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title	Page Overview

This manual describes the various I/O drivers available for the Tsentry system. Both W32 and RTSS versions of most of the drivers are available.

Supported drivers include the following:

Allen Bradley PLC 2, PLC 3, and PLC 5
Nattional Instruments Process I/O controllers
GE 9030 / 9070 PLC
TCP/IP Generic Driver
Lantronix Terminal Server
Generalized Remote Device Connection Driver
Allen-Bradley Control Logic PLC

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Allen-Bradley Process I/O Server

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title	Software Driver

The core of the driver is provided as a C++ class that implements the initialization and communications functions. A sample process is provided which calls the appropriate class members.

The IP address, configuration information, and data areas to be read and written are passed as calling parameters to the class functions.

The following is a list of the provided driver files. After review of the example driver, the user is required to modify the files as indicated:

File Name

Description

Modifications

ABPlc.cpp

Driver mainline function

Modify configuration class calls for specific PLC configuration. Modify locations to read and write data. Modify input and output datagram structure definition

ABPlcIn.cpp

ABPlc driver initialization

Insert required global common areas.

PlcUsr.cpp

Process received values from PLC datagram and place in user data variables.

Get application variables and store in datagra for transmission to PLC

Change as required

TpriABPlc Class Descriptions

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title	Overview

The Tsentry tpriABPlc class encapsulates the functionality required to communicate with the Allen Bradley PLC 2, PLC3, and PLC5 PLCs over a TCP/IP network.

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title	Process Driver Mainline

Some comments on the driver program below:

This test program, on each expiration of the process timer, writes a single block of data to the PLC and then reads a single block of data. This sequence, the number of reads and writes, their addresses, and the sizes of the blocks can be modified to fit the requirements of the application.
PlcUsr and the ‘datagram’ structures they reference should be modified as required to reference appropriate variables in application variables for transfer between the PLC and the control system.
A sample driver is provided in the examples subdirectories of the standard Tsentry distribution

National Instruments Process I/O Driver

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title	Capabilities

Handles National Instruments E-Series Boards
Direct program control over all I/O
Process I/O includes
- 12-bit A/I channels
- 12-bit A/O channels
- Digital Inputs
- Digital Outputs
High Speed bus access
- A/I at 300KHZ sample rate
Software implemented as a C++ Class
Capable of running 1ms Input and Output scan rep rates

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title	Software Driver

The core of the driver is provided as a C++ class which implements the initialization and communications functions. A sample process is provided which calls the appropriate class members.

The IP address, configuration, and data areas to be read and written are passed as calling parameters to the class functions.

The following is a list of the provided driver files. After review of the example driver, the user is required to modify the files as indicated:

File Name	Description	Modifications
GePlcDrv.cpp	Driver mainline function	Insert required global common areas. Modify register files and values are required. Modify inout and output datagram structure definition
PlcUsrInput.cpp	Process received values from PLC datagram and place in user data variables	Change as required
PlcUsrOutput.cpp	Get application variables and store in datagra for transmission to PLC	Change as required

GELPC Class Descriptions

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Info
The Tsentry GePlc class encapsulates the functionality required to communicate with the GE PLC (9030 and 9070) over a TCP/IP network.

The following public member functions are provided as part of the tpriGePlc class:

tpriGePlc *pGePlc = new tpriGePlc;
- Allocate a new tpriGePlc object

destroy (tpriGePlc *)pGePlc();
- Destroy the tpriGePlc class object.

int Init (char *piffile, char *tplcIpAddr, unsigned short tPortNo,

long cTimeOut, long sTimeOut, long rTimeOut);

where:

char *piffile = initialization file name (currently not supported) = NULL

char *tplcIpAddr = IP address of the PLC in xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx format

unsigned short tPortNo = port (service) number of the TCP support in the GE PLC. This value is normally fised at 18245 by GE.

long cTimeOut = Connection timeout value in milliseconds

long sTimeOut = Send message timeout value in milliseconds

long rTimeOut = receive message timeout value in milliseconds

This function stores parameter values for use by the member functions of the class

int Connect ();
- Connect (using TCP/IP) to the PLC and open an application connection

int Write (char *seg, int ref, int size, int bMode, unsigned char *buffer);

where

char *seg = segment (plc memory area) type

“R” = register variable

"L" = Local Data Table (%L)

"P" = Program Data Table (%P)

"R" = Register Table (%R)

"AI" = Analog Input Table (%AI)

"AQ" = Analog Output Table (%AQ)

"I" = Discrete Input Table, byte mode (%I)

"Q" = Discrete Output Table, byte mode (%Q)

"T" = Discrete Temporary Table, byte mode (%T)

"M" = Discrete Internal Table, byte mode (%M)

"SA" = Discrete System A Table, byte mode (%SA)

"SB" = Discrete System B Table, byte mode (%SB)

"SC" = Discrete System C Table, byte mode (%SC)

"S" = Discrete System D Table, byte mode (%S)

"G" = Genius Global Data Table, byte mode (%G)

"GA" = Genius Global Data Table, byte mode (%GA)

int ref = 1^st variable within segment to transfer (beginning of table = 1)

int size = size of transfer in number of words, bytes or bits (see bmode)

int bmode = units size;

0 = words or bytes,

1 = bits

unsigned char *buffer = pointer to application program data buffer

This function writes an application buffer to the PLC

int Read (char *seg, int ref, int size, int bMode, unsigned char *buffer);

where

char *seg = segment (plc memory area) type

See definitions in the Write function

int ref = 1^st variable within segment to transfer (beginning of table = 1)

int size = size of transfer in native units (words, bytes or bits) see bmode

int bmode = transfer unit size; 0 = words or bytes, 1 = bits

unsigned char *buffer = pointer to application program data buffer

This function reads an application buffer from the PLC

int getSrpErrorCode();

Return an integer equal to the last SRTP (GE PLC protocol) error code

int Is_Connect ();

Return an integer that indicates whether the application has an open connection with the GE PLC

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TpriModPlc Class Descriptions

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title	Overview

The Tsentry tpriModPlc class encapsulates the functionality required to communicate with the Modicon Quantum PLCs over a TCP/IP network.

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title	Class Inferface

The following public member functions are provided as part of the tpriModPlc class:

tpriModPlc *pModPlc = new tpriModPlc;

Allocate a new tpriModPlc object

destroy (tpriModPlc *)pModPlc();

Destroy the tpriModPlc class object.

int SetTraceLevel (int TraceLevel);

where:

int TraceLevel = debug trace level for class operations

default value = 30

valid values range between 0 and 100, inclusive

lower values produce less debug information

higher values produce more debug information

debug information written using LogMsg function

This function stores a new value for the TraceLevel parameter

int SetTimeOut (int sTimeOut, int rTimeOut, unsigned char ticktime,

unsigned char timeoutticks, unsigned char timeoutmultiplier,

unsigned long otrpi, unsigned long torpi );

where:

int sTimeOut = Send message timeout value in milliseconds

Default value = 2000

int rTimeOut = receive message timeout value in milliseconds

Default value = 2000

This function stores timeout parameter values for use by the member functions of the class

int int SetDestinationInfo(unsigned char destID);

where:

unsigned short vendorid = Destination ID

default value = 1

This function stores new values for the Destination ID

int SetPduMaxIoDataBytes (int noBytes);

where:

int noBytes = the maximum number of data bytes that will be placed in a single PDU

default value = 125

a PDU is a protocol Data Unit and is equivalent to a single Ethernet frame

valid values range between 2 and 125, inclusive

lower values may produce more frames to transfer the same user data

higher values may produce fewer frames to transfer the same user data

This function sets a new value for the maximum number of user data bytes to be included in a single Ethernet frame (PDU) that is transmitted to the PLC. A value too low will increase the number of Ethernet frames that will be required to send a given number of user data bytes and reduce throughput. A number too high will not be understood or acknowledged by the PLC.

int Connect (char *hostname, short int port);

where:

char *hostname = host name, or

IP addresses expressed as a character string

short int port = TCP/IP port number

This function establishes a connection between the computer system and the Modicon PLC

int Disconnect ();

This function breaks a connection between the computer system and the Modicon PLC

int read4x (int offset, int noElements, void *buf);

where:

int offset = PLC memory offset in 16 bit words from which to read data

int noElements = number of 16 bit integer data elements to read

void *buf = address of user supplied data buffer

This function reads a single data block of 16 bit integers values from the PLC user register memory starting at ‘offset’ words from 40000 and stores the results in a user defined buffer

int writ4x (int offset, int noElements, void *buf);

where:

int offset = PLC memory offset in 16 bit words from which to write data

int noElements = number of 16 bit integer data elements to write

void *buf = address of user supplied data buffer

This function writes a single block of user supplied 16 bit data words to the PLC user register memory starting at ‘offset’ words after 40000

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title	Process Driver Mainline

Some comments on the driver program follow:

This test program, on each expiration of the process timer, writes a single block of data to the PLC and then reads a single block of data. This sequence, the number of reads and writes, their addresses, and the sizes of the blocks can be modified to fit the requirements of the application.

PlcUsr and the ‘datagram’ structures they reference should be modified as required to reference appropriate variables in application variables for transfer between the PLC and the control system.

A sample driver is provided in the examples subdirectories of the standard Tsentry distribution.

VMIC Reflective Memory Driver

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title	Capabilities

This driver provides an interface to an internal VMIC reflective memory card. It manages both reading and writing variables to the card’s onboard memory, which the card automatically synchronizes with all other cards on the optical network. The driver supports the following:

Operation in both Win32 and RTSS environment
Support for both VMICPCI-5576 and VMICPCI-5579 cards
Ini file configuration of read and write variable transfers

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title	VMIC Card Configuration

There is no specific card configuration required for the VMIC reflective memory driver. Simply put the card into an empty full-length PCI slot, and the software driver manages the rest.

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title	Configuration File

The VMIC driver is configured by a flat ASCII file divided into [Sections]. The following sections are required in this file:

[General]

This section defines general parameters for the VMIC device. The parameters are specified in the standard Key=Value pair format.

DeviceIdx=1

Defines the device index of the card you wish to use. By default this value is 1, and unless you have more than one VMIC card, this parameter is not needed.

DeviceType=PCI-5576

Defines the card type that you wish to use. Supported values are ‘PCI-5576’ and ‘PCI-5579’ (no quotes). If this parameter is not specified, the driver will search for the first supported device that it can find.

ChkOverlap=0

This optional flag sets whether or not the driver will check your variable list to make sure that no two variables overlap one another in the VMIC memory buffer. For instance, two variables may mistakenly both be configured to write to the same bytes on the card. If this flag is set the driver will detect this overlap and fail to initialize. A message will be logged to the console to indicate the offending variables, and the ini file will need to be corrected before the driver will work. By default this option is enabled; set the flag to 0 to turn it off.

IODescFile=d:\MyIODesc.txt

This optional parameter specifies an output text file to which the VMIC driver will write a complete description of all variables and their associated offsets into the VMIC reflective memory buffer. This is particularly useful when transferring entire structures and you want to know the offsets for each of the constituent variables contained in those structures.

[VarDef]

This section defines all variables that are to be read from or written to the reflective memory segment. Each line in this section defines a single variable in a set of whitespace-delimited fields:

#Variable Name	#Read/Write	#Offset	#RemoteType
MyWriteStruct.MyWriteVar	W	0x1000
MyReadStruct.MyReadVar	R	0x2000	VT_I2

Empty lines or lines beginning with the ‘#’ symbol are ignored.

The fields for each variable are:

#VariableName

The variable name within the TSENTRY data dictionary (identical to that used by Probe, etc.). Besides individual variables, entire arrays or structures may also be specified.

#Read/Write

Flag specifying whether the variable is to be read from the card (R) or written to the card (W).

#Offset

Offset into the VMIC onboard memory where this variable is to be read from or written to. This value can be specified in hex with the ‘0x’ prefix or in decimal. The data will be reflected in the memory of all other VMIC cards in the ring at this same offset. Note that offsets 0x00-0x3F are reserved for use by the VMIC card and cannot be used for reflected data.

#RemoteType

Optional parameter used if the data on the card should be interpreted in a format different from that inside the PC’s internal memory. Typically this is used if the internal variable is a 4-byte integer but should be read/written as a 2-byte integer. This parameter applies only if an individual variable is specified; it will not automatically convert arrays or elements inside of structures. The following remote types are supported:

VT_I1 1-byte integer (C/C++ character)

VT_I2 2-byte integer (C/C++ short)

VT_I4 4-byte integer (C/C++ long)

VT_I8 8-byte integer (C/C++ __int64)

VT_R4 1-byte integer (C/C++ float)

VT_R8 1-byte integer (C/C++ double)

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title	Class Interface

The following public member functions are provided as part of the tpriVmic class:

tpriVmic::tpriVmic()
- Constructor for the VMIC driver object.
tpriVmic::~tpriVmic()
- Destructor for the VMIC driver object.
int tpriVmic:: initDrv(char *fileName)
Initialize the VMIC driver with the specified ini file.
- Inputs:
  char * fileName Configuration file name.
- Return value:
  Zero indicates success, non-zero indicates failure.
int tpriVmic::writeIODesc()
Write the I/O decription table to the specified file on disk.
- Inputs:
  char * fileName Output file name.
- Return value:
  Zero indicates success, non-zero indicates failure.
int tpriVmic::runDrv()
Run the VMIC driver state machine. This function should be called iteratively in the main loop of the driver process.
- Return value:
  Zero indicates success, non-zero indicates failure.

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title	Process Driver Mainline

A sample driver is provided in the examples subdirectories of the standard TSENTRY distribution.

Versions Compared

Old Version 7

New Version Current

Key

Allen-Bradley Process I/O Server

TpriABPlc Class Descriptions

National Instruments Process I/O Driver

GELPC Class Descriptions

TpriModPlc Class Descriptions

VMIC Reflective Memory Driver

Page Comparison

Versions Compared

Old Version 7

New Version Current

Key

Allen-Bradley Process I/O Server

TpriABPlc Class Descriptions

National Instruments Process I/O Driver

GELPC Class Descriptions

TpriModPlc Class Descriptions

VMIC Reflective Memory Driver