Quick start

This page wires a complete integration: install the package, connect through the OPC UA client, load the Robotics registrar, read a value that the auto-cast turns into a typed PHP enum.

The whole thing

<?php

require __DIR__ . '/vendor/autoload.php';

use PhpOpcua\Client\ClientBuilder;
use PhpOpcua\Client\Types\StatusCode;
use PhpOpcua\Nodeset\Robotics\RoboticsRegistrar;
use PhpOpcua\Nodeset\Robotics\RoboticsNodeIds;
use PhpOpcua\Nodeset\Robotics\Enums\OperationalModeEnumeration;

$client = ClientBuilder::create()
    ->loadGeneratedTypes(new RoboticsRegistrar())   // Robotics + DI + IA
    ->connect('opc.tcp://192.168.1.100:4840');

$dv = $client->read(RoboticsNodeIds::OperationalMode);

if (StatusCode::isGood($dv->statusCode)) {
    /** @var OperationalModeEnumeration $mode */
    $mode = $dv->getValue();   // typed enum, not int

    if ($mode === OperationalModeEnumeration::MANUAL_HIGH_SPEED) {
        echo "Robot in manual high speed mode\n";
    }
}

$client->disconnect();

Three things happened that the package made possible:

1. 01

   `new RoboticsRegistrar()` plus `loadGeneratedTypes()`

   registered the Robotics enum mappings and (in other specs) codecs onto the client. The client knows about Robotics types from this point onward.

2. 02

   `RoboticsRegistrar` dependencies loaded automatically.

   Robotics depends on DI and IA — both registered as part of the call. No need to wire them explicitly.

3. 03

   `RoboticsNodeIds::OperationalMode` is a string constant.

   The client accepts it as a NodeId|string argument and resolves it internally. Same effect as read('ns=N;i=...') but with a name that survives refactoring.

4. 04

   `$dv->getValue()` returned a `BackedEnum`, not an `int`.

   Without the registrar, the same call would have returned 1 (the raw integer the server sent). With the registrar's getEnumMappings() table loaded, the client looks up the DataType NodeId and casts the value to the matching PHP enum.

Without the registrar — what changes

Drop loadGeneratedTypes() and the same code returns a raw int:

$client = ClientBuilder::create()
    ->connect('opc.tcp://192.168.1.100:4840');

$dv = $client->read('ns=N;i=...');   // string NodeId, by hand
$mode = $dv->getValue();             // → 2 (int)

if ($mode === 2) {                   // magic number, no autocomplete
    echo "Manual high speed\n";
}

It works — the application functions. But:

• 'ns=N;i=...' is a magic string; typos surface at runtime.
• 1 is a magic number; downstream code has no autocomplete or type info.
• A future enum value change in the spec breaks code silently.

loadGeneratedTypes() exchanges those for compile-time names and typed enums. The runtime cost is one-time at boot — see Concepts · Codecs and registrars.

NodeIds are strings, not NodeId objects

Every constant on <Spec>NodeIds is a string — the canonical NodeId encoding (ns=N;i=... or ns=N;s=...):

use PhpOpcua\Nodeset\Robotics\RoboticsNodeIds;

var_dump(RoboticsNodeIds::OperationalMode);
// → string(11) "ns=3;i=18961"

opcua-client's read(), write(), browse() all accept NodeId|string, so the string form works directly. Wrap with NodeId::parse() if you need a NodeId instance for further manipulation. See Concepts · NodeId constants.

What about codecs?

Robotics is enum-only — no Codecs/ directory, no Types/ directory. The auto-cast you saw above is the enum mappings doing their job; codecs are not involved.

For specs that include structured data — AutoID, BACnet, MachineVision, TMC, Scheduler — the registrar also installs ExtensionObjectCodec implementations that decode binary structures into readonly DTOs. See Concepts · Typed DTOs and Concepts · Codecs and registrars.

Where to go next

• What gets generated — the five artefact types you may encounter.
• Usage · Loading registrars — loading multiple specs, deduplication, opting out of dependencies.
• Recipes · Robotics walkthrough — the same example fleshed out with browse, write, structured data.