Modbus Workspace

The Modbus Workspace provides information on the UI components for creating drivers, networks, importing devices, and so on.

Modbus Driver

A Modbus driver is needed to connect modbus devices with the management platform. The management platform starts with no Modbus driver defined. In the Engineering mode, you must add it as needed, from the Object Configurator tab under Management System > Server > Main Server > Drivers, when you select Management View in System Browser.

From the System Browser tree, when you select the Modbus Driver node (in Engineering/Operating mode), the Operation/Extended Operation tabs display the Start and Stop commands that you can use to start and stop the driver. The Stop command is only enabled when the driver is running; it is disabled if the driver is not running or an operation is in progress.

For the main server, the default project provides a Drivers folder. However, if the management platform you configure includes FEPs, you must configure FEP to add a FEP station. Under the FEP station, you must then add a Drivers folder for adding a driver. You can only add a driver in Engineering mode.

After creating the Modbus driver, you must start it and link it to a Modbus network.

To delete the Modbus driver, you must first delete all the Modbus networks attached to the driver. Once you delete the respective networks, you can delete the driver by selecting the Object Configurator tab and clicking Delete .

You can have 10 drivers running simultaneously per server. A maximum of 35000 points can be associated with each driver.

 

Modbus Network

In Engineering mode, after selecting a Modbus network in System Browser, you can configure its network settings using the Network Settings expander of the Modbus tab. You can only delete the Modbus network. The properties associated with the selected network display in the Operation/Extended Operation tabs.

You can set the Poll interval. The default value is 0 ms.

Modbus Toolbar

Icon

Name

Description

Save data

Saves any changes.

Delete object

Deletes the current object.

 

Network Settings Expander

The Network Settings expander allows you to define the Modbus driver monitoring a Modbus network.

Network Setting Expander Fields

 

Description

Monitored by driver

Select a Modbus driver. Once you associate a driver to a network, you cannot delete that driver.

Modbus Device Import

The Import tab allows you to manage the import of field data (engineering objects) described in Modbus configuration files (CSV file).

Information

NOTE:
Power Devices must be integrated in Desigo CC only by the Powermanager extension.

 

Import Fields

 

Description

Browse

Displays the Open dialog box where you can select a file to import.
The path of the selected file displays in the field.

Source Items

Displays all the objects available for a selected file, identified by the following:

  • ID
  • Name
  • Instances

Items to Import

Displays all the objects selected for the import, identified by the following:

  • ID
  • Name
  • Instances
  • State, (status of the import such as, in progress, imported, or failed)

By default, this section is empty. Move the items from Source Items to Items to Import or vice versa by double-clicking the single item, or using the buttons that provide tooltips suggesting the action to take.

Search

Apply a filter to the content of the corresponding list (Source Items or Items to Import).

Delete the text in this field to remove the filter.

Analysis Log

Opens a log displaying the file reading and pre-process operations. This log also contains the time for the operations, the name of the processed files, and warnings/errors (if any).
This button is available only when the file processing is completed.

Delete unselected items from views

Specify whether or not, during the import, all the items available in the Views but not mentioned under the Modbus interfaces present in the file to import must be deleted.

Import

Start the import.
This button is only available if the Items to Import field is not empty.

Import Log

Opens a log of the import operation. This button is only available when the import is successfully completed.

Cancel

Abort the import.

This button is available only during the import.

Hierarchies Mapping Expander

Once you have extracted a CSV file to import, the Hierarchies Mapping expander allows you to define the root node for each hierarchy and for each System Browser view.

The Hierarchies Mapping expander allows you to configure the destination in the system views of the data structures (hierarchies) imported according to the import rules.

Hierarchies Mapping Expander Fields

Field

Description

Hierarchy Name

Displays the hierarchy name.

Import this hierarchy under this node

Displays the hierarchy import rule (for example, the Hardware hierarchy was assigned to the Management View).
For the Logical and User-defined Views, you must assign the desired root node. To do this, select the view from the System Browser drop-down list, and drag the view root node to the suggested field.

Re-Import the Modbus Objects

When re-importing Modbus data using a CSV file, the re-import applies to the Modbus interfaces, devices and their field points referred to in the CSV file.

The re-import operation is done in a similar way as the import, except that the pre-existing Modbus objects are updated as follows:

  • Creating new data points.
  • Updating existing data points.
  • Deletion existing data points (only if the Delete unselected items from the views check box is selected).
Information

NOTE:
Deleting the Modbus points results in deleting them from all the hierarchies in other views.

This operation also causes the Management View hierarchy to add objects and internal nodes (points), and delete internal objects. The import process deletes any Modbus devices that are no longer present in the CSV file (only if the Delete unselected items from the views check box is selected).

Dropping of Workstation Alarms during Re-import

Workstation alarms can be dropped or removed from any existing Modbus point by re-importing the same point using a CSV file that does not contain the alarm entry for the corresponding point.

A workstation alarm entry is defined by the AlarmClass, AlarmType, AlarmValue, EventText and NormalText fields. You must manually delete these fields that correspond to the point for which you want to drop the workstation alarms.

 

Modbus Interface

Modbus interfaces are imported under the following path: Field Networks > Modbus Network in Management View of System Browser.

Before importing Modbus interfaces, the Modbus network must be available.

In System Browser, each Modbus network contains a set of Modbus interfaces and each of them contains the devices and points attached to that interface.

Communication Interface Expander

In Engineering mode, when you select a Modbus interface in System Browser its settings display in the Communication Interface expander in the Modbus tab. You can save the data or delete the Modbus interface.

Modbus Toolbar

Icon

Name

Description

Save data

Saves any changes.

Delete

Deletes the current object.

Communication Interface Expander Fields

Name

Description

Interface ID

Displays the interface instance number (read only).

Interface name

Name of the interface. (read only).

TCP port

Displays the TCP port number assigned to the device in the network. You can modify this field.

IP address

Displays the hardware address of a device connected to a network that uses Internet Protocol (IP) for communication. You can modify this field.

 

Communication Interface Properties

Property Name

Description

Summary Status

Displays the summary status

Active

Displays the connection status of the device. It can have two values:
True – The device is connected (Default value)
False – The device is not connected
Set this property to False to disconnect the device.

Frame Coding

Type of FrameCoding supported by the device. It can have either of the following values:
ASCII, ,RTU, or TCP

Default value is TCP, however, you can set a different value as per the device specification.

Connection State

Connection state of the device.

Driver Number

Driver ID to which the connection object is linked.

Hosts and Ports

Host ID and port number of the device.

Offset

This data point element allows for defining the offset. Default value is 0 but you can set a different value.

Interface ID

Displays the interface ID

Transaction Timeout

The timeout period between a request and response. This period is specified in milliseconds (100-100000). In the event of a timeout, the request is lost and the connection is closed. The connection can only be re-established at the next request.

Slave ID

Slave ID of the communication interface.