[bernfarr]

After reading this thread I did some searching and came across the Ultra2 protocol. I'm assuming (probably silly of me) that it's a variant of the UltraSmart protocol. Let me know if you want a copy of the PDF.

I also found somewhere else on the forums the basic instructions for creating my one RS232 wire, but I'm still searching for directions to create a wire with a USB connection at the PC end. Please let me know if you should find one.

Recently I've contacted several meter manufacturers to try and get information about their protocol. They are amazingly uniform in saying NO. That's SO FRUSTRATING.

I've posted on this general area and I'd appreciate any comments or opinions.

Maybe I should start a campaign to contact your meter company and demand that they provide easier access to this information for all their users (not just the noisy ones).

[bernfarr]

I used the magic of the Wayback Machine.

Here's where you can find the PDF as it was in 2003. I didn't bother looking for a more recent version.

If you have the old URL for a different PDF, you might also find that via the Wayback Machine.

Isn't the internet wonderful!

[BriOnH]

Originally Posted by bernfarr

After reading this thread I did some searching and came across the Ultra2 protocol. I'm assuming (probably silly of me) that it's a variant of the UltraSmart protocol. Let me know if you want a copy of the PDF.

I also found somewhere else on the forums the basic instructions for creating my one RS232 wire, but I'm still searching for directions to create a wire with a USB connection at the PC end. Please let me know if you should find one.

Recently I've contacted several meter manufacturers to try and get information about their protocol. They are amazingly uniform in saying NO. That's SO FRUSTRATING.

I've posted on this general area and I'd appreciate any comments or opinions.

Maybe I should start a campaign to contact your meter company and demand that they provide easier access to this information for all their users (not just the noisy ones).

Every meter I have connected with by OneTouch uses the "DM" attention commands (for the old timers DM is the equivilant of AT when issuing commands to a modem), except for the US. I think Shane is still working on the reverse engineering of the the US output. Everyone is busy this time of year. I just sent him his project back with some modifications so it is connected to diabuddies. It's a sweet little app he wrote. I couldn't have done it that well. His program currently supports the Ultra and Ultra II.

Cool blog. I have stepped up with the standard and here it is:

<DRecord>
<BGL>180</BGL>
<EventDate>2007-05-30T09:30:00</EventDate>
<SimpleCarbs>0</SimpleCarbs>
<ComplexCarbs>0</ComplexCarbs>
<Carbs>50</Carbs>
<InsulinType>Novolog</InsulinType>
<InsulinAmount>5</InsulinAmount>
<Protien>0</Protien>
<Sodium>0</Sodium>
<Fat>0</Fat>
<ExerciseLength>0</ExerciseLength>
<ExerciseIntensity>0</ExerciseIntensity>
<Notes>Quiznos Sandwhich</Notes>
</DRecord>


Diabuddies.com -- Schema Types explained there.

If anyone wants access to the Web Class I wrote (uses SOAP) to transmit data to diabuddies let me know.

[bernfarr]

Originally Posted by BriOnH

Every meter I have connected with by OneTouch uses the "DM" attention commands (for the old timers DM is the equivilant of AT when issuing commands to a modem), except for the US.
...
Cool blog. I have stepped up with the standard and here it is:

<DRecord>
<BGL>180</BGL>
<EventDate>2007-05-30T09:30:00</EventDate>
<SimpleCarbs>0</SimpleCarbs>
<ComplexCarbs>0</ComplexCarbs>
<Carbs>50</Carbs>
<InsulinType>Novolog</InsulinType>
<InsulinAmount>5</InsulinAmount>
<Protien>0</Protien>
<Sodium>0</Sodium>
<Fat>0</Fat>
<ExerciseLength>0</ExerciseLength>
<ExerciseIntensity>0</ExerciseIntensity>
<Notes>Quiznos Sandwhich</Notes>
</DRecord>

...

Brian

Thanks for proposing this.

Let me just point out that the format would have to have a way to specify the units used for blood glucose levels. The date/time format could be taken directly from the microformat standard for date/time.

I also think that there ought to be a section that covers general health issues, this could for now simply be the values settable in the UltraSmart. Of course, there might also need to be a section for LDL, A1c, etc., readings. It depends on just how far you want to go.

I wonder about using English text strings for certain things. If a parameter has a value that can be (for example) one of five discrete settings, should those settings be specified in English or in an agreed upon syntactic value for each one. I don't have a strong opinion about that one.

By the way, using the Wayback Machine I was able to download PDFs for the comm protocol for almost all the OneTouch meters, except the UltraSmart. That's annoying.

Cheers

Bernard

[BriOnH]

Originally Posted by bernfarr

Let me just point out that the format would have to have a way to specify the units used for blood glucose levels.

Why? if there is a decimal point it's mg/mmol if there isn't its mg/dl.

[bernfarr]

Originally Posted by BriOnH

Why? if there is a decimal point it's mg/mmol if there isn't its mg/dl.

I can think of two reasons why it makes sense to do this.

1. Because normally XML-type formats should be fairly human-readable and spelling out the units used would likely reduce ambiguity.
2. Because if someone had a reading of 4.0 mg/mmol, some piece of software in a chain might accidentally change this to 4.

Adding a unit specification carries very little overhead and just spells things out. With my system designer hat on it feels right, despite the small amount of extra space used.

[jjames]

Ok, take it easy on me, this is my second post on the forums - and this topic is one of the main reasons why I joined this forum. I've been looking for any type of protocol for my UltraSmart, so maybe the protocol fo the Ultra2 might be handy. I like to use things that are already developed, so creating a new procedure to talk to my meter would not be very fun. I'm a C# programmer (a newbie though), and have started using the installed DLLs that came with the LifeScan's management software. They are usable I should note - I just haven't been able to actually put them to use.

Anyway, if I can be of any help with a project that may entail communicating with a LifeScan meter - I'd be willing to help. As posted in my introduction post, I'm a custom control system programmer (AMX), so I program for a living (and deal alot with hex) and program as a hobby.

Hope to be of some help someway!!

-J

P.S.
If someone could e-mail me any protocol that they might have on this stuff - that would be great! Thanks!

[FrankDr]

Originally Posted by BriOnH

Why? if there is a decimal point it's mg/mmol if there isn't its mg/dl.

ohhh, not so good. I'd add a field to specify which units are being used. Too much chance for something to get messed up.

If you're really interested, you could convert the readings to mg/dl for storage and convert to mmol via a user selectable preference when you output it to a graph or display it to the user.

Just some ideas

p.s. still haven't tried the WS upload. I really want to but too many other distractions.

[BriOnH]

Originally Posted by jjames

If someone could e-mail me any protocol that they might have on this stuff - that would be great! Thanks!

Hi James, There are some links in this thread that will point you to those protocols. GREAT idea on using the LS dll's! I can't believe I didn't think of that!!!! None the less, Shane is well on his way to completing the US client. It is the only other client besides LS's I know of that can communicat with the US.

Originally Posted by bernfarr

I can think of two reasons why it makes sense to do this.

1. Because normally XML-type formats should be fairly human-readable and spelling out the units used would likely reduce ambiguity.
2. Because if someone had a reading of 4.0 mg/mmol, some piece of software in a chain might accidentally change this to 4.

Adding a unit specification carries very little overhead and just spells things out. With my system designer hat on it feels right, despite the small amount of extra space used.

Originally Posted by FrankDr

ohhh, not so good. I'd add a field to specify which units are being used. Too much chance for something to get messed up.

If you're really interested, you could convert the readings to mg/dl for storage and convert to mmol via a user selectable preference when you output it to a graph or display it to the user.

Just some ideas

p.s. still haven't tried the WS upload. I really want to but too many other distractions.

Totally. I need to change it.

No worries on the WS upload Frank. Were all doing this as time permits.

[bernfarr]

Originally Posted by jjames

... I've been looking for any type of protocol for my UltraSmart, so maybe the protocol for the Ultra2 might be handy. ...

James

I tried to attach a PDF of the Ultra2 protocol. But the system only supports attachments up to 100 Kb.

So I've loaded two of the PDFs on my web site.

The Ultra PDF is at http://www.bernardfarrell.com/protocol/ultra.pdf.
And the Ultra2 PDF is at http://www.bernardfarrell.com/protocol/ultra2.pdf.

The second one is huge because it's rotated. I've no idea why they did this.

Your idea about using the existing DLLs is brilliant. Can you get a listing of the DLL calls and publish them here?

[BriOnH]

The lifescan software doesn't capture anything but bgl and time from the US if i remember right. Shane thinks he can get all the functions the US uses.

Using lifescans DLL's might be illegal<?>. Ill go through the DLL's tomorrow and see what kind of methods they have. WO documentation it might be hard to figure out what the DLL classes/methods can do or what needs to be passed in.

[Stuboy]

im still waitin on the US software let me know when it's ready!

[condensr]

Originally Posted by BriOnH

The lifescan software doesn't capture anything but bgl and time from the US if i remember right. Shane thinks he can get all the functions the US uses.

Using lifescans DLL's might be illegal<?>. Ill go through the DLL's tomorrow and see what kind of methods they have. WO documentation it might be hard to figure out what the DLL classes/methods can do or what needs to be passed in.

Actually, the lifescan software gets all of it. Animas' EZ Manager gets BG or excercise.

The first rev of the client that I have yet to release (darned job, keeping me busy! Spare time goes first to the wife. ) will support BG and timestamp, but future releases will support insulin, exercise, and health notes in addition.

One of the first things I looked at was using someone else's dlls or code for communication, but none of them export any entrypoints that we could call, plus there is the legal aspect- we couldn't ship such code with our client, thus would depend on it already being installed. Even then, there might be other legal issues even loading it/calling it.

[susoooo]

Hi!
I'm new here...
I've been a linux user for years, and I've trying to do by myself on this OS and the Ultrasmart. Right now i'm at a point where i'm stacked.

I mean: I'm trying to develop a program that communicates with the UltraSmart on linux and I've done part of the Reverse Engineering on the protocol, but now i'm stacked.
Particularly with the meaning of the response of the HT petition by the US.

Shane... ¿could you help me here? Do you know some place on the net where i could see this point of the protocol explained.
(I belive the blood glucose value goes on the eight byte of the response but no idea of how and where the data and time of the measurement is coded).

Any help would be very much appreciated.

Thanks.

[condensr]

I've managed to break a lot of the protocol down, but its not as simple as only bytes. They use bit stuffing too, and the meanings of some of the bytes/bits change in relation to the value of other parts of the packet. Also, the CRC they use isn't a basic CRC, and all HR requests have to be signed with the proper CRC, or the meter will ignore them.

There is nowhere on the web that details the protocol, and Lifescan has stated in emails (see above, think its in this thread) it is proprietary information that they are not willing to share.

As for me, currently, I'm not at the point where I can share anything, as one, I don't want to 'publish' any information that very well may not be accurate, and two, I'm not sure if we're going to make the client libraries open source or not. There could be legal stuff being as it is a proprietary protocol, but I don't know for sure yet. You might try checking back in a couple months though.

In the meanwhile, check out the other areas of the forum! Do you have diabetes, if so, which type?