README.md

open_ephys.control

This module makes it possible to control the Open Ephys GUI via a Python process, either running locally or over a network.

Usage

Initialization

First, load the module:

from open_ephys.control import OpenEphysHTTPServer

To control a GUI instance running on the same machine, simply enter:

gui = OpenEphysHTTPServer()

To specify a custom IP address, use:

gui = OpenEphysHTTPServer('10.128.50.93')

Note that the port number (37497) will be added automatically.

Starting and stopping acquisition

To start acquisition, enter:

gui.acquire()

To stop acquisition, enter:

gui.idle()

To query acquisition status, use:

gui.status()

Starting and stopping recording

To start recording, enter:

gui.record()

To stop recording while keeping acquisition active, enter:

gui.acquire()

Sending TTL events

It's possible to remotely generate TTL events on one of the GUI's data stream by adding a NetworkEvents plugin to the signal chain.

This functionality is independent of the Open Ephys HTTP Server, and therefore requires a separate class.

To send TTL events to an instance running on the same machine, simply enter:

network_control = NetworkControl()

To specify a custom IP address or port number, use:

network_control = NetworkControl(ip_address = '10.127.50.1',
                     port = 2000)

To send a TTL "ON" event, enter:

network_control.send_ttl(line = 5, state = 1)

To send a TTL "OFF" event, enter:

network_control.send_ttl(line = 5, state = 0)

The NetworkControl class can also be used to interact with v0.5.x of the GUI, which does not have a built-in HTTP Server.