CreateFeature

Description

Creates a GenICam feature with the specified name, type and access mode.

[C++]
int CreateFeature (unsigned short type, const char* name, const char* category, unsigned short access,  
   const char* description = NULL, unsigned short namespace = FEATURE_NAMESPACE_STANDARD);


Parameters [C/C++]

[in] unsigned short type

Type of the feature to be created. Can be one of the following values:

FEATURE_TYPE_UINTEGER - unsigned 32-bit integer feature, maps to a slider with value, minimum, maximum and increment

FEATURE_TYPE_INTEGER - signed 32-bit integer feature, maps to a slider with value, min, maximum, increment and physical unit

FEATURE_TYPE_INTEGER64 - signed 62-bit integer feature, maps to a slider with value, min, maximum, increment and physical unit

FEATURE_TYPE_FLOAT - floating point 32-bit feature, maps to a slider with value, minimum, maximum and physical unit

FEATURE_TYPE_STRING - string feature, maps to an edit box showing a string of text

FEATURE_TYPE_BOOLEAN - boolean feature, maps to a check box

FEATURE_TYPE_COMMAND - command feature, maps to a command button

FEATURE_TYPE_ENUMERATION - enumeration feature, maps to dropdown box with a list of selectable items

[in] const char* name

Name of the feature to be created. Must not be NULL or empty.

[in] const char* category

GenICam category under which the feature will be created. This parameter should be either "Root" or the name of the existing category created via CreateCategory.

[in] unsigned short access

Access mode for the feature to be created. Can be one of the following values:

FEATURE_ACCESS_NA - feature is not available

FEATURE_ACCESS_RO - feature is available only for reading

FEATURE_ACCESS_WO - feature is available only for writing

FEATURE_ACCESS_RW - feature is fully available

[in] const char* description

String containing the description of the feature.

[in] unsigned short namespace

Namespace to which the feature will belong. Can be one of the following values:

FEATURE_NAMESPACE_STANDARD - feature will be created with the "Standard" namespace tag (recommended for features which follow the GenICam SFNC specifications).

FEATURE_NAMESPACE_CUSTOM - feature will be created with the "Custom" namespace tag (recommended for features with proprietary names).

Return Values

S_OK

Success

E_FAIL

Failure

E_NOINTERFACE

Category does not exist

E_INVALIDARG

Wrong feature type or access

Example

This fragment of code instantiates a camera object, creates an integer and enumerated features and sets up their attributes :

static CGevCamera* m_pCamera;

m_pCamera = createCamera();

m_pCamera->CreateFeature(FEATURE_TYPE_INTEGER, "TestFeatureInt", "Root", FEATURE_ACCESS_RW, "GigESim demo feature");

m_pCamera->SetFeatureRange("TestFeatureInt", 0, 1000, 1);

m_pCamera->CreateFeature(FEATURE_TYPE_ENUMERATION, "TestFeatureEnum", "Root", FEATURE_ACCESS_RW);

m_pCamera->AddEnumEntry("TestEnumFeature", "First item", 1);

m_pCamera->AddEnumEntry("TestFeatureEnum", "Second item", 2);

m_pCamera->AddEnumEntry("TestFeatureEnum", "Third item", 3);

Remarks

Use this method to assign features to your virtual camera object. The assigned features will be exposed to GigE Vision client applications allowing them to remotely control parameters of the virtual camera.

The camera must be in the disconnected state in order for this method to work.

The creation of a feature should be followed by setting up its parameters. See SetFeatureRange, AddEnumEntry, SetFeatureIntValue, SetFeatureStingValue, SetFeatureElement, for more details.

Note that there are seven features mandatory for all GigE Vision cameras. They are created automatically along with a virtual camera object and therefore they do not require separate calls to CreateFeature. Those features are:

Standard Feature	Type	Default Value
Width	Integer	640
Height	Integer	480
PayloadSize	Integer	SizeX * SizeY
PixelFormat	Enumerated	"Mono8"
AcquisitionMode	Enumerated	Continuous
AcquisitionStart	Command	N/A
AcquisitionStop	Command	N/A

The default values of the mandatory features can be modified by calling SetImageSize and SetPixelFormat.

It is recommended to change the version of your virtual camera device each time you modify the set of features (see SetDeviceInfo). If this is not done, a client GigE Vision application may use a copy of an old XML information file from its cache folder and remain unaware of your changes. If you do not want to use the device version control, make sure to locate an XML cache folder of your client application and delete an XML file in it each time the set of features of the virtual camera has been modified. This should be done on each computer running the client software.