatus.FAULT bits.
• AckAlarm methods is called: if the alarm is the last one generated clear the BStatus.UNACKED_ALARM
bit.
• Generate Normal alarm: clear the BStatus.ALARM and BStatus.FAULT bits.
Note that BStatus.UNACKED_ALARM should only be set if the BAlarmClass.ackRequired bit is set for that
transition in the AlarmSource's AlarmClass. This can easily be ontained if using the AlarmSupport class by calling
BAlarmSupport.ackRequired(BSourceState state).
Alarm Service
The BAlarmService coordinates routing of alarms within the framework. It routes alarms from their source to
the appropriate recipients, and alarm acknowledgements from the recipients back to the source. The alarm service
routes individual alarms via their alarm class. All alarm classes available to the system are maintained as slots on
BAlarmService. The BAlarmService also maintains the Alarm Database. It is acessed though the
getAlarmDb() method.
Alarm Class
The alarm classes, as stated above, are maintained as slots on the alarm service and serve to route alarms with
similar sets ot properties along common routes - they serve as channels for like data. BAlarmClass manages the
persistence of the alarms as needed via the alarm database. The AlarmClass manages the priority of an alarm and
also which alarm require acknowledgement. Each alarm class can be linked to one or more alarm recipients.
Alarm Recipients
Alarm recipients are linked to an alarm class (from the alarm topic on the alarm class to the routeAlarm action
on BAlarmRecipient.) Recipients may be configured to receive alarms only at certain times of day, certain days
of the week, and receiving alarms of only certain transitions (eg. toOffnormal, toFault, toNormal, toAlert).
Three subclasses of BAlarmRecipient are worth noting: BConsoleRecipient, BStationRecipient
and BEmailRecipient.
BConsoleRecipient
This recipient manages the transfer of alarms between the alarm history and the alarm console, i.e. it gets open
alarms from the alarm history for the console and updates the history when they are acknowledged.
Lifecycle
BStationRecipient
This recipient manages the transfer of alarms between the alarm service and a remote Niagara station.
BEmailRecipient
The email recipient is part of the email package. It allows alarms to be sent to users via email.
Lifecycle
Each alarm is a single BAlarmRecord that changes throughout its lifecycle. An alarm has four general states that it
may be in:
1. New Alarm
2. Acknowledged Alarm
3. Normal Alarm
4. Acknowledged Normal Alarm
All alarms start as New Alarms and end as Acknowledged Normal Alarms. They may be acknowledged then go
back to normal or go back to normal then be acknowledged.
An Alert is an alarm that does not have a normal state and thus its lifecycle consists of New Alarm and
Acknowledged Alarm.
Alarm Routing Overview
New Alarms
1. BIAlarmSource generates an offnormalAlarm (or faultAlarm).
2. It is sent to the BAlarmService
3. BAlarmService routes it to its BAlarmClass.
4. The BAlarmClass sets the alarm's priority, ackRequired bit, and optional data.
5. It is then routed to any number of BAlarmRecipients.
The normal alarm is sent along this same path.
Alarm Acks
1. When a BAlarmRecipient acknowledges an alarm, the acknowledgement is sent to the BAlarmService
2. The BAlarmService routes back to the BIAlarmSource (if an ack is required).
3. The Alarm Acknowledgement is then routed to AlarmRecipients along the same path as a New Alarm.
Usage
Setup
The most basic piece needed is a control point. Then add an alarm extension from the alarm module palette. There
are several types of extensions depending upon the type of point selected. The AlarmExtension are disabled by
default. You must enabled toOffnormal or toFault alamrs and configure and enable the alarm algorithms.
An Alarm Service is also required. Depending on your needs, it may require some of the following slots:
• Any desired BAlarmClasses should be added.
• A BConsoleRecipient should be added if an alarm console is required.
Link any of the slots as needed. The alarm recipients must be linked to an alarm class in order to receive alarms
from that alarm class.
To generate an alarm, go to a point with an alarm extension and put it an alarm condition.
Console Recipient / Alarm Console
To view all of the outstanding alarms in the system, double click on the console recipient on the alarm service. The
alarm console manages alarms on a per point basis. Each row in the alarm console is the most recent alarm from a
point. To view all the current alarms from that point, double click the row. To acknowledge an alarm, select the
desired alarm and hit the ack button. An alarm is cleared from the alarm console when the alarm is acknowledged
Usage
AND the point is in its normal state. To view more information about an unacknowledged alarm, right click and
select View Details.
Station Recipient
A BStationRecipient allows sending alarms to remote Niagara stations. A remote station is selected from the
stations you have configured in your Niagara Network. This recipient require that the remote station be properly
configured in the Niagara Network.
Line Printer Recipient
A BLinePrinterRecipient allows printing of alarms on a Line Printer. This recipient is only availible on
Win32 Platforms. It supports both local and remote printers.
NiagaraAX Developer Guide (build 3.0.100) from docDeveloper.jar Schedule
Overview
Schedule
Overview
A schedule is effective or it is not. When it becomes effective, it will do something like fire an event or
change an output. When a schedule is not effective, it will have some default configurable behavior.
Most schedules will be a hierarchy of many schedules. Container schedules combine the effective state of
their descendants to determine effectiveness. Atomic schedules use some internal criteria to determine
effectiveness. An example of an atomic schedule is the month schedule. It can be configured to be
effective in some months and not in others.
Creating New Schedule Types

BAbstractSchedule
All schedules subclass this.
Subclassing. To create a new schedule type, one simply needs to implement methods
isEffective(BAbsTime) and nextEvent(BAbsTime). See the API documentation
for details.
New Properties. Properties on new schedule types should have the user_defined_1 flag
set. This is important for properties who when changed, should cause supervisor (master)
schedules to update their subordinates (slaves).
Output. If the new schedule is going to be used in a control schedule, it will be necessary to
assign an effective value to it. A control schedule finds output by searching child schedules, in
order, for the first effective schedule with a dynamic property named "effectiveValue". The
effectiveValue may be 10 levels deep, it will be found. Just remember the order of schedules in
a composite is important.
BCompositeSchedule
Composite schedules shouldn't need to be subclassed. However, they will be used (frequently) in building
new schedule hierarchies.
These schedules perform a simple function, they determine their effective state by combining the effective
state of their children. A composite can either perform a union or an intersection of it's children. A union
means only one child has to be effective for the parent composite to be effective. An intersection means
all children have to be effective.
Using Existing Schedules

There are six preconfigured schedules. The weekly schedules look like control objects, the calendar
schedule helps configure special events that will be used by multiple schedules. Lastly, the trigger
schedule enables sophisticated scheduling of topics (events) which can be linked to actions on other
components.
BBooleanSchedule, BEnumSchedule, BNumericSchedule and BStringSchedule
These are all BWeeklySchedules whose output matches their name. There is one input who if
linked and not null, completely overrides the schedule.
Example: Adding a special event

BDailySchedule specialEvent = new BDailySchedule(
new BDateSchedule(5,BMonth.may,-1),
BTime.make(11,0,0),
BTime.make(12,0,0), //first excluded time
BStatusBoolean.make(true));
myBooleanSchedule.addSpecialEvent(specialEvent);
NiagaraAX Developer Guide (build 3.0.100) from docDeveloper.jar Schedule
Using Existing Schedules
Example: Adding to the normal weekly schedule

BDaySchedule day =
myBooleanSchedule.get(BWeekday.monday);
day.add(BTime.make(11,0,0),BTime.make(12,0,0),BStatusBool
ean.make(true));
Example: Retrieving all schedules in a normal weekday

BDaySchedule day =
myBooleanSchedule.get(BWeekday.monday);
BTimeSchedule[] schedules = day.getTimesInOrder();
Example: Modifying the day schedule of a special event

BDailySchedule specEvent = (BDailySchedule)
myWeeklySchedule.getSpecialEvents().get("cincoDiMayo");
BDaySchedule day = specEvent.getDay();
Example: Retrieving all special events

BDailySchedule[] specEvents =
myWeeklySchedule.getSpecialEventsChildren();
Legal special event schedule types:

BDateSchedule
BDateRangeSchedule
BWeekAndDaySchedule
BCustomSchedule
BScheduleReference
BCalendarSchedule
This schedule has a boolean output. However, it's most common use is for special events in the
four weekly schedules discussed above. The weekly schedule can store a special reference to
any calendar in the same station and assign their own output to it.
Example: Adding a date schedule event

myCalendarSchedule.add("cincoDiMayo",aDateSchedule);
Legal event schedule types:

BDateSchedule
BDateRangeSchedule
BWeekAndDaySchedule
BCustomSchedule
BTriggerSchedule
This schedule fires an event when a schedule becomes effective. There is also an event
signifying that a normal event has been missed.
Example: Add a date schedule event

myTriggerSchedule.getDates().add("cincoDiMayo",aDateSched
ule);
Example: Add a trigger time

myTriggerSchedule.getTimes().addTrigger(11,00);
Legal event schedule types:

BDateSchedule
BDateRangeSchedule
BWeekAndDaySchedule
BCustomSchedule
NiagaraAX Developer Guide (build 3.0.100) from docDeveloper.jar BQL
Introduction
BQL
Introduction
The Baja Query Language (BQL) is an SQL-like query language that provides a mechanism for identifying various
sets of data. It provides an ad hoc way to search for data based on some criteria. By including BQL in an ord, the
results can be easily book marked or embedded in graphics views. This makes BQL an excellent tool for building
reports.
Select
The select query is the most common type of BQL query. It is very similar to the select statement in SQL. The
syntax is as follows:
select <projection> from <extent> where <predicate>

The select statement always returns a table even if the result is actually a single object.
Extent
The first concept to understand about the above query is the extent. The extent is specified in the "from" clause of
the query. The extent works together with the ord base to determine the general set of objects in the result. The rest
of the query only narrows the general result. This is best explained with a few examples.
slot:/a/b/c|bql:select name, toString from control:ControlPoint

In the above query, the base of the "bql" query is the "slot" query. The slot scheme is used to access data in a Baja
component tree. In this case, "slot:/a/b/c" identifies the root of the tree where the BQL query processing will start.
From that point, the query will recursively search the tree for components of type "control:ControlPoint". So, when
the base of the "bql" query is a slot path, the path identifies the subtree that will be searched by the query, and the
extent identifies the type of component to search for. This query would get the name and toString for all control
points under the /a/b/c in the component tree.
history:|bql:select timestamp, value, status from /myStation/myHistory

In this query, the base of the "bql" query is a "history" query. The history scheme is used to access data in the Baja
history database. In this case, "history:" identifies the entire set of histories in the database. The query extent
"/myStation/myHistory" identifies a specific history in the database. This query would get the timestamp, value, and
status of all records in the history with the id "/myStation/myHistory".
Projection
The projection is a comma separated list of the columns that will be returned in the result. Each element in the list
must have a column specification and may have a display name specified with the 'as' clause. The column
specification a dot-separated path and is defined relative to the objects in the extent.
select name, toString from baja:Component

select name as 'Point', out.value as 'Output Value', out.status from
control:ControlPoint
In the second query, we know that all control points have an "out" property that is a StatusValue. A StatusValue is a
structure that contains both a status and a value. In this query, we use a path to dive into the structure and extract the
value and status individually.
Predicate
The predicate must be a boolean expression. Its purpose is to apply criteria for filtering objects out of the extent.
Look at this query:
history:|bql:select timestamp, value from /weatherStation/outsideAirTemp

This query would retrieve the timestamp and value of all records in the specified history. That's often not a useful
query and depending on how long the history has been collected, it may return a lot more data than we care to see.
Instead, let's find all records where the value exceeds 80 degrees.
Simple Expressions
history:|bql:select timestamp, value from /weatherStation/outsideAirTemp where value

> 80
By adding the "where" clause with "value > 80", all records with a value less than 80 are filtered out of the result. To
learn more about BQL expressions, see BQL Expressions.
Simple Expressions
In some cases, it may be desirable to fetch a single value instead of a table of objects. You can can accomplish that
with BQL by using a simple BQL expression.
slot:/a/b/c|bql:handle
Putting a simple path expression in the BQL ord, causes the expression to be evaluated relative to the base.
Resolving this ord just returns the value of the expression. In this case the result is the handle of the component
identified by "/a/b/c".
BQL Paths
BQL paths are an important element of any BQL query. A path can be used to specify column content or to filter the
rows in a query result. In all cases, a path is relative to the set of objects defined by the extent.
A path is a dot-separated list of fields. Consider the following example:
slot:/a/b|bql:select name, historyConfig.capacity from history:HistoryExt

This retrieves the name and configured capacity of all history extensions under "/a/b". The extent tells me that I am
only looking for history extensions. The second column specifier tells me to look inside the historyConfig and
extract the value of the "capacity" property. The same concept can be applied in the "where" clause.
slot:/a/b|bql:select name, out from control:NumericPoint where out.value > 50

In this case, the extent tells me that I am only looking for numeric points. The where clause looks at the "value"
property of the "out" property of each numeric point in "/a/b" and only includes the ones that are greater than 50.
Presenting a list of all available fields in a path is not feasible. The fields that can be accessed in a path include all
frozen and dynamic properties of any component or struct (given sufficient security permissions) plus many of the
methods on the target type. The Bajadoc reference is the best place to find this information for a particular type.
A method is accessible via a path if it is public and returns a non-void value and takes either no parameters or only a
Context as a parameter. Methods that match the "getX" pattern are handled specially. To access a getter from BQL,
the "get" is dropped and the next letter is changed to lowercase resulting in the name of the desired value rather than
the method name for getting it.
getX -> x
getCurrentTemperature -> currentTemperature
A few methods are used particularly often. "name" gets the slot name of a value on its parent. "parent" get the parent
component. "parent" is useful because it allows you to look up the component tree.
slot:/foo/bar|bql:select parent.name, parent.slotPath from schedule:BooleanSchedule

This query finds the name and path of all containers that contain a BooleanSchedule.
For more examples, see BQL Examples.
For more information about expressions, see BQL Expressions.
BQL from Java

BQL query results can easily be displayed in a table or chart in a user interface. However, the results may also be
examined in code using the Baja API. The result of a "select" query is always a BICollection. The items in the
collection depend on the query. If the projection is omitted, the result is a collection of objects in the extent that
matched the predicate requirements.
BQL from Java
BOrd ord = BOrd.make("slot:/foo/bar|bql:select from control:NumericPoint");
BICollection result = (BICollection)ord.resolve(base).get();

Cursor c = result.cursor();
double total = 0d;
while (c.next())
{
total += ((BNumericPoint)c.get()).getOut().getValue();
}
If the query has a projection, the result is a BITable and must be accessed that way to get the column data.
BOrd ord = BOrd.make("slot:/foo/bar|bql:select name, out.value from

control:NumericPoint");
BITable result = (BITable)ord.resolve(base).get();

ColumnList columns = result.getColumns();
Column valueColumn = columns.get(1);
TableCursor c = (TableCursor)result.cursor();
double total = 0d;
while (c.next())
{
total += ((BINumeric)c.get(valueColumn)).getNumeric();
}
NiagaraAX Developer Guide (build 3.0.100) from docDeveloper.jar BQL Expressions
Operator Precedence
BQL Expressions
Back to BQL Overview.
BQL Expressions are used in the where clause of a BQL query to further qualify a result by narrowing the set of
objects in the extent.
Operator Precedence
BQL supports the following set of operators ordered by precedence:
!, not, - logical not, numeric negation

*, / multiplication, division
+, - addition, subtraction
=, !=, >, >=, <, <=
comparisons
like, in
and, or logical operators
Parentheses can be used to override the normal precedence.
Typed Literals
All primitive types and BSimple types can be expressed as literals in BQL. The syntax for primitives types is:
String - single quoted string
Example: 'This is a string literal'
number - a numeric value, unquoted
Example: 10
boolean - true or false, unquoted
Example: true
enum - The enum type spec followed by the tag separated by a dot.
Example: alarm:SourceState.normal
Expressing other BSimple types in BQL is more verbose because a type specifier is required. The syntax for a
BSimple value is the type spec (i.e. moduleName:typeName) followed by a string literal with the string encoding of
the value (the result of encodeToString() for the type). Example: baja:RelTime '10000'
Baja types are expressed in BQL using the type spec. Any type spec that is not followed by a quoted string refers to
the type itself.
Example: where out.type = baja:StatusNumeric
NiagaraAX Developer Guide (build 3.0.100) from docDeveloper.jar BQL Examples
Typed Literals
BQL Examples
Back to BQL Overview.
This document is a collection of example queries that illustrate how to identify some common sets of data with
BQL. While each example in this document only presents a single solution, keep in mind that in most cases there are
several different ways get the same result.
All points
select slotPath, out from control:ControlPoint

The result is the slot path and output value of all control points. Since we specified "out" the result is the
combination of value and status. If we wanted just the value, we would have used out.value. Or if we wanted value
and status in separate columns we would have specified out.value and out.status.
All points in alarm

select slotPath, out from control:ControlPoint where status.alarm
The result is the slot path and output value of all control points currently in the alarm state. In the where clause, the
path "status.alarm" evaluates to true if the alarm status bit is set and false otherwise. This mechanism can be used to
check the state of any of the status bits. See BStatus for more information on status flags.
All points with "Meter" in their name

select slotPath, out from control:ControlPoint where name like '%Meter%'
The result is the slot path and output value of all points whose name includes the substring "Meter". BQL supports
simple pattern matching. A '%' or '*' matches zero or more characters. A '_' matches exactly one character. The
normal character matching is case sensitive.
All points with a totalizer extension

select parent.slotPath, total from control:NumericTotalizerExt
The result is the slot path of every point that has a totalizer extension and the total for each totalizer. Note that the
extent is the set of all totalizers. To get the point path, we look at the parent of each object in the extent.
All current schedule output values
select slotPath, out from schedule:AbstractSchedule stop

The result is the slot path and output value of all schedules. Note the keyword "stop". The schedule component
model makes the "stop" keyword necessary. All of the common schedule (BooleanSchedule, NumericSchedule, etc.)
are actually composed of many more precise schedules. Without the "stop", the result would include all of the inner
schedules in addition to the top level schedules that this query is actually looking for. The "stop" tells the query
processor to stop the recursion when it reaches a component whose type matches the extent type.
All points overridden at priority level 8

select slotPath, out from control:IWritablePoint
where activeLevel = control:PriorityLevel.level_8
The result is the slot path and output value of all writable points that are currently overridden at priority level 8. I
know that every writable point is an instance of BIWritablePoint. All writable points provide access to their active
level with a method called getActiveLevel(). Following the pattern for translating method names to BQL fields, I
can access the active level on writable points using "activeLevel". In this case I know that active level is represented
by a PriorityLevel enum. The level 8 value of the enum is specified by "control:PriorityLevel.level_8".
All points with units of degrees fahrenheit
select slotPath from control:NumericPoint

where facets.units.unitName = 'fahrenheit'
The key to this query is understanding how units are associated with a point. All control points have facets. For
numeric points, the units are defined as a facet. So facets.units gets the units for the point. BUnit has a method called
NiagaraAX Developer Guide (build 3.0.100) from docDeveloper.jar BQL Examples
Typed Literals
getUnitName() so "unitName" gets the result of that method.
All points linked to a specific schedule
select targetComponent.slotPath from baja:Link

where sourceSlotName = 'out' and
sourceComponent.slotPath = 'slot:/app/MainSchedule'
This one is tricky. Because links are dynamic, they do not have a fixed name that we can search for. There is also no
way to access just the links to a schedule output from BQL. Instead we have to look at all of the links and check the
endpoints. So the extent is all links. Then we check for a source slot of "out". Finally we check the source slot path.
All points that generate alarms of a specific class
select parent.slotPath from alarm:AlarmSourceExt where alarmClass = 'hvac'

The result is the slot path of all control points that generate alarms for the "hvac" alarm class. The extent is all alarm
source extensions. We find the extensions that specify "hvac" for the alarm class and get the parent slot path from
those. The parent of an alarm source extension is always a control point.
All points with a history extension
select parent.slotPath from history:HistoryExt

This one is simple. We find all of the history extensions by using history:HistoryExt as the extent. Then we just get
the slot path of the parent. The parent of a history extension is always a control point.
All points that collect a history with a capacity greater than 1000 records.
select parent.slotPath, historyConfig.capacity from history:HistoryExt
where historyConfig.capacity.isUnlimited or
historyConfig.capacity.maxRecords > 1000
For this query you have to understand how history extensions are configured. The capacity is a property of
HistoryConfig. However, Capacity is not a simple numeric value. To exceed 1000 records of capacity, the
configured capacity may either be unlimited or limited to a value greater than 1000. So first we check for unlimited
and then we check for a limit of more than 1000 records.
The number of unacked alarms in all alarm classes
select name, unackedAlarmCount from alarm:AlarmClass

This query just looks at all of the alarm classes and for each one returns the name and the unackedAlarmCount. In
this case, it will be much more efficient to narrow the search by making the alarm service be the query base. All
alarm classes must be children of the AlarmService. So it is much better to only search the AlarmService container.
slot:/Services/Alarm|bql:select name, numberOfUnackedAlarms from alarm:AlarmClass
NiagaraAX Developer Guide (build 3.0.100) from docDeveloper.jar Driver Framework
Overview
Driver Framework
Overview
The driver framework provides a common model for abstracting how information is imported and exported from the
station VM. The model is built upon the following concepts
• BDeviceNetwork: This models a physical or logical network of devices.
• BDevice: This models a physical or logical device such as a fieldbus device or an IP host.
• BDeviceExt: This models a functional integration at the device level which imports and/or exports a
specific type of information such a points, histories, alarms, or schedules.
• BNetworkExt: This models an functional extension at the network level.
Driver Hiearchy
Drivers are always structured according to a fixed slot hiearchy as illustrated the Driver Hierarchy Diagram:
• DriverContainer: Typically all drivers are located in this folder directly under the station root.
• DeviceNetwork: Models the specific driver's protocol stack.
• DeviceFolder: Zero or more levels of DeviceFolder can be used to organize the driver's Devices.
• Device: Devices model the physical or logical device of the driver. Devices are descendents of the
DeviceNetwork either as direct children or inside DeviceFolders.
• DeviceExt: DeviceExts are always direct children of Devices, typically declared as frozen slots.
Within each DeviceExt, there is usually a well defined hiearchy. For example the PointDeviceExt follows a similar
model with PointDeviceExt, PointFolders, ControlPoints, and ProxyExt.
Status
A key function of the driver framework is providing normalized management of status. The follows semantics are
defined for status flags:
• Disabled: the user manually disabled the driver component
• Fault: a configuration, hardware, or software error is detected
• Down: a communication error has occurred
• Stale: a situation has occurred (such as elapsed time since a read) which renders the current value
untrustworthy
The driver framework provides a standard mechanism to manage each of these status flags. A component is disabled
when a user manually sets the enabled property to false. Disable automatically propagates down the tree. For
example setting the network level disabled automatically sets all devices and points under it disabled.
The fault status is typically a merge of multiple fault situations. The driver framework does its own fault detection to
detect fatal faults. Fatal faults typically occur because a device or component has been placed inside the wrong
container (such as putting a ModbusDevice under a LonworksNetwork). Licensing failures can also trigger fatal
faults. Driver developers can set their own fault conditions in networks and devices using the configFail() and
configOk() methods. A faultCause method provides a short description of why a component is in fault. Fault
conditions automaticlly propagate down the tree.
The down status indicates a communication failure at the network or device level. Down status is managed by the
ping APIs using pingFail() and pingOk(). Ping status is maintained in the health property. The driver
framework includes a PingMonitor which automatically pings devices on a periodic basis to check their health.
The PingMonitor can generate alarms if it detects a device has gone down.
DeviceExts
The following standard device extensions provide a framework for working specific types of data:
• Point: For reading and writing proxy points.
NiagaraAX Developer Guide (build 3.0.100) from docDeveloper.jar Driver Framework
User Interfaces
• History: For importing and exporting histories.

• Alarm: For routing incoming and outgoing alarms.
• Schedule: Used to perform master/slave scheduling.
User Interfaces
The driver framework provides a comprehensive set of APIs for building tools for managing configuration and
learns. This topic is discussed in detail in Driver UI.
NiagaraAX Developer Guide (build 3.0.100) from docDeveloper.jar Point Devicelet Framework
Overview
Point Devicelet Framework

Overview
The javax.baja.driver.point API is used to perform point IO with logical or physical control points.
Drivers use the standard control points found in the control module. But each driver provides a specialization of
BProxyExt for driver specific addressing, tuning, and IO.
Refer to Architecture - Driver Hiearchy for an illustration of the component slot hierarchy.
Refer to Architecture - ProxyExt for an illustration of the design.
Point Modes
There are three modes which a proxy point may operate in:
• Readonly: These points are read from the device, but never written.
• ReadWrite: These are points which the driver can both read from and write to.
• Writeonly: These are points which the driver can write to, but cannot read.
A ProxyExt must indicate which mode it is operating by overriding the getMode() method.
Proxy Ext
The ProxyExt component contains two properties used for managing read and write values.
The readValue property indicates the last value read from the device. For writeonly points this is the last value
successfully written. This value is used to feed the parent point's extensions and out property. If numeric, it is in
device units.
The writeValue property stores the value currently desired to be written to the device. If numeric, it is in device
units.
Framework to Driver Callbacks

Driver developers have three callbacks which should be used to manage reads and writes:
• ProxyExt.readSubscribed(): This callback is made when the point enters the subscribed state.
This is an indication to the driver that something is now interested in this point. Drivers should begin
polling or register for changes.
• ProxyExt.readUnsubscribed(): This callback is made when the point enters the unsubscribed
state. This is an indication to the driver that no one is interested in the point's current value anymore.
Drivers should cease polling or unregister for changes.
• ProxyExt.write(): This callback is made when the framework determines that a point should be
written. The tuning policy is used to manage write scheduling.
Note: All three callbacks should be handled quickly and should never perform IO on the callers thread. Instead
drivers should use queues and asynchronous threads to perform the actual IO.
Driver to Framework Callbacks

The ProxyExt contains a standard API which the driver should call once a read or write operation has been
attempted.
If a read operation completes successfully then readOk() method should be called with the value read. If the read
fails then call the readFail() method.
If a write operation completes successfully then the writeOk() method should be called with the value written. If
the write fails for any reason then call writeFail().
Tuning
All ProxyExts contain a Tuning property that manages how read and writes are tuned. All drivers which implement
proxy points should create a "tuningPolicies" property of type TuningPolicyMap on their DeviceNetwork. The
NiagaraAX Developer Guide (build 3.0.100) from docDeveloper.jar Point Devicelet Framework
Utilities
Tuning structure on each ProxyExt identifies its TuningPolicy within the network by slot name. TuningPolicies
allow users to configure which state transitions result in a write() callback. TuningPolicies may also be used to
setup a minWriteTime to throttle writes and a maxWriteTime to do rewrites.
Utilities
The driver framework provides a suite of APIs to aid developers in building their drivers:
• BPollScheduler: This is a prebuild component that manages polling the points using a set of
configurable buckets. To use this feature have your ProxyExt implement the BIPollable interface.
• ByteBuffer: This class provides a wealth of methods when working with byte buffers such as reading
and writing integers using big or little endian.
NiagaraAX Developer Guide (build 3.0.100) from docDeveloper.jar History Devicelet Framework
Overview
History Devicelet Framework

Overview
Refer to the javax.baja.driver.history API.
History device extensions manage exporting and importing histories (data logs) to and from remote devices for
archiving purposes. For more information on Niagara histories, refer to the History documentation.
The BHistoryDeviceExt component is the container for archive descriptors which specify the details for importing/
exporting histories. A concrete implementation of this component can be placed under a device (concrete
implementation of BDevice) to specify the export/import behavior of histories to and from the device. The actual
descriptions of each history export/import are contained in a subclass of BArchiveDescriptor which supplies the
unique History Id for the history exported/imported. Since it is a BDescriptor, among other things it supplies the
execution time for performing the export/import. Two subclasses of BArchiveDescriptor are available:
BHistoryExport is used for exporting or pushing a history to a remote device (referred to as a history export
descriptor), and BHistoryImport is used for importing or pulling a history from a remote device (referred to as a
history import descriptor). Currently these are the only two options, or active history descriptors. At present there
are no passive history descriptors (i.e. history exported descriptor or history imported descriptor). Also, in the
concrete Niagara Driver implementation, the code prevents a history export from occuring when there already exists
a history import for a matching history id.
The BHistoryNetworkExt component manages network level functions for the history transfers. Its primary purpose
is to be the container of the configuration rules (BConfigRules) that specify how the configuration of a history
should be changed when a history is pushed (exported) into a Niagara station. Configuration rules are applied when
an exported history is created. Changing a rule has no effect on existing histories. A BConfigRule entry has two
String parameters used for matching a pushed history's device and history name, and once a match is found (the
configuration rules are iterated in slot order, and the first match will be used), any override rules (properties) will be
used in place of the corresponding properties on the incoming history's configuration (BHistoryConfig). For
example, if you wanted to increase the history capacity on a history that has been received from an export for
archiving purposes, you could supply an override property on a configuration rule to increase the capacity.
NiagaraAX Developer Guide (build 3.0.100) from docDeveloper.jar Alarm Devicelet Framework
Receiving Alarms
Alarm Devicelet Framework

The BAlarmDeviceExt handles the sending an receiving of alarms to and from remote devices. It is both and alarm
source, implementing BIRemoteAlarmSource, and an alarm recipient, implementing BIRemoteAlarmRecipient.
Receiving Alarms
BAlarmDeviceExt is used for receiving alarms from a remote device. The BAlarmDeviceExt should be used as the
source for all incoming alarms. If more detail is needed about the actual source, the
BAlarmRecord.SOURCE_NAME or additional fields in the BAlarmRecord's alarmData can be used. Alarm Ack
Request will be routed back to the BAlarmDeviceExt when it is set as the source.
In Niagara Offnormal and Normal alarms are not two separate alarms as is found in some systems. In Niagara
Offnormal and Normal are two states of the same alarm. This is important to keep in mind is not using the
AlarmSupport class as each offnormal alarm generated will need it's source state set to Normal when it's source goes
back to the normal state.
Sending Alarms
Sending alarms from the Niagara system to a remote device is accomplished by implmenting a BAlarmRecipient.
The BAlarmRecipient's handleAlarm method should route alarms from the Niagara system to the remote device and
the originating source. The actual sending of alarms to the device network should be done on a separate thread so as
to not block the control engine thread. The DeviceExt should not attempt to send alarms to Devices which are down
or disabled.
NiagaraAX Developer Guide (build 3.0.100) from docDeveloper.jar Schedule Device Extensions
Overview
Schedule Device Extensions

Overview
Schedule device extensions manage remote schedule synchonization. A subordinate schedule is a read-only copy of
a supervisor schedule. Subordinate schedules must be children of the schedule device extension.
Refer to the javax.baja.schedule.driver API.
BScheduleDeviceExt
Container of supervisor schedule export descriptors and subordinate schedules.
Subscription
At a random time after station startup and within the subscribeWindow property value, all subordinate
schedules who have not communicated with their supervisor will have their execute action invoked. For
drivers where remote supervisors do not persist information about local subordinates, the subscribe window
should be some small value rather than the default of a day.
Retries
Periodically the execute action of all BScheduleExports and BScheduleImportExts who are in fault is
invoked. The retry interval is controled by the retryTrigger property.
Subclasses
• Implement makeExport(String supervisorId) to create BScheduleExport objects for incoming subscription
requests from remote subordinates.
• Implement makeImportExt() to create the schedule extension for new subordinate schedules.
• Can call processImport() to handle requests from remote subordinates.
• Can call processExport() to handle updates from remote supervisors.
BScheduleExport
Maps a local supervisor to a remote subordinate. Will be a child of a BScheduleDeviceExt.
Execution
The execute action is where the the local supervisor schedule configuration is sent to the remote
subordinate. It is only invoked if the local supervisor schedule has been modified since the last time it was
sent to the remote subordinate. The executionTime property controls when the local supervisor version is
compared to the remote subordinate.
Subclasses
• Implement doExecute() to upload the supervisor schedule configuration.
• Implement postExecute() to enqueue the execute action on an async thread.
• Always call getExportableSchedule() before encoding a schedule for transmission. This inlines schedule
references.
BScheduleImportExt
Maps a local subordinate to a remote supervisor. Will be a child of the subordinate schedule.
Execution
The execute action is where the local subordinate makes a request to the remote supervisor for a
configuration update. The executionTime property controls when execute is invoked but it is turned off by
NiagaraAX Developer Guide (build 3.0.100) from docDeveloper.jar Schedule Device Extensions
HTUBScheduleExportManagerUTH
default. Since BScheduleImportExt.execute will always result in a message to the remote supervisor, it is
more efficient to have the supervisor push changes only when necessary.
When the schedule device extension performs subscription, it is simply invoking the execute action on
BScheduleImportExt.
Subclasses
• Implement doExecute() to download the supervisor schedule configuration.
• Implement postExecute() to enqueue the execute action on an async thread.
• Can call processExport() to handle configuration updates from the remote supervisor.
BScheduleExportManager
This is the manager view for local supervisor schedules. This is a convenience and can be ignored.
Subclasses
• Subclass ScheduleExportModel to add MgrColumns for properties added to your BScheduleExport.
• Override makeModel() to return your new model.
• Make the manager an agent on your schedule device extenstion.
BScheduleImportManager
This is the manager view for local subordinate schedules. This is a convenience and can be ignored.
Subclasses
• Subclass ScheduleImportModel to add MgrColumns for properties added to your BScheduleImportExt.
• Override makeModel() to return your new model.
• Make the manager an agent on your schedule device extenstion.
NiagaraAX Developer Guide (build 3.0.100) from docDeveloper.jar Basic Driver
Overview
Basic Driver
Overview
Refer to the Basic Driver API.
This package provides some basic classes that may be useful to developers building a new driver (i.e. field bus
driver). These classes can be used (or subclassed) to provide some basic driver functionality, such as worker (queue)
management, basic poll schedule handling, basic messages and management of these basic messages through
request/response transactions (as well as unsolicited message handling), etc. It also provides a serial implementation
(com.tridium.basicdriver.serial) which can be subclassed by drivers that use a serial port for communication. Here is
an overview of basicDriver's structure:
BBasicNetwork
/ / | \
/ / | \
BBasicDevices / | Worker Queues (BBasicWorkers)
/ | - dispatcher (used for
/ | synchronizing access to Comm)
BBasicPollScheduler | - worker (for posting async
| operations, such as learns)
| - write worker (for posting
| async coalescing operations,
| such as writes)
|
Comm
/ | \
/ | \
CommReceiver | CommTransactionManager
CommTransmitter | - CommTransactions
|
|
UnsolicitedMessageListeners
(registered if needed by network)
The abstract class BBasicNetwork is the root component of basicDriver. It is the base container for BBasicDevice
objects, and it provides a basic poll scheduler where objects implementing the BIBasicPollable interface can register
to be polled (i.e. points, devices). It also provides three worker threads (queues) for handling asynchonous
operations and synchronization of request messages to the Comm for transmission to the output stream (the
following outlines the INTENDED use of these worker queues):
Asynchronous operations should be posted onto either the worker queue or write worker queue (coalescing). Write
operations should always go to the write worker queue so they will be coalesced. Most other asynchronous
operations, such as learns, should be posted to the worker queue to keep the write worker queue free for write
operations. As these async operations are processed (dequeued), they should post any necessary message requests to
the dispatcher queue, which synchronizes access to the Comm (Comm is ultimately responsible for sending the
request message to the output stream via the CommTransmitter and receiving the response message from the
input stream via the CommReceiver). Other threads may also post directly to the dispatcher queue (for example,
the poll thread can post poll message requests directly to the dispatcher queue).
Supporting Classes
worker queue write worker queue

___ ___
|___| |___|
|___| |___|
|___| |___|
|___| |___|
|___| |___|
| |
| dispatcher queue |
| ___ |
--------+ |___| +----------
--------------+ |___|
| |___| (The dispatcher queue
poll |___| is intended to handle
requests |___| message requests only)
|
|
|
---------+ send a request message
to Comm to transmit to
the output stream, and
wait for and return
any response from the
input stream.
Supporting Classes
BBasicNetwork also handles initialization, starting, and stopping the Comm, or communication handler. Comm is
used to manage request/response message transactions for the network, handles the interaction between the low-
level transmitter and receiver, and routes any unsolicited received messages to the appropriate listener. Comm uses
the following supporting classes to accomplish its tasks:
• CommTransactionManager: provides a pool of CommTransaction objects that are used for
request/response message matching. Matching a request message to a response message is determined
through an Object tag on the Message (discussed below).
• CommReceiver: an abstract class implementing Runnable which handles receiving and forming
ReceivedMessages from the input stream. Subclasses must override the receive() abstract
method to read and return a complete ReceivedMessage. CommReceiver will loop and
continuously call receive() in order to receive messages. Once a complete ReceivedMessage is
received, this class routes the ReceivedMessage back up to the Comm for further processing. The
returned ReceivedMessage may also need to contain data for request/response message matching (tag
data) and unsolicited message listener processing (unsolicited listener code).
• CommTransmitter: provides access and synchronization for writing Messages (and/or bytes) to the
output stream.
• UnsolicitedMessageListener: Comm can store a list of objects implementing this interface in order to
process unsolicited received messages. UnsolicitedMessageListener objects can be registered
to the Comm with an unsolicited listener code key. Then when a ReceivedMessage is received and
determined to be unsolicited, it can match the unsolicited listener code to determine which
UnsolicitedMessageListener instance should handle the ReceivedMessage.
• MessageListener: This is a helper interface that should be implemented by objects that wish to receive a
response Message. When using the sendAsync() or sendAsyncWrite() convenience methods
of BBasicNetwork, they require a parameter of type MessageListener in order to determine
where to route the response Message.
Messages
Messages
The com.tridium.basicdriver.message package contains classes useful for building driver messages (using the
Message abstract class), allowing these Messages to be written to the output stream, and formatting a response
received (ReceivedMessage) into a proper Message.
• Message: an abstract class for wrapping a driver message and providing some methods necessary for
handling a response to this message. At a minimum, subclasses will need to provide the implementation
for writing the message to the output stream and determine how a response (ReceivedMessage)
should be interpreted and formed into a Message.
• ReceivedMessage: an abstract class for wrapping a received driver message and providing some methods
for determining if it is unsolicited and/or the unsolicited listener code to use for finding the correct
UnsolicitedMessageListener if the message is determined to be unsolicited. Subclasses should
provide a means to serve the appropriate data to form a complete Message.
Utility Classes
The com.tridium.basicdriver.util package contains utility classes useful to most drivers.
• BasicException: an extension of BajaRuntimeException, a BasicException can be thrown when an
error occurs in the driver.
• BBasicWorker: an extension of BWorker, it manages a basic worker thread for a queue. Used by the
BBasicNetwork for the asynchronous worker.
• BBasicCoalescingWorker: an extension of BBasicWorker, it manages a basic worker thread for a
coalescing queue. Used by the BBasicNetwork for the asynchronous write worker.
• BBasicPollScheduler: an extension of BPollScheduler, it handles subscribing, unsubscribing, and polling
of BIBasicPollable objects.
• BIBasicPollable: an extension of BIPollable, this interface should be implemented by any objects that
wish to register to receive poll requests from the BBasicPollScheduler. Subclasses of basicDriver
can use this to poll any devices, points, etc. as needed.
Serial Driver
The com.tridium.basicdriver.serial package contains classes useful to most serial drivers (with the communication
handler, Comm, at the network level).
• BSerialNetwork: an extension of BBasicNetwork that supports serial communication on a single
configurable serial port. This abstract class can be subclassed to provide a frozen property of type
BSerialHelper. This property, called 'Serial Port Config', provides an end user the ability to configure a
serial port and its settings (i.e. baud rate, data bits, etc.) to use for communication with devices on the
serial network.
• SerialComm: an extension of Comm that handles opening the user selected serial port as well as the input
and output streams to that port. It is used by the BSerialNetwork to handle synchronization of the
serial communication.
NiagaraAX Developer Guide (build 3.0.100) from docDeveloper.jar BACnet Driver
Overview
BACnet Driver
Overview
The Niagara AX BACnet driver provides both client and server side BACnet functionality. On the server side, the
Niagara station is represented as a BACnet device on the network. Certain objects in Niagara can be exposed as
BACnet Objects. Niagara will respond to BACnet service requests for these objects, according to the BACnet
specification. On the client side, Niagara can represent other BACnet devices in the Framework. Properties of
BACnet objects can be brought into Niagara as BACnet Proxy Points. In addition, the BACnet driver provides client
side schedule and trend log access. The BACnet objects can also be viewed as a whole, using the Config views.
Both client-side and server-side alarm support is provided, using the intrinsic alarming mechanism. The basic
components in the BACnet driver are
• BBacnetNetwork: This represents the BACnet network in Niagara.
• BLocalBacnetDevice: This represents Niagara as a BACnet device.
• BBacnetDevice: This models a remote BACnet device.
Server
The server side functionality of the driver is accomplished by using export descriptors to map Niagara objects as
BACnet Objects. The Local BACnet Device contains an export table from where all of the export descriptors are
managed. The javax.baja.bacnet.export package contains the standard export descriptors. The base
interface for an export descriptor, which must be implemented by all export descriptors, is
BIBacnetServerObject. This contains the methods that are used by the comm stack and export mechanisms to
access the BACnet Object properties of whatever Niagara object is being exported. The primary classes
implementing this interface are
• BBacnetPointDescriptor and its subclasses - for exporting control points.
• BBacnetScheduleDescriptor and its subclasses - for exporting schedules.
• BBacnetTrendLogDescriptor and BBacnetNiagaraHistoryDescriptor - for exporting
native BACnet trend logs and Niagara histories, respectively.
• BBacnetFileDescriptor - for exporting file system files.
• BBacnetNotificationClassDescriptor - for exporting Niagara BAlarmClasses as Notification
Class objects.
Wherever a BACnet property is available directly from the exported Niagara object, this property is used. In some
cases, a BACnet-required property is not available on the Niagara object being exported. In those cases, the property
is defined within the export descriptor itself.
To export an object, the Bacnet Export Manager is used. A BQL query is made against the station to find
components of a particular type, and the results are displayed. When a decision is made to add an export descriptor
for a particular component, the registry is searched for export descriptors that are registered as agents on the
component's Type. If any are found, these are presented to the user in the Add dialog.
For accepting writes, the BACnet driver requires that a BACnet user be defined in the User Service. The password
for this user is not important, except for Device Management functions such as DeviceCommunicationControl and
ReinitializeDevice. The permissions assigned for this user define what level of access is allowed for BACnet
devices. Reads are always allowed; writes and modifications (such as AddListElement) are governed by the
permissions of the BACnet user. If no BACnet user is defined, writes are not allowed.
The main area where the server side of the BACnet driver is extensible is through the creation of new export
descriptor types. To create export descriptors for object types that are not currently exportable (such as a String
Point), you simply need to create a class that implements BIBacnetServerObject. You may find that you want
to subclass one of the base export descriptor classes mentioned above, or you may find it easier to create your own,
using these classes as a guide.
NiagaraAX Developer Guide (build 3.0.100) from docDeveloper.jar BACnet Driver
Client
Client
The client side functionality of the driver is accomplished with the BBacnetDevice and its device extensions.
There are extensions for each of the normalized models
• BBacnetPointDeviceExt - for modeling properties of BACnet objects into Niagara control points.
• BBacnetScheduleDeviceExt - for representing BACnet Schedules as Niagara schedules for
monitor or control.
• BBacnetHistoryDeviceExt - for representing BACnet Trend Logs as Niagara histories for
configuration and archiving.
• BBacnetAlarmDeviceExt - for managing BACnet alarms from the device.
• BBacnetConfigDeviceExt - for viewing and modifying BACnet Objects in their native model - as
an entire object, rather than by individual properties.
BACnet Proxy Points are configured by using a BBacnetProxyExt. There are four subclasses of this, one for
each type of Niagara control point. The extensions are polymorphic, in that they know how to convert data from any
of the primitive data types to the data type of their parent point. Any proxy point can be written to if it is of the
proper type. The BACnet proxy extensions manage writes for both priority-array and non-prioritized points.
BACnet client-side Scheduling can be accomplished in two ways
• BBacnetScheduleExport - This descriptor is used when Niagara is the supervisor, driving the
schedule in the device. It contains the object identifier of the remote schedule, and the ord to the Niagara
schedule that is to be the source of scheduling data. At configurable times this data is written down to the
remote schedule.
• BBacnetScheduleImportExt - This extension is used when the remote schedule is the source of
data, and Niagara is simply reading scheduling information from the device. The schedule is queried at
configurable times to update the Niagara schedule.
BACnet client-side Trending is accomplished by using the BBacnetHistoryImport. This descriptor
periodically archives data from the Trend Log object in the remote device for storage by the Niagara station.
The operation of BACnet objects is sometimes easier to understand when the object is viewed as a whole, with all of
its properties viewed toegether. For this reason, the Config device extension is provided. This allows you to view,
for example, all of the properties of an Analog Input object together, without having to create proxy points for all of
them. The expected use case is initial configuration or commissioning. The base object for representing BACnet
Objects is BBacnetObject. Specific subclasses for BACnet standard object types exist in
javax.baja.bacnet.config.
The main areas where the client side of the BACnet driver is extensible are
1. BBacnetDevice. For specialized device behavior, the BBacnetDevice can be subclassed. This is
not for adding additional BACnet properties; the device object properties are contained in the
BBacnetDeviceObject. Each BBacnetDevice has an enumeration list which contains all of the
extensions known to that device. Specific device classes might have preconfigured entries for these
enumerations, that allow it to better interpret and represent proprietary enumeration values received from
this device.
2. BBacnetObject. For specialized object types, such as a representation of a proprietary object type, the
BBacnetObject class should be subclassed. This includes any specific device object properties, which
would be contained in a subclass of BBacnetDeviceObject.
3. proprietary data types. If any proprietary data types are created, they can be modelled corresponding to
the data types in javax.baja.bacnet.datatypes. Primitive data types are generally modelled as
simples. Constructed data types are generally modelled as a subclass of BComplex. The data type must
implement BIBacnetDataType.
4. proprietary enumerations. Proprietary enumerations can also be created. If a property in an object is of an
extensible enumeration, it should be modelled as a dynamic enum whose range is defined by the specified
frozen enum. Examples of both extensible and non-extensible enumerations exist in
javax.baja.bacnet.enum.
For additional information, refer to the BACnet API.
NiagaraAX Developer Guide (build 3.0.100) from docDeveloper.jar Lonworks Driver
Overview
Lonworks Driver
Overview
The Lonworks API provides the means to model lonwork networks and devices for configuration and run time
control. A network is a collection of connected lonworks devices and routers.
Basic components
• BLonNetwork: Is the top level container for BLonDevices. It provides manager views for
commissioning, binding and trouble shooting.
• BLonDevice: Provides a database model for lonDevices to facilitate configuration and access to run
time data.
• BLonProxyExt: Customizes proxy points for data elements on lonDevices. Proxy points provide the
mechanism to interface point data in devices with Niagara control logic and graphics
Misc components
• BLonRouter: Contains the database model needed for network management of lonworks router.
LonDevice
A BLonDevice contains BDeviceData and the means to manage a collection of BLonComponents and
BMessageTags.
BLonComponents are database representation of specific components in a device. They contain one or more data
elements (see LonDataModel below) and specific config information. There are three types:
BNetworkVariable, BNetworkConfig, BConfigParameter.
BMessageTags are only for linking. There is no behavior implemented in massage tags in the station.
BLonDevice is an abstract class and is the root class for all lonworks devices. There are two flavors of
BLonDevice implemented in the lonworks drivers:
• BLocalLonDevice is a final class which provides the means to manage the local neuron. It is a frozen
slot on BLonNetwork.
• BDynamicDevice provides support for dynamically building the devices data and BLonComponents.
There are two actions to accomplish this: learnNv uses the self documentation in the device,
importXLon uses an xml file containing a representation of the device.
Lon Data Model

Each BLonComponent contains one or more data elements which mirror the data structure of the component in
the device. These data elements are managed by BLonData which handles conversion between the database
representation and the devices binary format. BLonData can also contain other BLonData components allowing
for nested data types.
NOTE: BLonData has been folded into BLonComponent. The effect is to place the data elements at the same
tree level as the LonComponent config properties. This was done to improve efficiency in the workbench. The getter
settor methods in BLonComponent access LonData as though it were contained by the LonComponent. The
getData() method will return the BLonComponent as a BLonData. The setData() method will replace
the current data elements with the new elements passed in data argument.
Each data element is modeled as a BLonPrimitive. There are BLonPrimitives for each primitive datatype.
• BLonBoolean models a boolean element
• BLonEnum models a enumeration element
• BLonFloat models a numeric element
• BLonString models a string element
Proxy points
Special element types

• BLonInteger models a numeric element when full 32 bits of data is needed
• BLonByteArray is used in special cases to model data when can not be meaningfully modeled as
primitive elements
• BLonSimple is used in special cases to model data which has been representated by a simple. The
simple must implement BILonNetworkSimple .
Proxy points
Proxy points are standard Niagara control points used to access data elements in foreign devices. Proxy points have
a driver specific ProxyExt that handles addressing data elements in a specific device and data conversion needed to
present the data in a normalized format. The inputs and outputs of proxies can be linked to other control logic or
graphical points.
A BLonProxyExt in a Proxy point makes it a lonworks proxy point. There are different BLonProxyExts for
each primitive data type. These can be seen in javax.baja.lonworks.proxy.
Lon Proxy Points are managed by LonPointManager which is a view on the points container in each BLonDevice.
Network Management
Implements a set of standard lonworks network management functions. The user has access to these functions
through the following manager view.
• DeviceManager - provides support for discovering and adding lonwork devices to the database, for
managing device addresses, and downloading standard applications to devices.
• RouterManager - provides support for discovering and adding lonwork routers to the database, and for
managing device addresses
• LinkManagar - provides means to manage link types and bind links.
• LonUtiliesManager - provides a set of utilities useful for managing a lon network
LonComm
The lonworks communication stack can be accessed through a call to BLonNetwork.lonComm(). LonComm is
provides APIs which allow the user to send LonMessages with one of the LonTalk service types (unackowledged,
acknowledged, unackowledged repeat, request response).
LonComm also provides a means to receive unsolicited messages by registering a LonListener for a specifed
message type from an optional subnetNode address.
LonMessage
LonMessage is the base class for all messages passed to/from LonComm APIs.
Users should subclass LonMessage if they wish to create a new explicit message type.
A set of LonTalk defined messages is provide in com/tridium/lonworks/netmessages. The definition of these
message is found in Neuron Chip Data Book Appendix B, Lonworks Router User's Guide, and EIA/CEA-709.1-B.
Mapping ProgramId to Device Representation

A mechanism is provided to associate an xml or class file with a particular device type. The device type is identifyed
by its ProgramId as described in LonMark Application-Layer Interoperability Guidelines. The association is created
by putting "def" entries in a modules module-include.xml file. This association is used during the learn process to
determine the appropriate database entity for discovered devices.
A "def" entry consists of name and value attribute. The name has the formate "lonworks:programId where
programId is the devices ProgramId represented as 8 hex encoded bytes with leading zeros and <space> delimiter.
Multiple mappings are allowed for the same programId. The value field can reference a class or xml file.
Mapping ProgramId to Device Representation
The formate for a class is cl=module:cname. The module is the niagara module containing the class and the cname is
the name as defined in the module-include.xml for that module. The class must be a sub class of BLonDevice or
BDynamicDevice.
The formate for an xml file is xml=module/xname. The module is the niagara module containing the xml file and the
xname is the name of the file containing the device representation. The xml file formate is described in Lon Markup
Language.
Examples of def entries in lon device module-include.xml file.
<defs>
<def name="lonworks.80 00 0c 50 3c 03 04 17" value="cl=lonHoneywell:Q7300"
/>
<def name="lonworks.80 00 0c 05 00 03 04 06" value="xml=lonHoneywell/Rio.lnml"
/>
<def name="lonworks.80 00 0c 05 00 03 04 06" value="xml=lonHoneywell/Rio2.lnml"
/>
</defs>
For further information refer to the Lonworks API.
NiagaraAX Developer Guide (build 3.0.100) from docDeveloper.jar Lon Markup Language
Overview
Lon Markup Language

Overview
This document defines the content of a lon XML interface file. Basic syntax: The xml interface file represents a
collection of objects. These objects may contain predefined elements and/or undefined elements. LonDevice
contains the predefined element deviceData and any number of undefined NetworkVariables. As a general rule,
elements which are not a defined element of the parent must have a type attribute. Defined elements must provide a
value "v" attribute or contain defined elements.
<name type="XLonXmlType">
<name v="value">
Example:
<T7300h type="XLonDevice">


<T7300h type="XLonXMLInterfaceFile">
<HwTherm file="datatypes\HwTherm.lnml"/>
<HwCommon file="datatypes\HwCommon.lnml"/>
<T7300h type="XlonDevice">
</T7300h>

<HwThermAlarmEnum type="XenumDef"> . . . </HwThermAlarmEnum>
<HwThermAlarm type="XTypeDef"> . . . </HwThermAlarm>
<T7300h type="XLonDevice"> . . . </T7300h>
</T7300h>
TypeDefs
EnumDefs and TypeDefs elements are needed to define the data portion of nvs, ncis, and config properties. An
EnumDef contains a set of tag/id pairs where the name of the element is the tag and the value is the id.
<HwThermAlarmEnum type="XEnumDef">
<NoAlarm v="0"/>
<T7300CommFailed v="2"/>
<AlarmNotifyDisabled v="255"/>
</HwThermAlarmEnum>
LonDevice
A TypeDef contains a set of data elements. Each data element contains a name and set of qualifiers. The "qual"
attribute contains a type field(u8, s8, b8, e8 ..), type restrictions (min,max) and encoding (resolution, byteOffset,
bitOffset, len) information. For a description of valid element values see Appendix B. If an element is an
enumeration then the enumDef attribute must be included to specify the name of the EnumDef used.
<HwThermAlarm type="XTypeDef">
< elem n="subnet" qual="u8 res=1.0 off=0.0"/>
< elem n="type" qual="e8" enumDef="HwThermAlarmEnum"/>
</HwThermAlarm>
A TypeDef element may also include "default" and "engUnit" attributes.
<HwThermConfig type="XTypeDef">
<TODOffset qual="u8 byt=0 bit=0 len=4 min=0.0 max=15.0 "
default="0" engUnit="F"/>
<DeadBand qual="ub byt=0 bit=4 len=4 min=2.0 max=10.0 "
default="2" engUnit="F"/>
</HwThermConfig>
LonDevice
A LonDevice consists of a defined element deviceData and sets of 0 or more of each XNetworkVariable,
XNetworkConfig, XConfigProperty, and XMessageTag type elements.
<deviceData> . . . </deviceData>
<nviRequest type="XNetworkVariable"> . . . </nviRequest>
<nvoAlarmLog type="XNetworkVariable"> . . . </nvoAlarmLog>
<nciApplVer type="XNetworkConfig"> . . . </nciApplVe>
<ScheduleFile type="XConfigProperty"> . . . </ScheduleFile>
<fx_explicit_tag type="XMessageTag"> . . . </fx_explicit_tag>
</T7300h>
DeviceData
DeviceData is a defined set of values need to describe or qualify a lonworks device. A complete list of elements and
their default values provided later.
<deviceData>
<majorVersion v="4"/>
<programID v="80 0 c 50 3c 3 4 17"/>
<addressTableEntries v="15"/>
. . .
</deviceData>
NVs, NCIs, ConfigProps

NetworkVariable, NetworkConfig (nci), and ConfigProperty elements share a common structure. Each one consists
of a set of defined elements and a data definition. See Appendix A for a complete list of defined elements and their
default values.
The data definition can take one of three forms:
1. for standard types a snvtType(for nv/nci) or scptType(for nci/cp) element
2. a typeDef element to specify the XTypeDef containing the data elements
3. a set of elem entries contained in the nv,nci,cp with the same definition as used for TypeDef
<nvoAlarmLog type="XNetworkVariable>
<index v="38"/>
<direction v="output"/>
<typeDef="HwThermAlarmLog"/>
</nvoAlarmLog>
<nviRequest type="XNetworkVariable">
File Attribute
<index v="0"/>
<snvtType v="objRequest"/>
. . .
</nviRequest>
<nciSetpoints type="XNetworkConfig">
<index v="17"/>
<snvtType v="tempSetpt"/>
. . .
</nciSetpoints>
<bypassTime type="XConfigProperty">
<scptType v="CpBypassTime"/>
<scope v="object"/>
<select v="0"/>
. . .
</bypassTime>
File Attribute
There will be cases where it is desirable to nest interface files. This will provide a means to share type definitions
between multiple device interface files. It may also ease the process of auto generating the files when the data is
contained in multiple forms (i.e. xif files, resource files, ...).
To include a file an element with the "file" attribute is included in the root. The path in the file attribute entry is
specified relative to the containing file.
The following is an example of nested files. File #1 contains enum definitions, File #2 contains type definitions
which use the enumDefs and file #3 contains the device definition which may use both.
File #1 ..\honeywell\enum\ HwThermEnum.xml

<HwThermEnum type="XLonXMLInterfaceFile">
<HwThermAlarmEnum type="XEnumDef">
<NoAlarm v="0"/>
<InvalidSetPtAlrm v="1"/>
. . .
</HwThermAlarmEnum>
. . .
</HwThermEnum>
File #2 ..\honeywell\datatypes\ HwTherm.xml

<HwTherm type="XLonXMLInterfaceFile">
<HwThermEnum file="..\enum\HwThermEnum.xml"/>
<HwThermAlarm type="XTypeDef">
<subnet qual="us res=1.0 off=0.0 "/>
<node qual="us res=1.0 off=0.0 "/>
<alarmType qual="en " enumDef="HwThermAlarmEnum"/>
</HwThermAlarm>
. . .
</HwTherm>
File #3 ..\honeywell\
<HwTherm file="..\datatypes\HwTherm.xml"/>
<nvoAlarm type="XNetworkVariable" typeDef="HwThermAlarm">
<index v="36"/>
<direction v="output"/>
...
</nvoAlarm>
</T7300h>
</T7300h>
XDeviceData Definition
XDeviceData definition: see LonMark External Interface File Reference Guide 4.0B
Type Name Default Valid Values
int majorVersion 0 -
int minorVersion 0 -
byte[] programID 00000000 -
int domains 2 -
int addressTableEntries 0 -
boolean handlesIncomingExplicitMessages false -
int numNvDeclarations 0 -
int numExplicitMessageTags 0 -
int networkInputBuffers 0 -
int networkOutputBuffers 0 -
int priorityNetworkOutputBuffers 0 -
int priorityApplicationOutputBuffers 0 -
int applicationOutputBuffers 0 -
int applicationInputBuffers 0 -
int sizeNetworkInputBuffer 0 -
int sizeNetworkOutputBuffer 0 -
int sizeAppOutputBuffer 0 -
int sizeAppInputBuffer 0 -
String applicationType unknown unknown,mip,neuron,hostSelect,hostNISelect
int numNetworkVariablesNISelect 0 -
int rcvTransactionBuffers 0 -
int aliasCount 0 -
boolean bindingII false -
boolean allowStatRelativeAddressing false -
int maxSizeWrite 11 -
int maxNumNvSupported 0 -
int neuronChipType 0 -
int clockRate 0 -
int firmwareRevision 0 -
int rcvTransactionBlockSize 0 -
int transControlBlockSize 0 -
int neuronFreeRam 0 -
int domainTableEntrySize 0 -
int addressTableEntrySize 0 -
int nvConfigTableEntrySize 0 -
int domainToUserSize 0 -
int nvAliasTableEntrySize 0 -
boolean standardTransceiverTypeUsed true -

int standardTransceiverTypeId 0 -
int transceiverType 0 -
int transceiverInterfaceRate 0 -
int numPrioritySlots 0 -
int minimumClockRate 0 -
int averagePacketSize 0 -
int oscillatorAccuracy 0 -
int oscillatorWakeupTime 0 -
int channelBitRate 0 -
boolean specialBitRate false -
boolean specialPreambleControl false -
String specialWakeupDirection input input,output
boolean overridesGenPurposeData false -
int generalPurposeData1 0 -
int rcvStartDelay 0 -
int rcvEndDelay 0 -
int indeterminateTime 0 -
int minInterpacketTime 0 -
int preambleLength 0 -
int turnaroundTime 0 -
int missedPreambleTime 0 -
int packetQualificationTime 0 -
boolean rawDataOverrides false -
int rawDataClockRate 0 -
int rawData1 0 -
int rawData2 0 -
int rawData3 0 -
int rawData4 0 -
int rawData5 0 -
String nodeSelfID "" -
NetworkVariable and Network Config common elements

String snvtType "xxx" from SNVT Master List."SNVT_angle_vel" becomes "angleVel".
int index -1 -
int averateRate 0 -
int maximumRate 0 -
int arraySize 1 -
boolean offline false -
boolean bindable true -
String direction "input" input,output
String serviceType "unacked" acked, repeat, unacked, unackedRpt
boolean serviceTypeConfigurable true -
boolean authenticated false -
boolean authenticatedConfigurable true -
boolean priority false -
boolean priorityConfigurable true -
NetworkVariable only elements
String objectIndex "" -
int memberIndex -1 -
int memberArraySize 1 -
boolean mfgMember false -
boolean changeType false -
NetworkConfig only elements
String scptType "" -
String scope "node" node,object,nv
String select "" If for node select=-1. Possible formates are n n~m n-m n.m n/m
String modifyFlag "anytime" anytime, mfgOnly, reset, constant, offline, objDisable, deviceSpecific
float max Float.NaN -
float min Float.NaN -
boolean changeType false -
ConfigParameter elements
int length 0 -
Element Qualifier

int length 0 -
int dimension 1 -
float max Float.NaN -
float min Float.NaN -
if the scope is object and the scpt is inherited then this specifies the memberNumber
String principalNv "" of the principalNv in the selected object. Prefixed with '#' if mfgDefined member '|'
if standard member.
Element Qualifier
The format for an element attribute is:
qual="Type [qualifier=xx]"
example: qual="u8 res=0.1 min=5 max=12"
Type Device Data Type Valid Qualifiers
c8 character - 1 byte -
s8 signed short - 1 byte res, off, min, max, invld
u8 unsigned short - 1 byte res, off, min, max, invld
s16 signed long - 2 byte res, off, min, max, invld
u16 unsigned lon - 2 byte res, off, min, max, invld
f32 float - 4 byte res, off, min, max, invld
s32 signed int - 4 bytes res, off, min, max, invld
b8 boolean - 1 byte -
e8 enumeration - 1 byte -
bb boolean in bit field byt, bit, len
eb enumeration in bit field byt, bit, len
ub unsigned int in bit field byt, bit, len, min, max, invld
sb signed int in bit field byt, bit, len, min, max, invld
st string len
na no type - byte array len
Qualifier Code Description Default
res resolution float 1.0
off Offset 0.0
min Minimum legal value Not specified
max Maximum legal value Not specified
invld Invalid value Not specified
byt Byte offset - 0 based -1
bit Bit offset - 0 based, 7 for msb, 0 for lsb 0
len Number of bytes(na), char(st) or bits(bb,eb,ub) 1
NiagaraAX Developer Guide (build 3.0.100) from docDeveloper.jar Build
Contents
Build
Contents
This document is structured into the following sections:
• Overview
• Directory Structure
• build.xml
• module-include.xml
• module.palette
• module.lexicon
• Grouping Modules
• devkit.properties
• Using Build
Overview
The Niagara developers kit includes the build tool used by Tridium to build the framework itself. You may utilize
this build tool to manage your own Niagara modules. The build tool includes the following:
• The build.exe executable used to invoke the Tridium build software;
• The IBM Jikes compiler is used to compile the java source files;
• Every module declares a "build.xml" file to instruct the build tool how to build and package the module;
• A standard directory structure is required for each module;
Directory Structure
Every module is managed in its own directory structure. Below is an example of a directory for the alarm module:
[alarm]
+- build.xml
+- module-include.xml
+- module.palette
+- module.lexicon
+- [src]
| +- [javax]
| | +- [baja]
| | +- [alarm]
| | +- JavaClass1.java
| | +- JavaClass2.java
| +- [com]
| | +- [tridium]
| | +- [alarm]
| | + JavaClass3.java
| | +- [ui]
| | + BAlarmConsole.java
| +- [doc]
| +- AlarmConsole-guide.html
+- [libJar]
All of the source code which is used to build the module's jar file is located under the "src" directory. During the
build process the "libJar" directory is used to build up the image which will be zipped up for the module's jar file.
build.xml
build.xml
At the root of every module's directory must be a "build.xml" file. This file instructs the build tool how to build the
module. An example of alarm's "build.xml" file:
<module
name = "alarm"
bajaVersion = "0"
preferredSymbol = "a"
description = "Niagara Alarm Module"
vendor = "Tridium"
>
<dependency name="baja" bajaVersion="1" />

<dependency name="bajaui" />
<dependency name="workbench" vendor="Tridium" vendorVersion="3.0" />
<dependency name="history" />
<package name="javax.baja.alarm" doc="true" />

<package name="com.tridium.alarm" />
<package name="com.tridium.alarm.ui" doc="bajaonly" install="ui" />
<resources name="com/tridium/alarm/ui/icons/*.png" install="ui" />

<resources name="doc/*.*" />
</module>
The root module element must have the following attributes:
• name [required]: Name of the module which should match the directory name.
• bajaVersion [required]: Baja specification version number, or "0" if not a public specification.
• preferredSymbol [required]: Pick a short symbol to use as a abbreviation for the module name. This
symbol is used during XML serialization.
• description [required]: A short description of the module's purpose in life.
• vendor [required]: Vendor for the module.
• install [optional]: Sets the default value of install for packages and resources. This attribute is used during
provisioning to strip optional directories for headless devices. Valid values are "runtime", "ui", and "doc".
The default is "runtime".
• edition [optional]: Sets the default value of edition for packages. This attribute determines which Java
library edition to compile against. Valid values are "j2me" and "j2se". The default is "j2me".
Note that vendorVersion is not configured in "build.xml", rather it is defined in "devkit.properties".
Dependency Element
Use the dependency element to declare a module dependency. The dependency is required at both compile time
and runtime. There are four possible attributes:
• name [required]: Name of dependent module.
• bajaVersion [optional]: Lowest Baja specification version required for the module.
• vendor [optional]: Specifies a required vendor name for the dependent module.
• vendorVersion [optional]: Specifies a required vendor version for the dependent module.
Package Element
The package element is used to declare a Java package. These elements are used for both compiling java source
files as well as generating reference documentation. The following attributes are supported:
• name [required]: Name of package as it would be declared in a package or import statement. There
must be a corresponding directory "src/packagePath" in your modules directory structure.
module-include.xml
• doc [optional]: If declared this attribute must be either false, true, or bajaonly. The default is
false. If false then no reference documentation is generated for the package. If bajaonly is
specified then only BObject Types and slot bajadoc is generated. If true is specified then full Javadoc
documentation is generated on all public Java classes and members. For more information see Deploying
Help.
• compile [optional]: If declared this attribute must be either true or false. The default is true. This
allows you to declare a package for documentation, but not compile the java source code into class files
during a build.
• install [optional]: This attribute is used during provisioning to strip optional directories for headless
devices. Valid values are "runtime", "ui", and "doc". The default is defined by module element.
• edition [optional]: This attribute determines which Java library edition to compile against.Valid values are
"j2me" and "j2se". The default is "j2me".
Resources Element
The resources element is used to copy files from the "src" directories into the "libJar" directories. The following
are the attributes supported:
• name [required]: Name of files to copy from the "src" to "libJar" directory. The path is relative to the "src"
directory and is copied to a matching directory under "libJar". You may specify an explicit filename or
use wildcards such as "*.*" or "*.png".
• install [optional]: This attribute is used during provisioning to strip optional directories for headless
devices. Valid values are "runtime", "ui", and "doc". The default is defined by module element.
module-include.xml
The "module-include.xml" file is an optional file that is placed directly under the module's root directory with the
"build.xml". If it is declared, then the build tool automatically includes it in the module's manifest file "meta-
inf/module.xml" file. It's primary purpose is to allow developers to declare def and type elements. An example is
provided:


<defs>
<def name="alarm.foo" value="something" />
</defs>
<types>
<type name="AlarmRecord" class="javax.baja.alarm.BAlarmRecord" />
<type name="AlarmRecipient" class="javax.baja.alarm.BAlarmRecipient" />
<type name="AlarmClass" class="javax.baja.alarm.BAlarmClass"/>
</types>
module.palette
The "module.palette" file is an optional file that is placed directly under the module's root directory. If included it is
automatically put into the root of the "libJar" directory, and accessible in the module as "/module.palette". The
"module.palette" file should contain the standard palette of public components provided by the module. The format
of the file is the same as a standard .bog file.
module.lexicon
The "module.lexicon" file is an optional file that is placed directly under the module's root directory. If included it is
automatically put into the root of the "libJar" directory. The lexicon file defines the name/value pairs accessed via
the Lexicon API.
Grouping Modules
Grouping Modules
The Niagara build tool allows you to create hierarchies of modules which may be managed together. This is done
through the use of grouping "build.xml" files. Let's look at an example:
<module
name = "drivers"
specVersion = "1"
preferredSymbol = "drivers"
description = "Niagara Framework Build Driver"
vendor = "Tridium"
>
<submodule name="lonworks" />

<submodule name="bacnet" />
<submodule name="modbus" />
</module>
You will note that it appears very similar to a standard "build.xml" file, except that it only contains submodule
elements. The submodule elements contain a single attribute name which maps to the sub-module's root
directory. If the modules have inter-dependencies, then they should be listed in order of the dependencies. You may
use grouping "build.xml" files to create groupings of groupings and built up projects of arbitary size and depth.
devkit.properties
The build tool uses the "home/lib/devkit.properties" file to store a couple key pieces of information:
# This property defines the master build number used for vendorVersion.
build=3.0.59
# This property defines the project's root directory where

# the the top level "build.xml" is located.
project.home=d:/niagara/r3dev
Using Build
Once you have your directories and "build.xml" files all squared away you use "build.exe" to actually build your
modules. The first argument to most build commands is the path of the module or group of modules to build. The
second argument is typically the build command to execute, the default is jar.
The following command compiles and jars the module "foo" located under the project root (declared in
devkit.properties):
build /foo
The following command cleans the "libJar" directory of the module contained in a directory "goop" relative to the
current working directory:
build goop clean

The following command cleans all modules in the project, then rebuilds them:
build / cleanjar
Execute the following command to dump a full listing of commands and options supported by the build tool:
build -help
NiagaraAX Developer Guide (build 3.0.100) from docDeveloper.jar Deploying Help
Overview
Deploying Help
Overview
Help documentation is deployed as a set of files zipped up in module jar files. Help content can be any MIME typed
file. The primary content types are:
• HTML: Niagara provides support for HTML 3.2 with cascading style sheets. See HTML Support in the
User Guide for specific tags and attributes supported. This is the main format used to distribute help
content.
• Bajadoc: The Bajadoc format is a special XML file used to distribute reference documentation. Niagara
supports a special plugin, the BajadocViewer which allows users to view the reference documentation in
a variety of ways. Bajadoc files are generated from Javadoc comments using the build tool.
In addition to help content, the Niagara Framework also supports delivering navigation data using JavaHelp files.
Niagara help system is loosely compliant with version 1.0 of JavaHelp specification from Sun Microsystems. By the
term "loosely"; we mean that it is compliant with some of its requirements as of version 1.0.
There are three steps in help content creation:
1. Developer supplies help content files and help structure files. Most of help content will be in
form of HTML files, maybe with some graphics to enhance the presentation. As a general rule, you as
developer should not concern yourself with anything but the content itself, providing HTML files with
defined title and body that contains only content-related information.
Developers should also include guide help for all their BPlugins designed for use by BComponents.
This documentation is standard HTML files located in the "doc" directory using a naming convention of
"module-TypeName.html".
You should provide a TOC file, to specify the logical order of the help files.
2. (Optional ) Developer supplies lexicon key to point to module containing help. Guide help
(Guide on Target) will look for the HTML file defined above in the doc directory of its module if the
help.guide.base is not defined in its lexicon. You can supply this key to point to another module.
As an example, most core modules point to docUser:
help.guide.base=module://docUser/doc
3. Build the module. The module containing the help content is built using the standard build tool. See
Using Build. In addition to the standard build, you should use the htmldoc tool to enhance HTML files,
and then use the index tool to build search index files. During this step, the help content is indexed for the
full text search purposes. For example, to build docDeveloper, we ran this sequence of commands:
4. build /docs/docDeveloper clean
5. build /docs/docDeveloper
6. build /docs/docDeveloper htmldoc
build /docs/docDeveloper index
Help Views
The same help content can be presented in many different ways. Each way of presenting help content is called view
in JavaHelp lingo. Three most typical views are: Table of Contents, API and Search.
• Table of Contents, a.k.a. TOC, is used for presenting help content in a structured way, in some logical
order.
• API is used for presenting bajadoc organized by module.
• Search allows full text search of the help content based on some search criteria.
We have added our own "standard" view - BajaDoc view. This is a way of presenting reference documentation for
the module classes.
Overview
TOC
As a general rule, you should provide a rough TOC with your help content. This should be an XML file, named
toc.xml, located in the doc/ directory. This file is required for a module to appear in the help table of contents.
Here's the DTD for this file:
<!ELEMENT toc (tocitem*)>

<!ATTLIST toc version CDATA #FIXED "1.0">
<!ATTLIST toc xml:lang CDATA #IMPLIED>


<!ELEMENT tocitem (#PCDATA | tocitem)*>
<!ATTLIST tocitem xml:lang CDATA #IMPLIED>
<!ATTLIST tocitem text CDATA #IMPLIED>
<!ATTLIST tocitem image CDATA #IMPLIED>
<!ATTLIST tocitem target CDATA #IMPLIED>
It should have <toc> as its root element, and a list of files that you want to include in the final TOC, in the logical
order. Although TOC structure can be many levels deep, the most likely case will be a flat list of files.
Each file is included via the <tocitem> element, that has two attributes: text and target. The text attribute
specified the text of the TOC node as it appears in the TOC tree, the target attribute can be either relative URL of
the help content file associated with this TOC item (relative to the doc/ directory). It is important that the help file
URL is relative to the doc/ directory. We require that at least one of these attributes is defined.
You may use tocitem elements with only the text attribute defined as grouping TOC nodes. If you want to
define a TOC node associated with some help content, you must provide the target. If you provide the target
only, the text will be generated as the name of the target file, without path and extension.
Here's a sample TOC file:
<toc version="1.0">
<tocitem text="Overview" target="overview.html" />
<tocitem text="User Guide" target="userGuide.html" />
<tocitem text="Developer Guide" target="devGuide.html" />
</toc>
API
This is a list of modules with bajadoc.
Search
This is a search view to search text.
bajadoc Command
Every module should include reference documentation. Reference documentation is built using the Niagara build
tool:
build [moduleDir] bajadoc

The module must already have been built using the build [moduleDir] command. The .bajadoc files are
compiled from the Javadoc found in the source code and placed in the "libJar" directory. Then the module is re-
jarred using the new .bajadoc files. For more information on building BajaDoc, see build.xml in build.html.
htmldoc Command
htmldoc tool is invoked using the Niagara build tool:
build [moduleDir] htmldoc

The module must already have been built using the build [moduleDir] command.
This tool enhances HTML files. Every HTML file will be enhanced with the following:
• style sheet link - This is hard-coded and not configurable. If your HTML file already has a link element
in document's head section, the auto-generated link will not be inserted.
• copyright notice - The copyright notice generated is controlled by a property in devkit.properties:
Overview
•
• htmldoc.copyright=Copyright © 2000-%year% Tridium Inc. All rights reserved.
If your document has <p class="copyright"> tag, empty or not, the auto-generated copyright
notice will not be inserted in it.
• navigation links - Based on the information in the index.html file, navigation links are inserted in every
HTML file that doesn't have <p class="navbar"> or <div class="navbar"> tag. The
navigation links include three links:
o Index - always points to index.html
o Prev - points to the previous file in TOC, or disabled if this is the first file in TOC, or if this file
is not listed in TOC.
o Next - points to the next file in TOC, or disables if this is the last file in TOC, or if this file is
not listed in TOC.
The entire module is then re-jarred, and the enhanced help content is included in the JAR produced.
index Command
Index tool is invoked using the Niagara build tool:
build [moduleDir] index

The module must already have been built using the build [moduleDir] command.
Building search indices out of help content.
If you want the .bajadoc documentation to also be indexed, you should run the bajadoc command before running
the index command.
During this step, all visible text inside the help content files will be broken into word tokens and stored in the
binary files documents.dat, postings.dat, worddocs.dat and words.dat.
The entire module is then re-jarred, and the enhanced help content is included in the JAR produced.
NiagaraAX Developer Guide (build 3.0.100) from docDeveloper.jar Slot-o-matic 2000
Overview
Slot-o-matic 2000
Overview
The Slot-o-matic 2000 is a java source code preprocessor which generates java source code for Baja slots based on
a predefined comment header block. The generated code is placed in the same source file, and all other code in the
original source is not modified in any way.
Usage
Invocation
Slot-o-matic is invoked by the executable slot.exe . To get help invoke:
D:\>slot -?
usage: slot [-f] [-?] <dir | file ...>

-f force recompile of specified targets
-? provides additional help.
slot compiles Baja object files.
For a file to be compiled, it must have a name

of the form B[A-Z]*.java.
slot will happily recurse any and all directory arguments.
Slot-o-matic will compile any file that meets the following conditions:
1. The file name is of format B[A-Z]*.java, e.g. BObject.java or BSystem.java, but not Ball.java.
2. The source code has a comment block delimited by /*- -*/.
When Slot-o-matic compiles a file, it reads the comment block and generates new java source code based on the
contents of that block. The new source is placed in the file being compiled immediately after the Baja comment
block. If any errors are found, the contents of the file are not altered in any way. The source file may (and indeed
probably must) have any other source code required to implement the class in the source file, as with normal java
source. The only difference between a normal java source file and one usable by Slot-o-matic is the /*- -*/
comment block.
Compiling a file is simple:
D:\>slot D:\niagara\r3dev\fw\history\javax\baja\history\BHistoryService.java
Compile BHistoryService.java
Compiled 1 files
D:\>
As is a directory:
D:\>slot D:\niagara\r3dev\fw\history
Compiled 1 files
D:\>
Slot-o-matic works like make in that it will only compile files whose /*- -*/ comment block's content has changed
since the last compile. To force recompile, use the -f flag on a file or directory:
D:\>slot -f D:\niagara\r3dev\fw\history\src\javax\baja\history\
Compile BBooleanHistory.java
Compile BFloatHistory.java
Usage
Compile BHistory.java
Compile BHistoryDevicelet.java
Compile BHistoryJoin.java
Compile BHistoryPeriod.java
Compile BHistorySync.java
Compile BStorageType.java
Compiled 9 files
D:\>
Slot file format

As stated above, Slot-o-matic will compile only files that meet certain conditions. In addition to having an
appropriate file (and by extension class) name, the source code in the file must contain a comment block that
describes the slots on the object to be compiled.
Examples
Class Example
This example class would resolve in a file named BImaginaryObject.java.
/*-
class BImaginaryObject
{
properties
{
imaginaryName: String
-- The imaginary name for the imaginary object.
default {[ "imaginaryName" ]}
size: int
-- The size of the imaginary object.
flags { readonly, transient }
default {[ 0 ]}
}
actions
{
imagine(arg: BComponent)
-- Imagine something
default {[ new BComponent() ]}
create(): BSystem
-- Create a new imaginary system.
}
topics
{
imaginationLost: BImaginaryEvent
-- Fire an event when the object loses its imagination.
}
}
-*/
There are blocks for each of the major slot types: properties, actions, and topics. None of the blocks needs to be
present.
Properties Block
Each property has a name and a data type. Comments are specified via the "--" tag per line of comment. All
comments are transferred to the javadoc headers of the generated source code but are of course optional. A default
value for all properties must be specified. The default block is delineated by {[ ]} and may have any sequence of
java code inside it. Flags on the property may also optionally be specified. For more information on the available
flags, see the Flags bajadoc. Slot-o-matic will generate all get and set methods for the property.
Usage
Actions Block
Each action may have 0 or 1 input (formal) arguments, and may optionally return a value. Actions are commented
like properties. The input argument, if present, must have a default value as with a property. Slot-o-matic will
generate the action invocation code; the implementor of the class must provide a do<actionName> method that
provides the action implementation.
Topics Block
Each topic specifies a name and an event type that it sends when fired. Slot-o-matic generates code to fire the event.
Enum Example
This example class would resolve in a file named BImaginaryEnum.java.
/*-
enum BImaginaryEnum
{
range
{
good,
bad,
ugly
}
}
-*/
Each member of the enumeration is specified.

BNF
The formal BNF of the format is as follows:
<slots definition> = <baja start>

<baja header>
<slot block>
<baja end>
<baja start> ::= /*-

<baja end> ::= -*/
<baja header> ::= <class header> | <interface header> | <enum header>
<class header> ::= class <identifier>
<interface header> ::= interface <identifier>
<enum header> ::= enum <identifier>
<slot block> ::= "{" <slot def> "}"

<slot def> ::= <slots> | <enum slots>
<slots> ::= { <slotSection> }

<enum slots> ::= <range>
<slotSection> ::= <properties> | <actions> | <events>
<properties> ::= properties <property block>

<property block> ::= "{" { <property> } "}"
<property> ::= <identifer> <type mark> [ <documentation> ] [ <flags> ] <default>
<documentation> ::= <comment>
<flags> ::= flags <flag block>
Usage
<flag block> ::= "{" { <flag> { "," <flag> } } "}"

<flag> ::= <readonly | transient | hidden | summary | async | noExecute |
defaultOnClone |
userDefined1 | userDefined2 | userDefined3 | userDefined4 }>
<default> ::= default <default block>

<default block> ::= "{" "[" <java expr> "]" "}"
<actions> ::= actions <action block>

<action block> ::= "{" { <action> } "}"
<action> ::= identifier <argument definition> [ <type mark> ] [ <documentation> ]
[ <flags> ] [ <argument default> ]
<argument definition> ::= "(" [ <type decl> ] ")"
<type decl> ::= <identifier> <type mark>
<argument default> ::= <default>
<topics> = topics <topic block>

<topic block> ::= "{" { <topic> } "}"
<topic> ::= <identifier> [ <type mark> ] [ <documentation> ] [ <flags> ]
<range> ::= range <range block>

<range block> ::= "{" <identifier> { "," <identifier> } "}"
<type mark> ::= ":" type

<type> ::= <identifier> { "." <identifier> }
<identifier> ::= <java identifier>
<comment> ::= <single line comment start>

<single line comment> ::= <single line comment start> <comment body>
<single line comment start> ::= "-" "-"
<comment body> ::= { <character> } <new line>
NiagaraAX Developer Guide (build 3.0.100) from docDeveloper.jar Architecture - Software Stack
Usage
Architecture - Software Stack
NiagaraAX Developer Guide (build 3.0.100) from docDeveloper.jar Architecture - Class Diagram
Usage
Architecture - Class Diagram
NiagaraAX Developer Guide (build 3.0.100) from docDeveloper.jar Architecture - Communication
Usage
Architecture - Communication
NiagaraAX Developer Guide (build 3.0.100) from docDeveloper.jar Architecture - Remote Programming
Usage
Architecture - Remote Programming
NiagaraAX Developer Guide (build 3.0.100) from docDeveloper.jar Architecture - Driver Hierarchy
Usage
Architecture - Driver Hierarchy
NiagaraAX Developer Guide (build 3.0.100) from docDeveloper.jar Architecture - ProxyExt
Usage
Architecture - ProxyExt

Niagara AX Developer Guide

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

Niagara AX Developer Guide

Uploaded by

Document Information

Copyright

Available Formats

Share this document

Share or Embed Document

Sharing Options

Did you find this document useful?

Is this content inappropriate?

Copyright:

Available Formats

Niagara AX Developer Guide

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

NiagaraAX Developer Guide (build 3.0.100) from docDeveloper.

Authentication and Encryption ................................................................................................. 41

Proxy Ext .................................................................................................................................. 96

• Layered over a single TCP socket connection

Specification versus Implementation

javax.baja versus com.tridium

2.0 > 1.0

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>

{module name}:{type name}

public static BInteger make(int value)

private BInteger(int value)

public int getInt()

public float getFloat()

public int hashCode()

public boolean equals(Object obj)

public String toString(Context context)

public void encode(DataOutput out)

public BSimple decode(DataInput in)

public String encodeToString()

public BSimple decodeFromString(String s)

public static final BInteger DEFAULT = new BInteger(0);

public Type getType() { return TYPE; }

private int value;

public static final int HORIZONTAL = 0;

public static final BOrientation horizontal = new BOrientation(HORIZONTAL);

public Type getType() { return TYPE; }

public static BOrientation make(int ordinal)

public static BOrientation make(String tag)

private BOrientation(int ordinal) { super(ordinal); }

// boolean property: fooBar

// int property: cool

// double property: analog

// float property: description

// BObject property: timestamp

Property add(String name, BValue value, int flags);

String val = Sys.getRegistry().getDef("test.a");

// dump the names in the file path

Direct and Indirect Links

target.linkTo("linkA", source, source.slot, target.slot);

BLink link = new BLink(source, source.slot, target.slot);

BLink link = new BLink(BOrd.make("h:77"), "sourceSlot", "targetSlot");

System Clock Changes

Mapping File Extensions

Authentication and Encryption

Component Permission Semantics

<type name="PropertySheet" class="com.tridium.workbench.propsheet.BPropertySheet">

target.getPermissionsFor(user).has(BPermissions.operatorRead) // BUser implements

BINavNode[] kids = node.getNavChildren();

SlotCursor c = AccessSlotCursor.make(target.getSlots(), user)

class DoIt extends Command

static final Lexicon lex = Lexicon.make(MyCommand.class);

// verify that the "Acme:CoolFeature" is licensed on this machine

// get some feature properties

<root xmlns="ns-stuff" xmlns:u="ns-user">

Working with XElem

// parse the test file

// dump xml tree to standard out

// dump root identity

Working with XParser

// parse and close input stream