Read/write to a SLC-505E?

Is there any way to read and write individual values to a SLC-505E without using any intermediary "communications" software?

For example, say I want to read the current value of N13:12. Or I want to write a value of 73 to N13:17.

I want to do this without using RSLinx, without using a product such as Cimquest Ingear or OPC or anything between my application and the PLC.

Now, I've already figured out how to set up a little "user provided page" in the SLC-505E that does return a range of values in the form of a web page. And I probably could make this work so that my app could receive and interpret the values in a useful fashion.

But, even though the SLC does have functionality built in to it to allow a user to write to an N13 address, it's only by using the browser interface as provided by A-B. I want to do this from my app (which, BTW, could be something written in VB or I have some ideas about doing this from a PHP script running on a web server).

Any one doing anything like this?

Any ideas or recommendations?

Thanks.

Investigate the drivers Archie has developed for his AdvancedHMI here.

You can always write your own driver. I think there is a free DF1 driver out there.

We can probably help more if you tell us the reason you want to do this. If $ is an issue, Inductive Automation have a single node HMI and OPC driver for free.

Like I said in the original post, I would like to do this without any intermediary drivers.

I currently use the Cimquest Ingear activeX product in a custon-written VB application to communicate with the PLC. I have some PHP web pages that connect to this VB app via a socket connection, pass some messages over and receive data back for display.

What I'd like to do is eliminate the "middle-man" so to speak. I'd like to talk directly to the PLC without involving any other software or application. It just seems to me that with the SLC-505E being able to handle both reads and writes via it's built-in browser interface, it might be able to accomodate reads and writes directly - without anything else being involved.

Either you use code someone else wrote - a driver - or YOU write the code and integrate it into your project in such a way that you don't call it a driver.

Whatever you call it it does the same thing. It takes a request for information from the rest of your code, formats it in the manner required for the request given the PLC's protocol, then transmit the request and receive a reply utilizing the designated communication portal, parsing the reply out to be useful for the rest of your code.

It's just the semantics of whether it is code called external to your program or code embedded in your program. It still has to exist somewhere.