Echelon Neuron C - Manual (Page 20)

xx Predefined Events
whereas the messaging service is not standardized with the exception of its usage
by the L ON W ORKS file transfer protocol (LW-FTP). The use of network variables,
both standard types and user types, promotes interoperability between multiple
devices from multiple vendors. The lower-level messaging service allows for
proprietary solutions in addition to the file transfer protocol.
Another Neuron C data object is the timer . Timers can be declared and
manipulated like variables, and when a timer expires, the Neuron firmware
automatically manages the timer events and notifies the program of those events.
For Series 5000 devices, Neuron C provides
interrupts that allow applications to
respond to asynchronous, time-sensitive, actions.
Neuron C provides many built-in I/O objects . These I/O objects are standardized
I/O “device drivers” for the Neuron Chip or Smart Transceiver I/O hardware.
Each I/O object fits into the event-driven programming model. A function-call
interface is provided to interact with each I/O object.
When using the Neuron C language to create model files for host-based device
development, only the declarations for network variables, configuration
properties, and functional blocks are relevant. Most other constructs, including
executable code or I/O device declarations, are ignored (for example, when a
model file shares source code with a Neuron-hosted Neuron C application). You
can also use conditional compilation when sharing Neuron C source code between
both application types.
The rest of this reference guide discusses these various aspects of Neuron C in
much greater detail, accompanied by examples. See the Neuron C Programmer’s
Guide for additional information about how to use the Neuron C language.