New task

To make DeviceControl as agile as possible, users have the option to implement additional Tasks.

All of these implementations are to be placed within the app/workspace/tasks. A Python package with the following structure is expected:

|- app
|   |- workspace
|   |   |-- tasks
|   |   |   |--<your-file.py>

You can create a new file or extend an existing one, depending on whether the task is relevant for an existing type of device. There is an __init__.py file located in the app/workspace/tasks folder. In this file, a dictionary named classes can be found. You must register all your newly implemented task classes and types in this dictionary under a unique pair of keys by which DeviceControl will know to reference your task. Be sure to leave a reference to the class, not an instance of it! In order to use your task in an experiment, simply provide this pair of keys in the task_class and task_type fields when initiating the task.

New Task Implementation Guide

Your class should extend the BaseTask class (or an existing Task). The super call must provide the BaseTask class with a dictionary.

from .. import BaseTask


class YourClass(BaseTask):
    def __init__(self, config: dict):
        super(YourClass, self).__init__(config)

The dictionary passed to the constructor contains (key, value) pairs as provided by the data message sent via Task initiation. These pairs are stored within your class as the object's attributes, meaning that a value sent under your_parameter key can be accessed within the object's methods as self.your_parameter.

To assure compatibility between your class and DeviceControl, the class must introduce the following mandatory methods.

Methods

def start(self):
    # specify what should happen on task initiation

def end(self):
    # specify what should happen on task termiation