Beckhoff BX9000 to VisualBasic problem!

[klikopc]

Hi!

I have a Beckhoff BX9000 controler and would like to make Visualisation in Visual Basic.
I have tried the UDP communication and it works, I opened the ports and used the FB_IpSend and FB_IpRecieve and that works fine.

But is there a way to use the TwinCAT.Ads.dll library or the ActiveX(ADS-OCX) to communicate with the BX9000?

I tried using the ADS-OCX but I get a error reply from the BX9000 everytime I send a command to the BX!

 

[SteveMaves]

Hi klikopc, you can use either the OCX interface or the .NET interface to talk to the BX9000. Which version of VB are you using?

Note, the BX9000 only supports addressing by Index Group / Offset. See the detailed document here...
http://infosys.beckhoff.com/content/1033/bx9000/html/bt_bx9000_ads_service.htm

 

[klikopc]

Hi Steve!

I'm using VB 2008 .NET! I tried using the OCX, but i get nothing, no reply from the controller. But if I use the TwinCAT.ads.dll and generate a TcClient and then use a read method(i.e. : .AdsReadWrite,Index Group = 0), then I catch an error "wrong index group"!

I'll look into the link you posted, but can you give me some pointers on where to start?

Thank you Steve

Matic

 

[SteveMaves]

Sure, I had to try it myself to make sure. For VB2008, the .NET interface is the way to go. I started with .NET Sample 1 here...
http://infosys.beckhoff.com/content/1033/tcsample_net/html/twincat.ads.sample01.html

I had to modify two lines in the form load...
Private Sub Form1_Load(ByVal sender As Object, ByVal e As System.EventArgs) Handles MyBase.Load
tcClient = New TcAdsClient()
' Connect by ADS Address and Port number for BX9000 is port 800, not 801
tcClient.Connect("10.12.64.12.1.1", 800)

Try
' hVar = tcClient.CreateVariableHandle("MAIN.PLCVar")

Catch err As Exception
MessageBox.Show(err.Message)
End Try

End Sub


Then, in the btnRead_Click, change the read Variable to Read by Index Group and Offset...
Private Sub btnRead_Click(ByVal sender As System.Object, ByVal e As System.EventArgs) Handles btnRead.Click
Try
Dim dataStream As New AdsStream(100 * 2)
Dim binRead As New BinaryReader(dataStream)

'Read by Index Group and Offset, by Variable not supported by BC/BX
tcClient.Read(16416, 0, dataStream, 0, 100)

lbArray.Items.Clear()
dataStream.Position = 0
Dim i As Integer
For i = 0 To 99
lbArray.Items.Add(binRead.ReadInt16().ToString())
Next
Catch err As Exception
MessageBox.Show(err.Message)
End Try
End Sub

That should work for you, it reads from the array on the BX declared at %MB0. Code attached.

 

[klikopc]

Steve, That is perfect!!!!!!

YOU'RE A GENIOUS!
If you're ever in Slovenia, there's a beer waiting for you!

Thanks again!

Matic