MbeadStream

Board	Supported
Host System	Yes
V4L2	Yes
Clarity UHD	Yes
Concord PoE	No
GenTL	Yes
GevIQ	Yes
GigE Vision	Yes
Indio	No
Iris GTX	Yes
Radient eV-CL	Yes
Rapixo CL	Yes
Rapixo CoF	Yes
Rapixo CXP	Yes
USB3 Vision	Yes

Load, restore, or save an Aurora Imaging Library bead context from/to a file or memory stream.

Syntax

void MbeadStream(
    AIL_TEXT_PTR MemPtrOrFileName,  //in-out
    AIL_ID       SysId,             //in
    AIL_INT64    Operation,         //in
    AIL_INT64    StreamType,        //in
    AIL_DOUBLE   Version,           //in
    AIL_INT64    ControlFlag,       //in
    AIL_ID *     ContextBeadIdPtr,  //in-out
    AIL_INT *    SizeByteVarPtr     //out
)

Description

This function can load, restore, or save a bead context from/to a file or memory stream.

To inquire the number of bytes necessary to save a bead context, you should first call this function (MbeadStream) with M_INQUIRE_SIZE_BYTE.

The content saved to memory stream is equivalent to the content saved to file. In addition, any file saved using this function is equivalent to a file saved with MbeadSave.

You can use this and other Aurora Imaging Library stream functions, for example, to save all required Aurora Imaging Library objects, as well as any other custom data, for your application to a memory stream. Once in a memory stream, you can write the stream to a single file or transfer it over a network. You are responsible for concatenating the streams and for saving the stream to file. All information about the previously allocated bead context (and the templates therein) is saved, including training information and the camera calibration context associated with the training image, if any.

All of the bead context's settings that were in effect when the bead context was saved will be restored. If the bead context was trained when it was saved, the training information will be restored. You can use MbeadInquire with M_STATUS to inquire the training status of the bead context after calling this function. If the training status is M_COMPLETE, the training information was restored; otherwise, you must call MbeadTrain before performing a verification with MbeadVerify. If you had associated a training image with a camera calibration context, the camera calibration context is automatically saved to/restored from the same file as the bead context. The camera calibration cannot be managed independently from the bead context. When the bead context is freed, the camera calibration is automatically freed as well.

Using MbeadStream, you can choose to save a backwards-compatible version of the bead context, which will work using a version of Aurora Imaging Library that is up to one major release older than the current version (depending on which version is specified). However, all settings and features unique to the higher version will be ignored when restored using the lower version. Besides saving backwards-compatible versions, you can also load or restore bead contexts saved using Aurora Imaging Library version 9.0 PP2 or above. Settings that do not exist in the lower version will be filled with default values when the bead context is loaded or restored. Note that only bead contexts saved using version 11.0 automatically save the training and camera calibration information.

Parameters

MemPtrOrFileName (in-out, AIL_TEXT_PTR)

Specifies the file or memory stream.

SysId (in, AIL_ID)

Specifies the system on which to restore the bead context.

Operation (in, AIL_INT64)

Specifies the operation to perform.

StreamType (in, AIL_INT64)

Specifies the type of stream in which to store/from which to restore the bead context. This parameter should be set to one of the following values:

For the type of stream

Value	Description
M_FILE	Specifies a file stream.
M_MEMORY	Specifies a memory stream. You are responsible for allocating a block of memory for the stream.

Version (in, AIL_DOUBLE)

Specifies the Aurora Imaging Library version of the bead context. When performing an M_LOAD or M_RESTORE operation, this parameter must be set to M_DEFAULT.

ControlFlag (in, AIL_INT64)

Reserved for future expansion and must be set to M_DEFAULT.

ContextBeadIdPtr *(in-out, AIL_ID)

Specifies the address of the variable in which to write or from which to read the identifier of the bead context.

SizeByteVarPtr *(out, AIL_INT)

Specifies the address of the variable in which to write the size of the bead context, in bytes.

Parameter Associations

For performing the stream operation.

---

M_INQUIRE_SIZE_BYTE

Inquires the number of bytes required to save a bead context to memory stream. This operation is not supported when the StreamType parameter is set to M_FILE.

Value	Description
M_DEFAULT	Specifies the current version of Aurora Imaging Library.
M_PROC_VERSION_100_SP4	Specifies the version as being Aurora Imaging Library 10.0 Service Pack 4.
M_PROC_VERSION_100_SP5	Specifies the version as being Aurora Imaging Library 10.0 Service Pack 5.
M_PROC_VERSION_100_SP6	Specifies the version as being Aurora Imaging Library 10.0 Service Pack 6.
M_PROC_VERSION_100_SP7	Specifies the version as being Aurora Imaging Library 10.0 Service Pack 7.
M_PROC_VERSION_110	Specifies the version as being Aurora Imaging Library 11.0.

---

M_LOAD

Loads the content of a specified file or memory stream into a previously allocated bead context.

Value	Description
M_INTERACTIVE	Opens a dialog box from which you can interactively specify the drive, directory, and name of the file, when the StreamType parameter is set toM_FILE.
"FileName"	Specifies the drive, directory, and name of the file (for example, "C:\mydirectory\myfile"), when the StreamType parameter is set to M_FILE. Bead contexts typically have a MBEAD file extension. The function handles (internally) the opening and closing of the file. To specify a file on a remote computer (under Distributed Aurora Imaging Library), prefix the specified file name string with "remote:///" (for example, "remote:///C:\mydirectory\myfile").
MemPtr	Specifies the address of the block of memory, when the StreamType parameter is set to M_MEMORY. The block of memory should be of type AIL_UINT8. The specified address must correspond to the first memory address in which the object is located, and the block of memory must contain the entire object. Note that when using a C compiler (not a C++ or other compiler), you must cast the AIL_UINT8 pointer to an AIL_TEXT_PTR.

---

M_RESTORE

Restores a bead context from a file or memory stream and assigns it an Aurora Imaging Library identifier.

Value	Description
M_INTERACTIVE	Opens a dialog box from which you can interactively specify the drive, directory, and name of the file, when the StreamType parameter is set toM_FILE.
"FileName"	Specifies the drive, directory, and name of the file (for example, "C:\mydirectory\myfile"), when the StreamType parameter is set to M_FILE. Bead contexts typically have a MBEAD file extension. The function handles (internally) the opening and closing of the file. To specify a file on a remote computer (under Distributed Aurora Imaging Library), prefix the specified file name string with "remote:///" (for example, "remote:///C:\mydirectory\myfile").
MemPtr	Specifies the address of the block of memory, when the StreamType parameter is set to M_MEMORY. The block of memory should be of type AIL_UINT8. The specified address must correspond to the first memory address in which the object is located, and the block of memory must contain the entire object. Note that when using a C compiler (not a C++ or other compiler), you must cast the AIL_UINT8 pointer to an AIL_TEXT_PTR.
M_DEFAULT_HOST	Specifies the default Host system of the current Aurora Imaging Library application.
System identifier	Specifies a valid system identifier, previously allocated using MsysAlloc.

---

M_SAVE

Saves a bead context to a specified file or memory stream.

Value	Description
M_INTERACTIVE	Opens a dialog box from which you can interactively specify the drive, directory, and name of the file, when the StreamType parameter is set toM_FILE.
"FileName"	Specifies the drive, directory, and name of the file (for example, "C:\mydirectory\myfile"), when the StreamType parameter is set to M_FILE. For easier use with other Aurora Imaging software products, when saving a bead context to a file, use the MBEAD file extension. The function handles (internally) the opening and closing of the file. If the file already exists, it will be overwritten. To specify a file on a remote computer (under Distributed Aurora Imaging Library), prefix the specified file name string with "remote:///" (for example, "remote:///C:\mydirectory\myfile").
MemPtr	Specifies the address of the block of memory, when the StreamType parameter is set to M_MEMORY. The block of memory should be of type AIL_UINT8. The specified address must correspond to the first memory address in which the object is located, and the block of memory must contain the entire object. Note that when using a C compiler (not a C++ or other compiler), you must cast the AIL_UINT8 pointer to an AIL_TEXT_PTR.
(see M_INQUIRE_SIZE_BYTE)