You may want to give the users of your application the possibility to switch between connectivity methods. The NetworkInterface API makes this easy, but you still need a mechanism for the user to chooce the method, and perhaps throw in some #define's. Easy Connect handles all of this for you. Just declare the desired connectivity method in your mbed_app.json file and call easy_connect() from your application.

Add the following to your mbed_app.json file:

{
    "config": {
        "network-interface":{
            "help": "options are ETHERNET,WIFI_ESP8266,WIFI_ODIN, WIFI_RTW, MESH_LOWPAN_ND,MESH_THREAD",
            "value": "ETHERNET"
        }
    },
    "target_overrides": {
        "*": {
            "target.features_add": ["NANOSTACK", "LOWPAN_ROUTER", "COMMON_PAL"],
            "mbed-mesh-api.6lowpan-nd-channel-page": 0,
            "mbed-mesh-api.6lowpan-nd-channel": 12
        }
    }
}

If you select ETHERNET with UBLOX_ODIN_EVK_W2 you must add this to your target-overrides section in mbed_app.json:

            "UBLOX_EVK_ODIN_W2": {
            "target.device_has_remove": ["EMAC"]
            }

If you select WIFI_ESP8266, WIFI_ODIN or WIFI_RTW, you also need to add the WiFi SSID and password:

    "config": {
        "network-interface":{
            "help": "options are ETHERNET, WIFI_ESP8266, WIFI_ODIN, WIFI_RTW, MESH_LOWPAN_ND, MESH_THREAD",
            "value": "WIFI_ESP8266"
        },
        "esp8266-tx": {
            "help": "Pin used as TX (connects to ESP8266 RX)",
            "value": "PTD3"
        },
        "esp8266-rx": {
            "help": "Pin used as RX (connects to ESP8266 TX)",
            "value": "PTD2"
        },
        "esp8266-debug": {
            "value": true
        },
        "wifi-ssid": {
            "value": "\"SSID\""
        },
        "wifi-password": {
            "value": "\"Password\""
        }
    }

If you use MESH_LOWPAN_ND or MESH_THREAD you need to specify your radio module:

    "config": {
        "network-interface":{
            "help": "options are ETHERNET,WIFI_ESP8266,WIFI_ODIN,WIFI_RTW,MESH_LOWPAN_ND,MESH_THREAD",
            "value": "MESH_LOWPAN_ND"
        },
        "mesh_radio_type": {
        	"help": "options are ATMEL, MCR20, SPIRIT1",
        	"value": "ATMEL"
        }
    }

Easy Connect has just one function that returns either a NetworkInterface-pointer or NULL:

#include "easy-connect.h"

int main(int, char**) {
    NetworkInterface* network = easy_connect(true); /* has 1 argument, enable_logging (pass in true to log to serial port) */
    if (!network) {
        printf("Connecting to the network failed... See serial output.\r\n");
        return 1;
    }

    // Rest of your program
}

There are many things that you have to modify for all of the combinations. Examples for configurations are available for example in the mbed-os-example-client repository.

If you encounter a compilation error such as below, you need to add an .mbedignore file that tells the mbed compiler to skip compiling the files that require Nanostack. By default, the mbed compiler compiles every single file from all folders.

Scan: env
Compile [  0.2%]: NanostackRfPhyAtmel.cpp
[Fatal Error] NanostackRfPhyAtmel.cpp@18,44: nanostack/platform/arm_hal_phy.h: No such file or directory
[ERROR] ./easy-connect/atmel-rf-driver/source/NanostackRfPhyAtmel.cpp:18:44: fatal error: nanostack/platform/arm_hal_phy.h: No such file or directory
 #include "nanostack/platform/arm_hal_phy.h"
                                            ^
compilation terminated.

An example of a suitable .mbedignore file is available in the mbed-os-example-client repository.

If you get a linking error such as below, you are compiling the WIFI_ODIN with the EMAC override section in mbed_app.json. Remove the EMAC override from your mbed_app.json.

Link: tls-client
./mbed-os/targets/TARGET_STM/TARGET_STM32F4/TARGET_UBLOX_EVK_ODIN_W2/sdk/TOOLCHAIN_GCC_ARM/libublox-odin-w2-driver.a(OdinWiFiInterface.o): In function `OdinWiFiInterface::handle_wlan_status_started(wlan_status_started_s*)':
OdinWiFiInterface.cpp:(.text._ZN17OdinWiFiInterface26handle_wlan_status_startedEP21wlan_status_started_s+0x46): undefined reference to `wifi_emac_get_interface()'
OdinWiFiInterface.cpp:(.text._ZN17OdinWiFiInterface26handle_wlan_status_startedEP21wlan_status_started_s+0x4c): undefined reference to `wifi_emac_init_mem()'
collect2: error: ld returned 1 exit status
[ERROR] ./mbed-os/targets/TARGET_STM/TARGET_STM32F4/TARGET_UBLOX_EVK_ODIN_W2/sdk/TOOLCHAIN_GCC_ARM/libublox-odin-w2-driver.a(OdinWiFiInterface.o): In function `OdinWiFiInterface::handle_wlan_status_started(wlan_status_started_s*)':
OdinWiFiInterface.cpp:(.text._ZN17OdinWiFiInterface26handle_wlan_status_startedEP21wlan_status_started_s+0x46): undefined reference to `wifi_emac_get_interface()'
OdinWiFiInterface.cpp:(.text._ZN17OdinWiFiInterface26handle_wlan_status_startedEP21wlan_status_started_s+0x4c): undefined reference to `wifi_emac_init_mem()'
collect2: error: ld returned 1 exit status

[mbed] ERROR: "/usr/bin/python" returned error code 1.

If Easy Connect cannot connect to the network, it returns a network error with an error code. To see what the error code means, see the mbed OS Communication API.

If you want to avoid using \r\n in your printouts and just use normal C style \n instead, please specify these to your mbed_app.json:

       "target_overrides": {
        "*": {
            "platform.stdio-baud-rate": 115200,
            "platform.stdio-convert-newlines": true
        }
    }

If you'd like to use Easy Connect with mbed Client then you're in luck. Easy Connect automatically defines the MBED_SERVER_ADDRESS macro depending on your connectivity method (either IPv4 or IPv6 address). Use this address to connect to the right instance of mbed Device Connector.