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This section introduces the types of Lua scripts supported by EdgeTX and how they may be used.
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The EdgeTX team has no intention of making a profit from their work - EdgeTX is free and open source and will remain free and open source. However, the project is more expensive to maintain than most open source projects. This in mainly because there is a never ending flood of hardware to integrate and maintain code for. Hardware that costs. In addition, in order to develop for this hardware, certain specalised test and measurement equipment is also required.
In order to support this, EdgeTX has chosen to use OpenCollective to allow for donations from the community, as well as funding from manufacturers who choose to partner with and sponsor the project. This also allows for transparent accounting of what the funds are spent on.
Please visit our OpenCollective page if you would like to financially help support the project!
WARNING - Do not use Lua Custom scripts for controlling any aspect of your model that could cause a crash if the script stops executing!
Each model can have several custom scripts associated with it, and these scripts are run periodically. They behave similarly to standard OpenTX mixers, but at the same time they provide a much more flexible and powerful tool. Custom scripts take one or more values as inputs, do some processing in Lua code, and output one or more values.
Please note: the firmware must be compiled with the option LUA_MIXER=Y
for Custom scripts to be available.
Please note: the scripts should be as short as possible, to avoid delays. It is also important to keep in mind that other loaded Telemetry and Function scripts can add to the response time, or worse: hang the system!
replacement for complex mixes that are not critical to model function
complex processing of inputs and reaction to their current state and/or their history
filtering of telemetry values
cannot update LCD screen or perform user input.
should not exceed allowed run-time/ number of instructions.
custom scripts are run with less priority than built-in mixes. Their execution period is around 30ms and is not guaranteed!
can be disabled/killed anytime due to logic errors in script, not enough free memory, etc...)
Custom scripts are loaded from SD card when model is selected
init
__function is called first
run
function is called periodically (about 30 times per second)
the script is killed (stopped and disabled) if it misbehaves (e.g. run-time error or low memory)
all Custom scripts are stopped while a One-Time script is running (see Lua One-time scripts)
If the script output is used as a mixer source
, and the script is killed for whatever reason, then the whole mixer line is disabled ! This can be used for example to provide a fallback in case Lua Custom script is killed.
Example where Lua mix script is used to drive ailerons in some clever way, but control falls back to the standard aileron mix if script is killed. Second mixer line replaces the first one when the script is alive:
Place them on SD card in folder /SCRIPTS/MIXES/. File name length (without extension) must be 6 characters or less (this limit was 8 characters in OpenTX 2.1).
Every script must include a return
statement at the end, defining its interface to EdgeTX. This statement returns a table with the following fields:
input
table (optional)
output
table (optional)
init
function (optional)
run
function
The input table defines what values are available as input(s) to custom scripts. There are two forms of input table entries.
SOURCE inputs provide the current value of a selected OpenTX variable. The source must be selected by the user when the script is configured. Source can be any value that EdgeTX knows about (inputs, channels, telemetry values, switches, custom functions etc.). Note: the typical input range is -1024 thru +1024. Simply divide the input value by 10.24 to convert to a percentage from -100% to +100%.
VALUE inputs provide a constant value that is set by the user when the script is configured.
name - maximum length of 8 characters
min - minimum value of -128
max - maximum value of 127
default - must be within the valid range specified
Maximum of 6 inputs per script (was 8 in 2.1)
The output table defines only name(s), as the actual values are returned by the script's run function.
Note: the above names are only visible as source values on the radio screen when the script is running. If the model is edited in Companion, then the values show as LUA1a
and LUA1b
etc.
The latest version of this guide will always be available here. At the top of the left sidebar there is a version option if you are running an older version of EdgeTX and need the docs for that specific version.
Please feel free to make suggestions or corrections to the documentation on GitHub, but the preferred method of editing is to use GitBook, so all changes will need to be made by someone who is authorized as a writer there.
This guide covers the development of user-written scripts for R/C transmitters running the EdgeTX 2.8 operating system with Lua support. Readers should be familiar with EdgeTX, the EdgeTX Companion, and know how to transfer files the SD card in the transmitter.
If you are new to Lua programming, you may also find the Lua Reference Manual of assistance.
Part I is an overview of the different script types, along with basic examples of each.
Part II is a programming guide that introduces the types of EdgeTX Lua scripts and how to use them.
Part III is the EdgeTX Lua API Reference
Part IV covers advanced topics with examples
Function scripts are invoked via the 'Lua Script' option of Special Functions configuration page.
Typical uses of Function scripts are:
specialized handling in response to switch position changes
customized announcements
Please be aware that:
all function scripts are stopped if a One-Time Lua script is running
Function scripts DO NOT HAVE ACCESS TO LCD DISPLAY
init
function is called once when the model is selected
depending on the switch associated with the Special Function, either the run
function (switch = on) or the background
function (switch = off) is called periodically
the script is stopped and disabled if it misbehaves (e.g. run-time error or low memory)
Scripts are located on the SD card in the folder /SCRIPTS/FUNCTIONS/<name>.lua. File name length (without extension) must be 6 characters or less (this limit was 8 characters in OpenTX 2.1).
Every script must include a return
statement at the end, defining its interface to EdgeTX. This statement returns a table with the following fields:
init
function (optional)
run
function
background
function (optional)
EdgeTX Companion 2.8 is available for download here (pick the appropriate download for your operating system from Assets heading at the bottom of the page - the filename will have cpn
in the name).
If you intend to use mixer scripts, when compiling the firmware for your transmitter you need to make sure the LUA_MIXER
option is set. This is not required if you only intend to run any of the other types of Lua script (i.e. telemetry, one-time, function scripts, widgets) as support for those is included by default.
This section includes Acknowledgments and Getting Started.
Telemetry scripts are used for building customized screens. Each model can have up to three active scripts as configured on the model's telemetry configuration page. The same script can be assigned to multiple models.
Please note: Telemetry scripts are only available on radios with telemetry screens, such as e.g. FrSky Taranis models (including Xlite), Radiomaster TX12 and and Jumper T12.
Telemetry scripts are loaded when the model is selected.
init
function is called one time when the script is loaded
background
function is periodically; both when the telemetry screen is visible and when it is not.
run
function is called periodically only when the telemetry screen is visible
script is stopped and disabled if it misbehaves (e.g. run-time error or low memory)
all telemetry scripts are stopped if a one-time script is running (see One-time scripts)
Scripts are located on the SD card in the folder /SCRIPTS/TELEMETRY/<name>.lua. File name length (without extension) must be 6 characters or less (this limit was 8 characters in OpenTX 2.1).
Every script must include a return
statement at the end, defining its interface to EdgeTX. This statement returns a table with the following fields:
init
function (optional)
background
function (optional)
run
function
This chapter will show you some ways that large script projects can be fitted into the limited memory of our radios.
Regarding memory, the situation is a bit different for the radios with black/white or grey scale screens and telemetry scripts, and the radios with color screens and widget scripts. The telemetry script radios only have 128-192 KB RAM memory - that is very small! The widget script radios have 8 MB RAM memory. But the way that widgets are designed means that all widget scripts present on the SD card will be loaded into memory, whether or not they are actually used. Therefore, different strategies should be applied to save memory for the two different types of radios and scripts.
Radios with black/white or grey scale screens and telemetry scripts such as e.g. FrSky Taranis, Xlite, Jumper T12 and Radiomaster TX12 have extremely small RAM memories, and therefore it may be necessary to divide up your script into smaller loadable modules.
The following simple example demonstrates how different screens can be loaded on demand, and how shared data can be stored in a table.
The table shared
contains data that is shared between the main telemetry script and the loadable screens. Notice that the functions shared.changeScreen
and shared.run
are also shared this way.
Code is loaded by shared.changeScreen
with the loadScript
function, which returns the loadable script as a chunk of code. The code is executed with shared
as the argument, and the loadable script adds a new run
function to the shared
table. shared.run
is called by run
in the main script.
Radios with color screens and widget scripts such as e.g. FrSky Horus, Jumper T16 and Radiomaster TX16S have fairly large RAM memories, but since all widget scripts present on the SD card are always loaded into memory, they could run out of memory if many big widget scripts are present on the card - even if they are not being used by the selected model. Therefore, large widget scripts should be divided into a small main script and a large loadable part. One way to accomplish this is the following.
Obviously, the bulk of the widget's code goes in loadable.lua
, and is only loaded if the widgets is in fact being used. Therefore, if the widget is not used, only the small amount of code in main.lua
is loaded into the radio's memory.
For an example of a widget that uses the above design pattern, please have a look at the EventDemo widget that is included on the SD card with EdgeTX for color screen radios.
The event
parameter indicates which transmitter key has been pressed (see ).
The create
function loads the file loadable.lua
in the folder /WIDGETS/<widget name>/, and calls it immediately as described in . It passes zone
and options
as arguments to loadable.lua
. This scripts adds the functions refresh
, update
and (optionally) background
to the widget
table:
zone
and options
are stored in the of loadable.lua
, therefore they do not need to be added to the widget
table, as is commonly done.
Lua is a small but powerful language. This section will explain a few of the most important concepts.
Lua was chosen for OpenTX, and hence also EdgeTX, because it is a small language designed to be highly extensible by libraries written in C and C++, so it can be integrated into other systems like EdgeTX. It is also relatively efficient, both in terms of memory and CPU usage, and hence well suited for the radios.
In addition to the provided libraries, Lua has a very elegant mechanism for loading new Lua code modules during run-time. A lot of the elegance comes from the way that the loading mechanism meshes with another concept supported by Lua: first class functions with closures.
Computer science pioneer Christopher Strachey introduced the concept of functions as first-class objects in his paper Fundamental Concepts in Programming Languages from 1967. What it means is that functions can be treated as other variables: as arguments passed in function calls, as results returned from function calls, and a function identifier can be re-assigned to another chunk of function code, just like a variable ca be assigned to a new value.
In Lua, a function declaration is really "syntactic sugar" for assigning a variable to the chunk of code that is called when the function is invoked, i.e.
local function f(x) return x + 1 end
is the same as
local f = function(x) return x + 1 end
You can even add functions to Lua tables, i.e.
t = { f = f }
will add the above function to the table t
, as a field that is also called f
. Does that look familiar to the return statement required at the end of a Lua script?
Yes indeed, because a script is really an anonymous function that returns a list of functions to the system. The function declarations assign variables to chunks of function code, these variables are added to the list returned at the end of the script, and the system then calls the functions periodically to run the script. So the script itself is run one time initially, and subsequently the functions returned by the last statement are called periodically.
Another important concept that goes with first-class functions, is closures. This is the environment of the function with the variable names that the function can see. Please consider the following function counter
that returns another function:
The function is returned directly without being assigned to a variable name. The closure of the function returned is the body of the function counter
, containing both the arguments start
and step
, and the local variable x
. So if c1 = counter(1, 1)
then c1()
will return 1, 2, 3, ... when called repeatedly, and if c2 = counter(2, 3)
then c2()
will return 2, 5, 8, ...
Likewise, the local variables that you declare outside the functions of your script can be used by all of the functions in your script, and they persist between function calls, but they are not visible to other scripts.
The widget scripts are a little trickier, as you can register multiple instances of the same widget script, and all of these instances run within the same Lua closure. Therefore, local variables declared outside any functions in a widget script are shared among all of the instances of that script. But each call to the create(...)
function returns a new widget
list to the system. And since this list is unique to each instance, you can add private instance variables to it.
Please consider this function:
It takes an argument x
and a vararg list ...
A vararg list is just like a list of arguments separated by commas, and you can call the function with any number of arguments greater than 1. Inside the function, you can also treat ...
like a comma separated list of variables, e.g. in the above function, ...
is converted to a table by {...}
just like you could construct a table by e.g. {a, b, c}
. The table is iterated with the ipairs
function to look for an element matching the first argument x
. So e.g. the following statement
if event == EVT_VIRTUAL_ENTER or event == EVT_VIRTUAL_EXIT then
can be replaced by
if match(event, EVT_VIRTUAL_ENTER, EVT_VIRTUAL_EXIT) then
You can also use ...
directly as a comma separated list of values, e.g. local a, b, c = ...
will assign the three variables to the three first arguments following x
, or nil
if none are given.
The Lua 5.2 Reference Manual helpful, both if you want to learn more about Lua, and if you want to search for answers to specific questions.
Lua makes it easy to load and unload code modules on the fly, to save memory or to provide program extensions.
The loadScript(<file>)
function will load a script from a the file and return a function that is the body of the script, as described in the previous section. So you could have the following Lua script file saved on the SD card:
You can load and use the above file with the following code:
So here we put together what we learned in the previous section. The body of the script is an anonymous function returned by loadScript
and stored in the variable chunk
. It returns the function f
when it is called. The local variable c
in the script is assigned to the first vararg passed to the call. Since a new closure is created every time we call chunk
, f1
and f2
have different closures with different values of c
.
This section provides more specifics on the EdgeTX Lua implementation. Here you will find syntax rules for interface tables and functions.
The io.open() function is used to open the file on SD card for subsequent reading or writing. After the script is done with the file manipulation io.close() function should be used.
filename
full path to the file starting from the SD card root directory. This function can't create a new file in non-existing directory.
mode
supported mode strings are:
"r"
read access. File must exist beforehand. The read pointer is located at the beginning of file. This is the default mode if is omitted.
"w"
write access. File is opened or created (if it didn't exist) and truncated (all existing file contents are lost).
"a" write access. File is opened or created (if it didn't exist) and write pointer is located at the end of the file. The existing file contents are preserved.
<file object>
if file was successfully opened.
nil
if file could not be opened.
This section will discuss how interactive scripts receiving user inputs via key and touch events can be created.
The two Lua widgets EventDemo and LibGUI are provided on the SD card content for color screen radios. EventDemo is just a small widget showing off how key, and especially touch events, can be used. LibGUI contains a globally available library, and a widget showing how the library can be used by other widgets. This section will discuss these two widgets for color screen radios, but generally, what is stated about key events here also applies to the run
function in Telemetry and One-Time scripts.
This widget uses the design pattern for saving memory by loadable files discussed in the previous section, so all of the action takes place in the file loadable.lua. The following code listing is an outline of the refresh
function with comments explaining what is going on.
LibGUI was created to support the SoarETX widgets, but it was made separate so everyone can use it, if they so desire. Since it is all Lua, the code is visible for everyone to study and use as is, or modify for their own use (as long as they comply with the terms of the Gnu Public license, of course).
It is a widget that comes with a global library. Since all widgets are loaded, whether or not they are being used, global functions declared in the body of a widget script will always be available in any widget script in the create
and refresh
functions. It is not necessary to setup the widget to use the library, and the only purpose of the widget is to show how LibGUI
can be used to create widget apps.
The library is implemented in the loadable file /WIDGETS/LibGUI/libgui.lua. The widget that demonstrates how to use the library is implemented in the loadable file /WIDGETS/LibGUI/loadable.lua. The file /WIDGETS/LibGUI/main.lua contains the standard functions needed for a widget and handles the loading of the two other files.
The global function loadGUI()
returns a new libGUI
object. This object can be used to create new GUI
objects, which are used to create screens with elements like buttons, menus, labels, numbers etc.
libGUI
has the following properties controlling general settings for the library.
These are default drawing flags to be applied if no flags are given at creation of screen elements.
Note: these flags should not contain color values, as colors are added by the following.
This is a table of the colors used for drawing the GUI elements. These are all theme colors by default, but they can be changed for the libGUI
instance without changing the theme colors anywhere else.
A function f()
to draw the zone of the screen in widget mode. It takes no arguments.
This is a small utility function that returns true
if the first argument x
matches any of the following arguments. It is useful for comparing values of event
, e.g. if we want to test if the user pressed either of the following buttons, we can use:libGUI.match(event, EVT_VIRTUAL_ENTER, EVT_VIRTUAL_EXIT, EVT_VIRTUAL_MENU)
This is the main function that creates a new GUI
object. If an application has different screens, then a GUI
object is created for each screen.
A function f()
to draw the screen background in full screen mode. The GUI elements are drawn afterwards on top.
Redraws the screen and processes key and touch events. It can directly replace a widget's refresh
function, or it can be called by refresh
.
Sets a function f(event, touchState)
to handle an event. If no GUI element is being edited, then this can trap events before they are passed to the GUI, e.g. to press EXIT to go back to the previous screen. If f
is nil
, then the event handler is removed.
If the function returns another event value, then it is passed to the active screen element (i.e. the handler can modify certain events).
It cannot trap the events EVT_VIRTUAL_PREV
, EVT_VIRTUAL_NEXT
as these events are used for navigation. If elements are being edited, then this also takes precedence over the event handler.
This function can be used to show a modal prompt window, or trap events (alternative to setEventHandler
). guiPrompt
is a GUI
or another Lua table with a function run(event, touchState
).
When it is set, the main GUI will first be drawn, and then it will call guiPrompt.run(event, touchState)
instead of its own onEvent
function.
Dismisses the prompt.
The screen elements are drawn in the order that they are added to the GUI, and touch events are sent to the first element that covers the touched point of the screen. GUI elements therefore should never overlap.
There are some common properties that can be set for all or most of the GUI elements.
element.disabled = true
prevents the element from taking focus and receiving events, and disabled buttons are greyed out.
element.hidden = true
in addition to the above, the element is not drawn.
element.title
can be changed for elements with a title.
element.value
can be changed for elements with a value.
element.flags
drawing flags for the element's text. If no flags were given at element creation, it defaults to GUI.flags
.
The various screen elements are added to the GUI with the functions described below. The functions all add the element to the GUI and returns a reference so the element subsequently can be accessed by the client.
Add a button to the GUI.
When tapped, it calls callBack(self)
so a call back function can tell which button activated it.
Add a toggle button to the GUI.
The value
is either true
or false
.
When tapped, it calls callBack(self)
so a call back function can tell which toggle button activated it, and what self.value
is.
Add an editable number to the GUI.
The value
can be either a number or text. By setting the value to a text, it can be shown that the number is not present e.g. by "- -" or similar.
When tapped, the number will go to edit mode. In edit mode, and changeValue(d, self)
is called if the increase/decrease buttons are pressed, or a finger is slided up or down from the number. The parameter d
is the number of "ticks" by which the number is being changed, and changeValue
must return the new value for the number. In a simple case, the new value would just be self.value + d
, but it could also select new values from a table etc.
Add a timer to the GUI.
If no value
is present, then the model timer tmr
will be shown. If value
is a number, then it indicates the time in seconds, and it will be shown as MM:SS. The value
can also be text, e.g. "- - : - -" to show that the timer is disabled.
When tapped, the timer will go to edit mode, as described above for number.
Add a text label to the GUI.
The label does not respond to any events, but its title
and flags
can be changed.
Add a scrollable menu to the GUI.
items
is a table with the menu item texts.
When a menu item is tapped, it calls callBack(self)
and self.selected
gets the index of the selected item.
Add a field with values that can be selected on a drop down menu.
items
is a table with the items that can be selected from.
selected
is the index of the initially selected item.
When an item has been selected, it calls callBack(self)
. The index of the selected item is given by self.selected
.
Adds a horizontal slider that starts at (x, y)
and has the width w
.
value
is the initial value, and min - max
is the interval of values that can be selected with step size delta
.
When the value is changed, callBack(self)
is called, and the value is given by self.value
.
The same as the above, just vertical.
This can be used to create your own custom GUI elements. self
is a table containing the element. You must define the functions self.draw(focused)
and self.onEvent(event, touchState)
. There is a function self.drawFocus(color)
defined that can draw a border around the element (use if focused == true).
Create a nested sub-GUI. This can be used to group GUI elements which will be offset by (x, y)
relative to the parent GUI
.
WARNING - Running a One-Time script will suspend execution of all other currently loaded Lua scripts (Custom, Telemetry, and Functions)
One-Time scripts start when called upon by a specific radio function or when the user selects them from a contextual menu. They do their task and are then terminated and unloaded. Please note that all persistent scripts are halted during the execution of One-Time scripts. They are automatically restarted once the One-Time script is finished. This is done to provide enough system resources to execute the One-Time script.
Script is executed when user selects Execute on a script file from SD card browser screen, or opens a Lua Tool, or creates a new model with a Wizard script.
The script executes until:
it returns value different from 0
is forcefully closed by user by long press of EXIT key
is forcefully closed by system if it misbehaves (e.g. run-time error or low
memory)
General One-Time scripts can be placed anywhere on SD card, however, the folder /SCRIPTS/ is recommended.
Tool scripts must be stored in /SCRIPTS/TOOLS.
Wizard scripts must be stored in the same subfolder of /TEMPLATES/ with the same "first name" as the template file using it. Some Wizard scripts are just small scripts that load one of the common scripts located in /SCRIPTS/WIZARD/.
Every script must include a return
statement at the end, defining its interface to EdgeTX. This statement returns a table with the following fields:
init
function (optional)
run
function
A non-zero return value from run
will halt the script. If the return value is a text string with the file path to a new Lua script, then the new script will be loaded and run.
This section will give some technical details for radios with a color screen.
An argument with drawing flags can be given to the various functions that draw on the LCD screen. The lower half of the flags (bits 1-16) are the flag attributes shown below, and the upper half of the flags (bits 17-32) are a color value.
Not all of the flags below should be directly manipulated from Lua, but those that are meant to be set directly by Lua, are accessible by the .
Since the flags are bits, you can add them up to combine, as long as you only add each flag one time. If you add the same flag twice, then it will add up to the next bit over, e.g. INVERS + INVERS = VCENTER
. If you want to add a flag to a value where it may already be set, then use flags = bit32.bor(flags, INVERS)
.
RGB_FLAG decides how the color value is encoded into the upper half (bits 17-32).
If RGB_FLAG = 1, then a 16-bit RGB565 color is stored. This is used directly by the system to draw a color on the screen.
You should not change RGB_FLAG explicitly; this is handled automatically by the various functions and Lua constants. But you should be aware of the following.
If no color is given to the flags with a drawing function, RGB_FLAGS = 0 and the color index = 0. Therefore, the default color is stored in the color table under this index, and you can change the default color with lcd.setColor(0, color)
.
OpenTX only supports indexed colors in drawing functions, so you must first call lcd.setColor
to change e.g. CUSTOM_COLOR, and then call the LCD drawing function with that indexed color. In EdgeTX, you can use either type of color for drawing functions, so you are no longer forced to constantly call lcd.setColor
. You can also store any color in local variables, and then use these when drawing, thus effectively creating your own color theme.
In OpenTX, lcd.RGB
returns a 16 bit RGB565 value, but in EdgeTX it returns a 32 bit flags value with the 16 bit RGB565 value in the upper half (bits 17-32). Therefore, colors in EdgeTX are not binary compatible with colors in OpenTX. But if you use the functions lcd.RGB
, lcd.setColor
, and lcd.getColor
, then your code should work the same way in EdgeTX as in OpenTX.
Unfortunately, OpenTX has disabled the function lcd.RGB
when the screen is not available for drawing, so it can only be called successfully from the refresh
function in widgets and from the run
function in One-Time scripts. Therefore, some existing widget scripts set up colors with hard coded constants instead of calling lcd.RGB
during initialization, and this is not going to work with EdgeTX, because of the different binary format.
A pull request has been submitted to OpenTX, allowing lcd.RGB
to work also during widget script initialization, and hopefully, it will be merged into OpenTX 2.3.15. If that happens, then the obvious way to solve the problem is to use lcd.RGB
values instead of hard coded color constants. But in the meantime, the following RGB function can be used for setting up colors in a way that works for both EdgeTX and OpenTX.
This functions calls lcd.RGB
, and if it gets a nil value (because we are running a widget script under OpenTX, and it is not called from the refresh
function) then it creates the 16-bit RGB565 value that OpenTX wants.
Most of the time, widget scripts show some info in a zone either in the top bar or in one of the user defined main views, and they cannot receive direct input from the user via key events like e.g. Telemetry scripts.
But widgets on the main views can also be shown in full screen mode, where they take over the entire screen area. And here they receive user input via key events, and for radios with touch screen, also touch events. Full screen mode can be entered by selecting the widget, pressing ENTER and selecting Full screen on the widget menu, or by double tapping the widget on radios with a touch screen. Full screen mode can be exited by long pressing the RETURN button, or by calling the Lua function lcd.exitFullScreen()
.
Each model can have up to five main views, with up to 8 widgets per screen, depending on their size and layout. Each instance of a widget has his own options table.
Please note: Widget scripts are only available on radios with color screens, e.g. FrSky Horus models, Radiomaster TX16 and Jumper T16.
All widget scripts on the SD card are loaded into memory when the model is selected; even widgets that are not used. This has the side effect that any global functions defined in a widget script will always be available to other widget scripts. It also means that any script on the SD card will consume part of the radio's memory - even if it is not being used. Therefore, it is important to either keep widget scripts small, or to use Lua's loadScript() function to load code dynamically.
They can be added to the top bar or a main view through the telemetry setup menu. When a widget has been added to a screen, then the widget functions are called as follows:
create
is called once when the widget instance is registered (started).
update
is called when widget settings are changed by the user.
background
is called periodically when the widget instance is not visible. Note: this is different from the way that telemetry scripts are handled.
refresh
is called periodically when the widget instance is visible. Note: if you want background
to run when the widget is visible, then call it from refresh
.
A widget script is stopped and disabled if it misbehaves (e.g. too long runtime, run-time error, or low memory)
All widgets are stopped while a One-Time script is running (see ).
Widgets are located on the SD card, each in their specific folder /WIDGETS/<name>/main.lua (<name> must be in 8 characters or less).
Every script must include a return
statement at the end, defining its interface to EdgeTX. This statement returns a table with the following fields:
name
string
options
table
create
function
update
function
background
function (optional)
refresh
function
The name
must be max. 10 characters long.
options
is passed to create
and then stored in Lua. Changing it has no effect on EdgeTX.
If options
is changed by the user in the Widget Settings menu, then update
will be called with a new options
table, unaffected by any changes made by Lua code to the old options
table.
Maximum five options
are allowed, with names of max. 10 characters, and no spaces.
If local variables are declared outside functions in the widget script, then they are shared between all instances of the widget.
Therefore, local variables that are private for each instance should be added to the widget
table in the create
function before returning the widget
table to EdgeTX.
When the widget is not in full screen mode, then both event
and touchState
are nil
.
The size of the widget's screen area is as follows:
Full screen mode: LCD_W
by LCD_H
Not full screen mode: zone.w
by zone.h
Lua Standard Libraries | Included |
---|
An EdgeTX model has several data components that can be exchanged with Lua scripts. This section gives an overview.
In general terms, there are two different types of data that can be exchanged with EdgeTX:
Values, which generally fall on a scale between -1024 and 1024, also sometimes reported as -100% to 100%, e.g. for mixer values and channel outputs.
Switches, which are either true
or false.
A specific data source type, e.g. Global Variables, can be indexed directly with an index that starts with 0 for the first one. This can be a little confusing, as e.g. GV1 for FM0 is read with , because GV1 is the first global variable, and FM0 is the first flight mode. But as long as you remember that all direct indices start with 0 for the first one, you should be fine!
Global Variables is a value data source that can return a value between -1024 and 1024. Examples of value sources are:
Global Variables
Sticks, sliders and knobs
Trim values
Input lines
Channel outputs
Trainer channel inputs
Telemetry sensors
There is a way to access a value of any such type with a meta-index. You use the function where name
can be any of the valid source names listed . It returns a table with a description of the value source, including the field id,
which is the meta-index.
You can use id
with the function to read the current value. You can also use name
directly, but this is less efficient, as EdgeTX does a linear search for the name every time it is called. Therefore, the procedure of first extracting the meta-index from getFieldInfo(name).id
, and then using that, is recommended.
For switches, uses a direct index to read this specific type of switch sources, again using the index
0 for LS1 etc. But there are also several types of switch sources, such as:
Logical switches
Switch positions, testing if a physical switch is in a particular position, e.g. SA↑
.
Trim buttons
Transmitter and telemetry activity
It can be very confusing that some source can be read both as a value and as a switch. As an example, elevator trim can be read as the current value of the trim:
Or it can be read as the current value of the trim button position:
These are really two different things, as the elevator trim is an internal value stored by the radio, which is changed with the trim button, and the button is a physical button.
But it can also be a more direct comparison, e.g. the 3-position switch B, which can be read as a value source with:
Or the current position of switch B can be read with:
Hopefully, these examples illustrated the differences between values and switches, and showed how these can be retrieved in a Lua script.
You can also send data the other way: from Lua to the EdgeTX model setup.
To send a value, use a global variable: model.setGlobalVariable(index, fm, value)
. If you use the default GV setting, where all other flight modes use the value of FM0, then you can use 0 for fm
.
To send a switch, setup a STICKY
type logical switch, and then use setStickySwitch(index, true/false)
.
The following table gives an overview of the Lua API functions that can be used to exchange data with the EdgeTX model setup.
Color | Default value | Used for |
---|---|---|
The event
parameter indicates which transmitter key has been pressed (see ).
The touchState
value is only present when event
is a touch event (see ).
If RGB_FLAG = 0, then an index into a color table is stored. This color table holds a default color (index 0), the theme colors, and CUSTOM_COLOR. The entries in the color table can be changed with the function . The advantage of this system is that the color changes everywhere that this indexed color is used, and this is how different color themes are created. Notice that changing the theme colors affects the entire user interface of your radio!!
must have an as its first argument, because this will be the index of the color in the table being changed. Giving another color, e.g. ORANGE, as the first argument will result in nothing.
always returns a RGB color. This can be used to "save" an indexed color before you change it.
obviously returns a RGB color.
When the widget is in full screen mode, then event
is either 0, a , or a .
If event
is a , then touchState
is a table. Otherwise, it is nil
.
You can find the meta-index of a particular switch source with , where name
is exactly the name that you see in the radio menus where you can select a switch source.
You can read the current value of a switch source with as a true
/false
value.
Function | Description |
---|
primary1
COLOR_THEME_PRIMARY1
Text on dropDown menu
primary2
COLOR_THEME_PRIMARY2
Text on buttons and numbers/timers being edited
primary3
COLOR_THEME_PRIMARY3
Text on labels, menus, and numbers/timers
focus
COLOR_THEME_FOCUS
Background on buttons and numbers/timers being edited.
edit
COLOR_THEME_EDIT
Background when a value is being edited.
active
COLOR_THEME_ACTIVE
Background on active toggle buttons and the border around selected elements.
| Gets the meta-index of a value source with |
| Gets the current value of a source, where |
| Returns the current flight mode number and name. Do not confuse with |
| Read the value of a global variable between -1024 and 1024. You can use the above to get the current flioght mode for |
| Sets the value of a global variable. |
| This function can send data from Lua to a telemetry sensor. If it is running, then the sensor will show up with Discover Sensors. This can be used to log values generated by Lua. |
| Get the value of a logical switch. |
| Set the value of a |
| Get the meta-index of a switch source with |
| Get the name of a switch source. |
| Get the value of a switch source. |
| Get a list of physical switches on the radio. Can be used to make a selection list. |
| Get the value of a shared memory variable. These are little "mail boxes" provided as a way to send data between Lua widgets and other Lua scripts like Mixer and Function scripts. |
| Set the value of a shared memory variable. |
| Set the timer to |
| Read the timer. |
This section describes the Lua libraries, functions and constants that are provided by EdgeTX.
The io.seek() function is used to move the current read/write position.
Notice: other read standard seek bases (like "cur", "end") are not supported.
file object
a file object that was returned by the io.open() function.
offset
position the read/write file pointer at the specified offset from the beginning of the file. If specified offset is bigger than the file size, then the pointer is moved to the end of the file.
0
success
<number>
any other value means failure.
The io.write() function is used to write data to the file on SD card.
file object
a file object that was returned by the io.open() function. The file must be opened in write or append mode.
data
any Lua type that can be converted into string. If more than one data parameter is used their contents are written to the file by one in the same order as they are specified.
<file object>
if data was successfully opened.
nil, <error string>, <error number>
if the data can't be written.
The io library has been simplified and only a subset of functions and their functionality is available. What follows is a complete reference of io functions that are available to EdgeTX scripts
io.open()
io.close()
io.read()
io.write()
io.seek()
The io.read() function is used to read data from the file on SD card.
Notice: other read commands (like "all", etc..) are *not supported.
file object
a file object that was returned by the io.open() function. The file must be opened in read mode.
length
number of characters/bytes to read. The number of actual read/returned characters can be less if the file end is reached.
<string>
a string with a length equal or less than
""
a zero length string if the end of file was reached
The radio's special characters can be used with the following text constants.
CHAR_RIGHT
CHAR_LEFT
CHAR_UP
CHAR_DOWN
CHAR_DELTA
CHAR_STICK
CHAR_POT
CHAR_SLIDER
CHAR_SWITCH
CHAR_TRIM
CHAR_INPUT
CHAR_FUNCTION
CHAR_CYC
CHAR_TRAINER
CHAR_CHANNEL
CHAR_TELEMETRY
CHAR_LUA
On radios with color display, a color may be added to the flags described above.
There are two types of color constants: one that is an index into a table holding a palette of theme colors, and one that is just a color.
These are the theme colors plus CUSTOM_COLOR, and they can be changed with the function lcd.setColor(color_index, color). Please note: if an indexed color is changed, then it changes everywhere that it is used. For the theme colors, this is not only in other widgets, but everywhere throughout the radio's user interface!
COLOR_THEME_PRIMARY1
COLOR_THEME_PRIMARY2
COLOR_THEME_PRIMARY3
COLOR_THEME_SECONDARY1
COLOR_THEME_SECONDARY2
COLOR_THEME_SECONDARY3
COLOR_THEME_FOCUS
COLOR_THEME_EDIT
COLOR_THEME_ACTIVE
COLOR_THEME_WARNING
COLOR_THEME_DISABLED
CUSTOM_COLOR
These color constants cannot be changed:
BLACK
WHITE
LIGHTWHITE
YELLOW
BLUE
DARKBLUE
GREY
DARKGREY
LIGHTGREY
RED
DARKRED
GREEN
DARKGREEN
LIGHTBROWN
DARKBROWN
BRIGHTGREEN
ORANGE
These should no longer be used, but they are included for backwards compatibility. The old OpenTX API had a large number of indexed theme colors, and these have been mapped to the new theme colors as follows:
ALARM_COLOR -> COLOR_THEME_WARNING
BARGRAPH_BGCOLOR -> COLOR_THEME_SECONDARY3
BARGRAPH1_COLOR -> COLOR_THEME_SECONDARY1
BARGRAPH2_COLOR -> COLOR_THEME_SECONDARY2
CURVE_AXIS_COLOR -> COLOR_THEME_SECONDARY2
CURVE_COLOR -> COLOR_THEME_SECONDARY1
CURVE_CURSOR_COLOR -> COLOR_THEME_WARNING
HEADER_BGCOLOR -> COLOR_THEME_FOCUS
HEADER_COLOR -> COLOR_THEME_SECONDARY1
HEADER_CURRENT_BGCOLOR -> COLOR_THEME_FOCUS
HEADER_ICON_BGCOLOR -> COLOR_THEME_SECONDARY1
LINE_COLOR -> COLOR_THEME_PRIMARY3
MAINVIEW_GRAPHICS_COLOR -> COLOR_THEME_SECONDARY1
MAINVIEW_PANES_COLOR -> COLOR_THEME_PRIMARY2
MENU_TITLE_BGCOLOR -> COLOR_THEME_SECONDARY1
MENU_TITLE_COLOR -> COLOR_THEME_PRIMARY2
MENU_TITLE_DISABLE_COLOR -> COLOR_THEME_PRIMARY3
OVERLAY_COLOR -> COLOR_THEME_PRIMARY1
SCROLLBOX_COLOR -> COLOR_THEME_SECONDARY3
TEXT_BGCOLOR -> COLOR_THEME_SECONDARY3
TEXT_COLOR -> COLOR_THEME_SECONDARY1
TEXT_DISABLE_COLOR -> COLOR_THEME_DISABLED
TEXT_INVERTED_BGCOLOR -> COLOR_THEME_FOCUS
TEXT_INVERTED_COLOR -> COLOR_THEME_PRIMARY2
TITLE_BGCOLOR -> COLOR_THEME_SECONDARY1
TRIM_BGCOLOR -> COLOR_THEME_FOCUS
TRIM_SHADOW_COLOR -> COLOR_THEME_PRIMARY1
WARNING_COLOR -> COLOR_THEME_WARNING
package | - |
coroutine | - |
table | since OpenTX 2.3.8 (color LCD radios only) |
since OpenTX 2.1.0 (with limitations) |
os | - |
string | since OpenTX 2.1.7 |
bit32 | since OpenTX 2.1.0 |
math | since OpenTX 2.0.0 |
debug | - |
This section describes various constants that are provided for Lua by EdgeTX.
This page describes the value that is passed to scripts in the event parameter. It is used in Telemetry and One-Time scripts, as well as widget scripts in full screen mode.
Each time a key is pressed, held and released a number of events get generated. Here is a typical flow:
when a key is pressed a FIRST
event is generated
if the key continues to be pressed, then after a while a LONG
event is generated
if the key continues to be pressed, then a REPEAT
events are being generated
when the key is released a BREAK
event is generated
Couple of examples:
a short press on key would generate: FIRST
, BREAK
a longer pres on key would generate: FIRST
, LONG
, BREAK
even longer press: FIRST
, LONG
, REPEAT,
REPEAT, ..., BREAK
This normal key event sequence can be altered with the function. Any time this function is called (after the FIRST
event) all further key events for this key will be suppressed until the next key press of this key. Examples:
kill immediately after the key press would generate: FIRST
kill after the long key press would generate: FIRST
, LONG
The event
parameter in the and scripts run function actually carries two pieces of information:
key number
type of event
The two fields are combined into one single number. Some of these combinations are defined as constants and are available to Lua scripts:
Radios with rotary encoder (X7 and Horus) have also:
Given the large number of radios supported by OpenTX, and the large difference in keys available on those, a set of VIRTUAL KEYS has been defined and are mapped to best fit available hardware
In addition to the key events described in the previous section, radios with a color touch screen also provide touch events to the widget scripts.
The following touch events are passed in the event
argument to the widget script refresh
function (when in full screen mode), just like the key events. The following touch events are provided:
Touch Event Name | Description |
---|
In addition to the above touch events a touchState
table is passed to refresh
with the following addional data fields:
touchState fields | Description |
---|
touchState
is nil
if event
is not a touch event. This can be used to test if we have a touch event or a key event.
Since Lua evaluates a nil
value to false
and everything else to true
:
if touchState then
we have a touch event.
x, y
are present for all touch events.
startX, startY, slideX, slideY
are only present with EVT_TOUCH_SLIDE
.
swipeUp
/ swipeDown
/ swipeLeft
/ swipeRight
may be present only withEVT_TOUCH_SLIDE
.
tapCount
is zero for anything but EVT_TOUCH_TAP
.
Key Event Name | Comments |
---|
Key Event Name | Comments |
---|
Virtual Key Event Name | Comments |
---|
EVT_MENU_BREAK | MENU key release |
EVT_PAGE_BREAK | PAGE key release |
EVT_PAGE_LONG | MENU key long press |
EVT_ENTER_BREAK | ENT key release |
EVT_ENTER_LONG | ENT key long press |
EVT_EXIT_BREAK | EXIT key release |
EVT_PLUS_BREAK | + key release |
EVT_MINUS_BREAK | - key release |
EVT_PLUS_FIRST | + key press |
EVT_MINUS_FIRST | - key press |
EVT_PLUS_REPT | + key repeat |
EVT_MINUS_REPT | - key repeat |
EVT_ROT_BREAK | rotary encoder release |
EVT_ROT_LONG | rotary encoder long press |
EVT_ROT_LEFT | rotary encoder rotated left |
EVT_ROT_RIGHT | rotary encoder rotated right |
EVT_VIRTUAL_NEXT_PAGE | for PAGE navigation |
EVT_VIRTUAL_PREV_PAGE | for PAGE navigation |
EVT_VIRTUAL_ENTER |
EVT_VIRTUAL_ENTER_LONG |
EVT_VIRTUAL_MENU |
EVT_VIRTUAL_MENU_LONG |
EVT_VIRTUAL_NEXT | for FIELDS navigation |
EVT_VIRTUAL_NEXT_REPT | for FIELDS navigation |
EVT_VIRTUAL_PREV | for FIELDS navigation |
EVT_VIRTUAL_PREV_REPT | for FIELDS navigation |
EVT_VIRTUAL_INC | for VALUES navigation |
EVT_VIRTUAL_INC_REPT | for VALUES navigation |
EVT_VIRTUAL_DEC | for VALUES navigation |
EVT_VIRTUAL_DEC_REPT | for VALUES navigation |
EVT_TOUCH_FIRST | When the finger touches down on the screen |
EVT_TOUCH_TAP | If the finger leaves the screen after a quick tap |
EVT_TOUCH_BREAK | If the finger leaves the screen without tap or slide |
EVT_TOUCH_SLIDE | Repeats while the finger is sliding on the screen |
x, y | Current touch point |
startX, startY | Point where slide started |
slideX, SlideY | Movement since previous SLIDE event (or start of slide) |
swipeUp / swipeDown / swipeLeft / swipeRight | The field is present and equal to |
tapCount | Counts the number of consecutive taps |
These constants give the type of logical switch function.
LS_FUNC_NONE
LS_FUNC_VEQUAL
LS_FUNC_VALMOSTEQUAL
LS_FUNC_VPOS
LS_FUNC_VNEG
LS_FUNC_RANGE
LS_FUNC_APOS
LS_FUNC_ANEG
LS_FUNC_AND
LS_FUNC_OR
LS_FUNC_XOR
LS_FUNC_EDGE
LS_FUNC_EQUAL
LS_FUNC_GREATER
LS_FUNC_LESS
LS_FUNC_DIFFEGREATER
LS_FUNC_ADIFFEGREATER
LS_FUNC_TIMER
LS_FUNC_STICKY
These constants determine the type of a Special Function
FUNC_OVERRIDE_CHANNEL
FUNC_TRAINER
FUNC_INSTANT_TRIM
FUNC_RESET
FUNC_SET_TIMER
FUNC_ADJUST_GVAR
FUNC_VOLUME
FUNC_SET_FAILSAFE
FUNC_RANGECHECK
FUNC_BIND
FUNC_PLAY_SOUND
FUNC_PLAY_TRACK
FUNC_PLAY_VALUE
FUNC_PLAY_SCRIPT
FUNC_RESERVE5
FUNC_BACKGND_MUSIC
FUNC_BACKGND_MUSIC_PAUSE
FUNC_VARIO
FUNC_HAPTIC
FUNC_LOGS
FUNC_BACKLIGHT
FUNC_SCREENSHOT
FUNC_RACING_MODE
FUNC_DISABLE_TOUCH
This functions allows for sending telemetry data toward the TBS Crossfire link.
When called without parameters, it will only return the status of the output buffer without sending anything.
@status current Introduced in 2.2.0, retval nil added in 2.3.4
command
command
data
table of data bytes
boolean
data queued in output buffer or not.
nil
incorrect telemetry protocol.
This functions allows for sending SPORT / ACCESS telemetry data toward the receiver, and more generally, to anything connected SPORT bus on the receiver or transmitter.
When called without parameters, it will only return the status of the output buffer without sending anything.
@status current Introduced in 2.3
module
module index (0 = internal, 1 = external)
rxUid
receiver index
sensorId
physical sensor ID
frameId
frame ID
dataId
data ID
value
value
boolean
data queued in output buffer or not.
Name | Description |
---|---|
Return detailed information about field (source)
The list of valid sources is available:
OpenTX Version | Radio |
---|
@status current Introduced in 2.0.8, 'unit' field added in 2.2.0
source
can be an identifier (number) or a name (string) of the source.
table
information about requested field, table elements:
id
(number) field identifier
name
(string) field name
desc
(string) field description
'unit' (number) unit identifier
nil
the requested field was not found
Name | Description |
---|---|
LCD_W
width in pixels
LCD_H
height in pixels
0
normal font, default precision for numeric
XXLSIZE
jumbo font
2.0.6
DBLSIZE
double size font
MIDSIZE
mid sized font
SMLSIZE
small font
BOLD
bold font
Only color displays. This is a font size on its own - cannot be combined with other font size flags.
SHADOWED
shadow font
Only color displays
INVERS
inverted display
BLINK
blinking text
LEFT
left justify
2.0.6
Default for most functions not related to bitmaps
RIGHT
right justify
CENTER
center justify
Only color displays
VCENTER
center vertically
2.5.0
Only color displays
PREC1
single decimal place
PREC2
two decimal places
GREY_DEFAULT
grey fill
TIMEHOUR
display hours
Only for drawTimer
FORCE
pixels will be black
ERASE
pixels will be white
DOTTED
lines will appear dotted
Flushes audio queue
@status experimental, Introduced in 2.8.0
Parameters
none
Return value
none
Return flight mode data.
@status current Introduced in 2.1.7
mode
(number) flight mode number to return (0 - 8). If mode parameter
is not specified (or contains invalid value), then the current flight mode data is returned.
multiple
returns 2 values:
(number) (current) flight mode number (0 - 8)
(string) (current) flight mode name
Return current system date and time that is kept by the RTC unit
none
table
current date and time, table elements:
year
(number) year
mon
(number) month
day
(number) day of month
hour
(number) hours
hour12
(number) hours in US format
min
(number) minutes
sec
(number) seconds
suffix
(text) am or pm
@status current Introduced in 2.8.0
Parameters
outputIndex:
integer identifying the output channel number 0 for CH1, up to MAX_OUTPUT_CHANNELS - 1.
Return value
value
current output value (number). Zero is returned for:
non-existing outputs
Return rotary encoder mode
@status current Introduced in 2.8.0
Parameters
none
Return value
number
in list: Normal = 0, Both V and H inverted = 1, V-N = 2, V-A = 3
return 0
on radio without rotary encoder
2.0 |
2.1 |
2.2 |
2.3 |
,
, ,
, , ,
Return the RAS value or nil if no valid hardware found
@status current Introduced in 2.2.0
none
number
representing RAS value. Value bellow 0x33 (51 decimal) are all ok, value above 0x33 indicate a hardware antenna issue.
This is just a hardware pass/fail measure and does not represent the quality of the radio link
RAS was called SWR in the past
Gets the value of a shared memory variable that can be used for passing data between Lua widgets and other Lua scripts.
@status current Introduced in 2.6
Parameters
id:
integer between 1 and 16 identifying the shared memory variable.
Return value
value:
integer. The value of the shared memory variable.
Notice
Only available on radios with color display
sourceIndex
: integer identifying a value source as returned by getSourceIndex(sourceName)
or the id
field in the table returned by getFieldInfo
.
sourceName
: string naming the value source as it is shown on radio menus where a source can be chosen.
The source names shown on the screen are not the same as the names used by getFieldInfo
and getValue
. But the indices are the same, so e.g. getValue(index)
will work with the indices used here.
Current Introduced in 2.6
Returns (some of) the general radio settings
@status current Introduced in 2.0.6, imperial
added in TODO, language
and voice
added in 2.2.0, gtimer added in 2.2.2.
none
table
with elements:
battWarn
(number) radio battery range - warning value
battMin
(number) radio battery range - minimum value
battMax
(number) radio battery range - maximum value
imperial
(number) set to a value different from 0 if the radio is set to the
IMPERIAL units
language
(string) radio language (used for menus)
voice
(string) voice language (used for speech)
gtimer
(number) radio global timer in seconds (does not include current session)
@status current Introduced in 2.6
positionName
: string naming a switch position as it is shown on radio menus where you can select a switch. Notice that many names have special characters in them like arrow up/down etc. (see Special Character Constants).
value: integer. The switchIndex, which can be used as input for `getSwitchName(switchIndex)` and `getSwitchValue(switchIndex)`. Also corresponds to the fields in the table returned by `model.getLogicalSwitch(switch)` identifying switches.
@status current Introduced in 2.6
switchIndex
: integer identifying a switch as returned by getSwitchIndex(positionName)
or fields in the table returned by model.getLogicalSwitch(switch)
identifying switches.
value: string naming the switch position as it is shown on radio menus where a switch can be chosen.
Returns the value of a source. Supersedes getValue.
The list of fixed sources:
OpenTX Version | Radio |
---|---|
In OpenTX 2.1.x the telemetry sources no longer have a predefined name. To get a telemetry value simply use it's sensor name. For example:
Altitude sensor has a name "Alt"
to get the current altitude use the source "Alt"
to get the minimum altitude use the source "Alt-", to get the maximum use "Alt+"
value is nil for non-existing sources. all non-allowed sensors while FAI MODE is active, or if a telemetry item value has never been received
value is a table for GPS position:
lat
(number) latitude, positive is North
lon
(number) longitude, positive is East
pilot-lat
(number) pilot latitude, positive is North
pilot-lon
(number) pilot longitude, positive is East
value is a table for date/time, see getDateTime()
value is a table for battery cells(except where no cells were detected in which case the returned value is 0):
table has one item for each detected cell:
key (number) cell number (1 to number of cells)
value (number) current cell voltage
@status current Introduced in 2.8.0
source
can be an index (number) (which was obtained by getFieldInfo
or getSourceIndex
) or a name (string) of the source.
value
current source value (number), or last known telemetry item value.
isCurrent
is true for telemetry sources that are within the "Sensor Lost" duration and telemetry is streaming . Always true for non-telemetry items.
isFresh
is true for telemetry sources which have been recently updated and telemetry is streaming. Always true for non-telemetry items.
Getting a value by its numerical identifier is much faster than by its name. While Cels
sensor returns current values of all cells in a table, a Cels+
or Cels-
will return a single value - the maximum or minimum Cels value.
2.0
2.1
2.2
2.3
X9D and X9D+, X9E, X7, Horus
Return the time since the radio was started in multiple of 10ms
The timer internally uses a 32-bit counter which is enough for 497 days so overflows will not happen.
@status current Introduced in 2.0.0
none
number
Number of 10ms ticks since the radio was started Example:
run time: 12.54 seconds, return value: 1254
Return the internal GPS position or nil if no valid hardware found
@status current Introduced in 2.2.2
none
table
representing the current radio position
lat
(number) internal GPS latitude, positive is North
lon
(number) internal GPS longitude, positive is East
'numsat' (number) current number of sats locked in by the GPS sensor
'fix' (boolean) fix status
'alt' (number) internal GPS altitude in 0.1m
'speed' (number) internal GPSspeed in 0.1m/s
'heading' (number) internal GPS ground course estimation in degrees * 10
'hdop' (number) internal GPS horizontal dilution of precision
sourceName
: string naming a value source as it is shown on radio menus where you can select it. Notice that many names have special characters in them.
Return value
sourceIndex
: integer. The source index, which can be used as input for getSourceName(sourceIndex)
, getValue(sourceIndex)
, and getFieldInfo(sourceIndex)
.
The source names shown on the screen are not the same as the names used by getFieldInfo
and getValue
. But the indices are the same, so e.g. getValue(index)
will work with the indices obtained here.
This function is rather time consuming, and should not be used repeatedly in a script, if it can be avoided.
Current Introduced in 2.6
Return OpenTX version
@status current Introduced in 2.0.0, expanded in 2.1.7, radio type strings changed in 2.2.0, os name added in EdgeTX 2.4.0
This example also runs in OpenTX versions where the function returned only one value:
Output of the above script in simulator:
none
string
OpenTX version (ie "2.1.5")
multiple
values (available since 2.1.7):
(string) OpenTX version (ie "2.1.5")
(string) radio type: x12s
, x10
, x9e
, x9d+
, x9d
or x7
.
If running in simulator the "-simu" is added
(number) major version (ie 2 if version 2.1.5)
(number) minor version (ie 1 if version 2.1.5)
(number) revision number (ie 5 if version 2.1.5)
Since EdgeTX 2.4.0, sixth value added
(string) OS name (i.e. EdgeTX or nil if OpenTX)
This functions allows for sending telemetry data toward the Ghost link.
When called without parameters, it will only return the status of the output buffer without sending anything.
@status current Introduced in 2.7.0
Parameters
command
command
data
table of data bytes
Return value
boolean
data queued in output buffer or not.
nil
incorrect telemetry protocol.
Pops a received Ghost Telemetry packet from the queue.
@status current Introduced in 2.7.0
Parameters
none
Return value
nil
queue does not contain any (or enough) bytes to form a whole packet
multiple
returns 2 values:
type (number)
packet (table) data bytes
@status current Added in 2.8.0 Is the same as getFieldInfo
Load a Lua script file. This is similar to Lua's own API method, but it uses OpenTx's optional pre-compilation feature to save memory and time during load.
Return values are same as from Lua API loadfile() method: If the script was loaded w/out errors then the loaded script (or "chunk") is returned as a function. Otherwise, returns nil plus the error message.
@status current Introduced in 2.2.0
file
(string) Full path and file name of script. The file extension is optional and ignored (see mode
param to control which extension will be used). However, if an extension is specified, it should be ".lua" (or ".luac"), otherwise it is treated as part of the file name and the .lua/.luac will be appended to that.
mode
(string) (optional) Controls whether to force loading the text (.lua) or pre-compiled binary (.luac) version of the script. By default OTx will load the newest version and compile a new binary if necessary (overwriting any existing .luac version of the same script, and stripping some debug info like line numbers). You can use mode
to control the loading behavior more specifically. Possible values are:
b
only binary.
t
only text.
T
(default on simulator) prefer text but load binary if that is the only version available.
bt
(default on radio) either binary or text, whichever is newer (binary preferred when timestamps are equal).
Add x
to avoid automatic compilation of source file to .luac version.
Eg: "tx", "bx", or "btx".
Add c
to force compilation of source file to .luac version (even if existing version is newer than source file).
Eg: "tc" or "btc" (forces "t", overrides "x").
Add d
to keep extra debug info in the compiled binary.
Eg: "td", "btd", or "tcd" (no effect with just "b" or with "x").
env
(integer) See documentation for Lua function loadfile().
function
The loaded script, or nil
if there was an error (e.g. file not found or syntax error).
string
Error message(s), if any. Blank if no error occurred.
Note that you will get an error if you specify mode
as "b" or "t" and that specific version of the file does not exist (eg. no .luac file when "b" is used). Also note that mode
is NOT passed on to Lua's loader function, so unlike with loadfile() the actual file content is not checked (as if no mode or "bt" were passed to loadfile()).
Play a file from the SD card
@status current Introduced in 2.0.0, changed in 2.1.0
path
(string) full path to wav file (i.e. “/SOUNDS/en/system/tada.wav”)
Introduced in 2.1.0: If you use a relative path, the current language is appended
to the path (example: for English language: /SOUNDS/en
is appended)
none
Play a numerical value (text to speech)
@status current Introduced in 2.0.0
value
(number) number to play. Value is interpreted as integer.
unit
(number) unit identifier [Full list]((../appendix/units.html))
attributes
(unsigned number) possible values:
0 or not present
plays integral part of the number (for a number 123 it plays 123)
PREC1
plays a number with one decimal place (for a number 123 it plays 12.3)
PREC2
plays a number with two decimal places (for a number 123 it plays 1.23)
none
Stops key state machine. See Key Events for the detailed description.
@status current Introduced in 2.0.0
key
(number) key to be killed, can also include event type (only the key part is used)
none
Generate haptic feedback
@status current Introduced in 2.2.0
duration
(number) length of the haptic feedback in milliseconds
pause
(number) length of the silence after haptic feedback in milliseconds
flags
(number):
0 or not present
play with normal priority
PLAY_NOW
play immediately
none
Raises a pop-up on screen that asks for confirmation
@status current Introduced in 2.2.0, changed from (title, event) to (title, message, event) in 2.3.8
title
(string) title to display
message
(string) text to display
event
(number) the event variable that is passed in from the Run function (key pressed)
"CANCEL"
user pushed EXIT key
Use only from stand-alone and telemetry scripts.
Play a tone
@status current Introduced in 2.1.0
frequency
(number) tone frequency in Hz (from 150 to 15000)
duration
(number) length of the tone in milliseconds
pause
(number) length of the silence after the tone in milliseconds
flags
(number):
0 or not present
play with normal priority.
PLAY_BACKGROUND
play in background (built in vario function uses this context)
PLAY_NOW
play immediately
freqIncr
(number) positive number increases the tone pitch (frequency with time), negative number decreases it. The frequency changes every 10 milliseconds, the change is freqIncr * 10Hz
. The valid range is from -127 to 127.
none
Returns the value of a source.
The list of fixed sources:
OpenTX Version | Radio |
---|---|
In OpenTX 2.1.x the telemetry sources no longer have a predefined name. To get a telemetry value simply use it's sensor name. For example:
Altitude sensor has a name "Alt"
to get the current altitude use the source "Alt"
to get the minimum altitude use the source "Alt-", to get the maximum use "Alt+"
@status current Introduced in 2.0.0, changed in 2.1.0, Cels+
and Cels-
added in 2.1.9
source
can be an identifier (number) (which was obtained by the getFieldInfo())
or a name (string) of the source.
value
current source value (number). Zero is returned for:
non-existing sources
for all telemetry source when the telemetry stream is not received
far all non allowed sensors while FAI MODE is active
table
GPS position is returned in a table:
lat
(number) latitude, positive is North
lon
(number) longitude, positive is East
pilot-lat
(number) pilot latitude, positive is North
pilot-lon
(number) pilot longitude, positive is East
table
GPS date/time, see getDateTime()
table
Cells are returned in a table (except where no cells were detected in which case the returned value is 0):
table has one item for each detected cell:
key (number) cell number (1 to number of cells)
value (number) current cell voltage
Getting a value by its numerical identifier is faster then by its name. While Cels
sensor returns current values of all cells in a table, a Cels+
or Cels-
will return a single value - the maximum or minimum Cels value.
2.0
2.1
2.2
2.3
X9D and X9D+, X9E, X7, Horus
Sets the value of a shared memory variable that can be used for passing data between Lua widgets and other Lua scripts.
@status current Introduced in 2.6
Parameters
id:
integer between 1 and 16 identifying the shared memory variable.
value:
integer. The value of the shared memory variable.
Return value
none
Notice
Only available on radios with color display
Sets the value of a sticky logical switch.
@status current Introduced in 2.6
id: integer identifying the sticky logical switch (zero for LS1 etc.).
value: true/false. The new value of the sticky logical switch.
bufferFull: true/false. This function sends a message from Lua to the logical switch processor via a buffer with eight slots that are read 10 times per second. If the buffer is full, then a true value is returned, and no message was sent (i.e. the switch was not changed).
Raises a pop-up on screen that shows a warning
@status current Introduced in 2.2.0
title
(string) text to display
event
(number) the event variable that is passed in from the Run function (key pressed)
"CANCEL"
user pushed EXIT key
Use only from stand-alone and telemetry scripts.
Raises a pop-up on screen that allows uses input
@status current Introduced in 2.0.0
title
(string) text to display
event
(number) the event variable that is passed in from the Run function (key pressed)
input
(number) value that can be adjusted by the +/- keys
min
(number) min value that input can reach (by pressing the - key)
max
(number) max value that input can reach
number
result of the input adjustment
"OK"
user pushed ENT key
"CANCEL"
user pushed EXIT key
Use only from stand-alone and telemetry scripts.
@param num (optional): maximum number of bytes to read. If non-zero, serialRead will read up to num characters from the buffer. If 0 or left out, serialRead will read up to and including the first newline character or the end of the buffer. Note that the returned string may not end in a newline if this character is not present in the buffer.
Reads characters from the serial port. The string is allowed to contain any character, including 0.
@status current Introduced in 2.3.8
none
str
string. Empty if no new characters were available.
@status current Introduced in 2.2.0
id
Id of the sensor, valid range is from 0 to 0xFFFF
subID
subID of the sensor, usually 0, valid range is from 0 to 7
instance
instance of the sensor (SensorID), valid range is from 0 to 0xFF
value
fed to the sensor
unit
unit of the sensor Full list
precision
the precision of the sensor
0 or not present
no decimal precision.
!= 0
value is divided by 10^precision, e.g. value=1000, prec=2 => 10.00.
name
(string) Name of the sensor if it does not yet exist (4 chars).
not present
Name defaults to the Id.
present
Sensor takes name of the argument. Argument must have name surrounded by quotes: e.g., "Name"
true,
if the sensor was just added. In this case the value is ignored (subsequent call will set the value)
All three parameters id
, subID
and instance
can't be zero at the same time. At least one of them must be different from zero.
This functions allows for sending SPORT telemetry data toward the receiver, and more generally, to anything connected SPORT bus on the receiver or transmitter.
When called without parameters, it will only return the status of the output buffer without sending anything.
@status current Introduced in 2.2.0, retval nil added in 2.3.4
sensorId
physical sensor ID
frameId
frame ID
dataId
data ID
value
value
boolean
data queued in output buffer or not.
nil
incorrect telemetry protocol.
This is an iterator function over switch positions.
for switchIndex, switchName in switches() do ...
will iterate over all available switch positions.
first
: the first switch index. If nil
or omitted, the first available switch is used.
last
: the last switch index. If nil
or omitted, the last available switch is used.
Current Introduced in 2.6
Pops a received SPORT packet from the queue. Please note that only packets using a data ID within 0x5000 to 0x50FF (frame ID == 0x10), as well as packets with a frame ID equal 0x32 (regardless of the data ID) will be passed to the LUA telemetry receive queue.
@status current Introduced in 2.2.0
none
nil
queue does not contain any (or enough) bytes to form a whole packet
multiple
returns 4 values:
sensor ID (number)
frame ID (number)
data ID (number)
value (number)
This is an iterator function over value sources.
for sourceIndex, sourceName in sources() do ...
will iterate over all available value sources.
first
: the first source index. If nil
or omitted, the first available source is used.
last
: the last soure index. If nil
or omitted, the last available source is used.
current Introduced in 2.6