Table of Contents   MOBOTIX Online Help

The HTTP API

The HTTP API (Application Programming Interface) is a software interface to the camera and allows to conveniently integrate the camera into a centralized management system. The interface consists of several CGI scripts that can be called with parameters and values using HTTP commands. By means of these scripts, you can modify the settings of the dialogs in Setup Menu and execute certain camera functions.

Modifying the Settings of the Setup Menu

Using the HTTP command http://196.21.94.4/control/control, you can modify the settings of the Setup menu.

Using the vPTZ Features

As a consequence of integrating the Q camera models, the cameras now offer the vPTZ features (virtual Pan/Tilt/Zoom) also in the HTTP API. The corresponding features have been documented on specific help dialogs, which can be opened using the corresponding links:

Executing Camera Functions

Using the HTTP command http://196.21.94.4/control/rcontrol, you can execute certain camera functions.

Important: Certain functions for Saving and Restoring the configuration can only be performed by a user of the admin access level. In this case, you need another HTTP command for calling the rcontrol script, namely:
http://196.21.94.4/admin/rcontrol

Command Conventions

Command With One Instruction

If you would like to use the list instruction with the control command, you need to separate the instruction from the command using a ?:
   http://196.21.94.4/control/control?list

Command With One Instruction and a Parameter/Value Pair

In order to execute an instruction with a parameter, the instruction needs to be separated from the parameter by an ampersand &. The parameter value is separated by a = sign.
   http://196.21.94.4/control/control?list&section=actions

Command With One Instruction and Several Parameter/Value Pairs

If you would like to use multiple parameters, separate them using an ampersand &:
    http://196.21.94.4/control/rcontrol?action=ledson&time=5

Several Values for One Parameter

For some parameters you need to enter two values in order to address both lenses. These parameters are shown as having two default values (e.g. 0 0). In the http command, you will need to separate these values using a + sign :
   http://196.21.94.4/control/control?set&section=general&sharpen=0+0

Newline Characters in Commands

If you would to use one or more newline characters in a command (e.g. to set several video motion window definitions), you need to replace the newline characters using the CGI replacement string %0A.    http://196.21.94.4/control/control?set&section=general&
    coverimage_area=0,540,380,200,200,2%0A1,320,100,100,150,2

Special Characters in Commands

In order to display the CGI formatting strings themselves (newline, blank, umlauts, ...), enter the URL-encoded characters. To do this, enter a % sign followed by the hex value of the character you would like to display. The following table contains a list of the most common characters:

Character URL-Encoding Character URL-Encoding Character URL-Encoding
(Newline) %0A (Blank) %20 or + % %25
& %26 + %2B = %3D
? %3F © %A9 ® %AE
ß %DF ä %e4 Ä %c4
ö %F6 Ö %D6 ü %FC
Ü %DC Ç %c7 à %e0
á %e1 â %E2 æ %E6
ç %E7 è %E8 é %E9
ê %EA ë %EB î %ee
ï %EF ô %F4 ù %F9
ú %FA ù %FB û %fc

For additional information on this topic, open en.wikipedia.org/wiki/URL_encoding.

Table of Color Values

You may specify color values for certain parameters. These values correspond to the hex values of the red, green and blue (RGB) values of a specific color. Two characters each represent on color, 00 represents the lowest value (no color), FF represents the highest value (full color). As the colors are mixed additively, 0x000000 will be black and 0XFFFFFF will be white.

Examples:

Red 0xFF0000
Green 0x00FF00
Blue 0x0000FF

Color name Hexadecimal notation Color Color name Hexadecimal notation Color
Black 0x000000   Maroon 0x800000  
Dark green 0x008000   Olive 0x808000  
Marine 0x000080   Purple 0x800080  
Teal 0x008080   Dark gray 0x808080  
Light gray 0xC0C0C0   Red 0xFF0000  
Green 0x00FF00   Yellow 0xFFFF00  
Blue 0x0000FF   Magenta 0xFF00FF  
Cyan 0x00FFFF   White 0xFFFFFF  

The control Command

First of all, you need to tell the camera which instructions are to be performed.

Instructions for the control Command

Instruction Description
set Write access to the settings. Use this instruction to modify the settings.
http://196.21.94.4/control/control?set&<parameter>=<value>[&<parameter>=<value>]
read Read access to the settings. Use this instruction to query information about the settings.
http://196.21.94.4/control/control?read&<parameter>[&<parameter>]
list

The list instruction returns a list of the configuration file sections that can be modified.
To retrieve the parameters of one particular section, add section=<sectionname> at the end of the call.

Example:
http://196.21.94.4/control/control?list&section=actions lists all options of the actions section.

This command allows reading the current values and it provides a method for obtaining the possible options and the texts of the user interface by other applications.

factory The factory instruction allows you to reset the parameters of a section to the factory default settings. This call requires the section name section=<sectionname> as additional parameter.
http://196.21.94.4/control/control?factory&section=<sectionname>
restore The restore instruction allows you to reset the parameters of a section to the values stored in the flash memory. This call requires the section name section=<sectionname> as additional parameter.
http://196.21.94.4/control/control?restore&section=<sectionname>

Accessing Profile Parameters

A profile stores several settings in one value:
<profile designator>=<name>[:<parameter>=<value>].

Note that several profiles with identical <profile designators> can co-exist. Since profiles cannot be properly edited using the read and set commands, you need to use the following commands:

Instruction Description
read_profile Read a profile.
http://196.21.94.4/control/control?read_profile=<profile identifier>:<name>
delete_profile Delete a profile.
http://196.21.94.4/control/control?delete_profile=<profile identifier>:<name>
set_profile Write a profile.
http://196.21.94.4/control/control?set_profile=<profile identifier>:<name>&<parameter>=<value>[&<parameter>=<value>]
add_profile Add a profile.
http://196.21.94.4/control/control?add_profile=<profile identifier>:<name>&<parameter>=<value>[&<parameter>=<value>]

In addition, some profiles have more parameters, which are identified by a leading underscore character:

Parameter Description
_profilename This profile has a real name. Instead of the <name> value, the user interface of the camera always shows the value of the real name. This name can contain UTF-8 characters (some of them need to URL-encoded in order to maintain the syntax) and does not necessary need to be unique.
_profilestate At the moment, the value of the profile state can be empty (_profilestate=) or it can be letter i (_profilestate=i). An empty value activates the profile, the letter i deactivates it (see event profiles, for example).

List of Sections of the control Command

The sections shown in the following tables correspond to all dialogs that you can control remotely using the control command. Click on one of the links listed below to go to the corresponding section.

Note: Please note that the contents of this frame will only be displayed if the API right in the Group Access Control Lists is publicly accessible or the group of your user name has this right.


The click.cgi Interface

This interface provides limited access to simple vPTZ features. Use the list command to get the list of commands provided by this interface:
http://196.21.94.4/control/click.cgi?list

The help command returns detailed information and examples for using the individual commands:
http://196.21.94.4/control/click.cgi?help

The query command returns information on the current vPTZ settings:
http://196.21.94.4/control/click.cgi?query


The rotorcgi Interface

This interface provides full access to vPTZ features. The help command returns detailed information for using the individual commands:
http://196.21.94.4/control/rotorcgi?help


The rcontrol Command

The first value expected by the script is always the name of the action that is to be performed. Depending on the action, you may have to provide additional parameters. For the additional parameters mandatory and optional parameters are used.

Notes:


Note:

In order to see all options for the rcontrol command, enter the list instruction in your browser's address bar:
http://196.21.94.4/control/rcontrol?list.

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