How Arduino’s New Storage Libraries Can Make Your Data Management Easier and Faster

Arduino is a popular platform for creating electronic projects that can interact with the physical world. Arduino boards are easy to use and program, and they can be connected to various sensors, actuators, and modules. However, when it comes to data management, Arduino users may face some challenges and limitations. For example, how can you store and access data on different types of storage devices, such as SD cards, USB drives, or internal flash memory? How can you handle different file systems, such as FAT32 or LittleFS? How can you transfer data between different storage devices and partitions? And how can you do all these tasks without writing complex and low-level code?

To solve these problems, Arduino has recently introduced two new storage libraries, Arduino_POSIXStorage and Arduino_UnifiedStorage, that aim to simplify and streamline data management for your Arduino projects. These libraries provide a user-friendly and standardized way to handle data and files on various storage devices, using either the POSIX standard or the Arduino style. These libraries also offer some additional features, such as hotplug support, partition support, and cross-medium data transfer. In this blog post, we will explain what these libraries are, how they work, and how they can benefit your Arduino projects.

What are Arduino_POSIXStorage and Arduino_UnifiedStorage?

Arduino_POSIXStorage and Arduino_UnifiedStorage are two new libraries that Arduino has developed and released to make data management easier and faster for Arduino users. These libraries are based on the existing Arduino_Storage library, which is a low-level library that provides basic functions for accessing and manipulating storage devices. However, Arduino_Storage is not very user-friendly, as it requires the user to deal with low-level operations, such as opening and closing files, reading and writing bytes, and managing file pointers. Arduino_POSIXStorage and Arduino_UnifiedStorage are higher-level libraries that abstract away these low-level operations and provide a simpler and more intuitive interface for data management.

Arduino_POSIXStorage is a library that follows the POSIX standard for file operations. POSIX stands for Portable Operating System Interface, and it is a set of standards that define how programs should interact with operating systems, such as Linux, macOS, or FreeBSD. POSIX defines a set of functions and data types for file system operations, such as opening, closing, reading, writing, and seeking files. If you are familiar with the POSIX standard, you will feel comfortable using Arduino_POSIXStorage, as it provides the same functions and data types, but adapted for Arduino. Arduino_POSIXStorage supports two types of file systems, FAT32 and LittleFS, and two types of storage devices, SD cards and USB mass storage devices. It also supports hotplug operations, which means that you can plug and unplug USB devices without restarting your Arduino board.

Arduino_UnifiedStorage is a library that follows the Arduino style for file operations. Arduino style is a term that refers to the way Arduino programs are written and structured, using a simple and consistent syntax and a rich set of features and libraries. Arduino_UnifiedStorage provides a user-friendly and unified interface for data management, using the same functions and data types for different types of storage devices and file systems. Arduino_UnifiedStorage supports the same file systems and storage devices as Arduino_POSIXStorage, but it also adds some additional features, such as partition support, cross-medium data transfer, and advanced file navigation. Partition support means that you can create and access multiple partitions on internal QSPI flash memory, which can expand your storage options. Cross-medium data transfer means that you can move data between different types of storage devices, such as SD cards and USB drives, while controlling how overwriting works. Advanced file navigation means that you can easily move within files and check available data, making file navigation a breeze.

How to use Arduino_POSIXStorage and Arduino_UnifiedStorage?

To use Arduino_POSIXStorage and Arduino_UnifiedStorage, you need to install them from the Library Manager of the Arduino IDE. You can find them under the category “Data Storage”. Once you have installed them, you can include them in your sketch by using the #include directive, such as:

#include <Arduino_POSIXStorage.h> #include <Arduino_UnifiedStorage.h>

To use Arduino_POSIXStorage, you need to create an object of the class POSIXStorage, which represents a storage device, such as an SD card or a USB drive. You can specify the type of the device, the file system, and the mount point, such as:

POSIXStorage sd(POSIXStorage::SD, POSIXStorage::FAT32, “/sd”); POSIXStorage usb(POSIXStorage::USB, POSIXStorage::LittleFS, “/usb”);

Then, you can use the methods of the POSIXStorage class to perform various operations on the storage device, such as:

sd.begin(); // initialize the SD card usb.begin(); // initialize the USB drive sd.mount(); // mount the SD card usb.mount(); // mount the USB drive sd.unmount(); // unmount the SD card usb.unmount(); // unmount the USB drive

To use Arduino_UnifiedStorage, you need to create an object of the class UnifiedStorage, which represents a storage device, such as an SD card, a USB drive, or an internal flash memory. You can specify the type of the device, the file system, and the mount point, such as:

UnifiedStorage sd(UnifiedStorage::SD, UnifiedStorage::FAT32, “/sd”); UnifiedStorage usb(UnifiedStorage::USB, UnifiedStorage::LittleFS, “/usb”); UnifiedStorage qspi(UnifiedStorage::QSPI, UnifiedStorage::LittleFS, “/qspi”);

Then, you can use the methods of the UnifiedStorage class to perform various operations on the storage device, such as:

sd.begin(); // initialize the SD card usb.begin(); // initialize the USB drive qspi.begin(); // initialize the QSPI flash memory sd.mount(); // mount the SD card usb.mount(); // mount the USB drive qspi.mount(); // mount the QSPI flash memory sd.unmount(); // unmount the SD card usb.unmount(); // unmount the USB drive qspi.unmount(); // unmount the QSPI flash memory

To access and manipulate files on the storage devices, you can use the functions and data types that are defined by the POSIX standard or the Arduino style, depending on which library you are using. For example, to open, read, write, and close a file using Arduino_POSIXStorage, you can use the following code:

#include <Arduino_POSIXStorage.h>

POSIXStorage sd(POSIXStorage::SD, POSIXStorage::FAT32, “/sd”);

void setup() { sd.begin(); sd.mount(); int fd = open(“/sd/test.txt”, O_RDWR | O_CREAT); // open a file for reading and writing, create it if it does not exist if (fd >= 0) { // check if the file is opened successfully char buffer[100]; // create a buffer to store the data int n = read(fd, buffer, 100); // read up to 100 bytes from the file and store them in the buffer if (n > 0) { // check if the read operation is successful Serial.print(“Read “); // print a message Serial.print(n); // print the number of bytes read Serial.println(” bytes from the file”); // print a message Serial.println(buffer); // print the content of the buffer } write(fd, “Hello, world!”, 13); // write 13 bytes to the file close(fd); // close the file } }

void loop() { // do nothing }

To open, read, write, and close a file using Arduino_UnifiedStorage, you can use the following code:

#include <Arduino_UnifiedStorage.h>

UnifiedStorage sd(UnifiedStorage::SD, UnifiedStorage::FAT32, “/sd”);

void setup() { sd.begin(); sd.mount(); File file = sd.open(“/sd/test.txt”, FILE_WRITE); // open a file for writing, create it if it does not exist if (file) { // check if the file is opened successfully file.println(“Hello, world!”); // write a line to the file file.close(); // close the file } file = sd.open(“/sd/test.txt”, FILE_READ); // open a file for reading if (file) { // check if the file is opened successfully while (file.available()) { // while there is data to read Serial.write(file.read()); // read a byte and write it to the serial monitor } file.close(); // close the file } }

void loop() { // do nothing }

How can Arduino_POSIXStorage and Arduino_UnifiedStorage benefit your Arduino projects?

Arduino_POSIXStorage and Arduino_UnifiedStorage can benefit your Arduino projects in many ways, such as:

• They can save you time and effort, as you don’t have to write complex and low-level code to handle data and files on different storage devices and file systems.
• They can make your code more readable and maintainable, as you can use a standardized and simplified interface for data management, using either the POSIX standard or the Arduino style.
• They can improve your project’s performance and functionality, as you can use the features and optimizations that these libraries offer, such as hotplug support, partition support, and cross-medium data transfer.
• They can enhance your project’s security and reliability, as you can use the file systems and storage devices that suit your project’s needs, such as FAT32 or LittleFS, SD cards or USB drives, or internal flash memory.

Conclusion

Arduino_POSIXStorage and Arduino_UnifiedStorage are two new libraries that Arduino has developed and released to make data management easier and faster for Arduino users. These libraries provide a user-friendly and standardized way to handle data and files on various storage devices, using either the POSIX standard or the Arduino style. These libraries also offer some additional features, such as hotplug support, partition support, and cross-medium data transfer. In this blog post, we have explained what these libraries are, how they work, and how they can benefit your Arduino projects.

If you want to try these libraries for yourself, you can download them from the Library Manager of the Arduino IDE. You can also check out some of the examples and tutorials that are available on the Arduino website and the GitHub repository. You can also read some of the other blog posts and resources that we have listed below for more information and tips on how to use these libraries effectively.

References:

: [Arduino Storage Libraries] : [Arduino Storage Libraries GitHub] : [Arduino Storage Libraries: A New Way to Handle Data and Files] : [How to Use Arduino Storage Libraries to Manage Data on SD Cards and USB Drives] : [Arduino Storage Libraries: How to Create and Access Partitions on QSPI Flash Memory]

Keywords:

Arduino, storage, data, file, library, POSIX, Arduino style, SD card, USB drive, QSPI flash memory, FAT32, LittleFS