ComCom OutputSlot

OutputSlots; are in short, ways to stream data out of a COMCOM to some other location. This can range from a GAIuS Agent to a file. All OutputSlots employ a queue since they can take in data from multiple pipelines. When creating an OutputSlot there are required fields and then there are extra fields that are needed based on the type of destination you wish to send fully processed data to. The ComCom OutputSlot is a base class which then employs a specialized streamer/publisher class which runs infinitely in a process to continually send out any data in its queue.

Relevant OutputSlot Functions

The interact with a ComCom its best to utilize the COMCOMClient which is a part of the IA-SDK. It includes a collection of functions which interfact with ComCom to perform any necessary operation such as creating, deleting, and modifying OutputSlots.

The most relevant functions when it comes to OutputSlots are in the table below:

Function Name	Function Description
`connect_output_slot()`	Function call which takes in config data to create a new input slot in COMCOM.
`disconnect_output_slot()`	Function call which takes in an OutputSlot name and deletes it from ComCom.
`modify_output_slot()`	Complex function call which can modify the output_slot according to the modification type.
`toggle_output_slot()`	Function which negates the active status of the output_slot with passed name.
`clear_outputslot_command_queue()`	Function call that tells COMCOM to clear any queued output data pending in the output-slot.
`list_output_slots()`	Function call to list all output_slots in COMCOM.
`get_output_slot_data()`	Function call to get detailed information about output_slot with passed output_name.

Types of OutputSlots

COMCOMRESTAPIPublisher

An OutputSlot can be made with a COMCOMRESTAPIPublisherby by setting the output_type parameter in connect_output_slot() to rest_api. The COMCOMRESTAPIPublisher will then take in the passed rest_urls and send any receieved data through those rest_urls.

Note

When creating a COMCOMRESTAPIPublisher verify may be passed to set that option for all requests. In addition, if a request_type is not defined in the recieved data, then it defaults to post.

COMCOMAgentStreamer

An OutputSlot can be made with a COMCOMAgentStreamer by setting the output_type parameter in connect_output_slot() to agent. The COMCOMAgentStreamer will then gather a collection of already connected agents from COMCOM, and then send data to those agents. To determine in what manner to send the data to agents the COMCOMAgentStreamer will read in the action field from the processed data and then perform a corresponding action.

Current Supported Actions:

observe : converts to GDF(if needed) and then calls observe on Agent. Will also write a PredictionEnsemble DDS message under the topic <output_name>_ensemble.
learn : attempts to observe GDF data if available, and then learns the current WM on the agent.
sequence_observe : attempts to observe a list of GDF data onto all agents.
sequence_learn : attempts to observe a list of GDF data onto all agents, and then learn.

COMCOMDDSStreamer

An OutputSlot can be made with a COMCOMDDSStreamer by setting the output_type parameter in connect_output_slot() to stream. This will create a DDS Writer which listens to a topic of the same name as what was assigned to the OutputSlot. The config option output_message_type controls which DDS message dataclass to expect. To get a list of the available DDS dataclasses that are supported in COMCOM, you can call the get_dds_message_types() from COMCOMClient, which will output the DDS dataclasses with their supported names, and their structures.

Note

It is crucial that the output_name and output_message_type match to what the DDS listening process is utilizing. Otherwise data reading will fail, and no data will be read.

COMCOMTCPSocketStreamer

An OutputSlot can be made with a COMCOMTCPSocketStreamer by setting the output_type parameter in connect_output_slot() to socket. This will create a server socket which will accept connections from other sockets, and read in null terminated data. Currently COMCOMTCPSocketStreamer always utilizes a tcp port, which must be exposed to COMCOM when it is spawned.

Note

When configuring a COMCOMTCPSocketStreamer, a sockets must be defined; which contains a list of the address and port must be passed in; which then creates a series of socket connections to try to connect to and send bytes data to.