*******************************
Adding support for more devices
*******************************

There are three main device types that ImSwitch's hardware control module supports:
**detectors**, **lasers** and **positioners**.
In order to add support for a new detector, laser or positioner,
a corresponding device manager class must be implemented in ImSwitch's code.


How device managers are implemented
===================================

Detector support is implemented in device manager classes derived from the abstract base class ``DetectorManager``.
The corresponding parent class for lasers is ``LaserManager``,
and for positioners it is ``PositionerManager``.
These derived classes are placed in the ``detectors``, ``lasers`` and ``positioners`` sub-modules respectively in the ``imswitch.imcontrol.model.managers`` module.

The required constructor signature for the device managers is ``__init__(deviceInfo, name, **lowLevelManagers)``.
``deviceInfo`` is the ``DetectorInfo``, ``LaserInfo`` or ``PositionerInfo`` object which represents the device's entry in the setup file
(see :doc:`the hardware control setup page <imcontrol-setups>` for further information).
Inside it, the ``managerProperties`` dict field may contain manager-specific properties.
``name`` is a unique name that is used to identify the device,
which is defined by the key of the device's entry in the setup file.
``lowLevelManagers`` is a dict containing objects that facilitate low-level device interaction,
which are documented :ref:`here <Available low-level managers>`.
Note that ``super().__init__`` has a different signature, depending on which base class is used.

When creating a new device manager,
you will need to implement all the abstract methods and properties defined in the base class.
You should avoid overriding non-abstract properties.
Overriding non-abstract methods is generally fine,
but you should make sure that they continue to work as expected.
The device manager class must be placed in a .py file with the same name as the class,
in the appropriate location as outlined above.
No other action is required for the device manager to be available to use;
it will automatically be managed by a multi-manager as outlined in `the paper <https://github.com/kasasxav/ImSwitch/blob/master/paper/paper.md>`_.

You can find a simple example of a positioner manager implementation `here <https://github.com/kasasxav/ImSwitch/blob/master/imswitch/imcontrol/model/managers/positioners/NidaqPositionerManager.py>`_.


Base class documentation
========================

DetectorManager
---------------

.. autoclass:: imswitch.imcontrol.model.managers.detectors.DetectorManager.DetectorManager
   :members:
   :special-members: __init__

.. autoclass:: imswitch.imcontrol.model.managers.detectors.DetectorManager.DetectorAction
   :members:
   :inherited-members:

.. autoclass:: imswitch.imcontrol.model.managers.detectors.DetectorManager.DetectorParameter

.. autoclass:: imswitch.imcontrol.model.managers.detectors.DetectorManager.DetectorNumberParameter
   :members:
   :inherited-members:
   :show-inheritance:

.. autoclass:: imswitch.imcontrol.model.managers.detectors.DetectorManager.DetectorListParameter
   :members:
   :inherited-members:
   :show-inheritance:


LaserManager
------------

.. autoclass:: imswitch.imcontrol.model.managers.lasers.LaserManager.LaserManager
   :members:
   :special-members: __init__


PositionerManager
-----------------

.. autoclass:: imswitch.imcontrol.model.managers.positioners.PositionerManager.PositionerManager
   :members:
   :special-members: __init__


Available low-level managers
============================

lowLevelManagers['nidaqManager']
--------------------------------

.. autoclass:: imswitch.imcontrol.model.managers.NidaqManager.NidaqManager
   :members: setAnalog, setDigital


lowLevelManagers['rs232sManager']
---------------------------------

.. autoclass:: imswitch.imcontrol.model.managers.RS232sManager.RS232sManager
   :members:

.. autoclass:: imswitch.imcontrol.model.managers.rs232.RS232Manager.RS232Manager
   :members: