What is a EDS file?

What actually a EDS file and when would I need to use one?

EDS file stands for Electronic Data Sheet. The specification for this EDS, which is a plain ASCII text file, is described in the ODVA CIP specification. Every CIP device (DeviceNet, ControlNet, EtherNet/IP and CompoNet) has an EDS file which the device vendor submits to the ODVA at the time of registering the device at one of the accredited labs around the world.

The EDS file describes, in a syntax specified in the CIP specification, important characteristics of the device, including identity information (vendor ID, device type), communication parameters and information of the IO structure amongst others.

The purpose of the EDS file is for the system integrator to register the device in the PLC's engineering tool, so the tool has available the information described above. Some of this information is sent to the field device by the scanner at the moment of IO connection initialization, which is a CIP service called forward_open, but you do not need to worry too much about this, as this is taken care of by the engineering tool.

Normally for Rockwell PLCs with Rockwell IO and some other vendors the EDS is not a big deal, and many Rockwell devices can provide online its EDS file.

For non-Rockwell PLCs EDS file is extremely important (actually absolutely necessary) to be able to configure the remote IO device. Some tools use the information in the EDS file to create menus for configuration or online diagnostics.

It should go without saying this, but although it is relatively easy to change and EDS file this violates rules of ODVA, as a vendor of field device can only warranty the operation of its device with the EDS provided by the vendor, so end-users should not modify and EDS file.

Finally, for some non-Rockwell PLCs it may be a little difficult to configure some of the more complex Rockwell flexible remote IOs, because the available EDS files do not include the information about the connection. There is one post in which one of our members is trying to do this. Please let know if you are in this situation.

Can it please be explained in simple Slick 500 terms as it applies to people in the good ole USA??

You need and EDS file, provided by the vendor of your remote IO, so you can configure your PLC.

Is it for DeviceNet IO, ControlNet IO or EtherNet/IO IO. It may be different, as in some cases you may need RSNetworx

I hate to say this but I am very partial to USA answers.

You are not telling me why I need it or what it is as it relates to SLC-500.

I will use my tech-connect contract to get a better grasp of it.. With the way way the world is now and all the interference from world wide hackers I will will give up on international suggestions and go directly to the horses mouth.

If any one in the USA can give advice I would greatly appreciate it.

Sorry but, It is what it is...

"The we live in now is what we made it"

It's too bad I feel the need to go here but...I know this won't end well for me.



“If any one in the USA can give advice I would greatly appreciate it.” PULL YOUR HEAD OUT!


FYI-I'm in the USA

bright676 said:

I hate to say this but I am very partial to USA answers.

You are not telling me why I need it or what it is as it relates to SLC-500.

I will use my tech-connect contract to get a better grasp of it.. With the way way the world is now and all the interference from world wide hackers I will will give up on international suggestions and go directly to the horses mouth.

If any one in the USA can give advice I would greatly appreciate it.

Sorry but, It is what it is...

"The we live in now is what we made it"

Click to expand...

The Rockwell tech-connect contract is paid, this advice is free of charge. Sorry my non-US answer was unhelpful. Rockwell has a good knowledge base and very good documentation for the SLC. It is available for users in the US free of charge, 24/7, all in Enlgish. This one answer I am providing to you is indeed related to the SLC but utterly useless. If you answer what kind of IO you are dealing with perhaps we can help further, because there are differences in the use of DeviceNet, ControlNet and EtherNet/IP devices, withing the SLC environment, even though "ALL" have EDS files.

bright676 said:

I hate to say this but I am very partial to USA answers.

You are not telling me why I need it or what it is as it relates to SLC-500.

I will use my tech-connect contract to get a better grasp of it.. With the way way the world is now and all the interference from world wide hackers I will will give up on international suggestions and go directly to the horses mouth.

If any one in the USA can give advice I would greatly appreciate it.

Sorry but, It is what it is...

"The we live in now is what we made it"

Click to expand...

If you can’t interpret his answer, maybe you would be better suited programming relays and terminal blocks.

Also note, some EDS files are better than others. The CISCO industrial lineup EDS files are particularly bad.

The more context you can provide, the more relevant information folks can give. Because EDS files are used across CIP networks (DeviceNet, ControlNet, EtherNet/IP) and by more than Rockwell controllers, Alfredo's perspective on them is very useful if you're integrating third-party devices.

SLC-5/0x controllers are only going to use EDS files in two limited ways: describing a device identity on Ethernet to RSLinx, or providing device data to RSNetworx for a DeviceNet or ControlNet I/O network.

If you got a brand-new MicroLogix 1400, for example, and your revisions of RSLinx was ten years old, then RSLinx would browse the network and discover the MicroLogix, and send inquiries to the controller to read its identity information.

Then RSLinx would check its database of electronic data sheets to see if something matched the controller identity. But it won't (because it's a new model with new identity values) so RSLinx will just show a yellow question mark.

What RSLinx wants to know is "is this a Rockwell controller ? Does it support the MicroLogix command set or the ControlLogix command set ? Can I browse through it to other networks ?"

The EDS file contains that sort of information. Once the EDS has been "registered" on the computer, its information will be available to RSLinx and other tools, including the correct graphical icon.

EDS files used to be stored as text in a specific directory, and had pointers installed in the Windows Registry. That's one reason that installing one was called "registering" it.

Since v3 of RSLinx, the EDS information is stored in a quietly-installed instance of Microsoft SQL Server. You will never need to see under that hood, but it's one reason why storage of the files is faster and more stable.

There's an old but stable tool that is used to "register" EDS files, called the RSLinx Hardware Installation Tool. You can launch it from the Start menu or find it in the RSLinx Tools section.

RSLinx also uses it under the hood if you right-click on a device and the option for "upload EDS" is shown. Many modern devices contain their own EDS in gzip compressed format, and RSLinx will upload it, unzip it, and invoke the Hardware Installation Tool to install it all automatically. The correct icon and functions then appear in the RSLinx graphical browse.

That's a limited explanation of what an EDS file does for "a good old SLC-500" in the most likely case.

If you're configuring DeviceNet networks using RSNetworx and a 1747-SDN or 1769-SDN, then the topic expands a little to the information the I/O devices or sensors include in their EDS files.

_Dock_ said:

If you can’t interpret his answer, maybe you would be better suited programming relays and terminal blocks.

Click to expand...

Nothing wrong with wall-of-relay

bright676 said:

Sorry but, It is what it is...

Click to expand...

Really?... someone spends their time in answering your question and this is the gratitud you show them?

Surprised that a member here since 2012 would have this attitude, no one here is getting paid to answer your questions or give advice so if someone takes 5-10 minutes out of their life and gives it up for me and expects nothing in return I would think you should be a little grateful for it.

geniusintraining said:

Really?... someone spends their time in answering your question and this is the gratitud you show them?

Surprised that a member here since 2012 would have this attitude, no one here is getting paid to answer your questions or give advice so if someone takes 5-10 minutes out of their life and gives it up for me and expects nothing in return I would think you should be a little grateful for it.

Click to expand...

Exactly what I was thinking.

AlfredoQuintero has been a great contributor.

Maxkling, thanks for your kind words. I have received more from this forum than I have given to it. Many problems I have found I was able to solve thanks to the expertise and kindness of our colleagues. And by reading very many great posts available in this forum I have learned tons of useful stuff.
Alfredo