/mdf4-converters

Convert your MDF4 log files into popular output formats

Primary LanguageC++MIT LicenseMIT

MDF4 Converters [LEGACY]

This project includes library and converter tools for converting raw MDF4 log files. These converters are designed for use with the CANedge CAN bus data loggers from CSS Electronics.

IMPORTANT: Going forward, you can find the latest converter releases in the MF4 converter docs. The source code in this repository matches release v1.4.0, but does not reflect the latest updates.

Key features

1. Drag & drop log files to produce popular output formats
1. Drag & drop folders to easily batch convert files
2. Support for e.g. .csv, .asc (Vector), .trc (PEAK), .txt (CLX000) and more
3. Optionally use in any programming language for batch scripted processing
4. Optionally use via CLI for advanced options (e.g. folder conversion)
5. Open source - easily create your own converters or tweak existing ones
6. Windows/Linux support

Library structure

The overall structure is as follows:

  • The library that handles finalization and sorting is found in Library
  • The generic tools utilising the library are found in Tools
    • ASC contains an exporter to ASCII format for e.g. Vector tools
    • CLX000 contains an exporter to the raw log file format for CLX000 CAN loggers
    • CSV contains an exporter to comma separated files
    • Finalizer contains a tool for finalization & optional sorting of the MDF4 files
    • PCAP contains an exporter to the PCAP-NG format for import into Wireshark
    • Shared contains a base class library for all the other tools
    • SocketCAN contains an exporter to the log format from the SocketCAN utilities in Linux

Converter tools

All the tools support drag-and-drop, where the default values are used to convert the data from the MDF4 file into each tool's respective format. Additional options are present for all tools, which can be seen by running the tool in the command line and passing either no arguments or --help.

For details on using the converters, see the CANedge Intros and the README.md in the Tools/ folder.

Building

Major dependencies are expected to be present on the system already. These include:

  • Boost
  • Botan
  • fmt

If publishing any of the build artifacts, remember to change the "Company Name" in Tools/CMakeLists.txt, since the information is embedded in the executable targets.

If not present, they can be installed using vcpkg. The build uses a local overlay in External\vcpkg-overlay and requires the following targets:

  • boost-bimap
  • boost-filesystem
  • boost-iostreams
  • boost-log
  • boost-dll
  • boost-program-options
  • botan
  • fmt
  • heatshrink
  • neargye-semver

All targets are build using static linking. Select the matching triplet for the target system:

  • x64-windows-static
  • x86-windows-static
  • x64-linux

Install vcpkg

Checkout vcpkg commit xyz and bootstrap it, such that it exists as a sub-folder in the project root.

Run CMake

Create a new folder for out-of-source building:

mkdir build
cd build

Run CMake with the desired configuration and the correct vcpkg triplet.

cmake -DCMAKE_BUILD_TYPE=$BUILD-TYPE -DVCPKG_OVERLAY_PORTS=../External/vcpkg-overlay -DVCPKG_TARGET_TRIPLET=$SELECTED-TRIPLET -DCMAKE_TOOLCHAIN_FILE=vcpkg\scripts\buildsystems\vcpkg.cmake ..

$BUILD-TYPE world normally be Release, but any other normal CMake build type can be inserted. Example:

cmake -DVCPKG_TARGET_TRIPLET=x64-linux -DCMAKE_TOOLCHAIN_FILE=/path/to/vcpkg/scripts/buildsystems/vcpkg.cmake -DCMAKE_BUILD_TYPE=Release ..

If all dependencies are found, make help should provide a list of targets.

Building Python extension

If the Python extension is to be build, build the PyCXX_fecth target first.

make PyCXX_fetct
rm CMakeLists.txt

And then re-run the CMake command to use the added files. Next, the wheel can be build using:

make mdf_iter_wheel

The resulting wheel file will be placed in /path/to/mdf4-converters/Python/Distribution_Iterator/dist.

Building converter tools

If building the converters, either build the individual converter, or all using the ToolsRelease target.

make ToolsRelease

Dependencies

The project uses the following external libraries, apart from the standard library for C++20:

  • Boost - Boost license
  • Botan - Simplified BSD license
  • fmt - Custom license, see repository for details
  • heatshrink - ISC license

In the project the following header-only libraries are used and distributed:

Boost license

Copyright Beman Dawes, Daniel Frey, David Abrahams, 2003-2004. Copyright Rene Rivera 2004-2005. Distributed under the Boost Software License, Version 1.0.