Here’s an example of the use of the ArvCamera API of Aravis:

#include <arv.h>
#include <stdlib.h>

static gboolean cancel = FALSE;

static void
set_cancel (int signal)
{
	cancel = TRUE;
}

static char *arv_option_camera_name = NULL;
static char *arv_option_debug_domains = NULL;
static gboolean arv_option_snaphot = FALSE;
static gboolean arv_option_auto_buffer = FALSE;
static int arv_option_width = -1;
static int arv_option_height = -1;
static int arv_option_horizontal_binning = -1;
static int arv_option_vertical_binning = -1;

static const GOptionEntry arv_option_entries[] =
{
	{ "name",		'n', 0, G_OPTION_ARG_STRING,
		&arv_option_camera_name,"Camera name", NULL},
	{ "snapshot",		's', 0, G_OPTION_ARG_NONE,
		&arv_option_snaphot,	"Snapshot", NULL},
	{ "auto",		'a', 0, G_OPTION_ARG_NONE,
		&arv_option_auto_buffer,	"AutoBufferSize", NULL},
	{ "width", 		'w', 0, G_OPTION_ARG_INT,
		&arv_option_width,		"Width", NULL },
	{ "height", 		'h', 0, G_OPTION_ARG_INT,
		&arv_option_height, 		"Height", NULL },
	{ "h-binning", 		'\0', 0, G_OPTION_ARG_INT,
		&arv_option_horizontal_binning,"Horizontal binning", NULL },
	{ "v-binning", 		'\0', 0, G_OPTION_ARG_INT,
		&arv_option_vertical_binning, 	"Vertical binning", NULL },
	{ "debug", 		'd', 0, G_OPTION_ARG_STRING,
		&arv_option_debug_domains, 	"Debug mode", NULL },
	{ NULL }
};

int
main (int argc, char **argv)
{
	ArvCamera *camera;
	ArvStream *stream;
	ArvBuffer *buffer;
	GOptionContext *context;
	GError *error = NULL;
	int i;

	g_thread_init (NULL);
	g_type_init ();

	context = g_option_context_new (NULL);
	g_option_context_add_main_entries (context, arv_option_entries, NULL);

	if (!g_option_context_parse (context, &argc, &argv, &error)) {
		g_option_context_free (context);
		g_print ("Option parsing failed: %s\n", error->message);
		g_error_free (error);
		return EXIT_FAILURE;
	}

	g_option_context_free (context);

	arv_debug_enable (arv_option_debug_domains);

	if (arv_option_camera_name == NULL)
		g_print ("Looking for the first available camera\n");
	else
		g_print ("Looking for camera '%s'\n", arv_option_camera_name);

	camera = arv_camera_new (arv_option_camera_name);
	if (camera != NULL) {
		gint payload;
		gint x, y, width, height;
		gint dx, dy;
		double exposure;
		guint64 n_processed_buffers;
		guint64 n_failures;
		guint64 n_underruns;

		arv_camera_set_region (camera, 0, 0, arv_option_width, arv_option_height);
		arv_camera_set_binning (camera, arv_option_horizontal_binning, arv_option_vertical_binning);

		arv_camera_get_region (camera, &x, &y, &width, &height);
		arv_camera_get_binning (camera, &dx, &dy);
		exposure = arv_camera_get_exposure_time (camera);
		payload = arv_camera_get_payload (camera);

		g_print ("image width         = %d\n", width);
		g_print ("image height        = %d\n", height);
		g_print ("horizontal binning  = %d\n", dx);
		g_print ("vertical binning    = %d\n", dy);
		g_print ("exposure            = %g µs\n", exposure);

		stream = arv_camera_new_stream (camera);
		if (arv_option_auto_buffer)
			arv_gv_stream_set_option (ARV_GV_STREAM (stream),
						  ARV_GV_STREAM_OPTION_SOCKET_BUFFER_AUTO,
						  0);

		for (i = 0; i < 30; i++)
			arv_stream_push_buffer (stream, arv_buffer_new (payload, NULL));

		arv_camera_start_acquisition (camera);

		signal (SIGINT, set_cancel);

		do {
			g_usleep (100000);

			do  {
				buffer = arv_stream_pop_buffer (stream);
				if (buffer != NULL) {
					/* Image processing here */
					arv_stream_push_buffer (stream, buffer);
				}
			} while (buffer != NULL);
		} while (!cancel);

		arv_stream_get_statistics (stream, &n_processed_buffers, &n_failures, &n_underruns);

		g_print ("Processed buffers = %Ld\n", n_processed_buffers);
		g_print ("Failures          = %Ld\n", n_failures);
		g_print ("Underruns         = %Ld\n", n_underruns);

		arv_camera_stop_acquisition (camera);

		g_object_unref (stream);
		g_object_unref (camera);
	} else
		g_print ("No camera found\n");

	return 0;
}

A direct use of the Genicam API is shown in the arv-test.c file in the git repository:
http://git.gnome.org/browse/aravis/tree/src/arvtest.c

I’ve just pushed the Aravis source code to git.gnome.org.

http://git.gnome.org/browse/aravis/

Aravis is a glib/gobject based library implementing a Genicam interface, which can be used for the acquisition of video streams coming from either ethernet, firewire or USB cameras. It currently only implements an ethernet camera protocol used for industrial cameras.

Aravis is released under the LGPL v2+.

http://www.genicam.org/

Most features of the Genicam standard are implemented, with the notable exception of the Enumeration and Boolean interfaces. It’s already possible to take the control of a camera, to start and stop the acquisition, and to get the images from the data stream.

There’s no documentation, but most of the code can be understood by reading the Genicam standard. I’ll post an example showing a basic use of the Aravis library.

The current roadmap is:

• Finish the implementation of the Genicam interface
• Implement the packet resend feature for ethernet cameras
• Add a gstreamer source for broadcast of the video stream
• Work on firewire camera support