The Vista network imaging station is a digital
still-image acquisition system. Vista captures live video into bitmapped images
solely by request from remote application S/W which trigger the acquisition. The
images are immediately stored on your network based on the names you supply.
Vista is composed of both an imaging station and ActiveX API.
Basic operation
When the puck and pill bottle has arrived under the
camera it is momentarily held there while our ActiveX API sends a request for an
image to the Vista imaging station. After the image is successfully captured
with its given name to the desired network location, your application will send
the puck on its way. The images are collected and held until the entire order
has been verified by the PV station software. After which the PV station will
then delete the completed and verified scripts' captured images.
When your application requests an image, it is sent
to the Vista imaging station via the ActiveX API using the SnapImage(ImageFile)
function. The ActiveX API handles all the communications between the Vista
imaging station while providing notification to application that the transaction
completed successfully. If unsuccessful, an error code is returned that can be
used to point to an error description table for exception handling and/or error
logging. The response from the Vista imaging station may come immediately or
with a varying delay (est. 1-3 seconds depending on network traffic). Therefore
the application programmer will query the StillExecuting variable before
querying the status of the SnapImage(ImageFile) function and handling the
result.
Open Architecture
The Vista imaging station can optionally accommodate
various kinds of image requests. In addition to the image path and name, your
application can specify info such as:
Image format (such as JPEG, BMP, PCX,…), image
dimensions and aspect ratio (such as width, height), color resolution, and
compression level quality settings.
Example of Vista ActiveX API Variables:
- Vista.RequesterID ** Multiple #s Supported
- Vista.ImageStationID ** Multiple #s Supported
- Vista.CameraID ** Multiple #s Supported
- Vista.ImageFormat
- Vista.ImageWidth
- Vista.ImageHeight
- Vista.BitsPerPixel
- Vista.CompressionLevel ** If using JPEG Format
- Vista.StillExecuting ** Async C/S Process
Contrl
- Vista.SnapImage(image) ** Success=0 and
Fail<0
- Error codes: -1 to -99
Expandability
Multiple Vista imaging stations can be installed that
handle requests from multiple requesting clients while controlling multiple
cameras. For these operations the Vista ActiveX API accepts additional data such
as, Requester ID, Image Station ID, and Camera ID. These values typically
initialize to their basic single station, single requester defaults but can be
overridden at any time prior to an image acquisition. Again these are not
required and are simply made available for your future network imaging needs.
Final Notes
** Vista is purely transactional and in no instance
does Vista send unrequested images. In other words Vista is not a
Real-Time Digital Video product, but instead is an image acquisition station
based on triggered requests over your existing network
