AB DF1 Communication Program Testing

[Archie]

I'm in need of some people to test my software used to read and write data to the AB SLC and micrologix controllers. It is a DF1 implementation over RS232.

I've posted this a while back and had some people test it with various platforms. I got some feedback and suggestions which were very helpful. Now I have a much improved version that needs some more testing. For those who have seen it before, you will notice it now can auto detect comm settings, read/write floating point values, and read/write strings.

I would greatly appreciate any testing that anyone could do. After this round I will release the full source code (VB.NET) including a version that works with Windows CE.

To test the program you will need the .NET 2.0 framework from Microsoft. This can be downloaded from :

http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/d...displaylang=en

The application can be downloading from here:

http://www.hmitemplates.com/abdf1app.zip


To test it, simply hook your com port to a DF1 port on a micrologix or SLC 5/03 (or above) then start up the application and the rest is self explanatory.

Any and all feedback is appreciated. Thanks in advance

[Joe_WaZoo]

Archie,

I downloaded your program this evening and gave it a look. Seems pretty self-explanitary. Tomorrow I will try it out with my SLC and let you know how it goes. I see potential for this tool, especially for those who use the SLC to show their products working with it but can not warrant the $1,000's of software needed from that vendor.

Thanks,
Joe_WaZoo

[Archie]

OK, so I guess to get more people willing to spend their time to test my software, I have to make it worth while by giving something useful.

I am nearly completed a utility that will capture all of the data from the data tables and store it to a file on disk. It will also allow the data from the disk file to be moved back to the PLC. These two features will be done with a simple click of a button.

My thought is that if you make changes to a program offline and want to download the program to the controller, but don't want to lose setup data stored in the data tables then this utility will make that easy. You would simply save the data tables to disk, download the new program, then restore the data tables from disk.

Or it could be used to get a snapshot of all settings at a certain point in time. I can't count the number of times I would get a machine working as smooth as ever and come back the next day to find that someone has changed all of the settings.

If any one has any suggestions for a SLC/micrologix utility that would be useful, let me know. Keep in mind this program does not require RSLinx, so a utility can be loaded on as many PC's as you'd like without licensing issues.

[Joe_WaZoo]

Archie,

Well I tried this out yesterday with my SLC 5/04 and it worked fine. I even went as far as to use your program from my laptop connected to a RedLion DataStation Plus on Ethernet and from there I went into the SLC via DF1. Worked well, I was able to read & write the N7 register. But how can I look at the inputs that are in my DeviceNet scanner card that is placed in slot 1. In the input table on RS_500 I look at I:1.1/0 for an input coming in from a DeviceNet node. How can I look at that point using your program? I tried many different nomanclature for this but I was not able to get the write the correct request.

I like this program and see some uses for it.

Thanks,
Joe_WaZoo

[Paul T]

Very nice. Tried it briefly and it worked fine. The only comment I have is that you might add code to limit integers to -32768 to 32767; I tried larger numbers and of course the results are wrong for values > 32767. Nice little app tho!

[Archie]

I appreciate the feedback and have addressed these issues.

Joe... If you let me know features that will be useful to you, I will be glad to add them into the next release of the demo app.
It now has a table monitor that opens another window showing all the values in a data table and updates them once a second. Vey similar to the data table view in RSLogix.

[Joe_WaZoo]

Archie,

I am going to show this program to a few of my groupies this week and see what they say. Is the latest download the same link as above?

Thanks,
Joe_WaZoo

[Archie]

Originally Posted by Joe_WaZoo

Is the latest download the same link as above?

Joe

I put another version for you to download that should fix the reading of the IO tables. It has a very experimental data table monitor that I have done very little testing on, so I just ask that you not distribute this one. But do let me know how the reading of inputs work with the DeviceNET scanner because I have no scanner to test with and really want to get that working.

http://hmitemplates.com/ABDF1withDM.zip



I have put the software on an open source site where I will put updates as they are ready for release:

http://sourceforge.net/projects/abdf1/

I've actually used the protocol on a test program that runs on my Compaq IPAQ Pocket PC. When I finish, a Pocket PC can be used to read and write data in a SLC or micrologix.

[rPraveenkum]

I can act as a opc/DDE server for external applications

[Archie]

Originally Posted by rPraveenkum

I can act as a opc/DDE server for external applications

I assume you are asking if the software can be used as an OPC/DDE server. The answer to that is no. It is a .NET class that is intended to be used with applications that are containers for .NET conrols, such as Visual Studio 2005 (Basic/C#).

OPC and DDE are actually older technologies that tend to have a lot of overhead with them and can be slow.

[Joe_WaZoo]

Archie,

I will be in Houston for a few days learning some of the new things about the Banner Wireless products. When I return to my office sometime Friday I will try to set up my DeviceNet with my SLC and see what I test.

Is it the .zip file that I should try?

That is interesting notes about OPC. I have also heard complaints about DCOM from other people that have used that technology.

Thanks,
Joe_WaZoo

[Archie]

Originally Posted by Joe_WaZoo

Archie,
Is it the .zip file that I should try?

Joe

Be sure to try this one:

http://hmitemplates.com/ABDF1withDM.zip

That is the one with the fixes to read IO tables.