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Copyright (C) 2024, Axis Communications AB, Lund, Sweden. All Rights Reserved.

ACAP application calling VAPIX APIs

This example shows how an ACAP application can call VAPIX APIs, Axis open APIs.

The collection of VAPIX APIs enables a wide selection of functionality to an ACAP application. Some examples:

Outline of example

  1. Retrieve VAPIX credentials through a D-Bus API.
  2. Use curl to make a HTTP POST request to VAPIX API Basic device information on dedicated local host IP 127.0.0.12.
  3. Parse out fields from the answer

Practical information

API to get VAPIX credentials

  • The credentials should be re-fetched each time the ACAP application starts and should only be kept in memory by the ACAP application, not stored in any file.
  • See more information of this feature in ACAP documentation.

Versions

  • The feature to call VAPIX APIs was introduced in AXIS OS 11.6 as Beta.
  • The format of the D-Bus API to get VAPIX credentials changed in 11.8.
  • The D-Bus API to get VAPIX credentials reached General Availability in 11.9.

VAPIX APIs

  • Some VAPIX APIs may work with GET, but it's recommended to use POST for all API calls since it should cover all use cases of GET.
  • The response format varies for different VAPIX APIs, but common response formats are JSON, XML and text. See the VAPIX documentation of the specific API for information of format.

Getting started

These instructions will guide you on how to execute the code. Below is the structure and scripts used in the example:

vapix
├── app
│   ├── vapix_example.c
│   ├── LICENSE
│   ├── Makefile
│   └── manifest.json
├── Dockerfile
└── README.md
  • app/vapix_example.c - Application source code in C.
  • app/LICENSE - Text file which lists all open source licensed source code distributed with the application.
  • app/Makefile - Makefile containing the build and link instructions for building the ACAP application.
  • app/manifest.json - Defines the application and its configuration. This includes additional parameters.
  • Dockerfile - Docker file with the specified Axis toolchain and API container to build the example specified.
  • README.md - Step by step instructions on how to run the example.

How to run the code

Below is the step by step instructions on how to execute the program. So basically starting with the generation of the .eap file to running it on a device.

Build the application

Standing in your working directory run the following commands:

Note

Depending on the network you are connected to, you may need to add proxy settings. The file that needs these settings is: ~/.docker/config.json. For reference please see https://docs.docker.com/network/proxy and a script for Axis devices in the ACAP documentation.

docker build --tag <APP_IMAGE> --build-arg ARCH=<ARCH> .
  • <APP_IMAGE> is the name to tag the image with, e.g., vapix_example:1.0
  • <ARCH> is the SDK architecture, armv7hf or aarch64.

Copy the result from the container image to a local directory build:

docker cp $(docker create <APP_IMAGE>):/opt/app ./build

The build directory contains the build artifacts, where the ACAP application is found with suffix .eap, depending on which SDK architecture that was chosen, one of these files should be found:

  • vapix_example_1_0_0_aarch64.eap
  • vapix_example_1_0_0_armv7hf.eap

Install your application

Browse to the application page of the Axis device:

http://<AXIS_DEVICE_IP>/index.html#apps
  • Click on the tab App in the device GUI
  • Click (+) sign to upload the application file
  • Browse to the newly built ACAP application, depending on architecture:
    • vapix_example_1_0_0_aarch64.eap
    • vapix_example_1_0_0_armv7hf.eap
  • Click Install
  • Run the application by enabling the Start switch

The expected output

The application log can be found by either

  • Browse to http://<AXIS_DEVICE_IP>/axis-cgi/admin/systemlog.cgi?appname=vapix_example.
  • Browse to the application page and click the App log.

The log shows a few parsed values from the VAPIX API response.

----- Contents of SYSTEM_LOG for 'vapix_example' -----

[ INFO ] vapix_example[9731]: Curl version 8.6.0
[ INFO ] vapix_example[9731]: Jansson version 2.14
[ INFO ] vapix_example[9731]: ProdShortName: AXIS Q3536-LVE
[ INFO ] vapix_example[9731]: Soc: Axis Artpec-8
[ INFO ] vapix_example[9731]: SocSerialNumber: ABCD1234-0101ABAB

Note

The curl and Jansson versions mentioned in the example log are only for representation purpose. They may vary according to the library version available and linked from AXIS OS on which the application runs.

License

Apache License 2.0