1. Introduction to RTI Connector

RTI Connext DDS is a software connectivity framework for real-time distributed applications. It uses the publish-subscribe communications model to make data distribution efficient and robust. At its core is the world’s leading ultra-high performance, distributed networking databus.

RTI Connector is a family of simplified APIs for publishing and subscribing to the Connext DDS Databus in programming languages such as Python and JavaScript.

Note

This documentation assumes you are already familiar with basic DDS concepts. You can learn about DDS in the RTI Connext DDS Getting Started Guide, RTI Connext DDS Core Libraries User’s Manual, and the Connext DDS API documentation for C, C++, Java and .NET. These documents are available from the RTI Community portal.

In Connector, the DDS system is defined in XML. This includes the DDS entities and their data types and quality of service. Applications instantiate a Connector object that loads an XML configuration and creates the entities that allow publishing and subscribing to DDS Topics.

By publishing and subscribing to DDS Topics, Connector works seamlessly with any other DDS applications, including Connext DDS user applications, and RTI Tools and Infrastructure Services.

1.1. How to read this documentation

• First learn how to install Connector and run the examples in Getting Started.
• Learn how to define the DDS system in XML in Defining a DDS System in XML.
• Learn how to write a Connector application in Loading a Connector, Writing Data (Output), and Reading Data (Input). These sections include examples and detailed type and function documentation.
• See Advanced Topics for details on the different ways to access the data, the threading model, and error reporting. If you want to know whether a Connext DDS feature is supported in Connector, and how to use it, see Connext DDS features.

If you’re looking for a specific class or function, go directly to the Index.