odxtools 6.3.1

Utilities to work with the ODX standard for automotive diagnostics

odxtools

odxtools is a set of utilities for working with diagnostic descriptions of automotive electronic control units using the data model and the associated technologies of the ODX standard.

ODX stands for "Open Diagnostic data eXchange" and is primarily an XML based file format to describe the diagnostic capabilities of the electronic control units (ECUs) of complex distributed technical systems (usually cars and trucks). ODX is an open standard maintained by ASAM e.V. and is also standardized internationally by ISO-22901.

Usually, ODX is used to complement the UDS automotive diagnostics standard -- which itself can be considered to be an extension of OBD-II -- to provide a machine-processable description of the vendor-specific diagnostics functionality of a vehicle's ECUs. That said, the functionality which is described by ODX files neither needs to be a super- nor a subset of OBD-II/UDS, e.g., ODX can be used to describe diagnostic functionality that uses fundamentally different wire formats and conventions than the ones mandated by OBD-II/UDS. (In practice, the ODX-described functionality usually adheres to these standards, though.)

The functionality provided by odxtools encompasses parsing and internalizing ODX diagnostic database files as well as de- and encoding the data of diagnostic requests and their responses send to/received from ECUs in an pythonic manner.

Table of Contents

• Use Cases
• Installation
• Usage Examples
  • Python snippets
• Using the non-strict mode
• Interactive Usage
  • Python REPL
• Command line usage
  • Generic parameters
  • The list subcommand
  • The browse subcommand
  • The snoop subcommand
  • The find subcommand
  • The decode subcommand
• Testing
• Contributing
• Code of Conduct
• Provider Information
• Acknowledgements
• License

Use Cases

Here are some of the intended use cases of odxtools:

• Prototype development: Interacting with the diagnostic services of electronic control units directly from python (requires taping into the car's relevant CAN or ethernet bus)
• End-of-production calibration/quality control: Initial set up and running a self diagnosis of newly produced cars to ensure that everything works as specified
• After-sales: Implementing servicing functionality for workshops, i.e., defining test schedules based on the legally mandated functionality of ISO 15031-6 (OBD II) as well as manufacturer-specific routines
• Prototype development (II): Analyzing and debugging diagnostic sessions done using third-party software
• Prototype development (III): Implementing bridges to higher-level protocols such as HTTP
• Development for mass production: Accelerating the implementation of diagnostic servicesfor low-cost ECUs by using odxtools-based code generators for the diagnostic glue code on system-level languages like C++ or rust

Please be aware that some of the use cases listed above are currently rather aspirational.

Installation

The easiest way of installing odxtools on your system is via pip:

python3 -m pip install odxtools

If you want to develop odxtools itself, you need to install it from source using git. The first step is to clone the repository:

cd $BASE_DIR
git clone https://github.com/mercedes-benz/odxtools

After this, make sure that all python dependencies are installed:

cd $BASE_DIR/odxtools
python3 -m pip install -e .

Next, you can optionally build a package and install it on the system:

cd $BASE_DIR/odxtools
python3 -m pip install --upgrade build
python3 -m build
sudo python3 -m pip install dist/odxtools-*.whl

Finally, update the PYTHONPATH environment variable and the newly cloned module is ready to be used:

export PYTHONPATH="$BASE_DIR/odxtools:$PYTHONPATH"

Now, you can check whether the installation worked:

python3 -m odxtools list -a "$YOUR_PDX_FILE"

Usage Examples

Python snippets

• Load an ODX database from file somersault.pdx:

  import odxtools
  
  db = odxtools.load_pdx_file("somersault.pdx")
  

• List the names of all available services of the somersault_lazy ECU:

  # [...]
  
  ecu = db.ecus.somersault_lazy
  print(f"Available services for {ecu.short_name}: {ecu.services}")
  

• Determine the CAN IDs which the somersault_lazy ECU uses to send and receive diagnostic messages:

  # [...]
  
  print(f"ECU {ecu.short_name} listens for requests on CAN ID 0x{ecu.get_receive_id():x}")
  print(f"ECU {ecu.short_name} transmits responses on CAN ID 0x{ecu.get_send_id():x}")
  

• Encode a session_start request to the somersault_lazy ECU:

  # [...]
  
  raw_request_data = ecu.services.session_start()
  
  print(f"Message for session start request of ECU {ecu.short_name}: {raw_request_data}")
  # -> bytearray(b'\x10\x00')
  

• Encode the positive response to the start_session request:

  # [...]
  
  raw_request_data = ecu.services.session_start()
  raw_response_data = ecu.services.session_start.positive_responses[0].encode(coded_request=raw_request_data)
  
  print(f"Positive response to session_start() of ECU {ecu.short_name}: {raw_response_data}")
  # -> bytearray(b'P')
  

• Decode a request:

  # [...]
  
  raw_data = b"\x10\x00"
  decoded_message = ecu.decode(raw_data)
  print(f"decoded message: {decoded_message}")
  # -> decoded message: [start_session()]
  

• Decode a response to a request:

  # [...]
  
  raw_request_data = b"\x10\x00"
  raw_response_data = b'P'
  decoded_response = ecu.decode_response(raw_response_data, raw_request_data)
  print(f"decoded response: {decoded_response}")
  # -> decoded response: [session()]
  

Using the non-strict mode

By default, odxtools raises exceptions if it suspects that it cannot fulfill a requested operation correctly. For example, if the dataset it is instructed to load is detected to be not conformant with the ODX specification, or if completing the operation requires missing features of odxtools. To be able to deal with such cases, odxtools provides a "non-strict" mode where such issues are ignored, but where the results are undefined. The following snippet shows how to instruct odxtools to load a non-conforming file in non-strict mode, and after this is done, enables the safety checks again:

import odxtools

[...]

odxtools.exceptions.strict_mode = False
botched_db = odxtools.load_file("my_non-conforming_database.pdx")
odxtools.exceptions.strict_mode = True

[...]

Interactive Usage

Python REPL

python's interactive read-reval-print-loop (REPL) supports tab-completion on most plattforms, i.e., in this case, all data can be conveniently interactivly discovered and this makes odxtools a very convenient tool to explore the capabilities of a given ECU.

A notable exception is the Microsoft Windows platform: Most python distribtions for Windows do not enable tab-completion by default in their REPL. For more convenience in such a scenario, we recommend using ptpython. ptpython can be installed like any other python package, i.e., via python3 -m pip install ptpython. Then, the REPL ought to be started using

c:\odxtest>python3 "C:\Python39\Lib\site-packages\ptpython\entry_points\run_ptpython.py"

Alternatively, pyreadline can be used after installing it via python3 -m pip install pyreadline. With this, basic tab-completion for python under Windows in Interactive Mode should work.

Command line usage

Based the python module, odxtools also provides a set of command line utilities for quick interactive explorations. Amongst others, these utilities allow the inspection ODX/PDX files, snooping on diagnostic sessions, etc. If odxtools is installed on a system-wide basis, these commands can be invoked using odxtools SUBCOMMAND [PARAMS], if the repository has been manually cloned via git and odxtools has not been installed on a system-wide basis, the way to invoke these utilities is via python3 -m odxtools SUBCOMMAND [PARAMS].

Generic parameters

Available generic parameters and a list of subcommands can be obtained using odxtools --help:

$ odxtools --help
usage: odxtools [-h] [--version] {list,browse,snoop,find} ...

Utilities to interact with automotive diagnostic descriptions based on the ODX standard.

Examples:
  For printing all services use:
   odxtools list ./path/to/database.pdx --services
  For browsing the data base and encoding messages use:
   odxtools browse ./path/to/database.pdx

positional arguments:
  {list,browse,snoop,find}
                        Select a sub command
    list                Print a summary of automotive diagnostic files.
    browse              Interactively browse the content of automotive diagnostic files.
    snoop               Live decoding of a diagnostic session.
    find                Find & display services by their name
    decode              Decode hex-data to service-name & optionally its parameters 

optional arguments:
  -h, --help            show this help message and exit
  --version             Print the odxtools version

All subcommands accept the --help parameter:

$ odxtools list --help
usage: odxtools list [-h] [-v VARIANT [VARIANT ...]] [-s [SERVICE [SERVICE ...]]] [-p] [-d] [-a] PDX_FILE
[...]

It follows is an inexhaustive list of the subcommands that are currently available:

The list subcommand

The list subcommand is used to parse a .pdx database file and print the relevant parts of its content to the terminal.

$ odxtools list -h
usage: odxtools list [-h] [-v VARIANT [VARIANT ...]] [-s [SERVICE [SERVICE ...]]] [-p] [-d] [-a] PDX_FILE

List the content of automotive diagnostic files (*.pdx)

Examples:
  For displaying only the names of the diagnostic layers use:
    odxtools list ./path/to/database.pdx
  For displaying all content use:
    odxtools list ./path/to/database.pdx --all
  For more information use:
    odxtools list -h

positional arguments:
  PDX_FILE              path to the .pdx file

optional arguments:
  -h, --help            show this help message and exit
  -v VARIANT [VARIANT ...], --variants VARIANT [VARIANT ...]
                        Specifies which variants should be included.
  -s [SERVICE [SERVICE ...]], --services [SERVICE [SERVICE ...]]
                        Print a list of diagnostic services specified in the pdx.
                        If no service names are specified, all services are printed.
  -p, --params          Print a list of all parameters relevant for the selected items.
  -d, --dops            Print a list of all data object properties relevant for the selected items
  -a, --all             Print a list of all diagnostic services and DOPs specified in the pdx

The options --variants and --services can be used to specify which services should be printed. If the --params option is specified, the message layout is printed for all specified variants/services and the --all parameter prints all data of the file that is recognized by odxtools. Example:

$ odxtools list $BASE_DIR/odxtools/examples/somersault.pdx --variants somersault_lazy --services do_forward_flips --params
ECU-VARIANT 'somersault_lazy' (Receive ID: 0x7b, Send ID: 0x1c8)
 num services: 5, num DOPs: 6, num communication parameters: 11.
The services of the ECU-VARIANT 'somersault_lazy' are:
 do_forward_flips <ID: somersault.service.do_forward_flips>
  Message format of a request:
           7     6     5     4     3     2     1     0
        +-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+
      0 | sid(8 bits)                                   |
        +-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+
      1 | forward_soberness_check(8 bits)               |
        +-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+
      2 | num_flips(8 bits)                             |
        +-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+
   Parameter(short_name='sid', type='CODED-CONST', semantic=None, byte_position=0, bit_length=8, coded_value='0xba')
   Parameter(short_name='forward_soberness_check', type='VALUE', semantic=None, byte_position=1, bit_length=8, dop_ref='somersault.DOP.soberness_check')
    DataObjectProperty('soberness_check', category='LINEAR', internal_type='A_UINT32', physical_type='A_UINT32')
   Parameter(short_name='num_flips', type='VALUE', semantic=None, byte_position=2, bit_length=8, dop_ref='somersault.DOP.num_flips')
    DataObjectProperty('num_flips', category='LINEAR', internal_type='A_UINT32', physical_type='A_UINT32')
  Number of positive responses: 1
  Message format of a positive response:
           7     6     5     4     3     2     1     0
        +-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+
      0 | sid(8 bits)                                   |
        +-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+
      1 | num_flips_done(8 bits)                        |
        +-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+
   Parameter(short_name='sid', type='CODED-CONST', semantic=None, byte_position=0, bit_length=8, coded_value='0xfa')
   Parameter(short_name='num_flips_done', type='MATCHING-REQUEST-PARAM', semantic=None, byte_position=1)
    Request byte position = 2, byte length = 1
  Number of negative responses: 1
  Message format of a negative response:
           7     6     5     4     3     2     1     0
        +-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+
      0 | sid(8 bits)                                   |
        +-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+
      1 | rq_sid(8 bits)                                |
        +-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+
      2 | reason(8 bits)                                |
        +-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+
      3 | flips_successfully_done(8 bits)               |
        +-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+
   Parameter(short_name='sid', type='CODED-CONST', semantic=None, byte_position=0, bit_length=8, coded_value='0x7f')
   Parameter(short_name='rq_sid', type='MATCHING-REQUEST-PARAM', semantic=None, byte_position=1)
    Request byte position = 0, byte length = 1
   Parameter(short_name='reason', type='VALUE', semantic=None, byte_position=2, bit_length=8, dop_ref='somersault.DOP.error_code')
    DataObjectProperty('error_code', category='LINEAR', internal_type='A_UINT32', physical_type='A_UINT32')
   Parameter(short_name='flips_successfully_done', type='VALUE', semantic=None, byte_position=3, bit_length=8, dop_ref='somersault.DOP.num_flips')
    DataObjectProperty('num_flips', category='LINEAR', internal_type='A_UINT32', physical_type='A_UINT32')

The browse subcommand

The browse subcommand uses PyInquirer to interactively navigate through the database of a .pdx file. For example, using the browse subcommand you can select the ECU and service without spamming the terminal:

$ odxtools browse $BASE_DIR/odxtools/examples/somersault.pdx
? Select a Variant.  somersault_lazy
ECU-VARIANT 'somersault_lazy' (Receive ID: 0x7b, Send ID: 0x1c8)
? The variant somersault_lazy offers the following services. Select one!  do_forward_flips
? This service offers the following messages.  Request: do_forward_flips
             7     6     5     4     3     2     1     0
          +-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+
        0 | sid(8 bits)                                   |
          +-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+
        1 | forward_soberness_check(8 bits)               |
          +-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+
        2 | num_flips(8 bits)                             |
          +-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+
     Parameter(short_name='sid', type='CODED-CONST', semantic=None, byte_position=0, bit_length=8, coded_value='0xba')
     Parameter(short_name='forward_soberness_check', type='VALUE', semantic=None, byte_position=1, bit_length=8, dop_ref='somersault.DOP.soberness_check')
      DataObjectProperty('soberness_check', category='LINEAR', internal_type='A_UINT32', physical_type='A_UINT32')
     Parameter(short_name='num_flips', type='VALUE', semantic=None, byte_position=2, bit_length=8, dop_ref='somersault.DOP.num_flips')
      DataObjectProperty('num_flips', category='LINEAR', internal_type='A_UINT32', physical_type='A_UINT32')
[...]

The snoop subcommand

The snoop subcommand can be used to decode a trace of a or a currently running diagnostic session.

$ odxtools snoop -h
usage: odxtools snoop [-h] [--active] [--channel CHANNEL] [--rx RX] [--tx TX] [--variant VARIANT]
                      [--protocol PROTOCOL]
                      PDX_FILE

Live decoding of a diagnostic session.

positional arguments:
  PDX_FILE              path to the .pdx file

options:
  -h, --help            show this help message and exit
  --active, -a          Active mode, sends flow control messages to receive ISO-TP telegrams successfully
  --channel CHANNEL, -c CHANNEL
                        CAN interface name to be used (required in active mode)
  --rx RX, -r RX        CAN ID in which the ECU listens for diagnostic messages
  --tx TX, -t TX        CAN ID in which the ECU sends replys to diagnostic messages  (required in active mode)
  --variant VARIANT, -v VARIANT
                        Name of the ECU variant which the decode process ought to be based on
  --protocol PROTOCOL, -p PROTOCOL
                        Name of the protocol used for decoding

Example:

# create a socketcan `vcan0` interface
sudo ip link add dev vcan0 type vcan
sudo ip link set vcan0 up

# start the snooping on vcan0
odxtools snoop -c vcan0 --variant "somersault_lazy" $BASE_DIR/odxtools/examples/somersault.pdx

# on a different terminal, run the diagnostic session
$BASE_DIR/odxtools/examples/somersaultlazy.py -c vcan0

The snoop command will then output the following:

$ odxtools snoop -c vcan0 --variant "somersault_lazy" $BASE_DIR/odxtools/examples/somersault.pdx
Decoding messages on channel vcan0
Tester: do_forward_flips(forward_soberness_check=18, num_flips=1)
 -> 7fba7f (bytearray(b'\x7f\xba\x7f'), 3 bytes)
Tester: start_session()
 -> session()
Tester: do_forward_flips(forward_soberness_check=18, num_flips=1)
 -> grudging_forward(num_flips_done=bytearray(b'\x01'))
Tester: do_forward_flips(forward_soberness_check=35, num_flips=1)
 -> flips_not_done(rq_sid=bytearray(b'\xba'), reason=0, flips_successfully_done=0)
Tester: do_forward_flips(forward_soberness_check=18, num_flips=3)
 -> grudging_forward(num_flips_done=bytearray(b'\x03'))
Tester: do_forward_flips(forward_soberness_check=18, num_flips=50)
 -> flips_not_done(rq_sid=bytearray(b'\xba'), reason=1, flips_successfully_done=6)

The find subcommand

The find subcommand can be used to find a service and its associated information by a partial name via cli.

$ odxtools find -h
usage: odxtools find [-h] [-v VARIANT] -s [SERVICES ...] [-nd] [-ro] PDX_FILE

Find & print services by name

Examples:
  For displaying the services associated with the partial name 'Reset' without details:
    odxtools find ./path/to/database.pdx -s "Reset" --no-details
  For more information use:
    odxtools find -h

positional arguments:
  PDX_FILE              Location of the .pdx file

options:
  -h, --help            show this help message and exit
  -v VARIANT, --variants VARIANT
                        Specifies which ecu variants should be included.
  -s [SERVICES ...], --service-names [SERVICES ...]
                        Print a list of diagnostic services partially matching given service names
  -nd, --no-details     Don't show all service details
  -ro, --relaxed-output
                        Relax output formatting rules (allow unknown bitlengths for ascii representation)

Example: Find diagnostic services with the name session_start

$ odxtools find examples/somersault.pdx -s session_start

=====================================
somersault_lazy, somersault_assiduous
=====================================


 session_start <ID: OdxLinkId('somersault.service.session_start')>
  Message format of a request:
           7     6     5     4     3     2     1     0  
        +-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+
      0 | sid (8 bits)                                  |
        +-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+
      1 | id (8 bits)                                   |
        +-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+
   CodedConstParameter(short_name='sid', long_name=None, description=None, byte_position=0, bit_position=None, semantic=None, sdgs=[], diag_coded_type=StandardLengthType(base_data_type=<DataType.A_UINT32: 'A_UINT32'>, base_type_encoding=None, is_highlow_byte_order_raw=None, bit_length=8, bit_mask=None, is_condensed_raw=None), coded_value=16)
   CodedConstParameter(short_name='id', long_name=None, description=None, byte_position=1, bit_position=None, semantic=None, sdgs=[], diag_coded_type=StandardLengthType(base_data_type=<DataType.A_UINT32: 'A_UINT32'>, base_type_encoding=None, is_highlow_byte_order_raw=None, bit_length=8, bit_mask=None, is_condensed_raw=None), coded_value=0)
  Number of positive responses: 1
  Message format of a positive response:
           7     6     5     4     3     2     1     0  
        +-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+
      0 | sid (8 bits)                                  |
        +-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+
      1 | can_do_backward_flips (8 bits)                |
        +-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+
   CodedConstParameter(short_name='sid', long_name=None, description=None, byte_position=0, bit_position=None, semantic=None, sdgs=[], diag_coded_type=StandardLengthType(base_data_type=<DataType.A_UINT32: 'A_UINT32'>, base_type_encoding=None, is_highlow_byte_order_raw=None, bit_length=8, bit_mask=None, is_condensed_raw=None), coded_value=80)
   ValueParameter(short_name='can_do_backward_flips', long_name=None, description=None, byte_position=1, bit_position=None, semantic=None, sdgs=[], dop_ref=OdxLinkRef(ref_id='somersault.DOP.boolean', ref_docs=[OdxDocFragment(doc_name='somersault', doc_type='CONTAINER'), OdxDocFragment(doc_name='somersault', doc_type='LAYER')]), dop_snref=None, physical_default_value_raw=None)
  Number of negative responses: 1
  Message format of a negative response:
           7     6     5     4     3     2     1     0  
        +-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+
      0 | sid (8 bits)                                  |
        +-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+
      1 | rq_sid (8 bits)                               |
        +-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+
      2 | response_code (8 bits)                        |
        +-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+
   CodedConstParameter(short_name='sid', long_name=None, description=None, byte_position=0, bit_position=None, semantic=None, sdgs=[], diag_coded_type=StandardLengthType(base_data_type=<DataType.A_UINT32: 'A_UINT32'>, base_type_encoding=None, is_highlow_byte_order_raw=None, bit_length=8, bit_mask=None, is_condensed_raw=None), coded_value=127)
   MatchingRequestParameter(short_name='rq_sid', long_name=None, description=None, byte_position=1, bit_position=None, semantic=None, sdgs=[], request_byte_position=0, byte_length=1)
   ValueParameter(short_name='response_code', long_name=None, description=None, byte_position=2, bit_position=None, semantic=None, sdgs=[], dop_ref=OdxLinkRef(ref_id='somersault.DOP.error_code', ref_docs=[OdxDocFragment(doc_name='somersault', doc_type='CONTAINER'), OdxDocFragment(doc_name='somersault', doc_type='LAYER')]), dop_snref=None, physical_default_value_raw=None)

The decode subcommand

The decode subcommand can be used to decode hex-data to a service, and its associated parameters.

$ odxtools decode -h
usage: odxtools decode [-h] [-v VARIANT] -d DATA [-D] PDX_FILE

Decode request by hex-data

Examples:
  For displaying the service associated with the request 10 01 & decoding it:
    odxtools decode ./path/to/database.pdx -D -d '10 01'
  For displaying the service associated with the request 10 01, without decoding it:
    odxtools decode ./path/to/database.pdx -d '10 01'
  For more information use:
    odxtools decode -h

positional arguments:
  PDX_FILE              Location of the .pdx file

options:
  -h, --help            show this help message and exit
  -v VARIANT, --variants VARIANT
                        Specifies which ecu variants should be included.
  -d DATA, --data DATA  Specify data of hex request
  -D, --decode          Decode the given hex data

Example: Decode diagnostic services with the request 10 00

$ odxtools decode examples/somersault.pdx -d '10 00'
Binary data: 10 00
Decoded by service 'session_start' (decoding ECUs: somersault_lazy, somersault_assiduous)

Example: Decode diagnostic services with the request 10 00, and parameters

$ odxtools decode examples/somersault.pdx -d '10 00' -D
Binary data: 10 00
Decoded by service 'session_start' (decoding ECUs: somersault_lazy, somersault_assiduous)
Decoded data:
sid=16 (0x10)
id=0 (0x0)

Testing

The included unit tests can be run via

python -m unittest tests/test_*.py

The static type checker can be run via

python3 -m mypy --ignore-missing-imports odxtools

Contributing

We welcome any contributions. If you want to contribute to this project, please read the contributing guide.

Code of Conduct

Please read our Code of Conduct as it is our base for interaction.

Provider Information

Please visit https://mbition.io/en/home/index.html for information on the provider.

Notice: Before you use the program in productive use, please take all necessary precautions, e.g. testing and verifying the program with regard to your specific use. The program was tested solely for our own use cases, which might differ from yours.

Acknowledgements

This work includes research of the project SofDCar (19S21002), which is funded by the German Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Action.

License

This project is licensed under the MIT LICENSE.