Binding Commands to Triggers
Apart from autonomous commands, which are scheduled at the start of the autonomous period, and default commands, which are automatically scheduled whenever their subsystem is not currently in-use, the most common way to run a command is by binding it to a triggering event, such as a button being pressed by a human operator. The command-based paradigm makes this extremely easy to do.
As mentioned earlier, command-based is a declarative programming paradigm. Accordingly, binding buttons to commands is done declaratively; the association of a button and a command is “declared” once, during robot initialization. The library then does all the hard work of checking the button state and scheduling (or canceling) the command as needed, behind-the-scenes. Users only need to worry about designing their desired UI setup - not about implementing it!
Command binding is done through the Trigger
class (Java, C++).
Getting a Trigger Instance
To bind commands to conditions, we need a Trigger
object. There are three ways to get a Trigger object:
HID Factories
The command-based HID classes contain factory methods returning a Trigger
for a given button. CommandGenericHID
has an index-based button(int)
factory (Java, C++), and its subclasses CommandXboxController
(Java, C++), CommandPS4Controller
(Java, C++), and CommandJoystick
(Java, C++) have named factory methods for each button.
CommandXboxController exampleCommandController = new CommandXboxController(1); // Creates a CommandXboxController on port 1.
Trigger xButton = exampleCommandController.x(); // Creates a new Trigger object for the `X` button on exampleCommandController
frc2::CommandXboxController exampleCommandController{1} // Creates a CommandXboxController on port 1
frc2::Trigger xButton = exampleCommandController.X() // Creates a new Trigger object for the `X` button on exampleCommandController
Arbitrary Triggers
While binding to HID buttons is by far the most common use case, users may want to bind commands to arbitrary triggering events. This can be done inline by passing a lambda to the constructor of Trigger
:
DigitalInput limitSwitch = new DigitalInput(3); // Limit switch on DIO 3
Trigger exampleTrigger = new Trigger(limitSwitch::get);
frc::DigitalInput limitSwitch{3}; // Limit switch on DIO 3
frc2::Trigger exampleTrigger([&limitSwitch] { return limitSwitch.Get(); });
Trigger Bindings
Note
The C++ command-based library offers two overloads of each button binding method - one that takes an rvalue reference (CommandPtr&&
), and one that takes a raw pointer (Command*
). The rvalue overload moves ownership to the scheduler, while the raw pointer overload leaves the user responsible for the lifespan of the command object. It is recommended that users preferentially use the rvalue reference overload unless there is a specific need to retain a handle to the command in the calling code.
There are a number of bindings available for the Trigger
class. All of these bindings will automatically schedule a command when a certain trigger activation event occurs - however, each binding has different specific behavior.
Trigger
objects do not need to survive past the call to a binding method, so the binding methods may be simply called on a temp. Remember that button binding is declarative: bindings only need to be declared once, ideally some time during robot initialization. The library handles everything else.
Note
The Button
subclass is deprecated, and usage of its binding methods should be replaced according to the respective deprecation messages in the API docs.
onTrue
This binding schedules a command when a trigger changes from false
to true
(or, accordingly, when a button changes is initially pressed). The command will be scheduled on the iteration when the state changes, and will not be scheduled again unless the trigger becomes false
and then true
again (or the button is released and then re-pressed).
66 // Retract the intake with the Y button
67 m_driverController.y().onTrue(m_intake.retractCommand());
28 // Deploy the intake with the X button
29 m_driverController.X().OnTrue(m_intake.IntakeCommand());
The onFalse
binding is identical, only that it schedules on false
instead of on true
.
whileTrue
This binding schedules a command when a trigger changes from false
to true
(or, accordingly, when a button is initially pressed) and cancels it when the trigger becomes false
again (or the button is released). The command will not be re-scheduled if it finishes while the trigger is still true
. For the command to restart if it finishes while the trigger is true
, wrap the command in a RepeatCommand
, or use a RunCommand
instead of an InstantCommand
.
49 // Schedule `exampleMethodCommand` when the Xbox controller's B button is pressed,
50 // cancelling on release.
51 m_driverController.b().whileTrue(m_exampleSubsystem.exampleMethodCommand());
27 // Schedule `ExampleMethodCommand` when the Xbox controller's B button is
28 // pressed, cancelling on release.
29 m_driverController.B().WhileTrue(m_subsystem.ExampleMethodCommand());
The whileFalse
binding is identical, only that it schedules on false
and cancels on true
.
toggleOnTrue
This binding toggles a command, scheduling it when a trigger changes from false
to true
(or a button is initially pressed), and canceling it under the same condition if the command is currently running. Note that while this functionality is supported, toggles are not a highly-recommended option for user control, as they require the driver to keep track of the robot state. The preferred method is to use two buttons; one to turn on and another to turn off. Using a StartEndCommand or a ConditionalCommand is a good way to specify the commands that you want to be want to be toggled between.
78 // Toggle compressor with the Start button
79 m_driverController.start().toggleOnTrue(m_pneumatics.disableCompressorCommand());
41 // Toggle compressor with the Start button
42 m_driverController.Start().ToggleOnTrue(
43 m_pneumatics.DisableCompressorCommand());
The toggleOnFalse
binding is identical, only that it toggles on false
instead of on true
.
Chaining Calls
It is useful to note that the command binding methods all return the trigger that they were called on, and thus can be chained to bind multiple commands to different states of the same trigger. For example:
exampleButton
// Binds a FooCommand to be scheduled when the button is pressed
.onTrue(new FooCommand())
// Binds a BarCommand to be scheduled when that same button is released
.onFalse(new BarCommand());
exampleButton
// Binds a FooCommand to be scheduled when the button is pressed
.OnTrue(FooCommand().ToPtr())
// Binds a BarCommand to be scheduled when that same button is released
.OnFalse(BarCommand().ToPtr());
Composing Triggers
The Trigger
class can be composed to create composite triggers through the and()
, or()
, and negate()
methods (or, in C++, the &&
, ||
, and !
operators). For example:
// Binds an ExampleCommand to be scheduled when both the 'X' and 'Y' buttons of the driver gamepad are pressed
exampleCommandController.x()
.and(exampleCommandController.y())
.onTrue(new ExampleCommand());
// Binds an ExampleCommand to be scheduled when both the 'X' and 'Y' buttons of the driver gamepad are pressed
(exampleCommandController.X()
&& exampleCommandController.Y())
.OnTrue(ExampleCommand().ToPtr());
Debouncing Triggers
To avoid rapid repeated activation, triggers (especially those originating from digital inputs) can be debounced with the WPILib Debouncer class using the debounce method:
// debounces exampleButton with a 0.1s debounce time, rising edges only
exampleButton.debounce(0.1).onTrue(new ExampleCommand());
// debounces exampleButton with a 0.1s debounce time, both rising and falling edges
exampleButton.debounce(0.1, Debouncer.DebounceType.kBoth).onTrue(new ExampleCommand());
// debounces exampleButton with a 100ms debounce time, rising edges only
exampleButton.Debounce(100_ms).OnTrue(ExampleCommand().ToPtr());
// debounces exampleButton with a 100ms debounce time, both rising and falling edges
exampleButton.Debounce(100_ms, Debouncer::DebounceType::Both).OnTrue(ExampleCommand().ToPtr());