3. Defining Enums

Digital sensors often use specific bit patterns to represent states (e.g., 0b1 = "Shutdown Mode"). Instead of using " magic numbers" in your code, ChipLib allows you to define Global Enums.

These enums are defined once and can be linked to any register field.

Creating the 'Shutdown' Enum

Table 7-8. Configuration Register Field Description

BIT	FIELD	RESET	DESCRIPTION
8	SD	0	Sets the device in shutdown mode to conserve power 0: Device is in continuous conversion 1: Device is in shutdown mode

Here is how we model that in YAML:

enums:
  - symbol: SD
    values:
      - name: Continuous Conversion
        value: 0b0
        description: "Device is in continuous conversion"
      - name: Shutdown
        value: 0b1
        description: "Device is in shutdown mode"

Field Breakdown

YAML Key	Datasheet Source	Rationale & Notes
symbol	"SD"	The short name for the bit(s) in the register.
name	"Shutdown"	A human understandable name, Title Case.
value	"0: ... 1: ..."	The value that each enum corresponds to.
description	"Sets the device in shutdown..."	A brief summary for documentation.

Naming Convention

ChipLib uses Title Case for names (e.g., Continuous Conversion). This allows the generator to easily convert them to PascalCase, camelCase, or SNAKE_CASE depending on your output language template.

Creating the 'Conversion Rate' Enum

Some enums have multi-bit values. An example is the Consecutive Fault (F) field which control how many faults are required to trigger an alert.

  - symbol: F
    values:
      - name: Fault 1
        value: 0b00
        description: "1 fault"
      - name: Fault 2
        value: 0b01
        description: "2 faults"
      - name: Fault 4
        value: 0b10
        description: "4 faults"
      - name: Fault 6
        value: 0b11
        description: "6 faults"

As shown above, multi-bit follows the same pattern as single bit enums.

Enum Reuse

Common enums that are used between multiple fields, such as an Enable / Disable enum, can be defined once and referenced multiple times. No need to make one for each field!