Ge serial comm test

[Byron]

Greetings!
GE SERIAL COMM TEST SAYS:

PLC Connected OK at 19200/Odd/1 use VPv2

I have always thought this means VersaPro Version 2 (or whatever it says)

Allegedly this PLC code is composed in CIMPLICITY MACHINE EDITION
Version 4.0

Has anyone else experienced this? Or is the person not accurate in what he told me. He says he has connected his laptop to this PLC with no errors.

 

[Steve Bailey]

It is possible to connect using those settings, but they are a change from default settings. The out-of-the-box settings for serial ports on the 90 series are 19200, odd, 1 stop bit, and when you start a new project in VersaPro or Proficy (Cimplicity) Machine Edition the default port settings match the default PLC hardware settings.

 

[Byron]

He gave me a copy of the code on his laptop and I can open it with no problems in Proficy 6.0 I have never seen the SerialCommTest Program say VPv2 when the code was actually NOT VERSAPRO.... WEIRD....

any comments????

 

[Byron]

Thanks...
my main concern is why it says VPv2 when the guy uses CIMPLICITY 4

 

[Byron]

I use this utility to determine what is in the CPU. It might be LM90, VersaPro, Cimplicity or Proficy. I don't understand if it is VersaPro Version 2 how we could successfully communicate and monitor or edit the code using Cimplicity or Proficy.

This is my issue / question...

 

[Steve Bailey]

Proficy can recognize the runtime program in the PLC regardless of whether it was originally written using Logicmaster, VersaPro, Cimplicity Control, or Machine Edition.
If you were to pull a Logicmaster or VersaPro program from a PLC using Machine Edition, you would not be able to achieve "Logic Equal" status without sending the program back from Machine Edition to the PLC. Having done that, you would no longer be able to use Logicmaster or VersaPro with that program. You or your customer would need to have a backup copy of the program made using the original programming software to be able to go back to using that software

 

[Byron]

so... would he be able to MONITOR the code with CIMPLICITY if it is written in VERSA PRO?
ALSO... is it true that the SerialCommTest Utility would show Cimplicity or Proficy if it were in fact the saved version? In other words, do I understand this correctly- if it were Cimplicity- would the Utility show that?

 

[Steve Bailey]

In order to be able to monitor the PLC program activity you need to get to a "Logic Equal" status in the programming software. So the program in the PLC has to have been downloaded from the same programming software as is used for monitoring.
I don't have any hands-on experience with the SerialCommTest utility.

 

[Byron]

If we were online with the CPU with Proficy V.6 and the code was written with VersaPro V2 could we monitor?

And... if it is really VPv2 and we updated it to Cimplicity 4 or Proficy 6 would the SerialCommTest utility show the software and version correctly?

And would there be any conversion issues if we went from VP to one of the newer software versions of Cimplicity or Proficy?

 

[Byron]

If the SerialCommTest utility says VPv2, IS IT TRUE?

 

[Byron]

I've searched the manual and the Internet and called tech support- NO ANSWER YET.

 

[Steve Bailey]

If we were online with the CPU with Proficy V.6 and the code was written with VersaPro V2 could we monitor?

No, in order to be able to monitor the PLC program activity you need to get to a "Logic Equal" status in the programming software. In order to get to a "Logic Equal" state, the program in the PLC must have been compiled with the same software package doing the monitoring.

And... if it is really VPv2 and we updated it to Cimplicity 4 or Proficy 6 would the SerialCommTest utility show the software and version correctly?

Antecedent required. What does 'it" refer to? I don't know enough of the details about the utility to give you a definitive answer.
If you pull a program originally written using VersaPro from a PLC, and then send that same program back to the PLC using Proficy, the program is now a Proficy program and no longer a VersaPro program. If your assumption is correct, that the box in the utility represents what the utility discovered when it connected to the PLC, then after sending a program to the PLC using Proficy, the utility would show that the program came from Proficy.

And would there be any conversion issues if we went from VP to one of the newer software versions of Cimplicity or Proficy?

Yes, there will be issues. Logicmaster and VersaPro were based on absolute memory addresses. Proficy is based on variable names and data types. That difference will create issues that you will need to resolve when you convert.

If your customer wants guarantees that the converted program will run without any problems, I suggest you get a replacement CPU module and send the converted program to it. Replace the existing CPU module with it. If you see anything you don't like, put the old CPU back while you resolve the discrepancy.

 

[Byron]

Thank You Very Much for Your response!