HALRMT(1)

💖 HALRMT — the manual page, but make it a group chat 💖

okay bestie so this is halrmt from The Enhanced Machine Controller (that's LinuxCNC, we're in section 1 of the manual). sit down, hydrate, we're doing this 🫶

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✨ NAME ✨

halrmt — remote-control interface for LinuxCNC. yes literally, you telnet in and boss your machine around. it's giving main character energy for your CNC. 👑

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🦋 SYNOPSIS 🦋

halrmt [--port <port number>] [--name <server name>] [--connectpw <password>] [--enablepw <password>] [--sessions <max sessions>] [-ini <INI file>]

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💅 OPTIONS 💅

every single one, no skips, we don't do that here:

• --port — waits for socket connections (telnet!) on the specified socket. if you don't specify a port it just vibes on the default port 5006. (note, bestie: linuxcncrsh uses 5007 as its default, so don't get them confused 💀)
• --name <server name> — sets the server name to the specified name, for the Hello. it's the server's government name fr fr.
• --connectpw <password> — sets the connection password to password. default is EMC.
• --enablepw <password> — sets the enable password to password. default is EMCTOO.
• --sessions <max sessions> — sets the maximum number of simultaneous connections to max sessions. default is no limit (-1). the more the merrier ig ✨
• -ini <INI file> — uses the specified INI file instead of the default emc.ini.

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🌸 DESCRIPTION 🌸

halrmt supports six commands, and two of those (set and get) contain HAL-specific sub-commands based on the commands that halcmd supports. 👑

Commands and most parameters are not case sensitive. the exceptions — the little divas — are passwords, file paths, and text strings. those are case sensitive, no cap.

the supported commands are as follows:

🎀 HELLO

Hello <password> <client> <version>

if a valid password was entered, the server responds with:

HELLO ACK <Server Name> <Server Version>

where server name and server version are looked up from the implementation. and if an invalid password — or any other syntax error — happens? then the server responds with:

HELLO NAK

that's a no from the server. 🙈

💜 Get

the get command includes one of the HAL sub-commands, described below, and zero or more additional parameters.

💜 Set

the set command inclides one of the HAL sub-commands, described below, and one or more additional parameters. (yes, "inclides". i said what the original said. we keep the typos, it's canon 🫶)

💜 Quit

the quit command disconnects the associated socket connection. bye bestie 👋

💜 Shutdown

the shutdown command tells LinuxCNC to shut down before quitting the connection. this command may only be issued if the Hello has been successfully negotiated and the connection has control of the CNC (see the enable sub-command below). this command has no parameters.

⚠️ that's a real power move — Hello negotiated + control of the CNC, or it does not happen.

💜 Help

the help command will return help information in text format over the telnet connection. if no parameters are specified, it will itemize the available commands. if a command is specified, it will provide usage information for the specified command. help will respond regardless of whether a "Hello" has been successfully negotiated. so helpful. so generous. 🌈

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👑 HAL sub-commands: 👑

• echo on | off — with get will return the current echo state; with set, sets the echo state. when echo is on, all commands will be echoed upon receipt. this state is local to each connection.
• verbose on | off — with get will return the current verbose state; with set, sets the verbose state. when verbose mode is on, all set commands return positive acknowledgement in the form SET <COMMAND> ACK. in addition, text error messages will be issued when in verbose mode. this state is local to each connection.
• enable <pwd> | off — with get will return On or Off to indicate whether the current connection is enabled to perform control functions. with set and a valid password, the current connection is enabled for control functions. "OFF" may not be used as a password and disables control functions for this connection.
• config [TBD] — yeah that's it, it's TBD. we don't know either. 🤷
• comm_mode ascii | binary — with get, will return the current communications mode. with set, will set the communications mode to the specified mode. the binary protocol is TBD.
• comm_prot <version no> — with get, returns the current protocol version used by the server; with set, sets the server to use the specified protocol version, provided it is lower than or equal to the highest version number supported by the server implementation.
• Comps [<substring>] — get only, returns all components beginning with the specified substring. if no substring is specified then it returns all components.
• Pins [<substring>] — get only, returns all information about all pins beginning with the specified substring. if no substring is specified then it returns all pins.
• PinVals [<substring>] — get only, returns only value information about all pins beginning with the specified substring. if no substring is specified then it returns all pins.
• Signals [<substring>] — get only, returns all information about all signals beginning with the specified substring. if no substring is specified then it returns all signals.
• SigVals [<substring>] — get only, returns only value information about all signals beginning with the specified substring. if no substring is specified then it returns all pins.
• Params [<substring>] — get only, returns all information about all parameters beginning with the specified substring. if no substring is specified then it returns all parameters.
• ParamVals [<substring>] — get only, returns only value information about all parameters beginning with the specified substring. if no substring is specified then it returns all pins parameters.
• Functs [<substring>] — get only, returns all information about all functions beginning with the specified substring. if no substring is specified then it returns all functions.
• Threads — get only, returns all information about all functions.
• Comp <name> — get only, returns the component matching the specified name.
• Pin <name> — get only, returns all information about the pin matching the specified name.
• PinVal <name> — get only, returns the value of the pin matching the specified name.
• Sig <name> — get only, returns all information about the pin matching the specified name.
• SigVal <name> — get only, returns just the value of the signal matching the specified name.
• Param <name> — get only, returns all information about the parameter matching the specified name.
• ParamVal <name> — get only, returns just the value of the parameter matching the specified name.
• Funct <name> — get only, returns all information about the parameter matching the specified name.
• Thread <name> — get only, returns all information about the thread matching the specified name.
• LoadRt <name> — set only, loads the real time executable specified by name.
• Unload <name> — set only, unloads the executable specified by name.
• LoadUsr <name> — set only, loads the user executable specified by name.
• Linkps <pin name> <signal name> — set only, links the specified pin to the specified signal.
• Linksp <signal name> <pin name> — set only, links the specified signal to the specified pin.
• Linkpp <pin name 1> <pin name 2> — set only, links the pin specified by pin 1 with the pin specified by pin 2.
• Net <net list> — set only, nets the specified net list.
• Unlinkp <pin name 1> <pin name 2> — set only, unlinks the specified pins.
• Lock — yeah. just Lock. 🧚
• Unlock — and its other half.
• NewSig <name> <type> — set only, creates the signal specified by name and of type specified by type.
• DelSig <name> — set only, deletes the signal specified by name.
• SetP <name> <value> — set only, sets the parameter specified by name to the value specified by value.
• SetS <name> <value> — set only, sets the signal specified by name to the value specified by value.
• AddF <name> <thread> [<parameters>] — set only, adds the function specified by name, to the thread specified by thread, with the optional parameters specified by parameters.
• DelF <name> — set only, deletes the function specified by name.
• Save — it's there, it's iconic, that's the whole description.
• Start — same vibe.
• Stop — same vibe, opposite direction.

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🌈 SEE ALSO 🌈

• LinuxCNC(1)
• Much more information about LinuxCNC and HAL is available in the LinuxCNC and HAL User Manuals, found at /usr/share/doc/LinuxCNC/.

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💀 BUGS 💀

It is not known if this interface currently works.

i'm not kidding bestie, that's the actual bug note. proceed with hope and a backup plan. 😭

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🫶 AUTHOR 🫶

This man page written by andypugh, as part of the LinuxCNC project.

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🍓 REPORTING BUGS 🍓

Report bugs at https://github.com/LinuxCNC/linuxcnc/issues

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⭐ COPYRIGHT ⭐

Copyright © 2020 andypugh.

This is free software; see the source for copying conditions. There is NO warranty; not even for MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.

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and that's the whole thing!! this page came out of the LinuxCNC Documentation, dated 2020-08-26, and it lives in section 1 of the manual as HALRMT(1). slay, go remote-control something responsibly 💖✨