]> git.mxchange.org Git - flightgear.git/blobdiff - src/Network/generic.cxx
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[flightgear.git] / src / Network / generic.cxx
index 062ad9542944b02becd9cbee4599278fbe127a47..dca36308739490aa765cb33c9a828e73fd7fb840 100644 (file)
@@ -1,8 +1,8 @@
-// generic.cxx -- generic protocal class
+// generic.cxx -- generic protocol class
 //
 // Written by Curtis Olson, started November 1999.
 //
-// Copyright (C) 1999  Curtis L. Olson - curt@flightgear.org
+// Copyright (C) 1999  Curtis L. Olson - http://www.flightgear.org/~curt
 //
 // This program is free software; you can redistribute it and/or
 // modify it under the terms of the GNU General Public License as
 //
 // You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License
 // along with this program; if not, write to the Free Software
-// Foundation, Inc., 675 Mass Ave, Cambridge, MA 02139, USA.
+// Foundation, Inc., 51 Franklin Street, Fifth Floor, Boston, MA  02110-1301, USA.
 //
 // $Id$
 
+#ifdef HAVE_CONFIG_H
+#  include "config.h"
+#endif
+
+#include <string.h>                // strstr()
+#include <stdlib.h>                // strtod(), atoi()
 
 #include <simgear/debug/logstream.hxx>
 #include <simgear/io/iochannel.hxx>
 #include <simgear/structure/exception.hxx>
 #include <simgear/misc/sg_path.hxx>
+#include <simgear/misc/stdint.hxx>
 #include <simgear/props/props.hxx>
 #include <simgear/props/props_io.hxx>
+#include <simgear/math/SGMath.hxx>
 
 #include <Main/globals.hxx>
 #include <Main/fg_props.hxx>
-
+#include <Main/fg_os.hxx>
+#include <Main/util.hxx>
 #include "generic.hxx"
 
+FGGeneric::FGGeneric(vector<string> tokens) : exitOnError(false), initOk(false)
+{
+    size_t configToken;
+    if (tokens[1] == "socket") {
+        configToken = 7;
+    } else if (tokens[1] == "file") {
+        configToken = 5;
+    } else {
+        configToken = 6; 
+    }
 
-FGGeneric::FGGeneric(string& config) {
+    if ((configToken >= tokens.size())||(tokens[ configToken ] == "")) {
+       SG_LOG(SG_NETWORK, SG_ALERT,
+              "Not enough tokens passed for generic '" << tokens[1] << "' protocol. ");
+       return;
+    }
 
-    string file = config+".xml";
+    string config = tokens[ configToken ];
+    file_name = config+".xml";
+    direction = tokens[2];
 
-    SGPath path( globals->get_fg_root() );
-    path.append("Protocol");
-    path.append(file.c_str());
-    SG_LOG(SG_GENERAL, SG_INFO, "Reading communication protocol from "
-                                << path.str());
-
-    SGPropertyNode root;
-    try {
-        readProperties(path.str(), &root);
-     } catch (const sg_exception &e) {
-        SG_LOG(SG_GENERAL, SG_ALERT,
-         "Unable to load the protocol configuration file");
-         return;
+    if (direction != "in" && direction != "out" && direction != "bi") {
+        SG_LOG(SG_NETWORK, SG_ALERT, "Unsuported protocol direction: "
+               << direction);
+        return;
     }
 
-    SGPropertyNode *output = root.getNode("generic/output");
+    reinit();
+}
 
-        /* These variables specified in the fgfsbase/Properties/xxxx.xml file for each format
-         * var_sep_string = the string/charachter to place between variables
-         * line_sep_string = the string/charachter to place at the end of each lot of variables
-         */
-    var_sep_string = output->getStringValue("var_separator");
-    line_sep_string = output->getStringValue("line_separator");
-
-        if ( var_sep_string == "newline" )
-                var_separator = '\n';
-        else if ( var_sep_string == "tab" )
-                var_separator = '\t';
-        else if ( var_sep_string == "space" )
-                var_separator = ' ';
-        else if ( var_sep_string == "formfeed" )
-                var_separator = '\f';
-        else if ( var_sep_string == "carriagereturn" )
-                var_sep_string = '\r';
-        else if ( var_sep_string == "verticaltab" )
-                var_separator = '\v';
-        else
-                var_separator = var_sep_string;
-
-        if ( line_sep_string == "newline" )
-                line_separator = '\n';
-        if ( line_sep_string == "tab" )
-                line_separator = '\t';
-        if ( line_sep_string == "space" )
-                line_separator = ' ';
-        else if ( line_sep_string == "formfeed" )
-                line_separator = '\f';
-        else if ( line_sep_string == "carriagereturn" )
-                line_separator = '\r';
-        else if ( line_sep_string == "verticaltab" )
-                line_separator = '\v';
-        else
-                line_separator = line_sep_string;
-
-
-    vector<SGPropertyNode_ptr> chunks = output->getChildren("chunk");
-    for (unsigned int i = 0; i < chunks.size(); i++) {
+FGGeneric::~FGGeneric() {
+}
 
-        _serial_prot chunk;
+union u32 {
+    uint32_t intVal;
+    float floatVal;
+};
 
-     // chunk.name = chunks[i]->getStringValue("name");
-        chunk.format = chunks[i]->getStringValue("format", "%d");
-        chunk.offset = chunks[i]->getDoubleValue("offset");
-        chunk.factor = chunks[i]->getDoubleValue("offset", 1.0);
+union u64 {
+    uint64_t longVal;
+    double doubleVal;
+};
 
-        string node = chunks[i]->getStringValue("node");
-        chunk.prop = fgGetNode(node.c_str(), true);
+// generate the message
+bool FGGeneric::gen_message_binary() {
+    string generic_sentence;
+    length = 0;
 
-        string type = chunks[i]->getStringValue("type");
-        if (type == "bool")
-            chunk.type = FG_BOOL;
-        else if (type == "float")
-            chunk.type = FG_DOUBLE;
-        else if (type == "string")
-            chunk.type = FG_STRING;
-        else
-            chunk.type = FG_INT;
+    double val;
+    for (unsigned int i = 0; i < _out_message.size(); i++) {
+
+        switch (_out_message[i].type) {
+        case FG_INT:
+        {
+            val = _out_message[i].offset +
+                  _out_message[i].prop->getIntValue() * _out_message[i].factor;
+            int32_t intVal = val;
+            if (binary_byte_order != BYTE_ORDER_MATCHES_NETWORK_ORDER) {
+                intVal = (int32_t) sg_bswap_32((uint32_t)intVal);
+            }
+            memcpy(&buf[length], &intVal, sizeof(int32_t));
+            length += sizeof(int32_t);
+            break;
+        }
+
+        case FG_BOOL:
+            buf[length] = (char) (_out_message[i].prop->getBoolValue() ? true : false);
+            length += 1;
+            break;
+
+        case FG_FIXED:
+        {
+            val = _out_message[i].offset +
+                 _out_message[i].prop->getFloatValue() * _out_message[i].factor;
+
+            int32_t fixed = (int)(val * 65536.0f);
+            if (binary_byte_order != BYTE_ORDER_MATCHES_NETWORK_ORDER) {
+                fixed = (int32_t) sg_bswap_32((uint32_t)fixed);
+            } 
+            memcpy(&buf[length], &fixed, sizeof(int32_t));
+            length += sizeof(int32_t);
+            break;
+        }
 
-        _message.push_back(chunk);
-        
+        case FG_FLOAT:
+        {
+            val = _out_message[i].offset +
+                 _out_message[i].prop->getFloatValue() * _out_message[i].factor;
+            u32 tmpun32;
+            tmpun32.floatVal = static_cast<float>(val);
+
+            if (binary_byte_order != BYTE_ORDER_MATCHES_NETWORK_ORDER) {
+                tmpun32.intVal = sg_bswap_32(tmpun32.intVal);
+            }
+            memcpy(&buf[length], &tmpun32.intVal, sizeof(uint32_t));
+            length += sizeof(uint32_t);
+            break;
+        }
+
+        case FG_DOUBLE:
+        {
+            val = _out_message[i].offset +
+                 _out_message[i].prop->getFloatValue() * _out_message[i].factor;
+            u64 tmpun64;
+            tmpun64.doubleVal = val;
+
+            if (binary_byte_order != BYTE_ORDER_MATCHES_NETWORK_ORDER) {
+                tmpun64.longVal = sg_bswap_64(tmpun64.longVal);
+            }
+            memcpy(&buf[length], &tmpun64.longVal, sizeof(uint64_t));
+            length += sizeof(uint64_t);
+            break;
+        }
+
+        default: // SG_STRING
+            const char *strdata = _out_message[i].prop->getStringValue();
+            int32_t strlength = strlen(strdata);
+
+            if (binary_byte_order == BYTE_ORDER_NEEDS_CONVERSION) {
+                SG_LOG( SG_IO, SG_ALERT, "Generic protocol: "
+                        "FG_STRING will be written in host byte order.");
+            }
+            /* Format for strings is 
+             * [length as int, 4 bytes][ASCII data, length bytes]
+             */
+            if (binary_byte_order != BYTE_ORDER_MATCHES_NETWORK_ORDER) {
+                strlength = sg_bswap_32(strlength);
+            }
+            memcpy(&buf[length], &strlength, sizeof(int32_t));
+            length += sizeof(int32_t);
+            strncpy(&buf[length], strdata, strlength);
+            length += strlength; 
+            /* FIXME padding for alignment? Something like: 
+             * length += (strlength % 4 > 0 ? sizeof(int32_t) - strlength % 4 : 0;
+             */
+            break;
+        }
     }
 
-}
+    // add the footer to the packet ("line")
+    switch (binary_footer_type) {
+        case FOOTER_LENGTH:
+            binary_footer_value = length;
+            break;
 
-FGGeneric::~FGGeneric() {
-    _message.clear();
-}
+        case FOOTER_MAGIC:
+        case FOOTER_NONE:
+            break;
+    }
 
+    if (binary_footer_type != FOOTER_NONE) {
+        int32_t intValue = binary_footer_value;
+        if (binary_byte_order != BYTE_ORDER_MATCHES_NETWORK_ORDER) {
+            intValue = sg_bswap_32(binary_footer_value);
+        }
+        memcpy(&buf[length], &intValue, sizeof(int32_t));
+        length += sizeof(int32_t);
+    }
 
-// generate the message
-bool FGGeneric::gen_message() {
+    return true;
+}
 
+bool FGGeneric::gen_message_ascii() {
     string generic_sentence;
     char tmp[255];
+    length = 0;
 
-    int v;
-    double d;
-
-    for (unsigned int i = 0; i < _message.size(); i++) {
+    double val;
+    for (unsigned int i = 0; i < _out_message.size(); i++) {
 
-        if (i > 0)
-           generic_sentence += var_separator;
+        if (i > 0) {
+            generic_sentence += var_separator;
+        }
 
-        switch (_message[i].type) {
+        switch (_out_message[i].type) {
         case FG_INT:
-            v = _message[i].offset +
-                    _message[i].prop->getIntValue() * _message[i].factor;
-            snprintf(tmp, 255, _message[i].format.c_str(), v);
+            val = _out_message[i].offset +
+                  _out_message[i].prop->getIntValue() * _out_message[i].factor;
+            snprintf(tmp, 255, _out_message[i].format.c_str(), (int)val);
             break;
 
         case FG_BOOL:
-            snprintf(tmp, 255, _message[i].format.c_str(),
-                               _message[i].prop->getBoolValue());
+            snprintf(tmp, 255, _out_message[i].format.c_str(),
+                               _out_message[i].prop->getBoolValue());
+            break;
+
+        case FG_FIXED:
+            val = _out_message[i].offset +
+                _out_message[i].prop->getFloatValue() * _out_message[i].factor;
+            snprintf(tmp, 255, _out_message[i].format.c_str(), (float)val);
+            break;
+
+        case FG_FLOAT:
+            val = _out_message[i].offset +
+                _out_message[i].prop->getFloatValue() * _out_message[i].factor;
+            snprintf(tmp, 255, _out_message[i].format.c_str(), (float)val);
             break;
 
         case FG_DOUBLE:
-            d = _message[i].offset +
-                       _message[i].prop->getDoubleValue() * _message[i].factor;
-            snprintf(tmp, 255, _message[i].format.c_str(), d);
+            val = _out_message[i].offset +
+                _out_message[i].prop->getDoubleValue() * _out_message[i].factor;
+            snprintf(tmp, 255, _out_message[i].format.c_str(), (double)val);
             break;
 
         default: // SG_STRING
-             snprintf(tmp, 255, _message[i].format.c_str(),
-                               _message[i].prop->getStringValue());
+            snprintf(tmp, 255, _out_message[i].format.c_str(),
+                                   _out_message[i].prop->getStringValue());
         }
 
         generic_sentence += tmp;
     }
 
-    /* After each lot of variables has been added, put the line separator char/string */
+    /* After each lot of variables has been added, put the line separator
+     * char/string
+     */
     generic_sentence += line_separator;
-            
+
     length =  generic_sentence.length();
     strncpy( buf, generic_sentence.c_str(), length );
 
     return true;
 }
 
-bool FGGeneric::parse_message() {
-        return true;
+bool FGGeneric::gen_message() {
+    if (binary_mode) {
+        return gen_message_binary();
+    } else {
+        return gen_message_ascii();
+    }
+}
+
+bool FGGeneric::parse_message_binary(int length) {
+    char *p2, *p1 = buf;
+    int32_t tmp32;
+    int i = -1;
+
+    p2 = p1 + length;
+    while ((++i < (int)_in_message.size()) && (p1  < p2)) {
+
+        switch (_in_message[i].type) {
+        case FG_INT:
+            if (binary_byte_order == BYTE_ORDER_NEEDS_CONVERSION) {
+                tmp32 = sg_bswap_32(*(int32_t *)p1);
+            } else {
+                tmp32 = *(int32_t *)p1;
+            }
+            updateValue(_in_message[i], (int)tmp32);
+            p1 += sizeof(int32_t);
+            break;
+
+        case FG_BOOL:
+            updateValue(_in_message[i], p1[0] != 0);
+            p1 += 1;
+            break;
+
+        case FG_FIXED:
+            if (binary_byte_order == BYTE_ORDER_NEEDS_CONVERSION) {
+                tmp32 = sg_bswap_32(*(int32_t *)p1);
+            } else {
+                tmp32 = *(int32_t *)p1;
+            }
+            updateValue(_in_message[i], (float)tmp32 / 65536.0f);
+            p1 += sizeof(int32_t);
+            break;
+
+        case FG_FLOAT:
+            u32 tmpun32;
+            if (binary_byte_order == BYTE_ORDER_NEEDS_CONVERSION) {
+                tmpun32.intVal = sg_bswap_32(*(uint32_t *)p1);
+            } else {
+                tmpun32.floatVal = *(float *)p1;
+            }
+            updateValue(_in_message[i], tmpun32.floatVal);
+            p1 += sizeof(int32_t);
+            break;
+
+        case FG_DOUBLE:
+            u64 tmpun64;
+            if (binary_byte_order == BYTE_ORDER_NEEDS_CONVERSION) {
+                tmpun64.longVal = sg_bswap_64(*(uint64_t *)p1);
+            } else {
+                tmpun64.doubleVal = *(double *)p1;
+            }
+            updateValue(_in_message[i], tmpun64.doubleVal);
+            p1 += sizeof(int64_t);
+            break;
+
+        default: // SG_STRING
+            SG_LOG( SG_IO, SG_ALERT, "Generic protocol: "
+                    "Ignoring unsupported binary input chunk type.");
+            break;
+        }
+    }
+    
+    return true;
 }
 
+bool FGGeneric::parse_message_ascii(int length) {
+    char *p1 = buf;
+    int i = -1;
+    int chunks = _in_message.size();
+    int line_separator_size = line_separator.size();
+
+    if (length < line_separator_size ||
+        line_separator.compare(buf + length - line_separator_size) != 0) {
+
+        SG_LOG(SG_IO, SG_WARN,
+               "Input line does not end with expected line separator." );
+    } else {
+        buf[length - line_separator_size] = 0;
+    }
+
+    size_t varsep_len = var_separator.length();
+    while ((++i < chunks) && p1) {
+        char* p2 = NULL;
+
+        if (varsep_len > 0)
+        {
+            p2 = strstr(p1, var_separator.c_str());
+            if (p2) {
+                *p2 = 0;
+                p2 += varsep_len;
+            }
+        }
+
+        switch (_in_message[i].type) {
+        case FG_INT:
+            updateValue(_in_message[i], atoi(p1));
+            break;
+
+        case FG_BOOL:
+            updateValue(_in_message[i], atof(p1) != 0.0);
+            break;
+
+        case FG_FIXED:
+        case FG_FLOAT:
+            updateValue(_in_message[i], (float)strtod(p1, 0));
+            break;
+
+        case FG_DOUBLE:
+            updateValue(_in_message[i], (double)strtod(p1, 0));
+            break;
+
+        default: // SG_STRING
+            _in_message[i].prop->setStringValue(p1);
+            break;
+        }
+
+        p1 = p2;
+    }
+
+    return true;
+}
+
+bool FGGeneric::parse_message_len(int length) {
+    if (binary_mode) {
+        return parse_message_binary(length);
+    } else {
+        return parse_message_ascii(length);
+    }
+}
 
 
 // open hailing frequencies
@@ -200,6 +422,15 @@ bool FGGeneric::open() {
 
     set_enabled( true );
 
+    if ( ((get_direction() == SG_IO_OUT )||
+          (get_direction() == SG_IO_BI))
+          && ! preamble.empty() ) {
+        if ( ! io->write( preamble.c_str(), preamble.size() ) ) {
+            SG_LOG( SG_IO, SG_WARN, "Error writing preamble." );
+            return false;
+        }
+    }
+
     return true;
 }
 
@@ -208,23 +439,66 @@ bool FGGeneric::open() {
 bool FGGeneric::process() {
     SGIOChannel *io = get_io_channel();
 
-    if ( get_direction() == SG_IO_OUT ) {
+    if ( (get_direction() == SG_IO_OUT) ||
+         (get_direction() == SG_IO_BI) ) {
         gen_message();
         if ( ! io->write( buf, length ) ) {
-            SG_LOG( SG_IO, SG_ALERT, "Error writing data." );
-            return false;
+            SG_LOG( SG_IO, SG_WARN, "Error writing data." );
+            goto error_out;
         }
-    } else if ( get_direction() == SG_IO_IN ) {
-        // Temporarliy disable this as output only!
-        //if ( (length = io->readline( buf, FG_MAX_MSG_SIZE )) > 0 ) {
-        //    parse_message();
-        //} else {
-        //    SG_LOG( SG_IO, SG_ALERT, "Error reading data." );
-        //    return false;
-        //}
     }
 
+    if (( get_direction() == SG_IO_IN ) ||
+        (get_direction() == SG_IO_BI) ) {
+        if ( io->get_type() == sgFileType ) {
+            if (!binary_mode) {
+                length = io->readline( buf, FG_MAX_MSG_SIZE );
+                if ( length > 0 ) {
+                    parse_message_len( length );
+                } else {
+                    SG_LOG( SG_IO, SG_ALERT, "Error reading data." );
+                    return false;
+                }
+            } else {
+                length = io->read( buf, binary_record_length );
+                if ( length == binary_record_length ) {
+                    parse_message_len( length );
+                } else {
+                    SG_LOG( SG_IO, SG_ALERT,
+                            "Generic protocol: Received binary "
+                            "record of unexpected size, expected: "
+                            << binary_record_length << " but received: "
+                            << length);
+                }
+            }
+        } else {
+            if (!binary_mode) {
+                while ((length = io->readline( buf, FG_MAX_MSG_SIZE )) > 0 ) {
+                    parse_message_len( length );
+                }
+            } else {
+                while ((length = io->read( buf, binary_record_length )) 
+                          == binary_record_length ) {
+                    parse_message_len( length );
+                }
+
+                if ( length > 0 ) {
+                    SG_LOG( SG_IO, SG_ALERT,
+                        "Generic protocol: Received binary "
+                        "record of unexpected size, expected: "
+                        << binary_record_length << " but received: "
+                        << length);
+                }
+            }
+        }
+    }
     return true;
+error_out:
+    if (exitOnError) {
+        fgOSExit(1);
+        return true; // should not get there, but please the compiler
+    } else
+        return false;
 }
 
 
@@ -232,6 +506,15 @@ bool FGGeneric::process() {
 bool FGGeneric::close() {
     SGIOChannel *io = get_io_channel();
 
+    if ( ((get_direction() == SG_IO_OUT)||
+          (get_direction() == SG_IO_BI))
+          && ! postamble.empty() ) {
+        if ( ! io->write( postamble.c_str(), postamble.size() ) ) {
+            SG_LOG( SG_IO, SG_ALERT, "Error writing postamble." );
+            return false;
+        }
+    }
+
     set_enabled( false );
 
     if ( ! io->close() ) {
@@ -240,3 +523,239 @@ bool FGGeneric::close() {
 
     return true;
 }
+
+
+void
+FGGeneric::reinit()
+{
+    SGPath path( globals->get_fg_root() );
+    path.append("Protocol");
+    path.append(file_name.c_str());
+
+    SG_LOG(SG_NETWORK, SG_INFO, "Reading communication protocol from "
+                                << path.str());
+
+    SGPropertyNode root;
+    try {
+        readProperties(path.str(), &root);
+    } catch (const sg_exception & ex) {
+        SG_LOG(SG_NETWORK, SG_ALERT,
+         "Unable to load the protocol configuration file: " << ex.getFormattedMessage() );
+         return;
+    }
+
+    if (direction == "out") {
+        SGPropertyNode *output = root.getNode("generic/output");
+        if (output) {
+            _out_message.clear();
+            if (!read_config(output, _out_message))
+            {
+                // bad configuration
+                return;
+            }
+        }
+    } else if (direction == "in") {
+        SGPropertyNode *input = root.getNode("generic/input");
+        if (input) {
+            _in_message.clear();
+            if (!read_config(input, _in_message))
+            {
+                // bad configuration
+                return;
+            }
+            if (!binary_mode && (line_separator.size() == 0 ||
+                *line_separator.rbegin() != '\n')) {
+
+                SG_LOG(SG_IO, SG_WARN,
+                    "Warning: Appending newline to line separator in generic input.");
+                line_separator.push_back('\n');
+            }
+        }
+    }
+
+    initOk = true;
+}
+
+
+bool
+FGGeneric::read_config(SGPropertyNode *root, vector<_serial_prot> &msg)
+{
+    binary_mode = root->getBoolValue("binary_mode");
+
+    if (!binary_mode) {
+        /* These variables specified in the $FG_ROOT/data/Protocol/xxx.xml
+         * file for each format
+         *
+         * var_sep_string  = the string/charachter to place between variables
+         * line_sep_string = the string/charachter to place at the end of each
+         *                   lot of variables
+         */
+        preamble = fgUnescape(root->getStringValue("preamble"));
+        postamble = fgUnescape(root->getStringValue("postamble"));
+        var_sep_string = fgUnescape(root->getStringValue("var_separator"));
+        line_sep_string = fgUnescape(root->getStringValue("line_separator"));
+
+        if ( var_sep_string == "newline" ) {
+            var_separator = '\n';
+        } else if ( var_sep_string == "tab" ) {
+            var_separator = '\t';
+        } else if ( var_sep_string == "space" ) {
+            var_separator = ' ';
+        } else if ( var_sep_string == "formfeed" ) {
+            var_separator = '\f';
+        } else if ( var_sep_string == "carriagereturn" ) {
+            var_sep_string = '\r';
+        } else if ( var_sep_string == "verticaltab" ) {
+            var_separator = '\v';
+        } else {
+            var_separator = var_sep_string;
+        }
+
+        if ( line_sep_string == "newline" ) {
+            line_separator = '\n';
+        } else if ( line_sep_string == "tab" ) {
+            line_separator = '\t';
+        } else if ( line_sep_string == "space" ) {
+            line_separator = ' ';
+        } else if ( line_sep_string == "formfeed" ) {
+            line_separator = '\f';
+        } else if ( line_sep_string == "carriagereturn" ) {
+            line_separator = '\r';
+        } else if ( line_sep_string == "verticaltab" ) {
+            line_separator = '\v';
+        } else {
+            line_separator = line_sep_string;
+        }
+    } else {
+        // default values: no footer and record_length = sizeof(representation)
+        binary_footer_type = FOOTER_NONE;
+        binary_record_length = -1;
+
+        // default choice is network byte order (big endian)
+        if (sgIsLittleEndian()) {
+           binary_byte_order = BYTE_ORDER_NEEDS_CONVERSION;
+        } else {
+           binary_byte_order = BYTE_ORDER_MATCHES_NETWORK_ORDER;
+        }
+
+        if ( root->hasValue("binary_footer") ) {
+            string footer_type = root->getStringValue("binary_footer");
+            if ( footer_type == "length" ) {
+                binary_footer_type = FOOTER_LENGTH;
+            } else if ( footer_type.substr(0, 5) == "magic" ) {
+                binary_footer_type = FOOTER_MAGIC;
+                binary_footer_value = strtol(footer_type.substr(6, 
+                            footer_type.length() - 6).c_str(), (char**)0, 0);
+            } else if ( footer_type != "none" ) {
+                SG_LOG(SG_IO, SG_ALERT,
+                       "generic protocol: Unknown generic binary protocol "
+                       "footer '" << footer_type << "', using no footer.");
+            }
+        }
+
+        if ( root->hasValue("record_length") ) {
+            binary_record_length = root->getIntValue("record_length");
+        }
+
+        if ( root->hasValue("byte_order") ) {
+            string byte_order = root->getStringValue("byte_order");
+            if (byte_order == "network" ) {
+                if ( sgIsLittleEndian() ) {
+                    binary_byte_order = BYTE_ORDER_NEEDS_CONVERSION;
+                } else {
+                    binary_byte_order = BYTE_ORDER_MATCHES_NETWORK_ORDER;
+                }
+            } else if ( byte_order == "host" ) {
+                binary_byte_order = BYTE_ORDER_MATCHES_NETWORK_ORDER;
+            } else {
+                SG_LOG(SG_IO, SG_ALERT,
+                       "generic protocol: Undefined generic binary protocol"
+                       "byte order, using HOST byte order.");
+            }
+        }
+    }
+
+    int record_length = 0; // Only used for binary protocols.
+    vector<SGPropertyNode_ptr> chunks = root->getChildren("chunk");
+
+    for (unsigned int i = 0; i < chunks.size(); i++) {
+
+        _serial_prot chunk;
+
+        // chunk.name = chunks[i]->getStringValue("name");
+        chunk.format = fgUnescape(chunks[i]->getStringValue("format", "%d"));
+        chunk.offset = chunks[i]->getDoubleValue("offset");
+        chunk.factor = chunks[i]->getDoubleValue("factor", 1.0);
+        chunk.min = chunks[i]->getDoubleValue("min");
+        chunk.max = chunks[i]->getDoubleValue("max");
+        chunk.wrap = chunks[i]->getBoolValue("wrap");
+        chunk.rel = chunks[i]->getBoolValue("relative");
+
+        string node = chunks[i]->getStringValue("node", "/null");
+        chunk.prop = fgGetNode(node.c_str(), true);
+
+        string type = chunks[i]->getStringValue("type");
+
+        // Note: officially the type is called 'bool' but for backward
+        //       compatibility 'boolean' will also be supported.
+        if (type == "bool" || type == "boolean") {
+            chunk.type = FG_BOOL;
+            record_length += 1;
+        } else if (type == "float") {
+            chunk.type = FG_FLOAT;
+            record_length += sizeof(int32_t);
+        } else if (type == "double") {
+            chunk.type = FG_DOUBLE;
+            record_length += sizeof(int64_t);
+        } else if (type == "fixed") {
+            chunk.type = FG_FIXED;
+            record_length += sizeof(int32_t);
+        } else if (type == "string")
+            chunk.type = FG_STRING;
+        else {
+            chunk.type = FG_INT;
+            record_length += sizeof(int32_t);
+        }
+        msg.push_back(chunk);
+
+    }
+
+    if( !binary_mode )
+    {
+        if ((chunks.size() > 1)&&(var_sep_string.length() == 0))
+        {
+            // ASCII protocols really need a separator when there is more than one chunk per line
+            SG_LOG(SG_IO, SG_ALERT,
+                   "generic protocol: Invalid configuration. "
+                   "'var_separator' must not be empty for protocols which have more than one chunk per line.");
+            return false;
+        }
+    }
+    else
+    {
+        if (binary_record_length == -1) {
+            binary_record_length = record_length;
+        } else if (binary_record_length < record_length) {
+            SG_LOG(SG_IO, SG_ALERT,
+                   "generic protocol: Requested binary record length shorter than "
+                   " requested record representation.");
+            binary_record_length = record_length;
+        }
+    }
+
+    return true;
+}
+
+void FGGeneric::updateValue(FGGeneric::_serial_prot& prot, bool val)
+{
+  if( prot.rel )
+  {
+    // value inverted if received true, otherwise leave unchanged
+    if( val )
+      setValue(prot.prop, !getValue<bool>(prot.prop));
+  }
+  else
+  {
+    setValue(prot.prop, val);
+  }
+}