PLC doing rs232 reading using PICdem2 Basic

[lxh]

I am really new to PLCs, but I was asked to write a program in Basic that will have the plc doing RS232 reading of the data tables.

Please tell me what information I need to obtain to accomplish this.

Can anyone please help me get started

 

[Ken Moore]

Questions:

1. what make of plc?
2. what communication protocol, modbus,DF1,NIT?

I think this is going to be a difficult task, because you probably will have to have to write your own driver as well.

Why not use Excel with DDE or something similar? or Visual Basic and active X or an OPC server?

 

[mpiotro]

Ken's right, this is gonna be a tough assignment if you aren't familiar with plcs.

How's your vb? What version vb?

You mentioned RS232, and this will work but won't be ideal for mass data polling. Are you talking vb6 or .net? Quite a bit of difference in rs232 comm coding. Again, the plc type will dictate everything.


If this is straightforward data entry, I think your best option is to skip vb and use Excel and DDE as Ken mentioned.

Good luck!

-Mike