This tutorial refers to a product that has reached its end-of-life status.

Arduino Yún File Write Script

Demonstrates how to write and execute a shell script with Process.

This example writes to a file using the FileIO classes into the Yún device's filesystem. A shell script file is created in /tmp, and is executed afterwards.

Hardware Required

  • Yún board or shield

Circuit

There is no circuit for this example.

The circuit for this tutorial.
The circuit for this tutorial.

image developed using Fritzing. For more circuit examples, see the Fritzing project page

Code

Include the FileIO header, for communicating with the filesystem.

#include <FileIO.h>

In

setup()
, initialize Bridge, Serial communication, and FileSystem. Wait for an active serial connection, and call a custom function
uploadScript()
which will upload your file, before starting
loop()
.

1void setup() {
2
3 Bridge.begin();
4
5 Serial.begin(9600);
6
7 while(!Serial); // wait for Serial port to connect.
8
9 Serial.println("File Write Script example\n\n");
10
11 FileSystem.begin();
12
13 uploadScript();
14}

loop()
will just execute your script every 5 seconds by calling another custom function,
runScript()
.

1void loop() {
2
3 runScript();
4
5 delay(5000);
6}

Your

uploadScript()
function will create a shell script in the Linux file system that will check the network traffic of the Wi-Fi interface. Create the file and open it by creating an instance of the
File@ class, and calling
FileSystem.open()@@ indicating where you would like to create the script. You'll store the script in "/tmp", which resides in RAM, to preserve the limited number of FLASH memory read/write cycles.

1void uploadScript() {
2
3 File script = FileSystem.open("/tmp/wlan-stats.sh", FILE_WRITE);

Write the contents of the script to the file with

File.print()
. begin by printing the header, "#!/bin/s", then the utility
ifconfig
. @ifconfig@ is a command line utility for controlling network interfaces. you'll be looking at the Wi-Fi interface, which is referred to as "wlan0". The utility
grep
will search the output of
ifconfig
. You're looking for the number of bytes received , so search for the keywords "RX bytes" and close the file.

1script.print("#!/bin/sh\n");
2
3 script.print("ifconfig wlan0 | grep 'RX bytes'\n");
4
5 script.close(); // close the file

Instantiate a Process to make the script executable.

chmod@ is a command that will change the modes of files. By sending the
chmod@@ command and filepath, you can make your shell script run like an application.

1Process chmod;
2
3 chmod.begin("chmod"); // chmod: change mode
4
5 chmod.addParameter("+x"); // x stays for executable
6
7 chmod.addParameter("/tmp/wlan-stats.sh");
8
9 chmod.run();
10}

The

runScript()
function will create a Process that runs the script and prints the results to the Serial Monitor. Create a named Process, and start your script by calling
Process.begin(filepath)
and
Process.run()
.

1void runScript() {
2
3 Process myscript;
4
5 myscript.begin("/tmp/wlan-stats.sh");
6
7 myscript.run();

Create a string to hold the output, and read the output into it

1String output = "";
2
3 while (myscript.available()) {
4
5 output += (char)myscript.read();
6
7 }

Remove the blank spaces at the beginning and end of the string and print it to the serial monitor :

1output.trim();
2
3 Serial.println(output);
4
5 Serial.flush();
6}

The complete sketch is below :

1/*
2
3 Write to file using FileIO classes.
4
5 This sketch demonstrate how to write file into the YunShield/Yún filesystem.
6
7 A shell script file is created in /tmp, and it is executed afterwards.
8
9 created 7 June 2010
10
11 by Cristian Maglie
12
13 This example code is in the public domain.
14
15 http://www.arduino.cc/en/Tutorial/FileWriteScript
16
17 */
18
19#include <FileIO.h>
20
21void setup() {
22
23 // Setup Bridge (needed every time we communicate with the Arduino Yún)
24
25 Bridge.begin();
26
27 // Initialize the Serial
28
29 SerialUSB.begin(9600);
30
31 while (!SerialUSB); // wait for Serial port to connect.
32
33 SerialUSB.println("File Write Script example\n\n");
34
35 // Setup File IO
36
37 FileSystem.begin();
38
39 // Upload script used to gain network statistics
40
41 uploadScript();
42}
43
44void loop() {
45
46 // Run stats script every 5 secs.
47
48 runScript();
49
50 delay(5000);
51}
52
53// this function creates a file into the linux processor that contains a shell script
54// to check the network traffic of the Wi-Fi interface
55void uploadScript() {
56
57 // Write our shell script in /tmp
58
59 // Using /tmp stores the script in RAM this way we can preserve
60
61 // the limited amount of FLASH erase/write cycles
62
63 File script = FileSystem.open("/tmp/wlan-stats.sh", FILE_WRITE);
64
65 // Shell script header
66
67 script.print("#!/bin/sh\n");
68
69 // shell commands:
70
71 // ifconfig: is a command line utility for controlling the network interfaces.
72
73 // wlan0 is the interface we want to query
74
75 // grep: search inside the output of the ifconfig command the "RX bytes" keyword
76
77 // and extract the line that contains it
78
79 script.print("ifconfig wlan0 | grep 'RX bytes'\n");
80
81 script.close(); // close the file
82
83 // Make the script executable
84
85 Process chmod;
86
87 chmod.begin("chmod"); // chmod: change mode
88
89 chmod.addParameter("+x"); // x stays for executable
90
91 chmod.addParameter("/tmp/wlan-stats.sh"); // path to the file to make it executable
92
93 chmod.run();
94}
95
96// this function run the script and read the output data
97void runScript() {
98
99 // Run the script and show results on the Serial
100
101 Process myscript;
102
103 myscript.begin("/tmp/wlan-stats.sh");
104
105 myscript.run();
106
107 String output = "";
108
109 // read the output of the script
110
111 while (myscript.available()) {
112
113 output += (char)myscript.read();
114
115 }
116
117 // remove the blank spaces at the beginning and the ending of the string
118
119 output.trim();
120
121 SerialUSB.println(output);
122
123 SerialUSB.flush();
124}

Last revision 2016/05/25 by SM

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