Re: [Paparazzi-devel] conf.xml specs

[pascal . brisset]

Hi David,

welcome to the Paparazzi group and happy new year.

> 1. The rc_commands section, although not documented in the wiki, seems to
> specify what commands are available to the RC (manual) vehicle interface.

 Right."commands" are produced by the autopilot (in AUTO1 and AUTO2) or by the
RC transmitter (MANUAL mode). The rc_commands section describes how to build
"commands" from the RC channels. So the values in this section are expressions
using the RC channels listed in the radio file (cockpitSX.xml) for example.

> Does this mean that the commands issued to the servos are different
> depending on the flight control mode (manual or auto)? If so, what section
> is discarded when in RC manual mode? From the file contents only, it seems
> that rc_commands substitutes commands_laws

 Wrong. The commands_laws section describes how to compute servo values from
commands . So these definitions are used, even in manual mode.

> 2. The MIXER section seems kind of a constants definition section. Does it
> have any other meaning for the compiled airborne code?

 No, this section could be named "X".

> 3. In general, can anyone give a brief summary of sections that can be
> defined in the airframe configuration file?

 Hmmm, the Airframe_Configuration page of the wiki should be completed.

> Another solution to this problem
> (what can be configured through this file) is: where is the source code that
> extracts info from this file? I am not able to find it.

 The preprocessor tools are in the sw/tools directory. They produce .h files
which are stored in the var/<aircraft>/ directory.

> And, by the way,
> what's the difference between generic sections (those beginning with the xml
> tag 'section' and defined by a 'name') and sections with specific tags
> (commands, servos, etc)?

 The specific sections are ... specifically handled by the preprocessor. The
name of the generic section is not used ... for most of them :-( One more thing
to be documented.

>  What sections are mandatory, if any? What code is
> generated for sections which don't appear in the airframe xml file?

 There is no default code for missing sections.

--Pascal

PS: A good resolution for 2008: To complete the wiki :-)