Black Box Geh 6510 Users Manual PMCS 6.10 DDE Server User's Guide

GEH-6510 to the manual 5364aca6-216e-4dab-89aa-9f71f1bb4278

2015-02-02

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DDE Server User’s Guide •
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• i
POWER LEADER TM
PMCS Network and Device
Configurator
DDE Server User’s Guide
GEH-6510
GE Power Management Control System 6.11a
ii •
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•DDE Server User’s Guide
Notice
The information contained in this document is subject to change without notice. GE makes no warranty of any
kind with regard to this material, including, but not limited to, the implied warranties of merchantability and
fitness for a particular purpose. GE shall not be liable for errors contained herein or incidental consequential
damages in connection with the furnishing, performance, or use of this material.
This document contains proprietary information, which is protected by copyright. All rights are reserved. No
part of this document may be photocopied or otherwise reproduced without consent of GE.
Copyright ©2001-2002 by GE
Published in a limited copyright sense and all rights, including trade secrets, are reserved.
Document Edition - First 4/96
Second 4/97
Third 1/98
Fourth 5/98
Fifth 4/99
Sixth 7/99
Seventh 3/00
Eighth 10/00
Ninth 02/01
Tenth 06/01
Eleventh 07/01
Twelfth 01/02
Thirteenth 03/02
The following are products of General Electric Company:
POWER LEADERTM Meter Power Quality Meter (PQM) GE Fanuc Series 90/30 PLC
POWER LEADER Modbus Monitor 239 Motor Protection Relay GE Fanuc Series 90/70 PLC
POWER LEADER Electronic Power
Meter
269 Plus Motor Management Relay GE Fanuc MicroPLC
Spectra MicroVersaTrip SR469 Motor Management Relay EPM 3710 Electronic Power Meter
Enhanced MicroVersaTrip-C SR489 Generator Management Relay EPM 3720 Electronic Power Meter
Enhanced MicroVersaTrip-D 565 Feeder Management Relay EPM 7300 Electronic Power Meter
MDP Overcurrent Relay 735 Feeder Relay EPM 7700 Electronic Power Meter
SR745 Transformer Management Relay EPM5300P (DMMS300)/EPM5200P
(DMMS425)
Spectra Electronic Control Module SR750 Feeder Management Relay EPM9450Q/EPM9650Q(Nexus1250)
Universal Relay devices SR760 Feeder Management Relay EPM7330 Electronic Power Meter
369 Motor Management Relay Motor Manager II (MMII)
GE-Zenith MX200 (Microprocessor
Controller)
GE-Zenith Generator PLC (Series 90-70)
EPM5350P(DMMS350) EPM5000P(DMWH300)
EPM7430D/EPM7450D(Futura)
Multilin 269+ Motor Management Relay® is a registered trademark of Multilin Inc., and Multilin SR489
Generator Management Relay™ and Multilin SR745 Transformer Management Relay™ are trademarks of
Multilin Inc. Microsoft, Microsoft Excel, and Microsoft PowerPoint are registered trademarks, and Windows
2000 SP2 is a trademark of Microsoft Corporation.
US Pat Nos 5,768,148; 5,764,155; 5,862,391
DDE Server User’s Guide •
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Back to Main Menu
Contents
Chapter One - Introduction 1
Welcome....................................................................................................................................1
About DDE ................................................................................................................................ 2
About NetDDE ..........................................................................................................................2
About the PMCS DDE Server ...................................................................................................3
Installation .................................................................................................................................3
Running PMCS DDE Server as an NT Service ........................................................... 5
Chapter Two - Overview 7
About PMCS.............................................................................................................................. 7
Devices ......................................................................................................................................9
Networks..................................................................................................................................10
PMCS DDE Server .................................................................................................................. 10
Client Applications ..................................................................................................................10
What’s Next ............................................................................................................................. 10
Chapter Three - Getting Started 11
Introduction..............................................................................................................................11
First-Time Configuration ......................................................................................................... 11
Communication Ports ................................................................................................ 11
Device Configuration.................................................................................................11
Launching the Program............................................................................................................ 12
What’s on the DDE Server Screen?......................................................................................... 12
Menu Bar .................................................................................................................................13
Menu Conventions.....................................................................................................13
Configuring Communication ports...........................................................................................14
Configuring the Devices .......................................................................................................... 19
Starting the Server ...................................................................................................................21
Displaying I/O Traffic.............................................................................................................. 22
NetDDE Setup .........................................................................................................................24
Automatic NetDDE Setup: VNDDE.EXE................................................................. 25
Manual NetDDE Setup.............................................................................................. 27
Chapter Four - Menus and Toolbars 33
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System Menu............................................................................................................................33
Server Menu.............................................................................................................................34
Run ............................................................................................................................34
Stop............................................................................................................................34
Suspend Protocol/Resume Protocol...........................................................................35
Print I/O Traffic.........................................................................................................35
Exit ............................................................................................................................35
View Menu...............................................................................................................................35
I/O Traffic Display ....................................................................................................36
Clear Display .............................................................................................................38
Save Display To File .................................................................................................39
Port Statistics .............................................................................................................39
Configuration.............................................................................................................39
Configure Menu.......................................................................................................................39
Configure ...................................................................................................................40
Generic Comm Interface............................................................................................50
Reports Menu...........................................................................................................................52
Configuration.............................................................................................................52
Active Links...............................................................................................................52
Help Menu ...............................................................................................................................53
Toolbar.....................................................................................................................................53
Chapter Five - Troubleshooting 54
Trouble-Shooting the PMCS DDE Server ...............................................................................54
WWLogger ................................................................................................................54
Communications – Client to Server .........................................................................................55
Communications – Server to Device........................................................................................56
NetDDE Trouble-Shooting ......................................................................................................57
Trouble-Shooting Flowchart ....................................................................................................58
Trouble-Shooting Chart ...........................................................................................................59
Error Messages ........................................................................................................................59
Chapter Six - Advanced Options 66
Warning ...................................................................................................................................66
Device Type Information – Adding Generic Devices..............................................................66
Add Default Type ......................................................................................................67
Delete.........................................................................................................................67
Function Codes ..........................................................................................................68
Register Map..............................................................................................................69
Mnemonics ................................................................................................................74
Optimizing Server Performance...............................................................................................76
Server Operational Parameters ..................................................................................76
PMCS DDE Server .ini File.......................................................................................77
Appendix A – Register Addressing Conventions 80
Data-Addressing Conventions..................................................................................................80
Standard Data Organization.......................................................................................81
Special Naming Conventions.....................................................................................82
Register Array Format ...............................................................................................84
Glossary of Terms 87
Terms You Should Know.........................................................................................................87
Index 89
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DDE Server User’s Guide Chapter One - Introduction •
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Chapter One - Introduction
Welcome
The PMCS Network and Device Configurator with DDE Server is the heart of a
POWER LEADERTM Power Management Control System (PMCS), a tool that helps
you increase productivity, reduce downtime, and improve power quality by
automatically collecting the wealth of data available from devices in your power
network. You select data to monitor and configure the PMCS DDE Server to
communicate with the selected devices in your system. The PMCS DDE Server
collects the requested data and supplies it to your choice of software applications for
analysis and trending.
The information gathered by the PMCS DDE Server, when analyzed by the
appropriate client software, provides you with the following benefits:
• Improved power quality — Identify sources of “dirty” power,
otherwise invisible, and take corrective action to save wear, tear, and
possible damage to critical equipment.
• Faster corrective maintenance — Quickly pinpoint the root causes of
problems using time-stamped alarms and event-sequence logs.
• Higher productivity — Free up maintenance and repair personnel to
perform other duties.
• Less downtime — Identify and correct problems before they lead to
loss of power and/or costly damage to loads such as production
equipment and computers.
• Increased safety — Provide a central source of information, reducing
the need for physical contact with equipment and shop-floor presence.
The PMCS DDE Server collects and communicates metering, status, event, and
alarm data from metering, control, and protection devices on the network to other
PMCS software tools, such as third-party HMI development tools, Event Logger, or
Waveform Capture. The data can easily be imported into spreadsheets, such as
Microsoft Excel, for analysis and presentation.
The PMCS DDE Server allows you to collect data from any PMCS-compatible
device; you can also custom-configure your own device types to accommodate
additional third-party devices.1
1 The PMCS DDE Server can be configured to collect data from any device that supports Modbus RTU register-based communications.
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About DDE
DDE is the acronym for Dynamic Data Exchange, a communications protocol that
allows independently developed Microsoft Windows 2000 SP2 programs to share
data and instructions with each other.
DDE implements a client-server relationship between two concurrently running
programs. The server application provides data and accepts requests from any other
applications interested in its data. The applications requesting the data are called
clients.
Requests for data can be of two types: one-time requests or permanent data links.
With one-time requests, the client program requests a “snapshot” of the desired data
from the server application. An example of a one-time request is a program such as
Excel running a report-generating macro. The macro opens a temporary link to
another application, requests specific data, closes the link, and uses the data to
generate the report.
Permanent data links are called hot links. When a client application sets up a hot link
to another application, it requests the server application to advise the client whenever
a specific item’s data value changes. Hot links remain active until either the client or
server program terminates the link. Hot links are an efficient means of exchanging
data because, once the link has been established, no communication occurs until the
specified data value changes.
The DDE protocol specification includes standardized formats for messages to be
exchanged between DDE-compliant applications (such as Microsoft Excel).
About NetDDE
NetDDE for Windows 2000 SP2 is an extension to DDE. With NetDDE, client
applications do not have to be running on the same PC as the DDE Server; a client
application on one PC may request data from a DDE Server operating on another PC.
Its capabilities include communication over local-area networks and through serial
ports.
Two or more networked IBM-compatible PCs running Windows 2000 SP2 are
required to run NetDDE. The version of NetDDE which is supplied with Windows
2000 SP2 is the recommended version; other versions of NetDDE are not
recommended for use with PMCS.
DDE Server User’s Guide Chapter One - Introduction •
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About the PMCS DDE Server
The PMCS Dynamic Data Exchange (DDE) Server is a Windows 2000 SP2
application that allows other Windows 2000 SP2 applications to access data from GE
devices and third-party devices.
It communicates directly with other PMCS applications, such as third-party HMI
tools, Event Logger, or Waveform Capture Module, to form a powerful and flexible
power-management system. The PMCS DDE Server acts as the bridge between
Modbus RTU or Ethernet power-management networks and DDE-compliant software
applications for display, analysis, and control.
The PMCS DDE Server application program is named GE32MODB (RS-485
Modbus RTU version), GE32MTCP (TCP/IP Modbus version) and GE32EIND (RS-
485 EI Protocol version).
The PMCS DDE Server is easy to use. It provides a Windows graphical user
interface with a toolbar and pull-down menus for quick and easy device definition,
configuration, I/O display, and report generation.
The DDE Server supports both DDE for sharing data with applications on the same
computer and NetDDE for sharing data with other computers in a local-area network
(LAN).
EI User’s only
EI is the acronym for Electro Industries, a communications serial protocol that
allows the user to talk to the EI Devices.
The PMCS EI Server application program is named GE32EIND (Serial EI Protocol).
Special Note: This server supports only two devices for time being they are
EPM7430D and EPM7450D.
Server with OPC Interfaces
DDEServer supports OPC interfaces. PMCS clients such as WFServer/ EventServer
are not OPC compliant. These servers can be used with third party software clients
which are OPC compliant.
Installation
To install the PMCS DDE Server, refer to GEH-6514 Read This Book First for
InTouch and DEH-211 Read This Book First for Cimplicity, which contains
installation procedures for all POWER LEADERTM system and application software
packages. This guide accompanied the PMCS software package, and is also
contained (as a PDF file) on the PMCS software installation CD-ROM.
Installing the PMCS Network and Device Configurator software creates the
following directory in the root directory of the specified drive:
\ge_pmcs\server\ (for Modbus version of the DDE Server)
\ge_pmcs\ge32mtcp\ (for Modbus TCP/IP version of the DDE Server)
\ge_pmcs\ge32eind\ (for Electro Industries Server)
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Although you do not need to know the directory structure to use the PMCS DDE
Server, you should know where the files are located on your hard drives so that you
do not accidentally move or erase them.
DDE Server User’s Guide Chapter One - Introduction •
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Running PMCS DDE Server as an NT Service
The DDE Server (as well as other PMCS Servers such as Event Server and
Waveform Server) can be set to run as an NT Service, rather than as an application.
Running the DDE Server as an NT Service requires more skill as a Windows 2000
SP2 system administrator, but does provide two advantages:
1. Logging off the machine does not hinder the DDE Server's ability to collect from
devices or distribute data to client applications, since NT Services continue to
run even when the machine is logged off.
2. A measure of enhanced security is provided, since the ability to stop and start
applications is restricted to users with Administrator-level privileges.
When installed as NT Services, PMCS Servers can only be started or stopped using
Windows 2000 SP2's Services control panel. Typically, the applications launch when
the system is powered up, and continue to run "behind the scenes" until stopped by
an Administrator or the machine is shut down. All the usual ways (such as the Close
button in the upper right corner of the window and the File: Exit command) to exit
the programs are disabled when run as a Service.
If you wish to run the PMCS DDE Server as an NT Service, this option must be
selected during the PMCS installation. See GEH-6514 Read This Book First for
InTouch and DEH-211 Read This Book First for Cimplicity. It should be noted,
however, that not all HMI software is fully compatible with NetDDE when running
as an NT Service; please check the PMCS software Release Notes for details.
DDE Server User’s Guide Chapter Two - Overview •
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Chapter Two - Overview
About PMCS
GE’s Power Management Control System consists of four basic parts: the power-
management devices, the network connecting the devices to the host, the PMCS DDE
Server software, and the client applications. This section provides an overview of the
parts and their functions.
Three versions of the PMCS DDE Server are available; one version runs on an RS-
485 Modbus RTU-based host PC, other versions run on Ethernet TCP/IP-based host
PCs. The power-management devices supported by PMCS are Modbus based (or
commnet devices integrated with Modbus via the POWER LEADERTM Modbus
Concentrator). ). Subsequently, the two PMCS DDE Servers are Modbus-based and
one is EI protocol based.
The two versions permit PMCS communications to Modbus-based devices using 1)
RS-485, or an Ethernet EPM 7700 Xpress card or XPLEX 1620 Max Server and 2)
Modbus TCP/IP and one version on EI protocol based devices using RS-485.
An illustration of the three versions is shown in the following figures.
Figure 1. PMCS DDE Server: Modbus RS485 and TCP/IP configurations.
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Figure 2. PMCS DDE Server: EI Protocol RS-485 configurations.
The differences between the three versions of the Server are minor and, except where
noted the software is functionally identical. The Modbus-host version of the PMCS
DDE Server is the focus in this document; differences in the TCP/IP versions are
noted when present. The Modbus version of the server may be used to service local
RS-485 ports directly from the host PC, as well as remote serial ports accessed via
the Ethernet Gateway over TCP/IP communications. Another variant of the DDE
server works in the same way as the Modbus RS-485 DDE server on EI Protocol.
In the interest of brevity, we’ll refer to the PMCS Network and Device Configurator
with DDE Server as “the PMCS DDE Server” or simply “the Server” – be aware that
this document describes only the PMCS DDE Server. The information herein is not
intended to apply to other DDE servers.
DDE Server User’s Guide Chapter Two - Overview •
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Devices
Power-management devices are primarily measurement devices – they measure a
wide variety of power-related data or control data describing what is happening at a
device. This data can be read remotely (over a network) by power-management
software, such as the PMCS DDE Server.
The data read by these devices is stored in registers, which are special, defined spots
in the device’s memory. A list of these registers and their contents is called a register
map. Figure 3 is an illustration of a register map. A client sends a request to the
Server for data from a particular device. The Server knows the register map of the
device and requests the register block containing the requested data.
PMCS
DDE Server
POWER LEADER EPM
Register Map
1010
1076
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
DDE client application
Current Phase A: ___
Voltage Phase A: ___
DDE client application
Ground Fault Trips Count: ___
Number of Operations: ___
1056
1061
Enhanced MicroVersaTrip
Register Map
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
Figure 3. Sample register map.
The register maps for each device are programmed into the PMCS DDE Server. The
Server is then able to transform a client application’s request for “kilowatt hours at
North_Meter” into a request sent to that specific device for the contents of a specific
register; the client doesn’t need to know which register contains what information,
merely what information is needed from which device. The PMCS DDE Server takes
care of the details, and after a request for data has been placed, the Server continues
to monitor that data from the particular device, updating the client application with
any changes to the data.
The register maps of the POWER LEADERTM family of devices and a variety of
other devices are pre-configured in the Server. If you wish to use a device whose
register map is not pre-configured, you need to supply the appropriate register
information to the Server so it will know where in the device’s memory to get the
information you are requesting. We’ll refer to these as generic devices since we don’t
know what they might be. Defining new device types is detailed in Chapter 6,
Advanced Options.
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Networks
The network consists of an interface at the host PC and the cables connecting the
various devices to the host. There are physical requirements and limitations to the
networks, which are explained in GEH-6502, POWER LEADER Network
Architecture Guide.
PMCS DDE Server
The PMCS DDE Server has two basic functions: it collects data from attached
devices and it provides data to client applications (both on the host PC and on
networked PCs).
The PMCS DDE Server keeps track of the devices attached to the PMCS networks,
listens for requests for data from client applications, and, at specified intervals, polls
the requested data from the appropriate devices and reports it back to the clients. The
Server does not continuously poll all data from each device unless it is told to do so;
to do this would require enormous network bandwidth and result in degraded
performance. Instead, the PMCS DDE Server retrieves only the specific data that
client applications have requested.
Client Applications
Client applications request specific data from the PMCS DDE Server and then
provide calculations, trending, and display of the data on screen and/or printer.
Various client applications are available to serve different needs. Event Logger,
Waveform Capture, and Cost Allocation are just a few of the applications that are
fully optimized for PMCS.
Any DDE-compliant application can request data from the PMCS DDE Server by
initiating a “conversation” with the server and providing the correct information
phrased in DDE format – i.e., what data from which device.
A common example of a DDE-compliant application used to analyze data from the
PMCS DDE Server is Microsoft Excel, which provides data manipulation and
analysis tools. However, any DDE-compliant application may retrieve from the
PMCS DDE Server. For instance, a presentation on the power consumption at an
industrial facility might be created using Microsoft PowerPoint, charting power
consumption data requested from the PMCS DDE Server.
What’s Next
You’ve now learned about the four major parts of PMCS – next you’ll learn how to
configure your PMCS DDE Server.
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Chapter Three - Getting Started
Introduction
In this chapter, we’ll explain how to configure the PMCS DDE Server for use:
starting the software, understanding what’s on the screen, setting it up for
communications, and telling it what devices are connected and how to communicate
with them.
This chapter is a functional tutorial rather than a comprehensive reference. Chapter 4,
Menus and Toolbars, provides in-depth descriptions of the menus and each function
available.
This manual also assumes that the hardware side of the PMCS network has been set
up and wired correctly, and that the host PC that PMCS will run on has been properly
connected to the network.
First-Time Configuration
As we mentioned in Chapter 2, the PMCS DDE Server collects data from devices
connected across a network. We’ll have to set up our Server to communicate
correctly with the network and recognize the devices we’ve attached.
First-time configuration involves two basic procedures: setting up communication
ports and then configuring devices. We’ll provide examples of each procedure.
Communication Ports
You must identify the communication settings for each of the Server’s
communication ports: baud rates, parity, stop bits, etc. This permits the Server to
communicate correctly with the attached networks. (Note for Ethernet users:
configuration of Ethernet communications is slightly different and will be covered
later in the document.)
Device Configuration
Here you’ll be telling the PMCS DDE Server the specific devices that are connected
to the network by defining topics for the Server to look at. A topic consists of a
device name, the number of the communication port the device is connected to, the
Modbus address of the device, the device type, and related scan-interval information.
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After this information is entered into the Server, the Server knows which data you
want, how often you want it, and where to get it.
Launching the Program
First, let’s launch the program. To start the PMCS DDE Server, open the GE PMCS
program group in Windows. The PMCS DDE Server program icon (Modbus version)
is shown below. The icon for other versions of the PMCS DDE Server software is
identical with the exception of the application name, which may be GE32MTCP or
GE32EIND, depending on your particular network configuration. Double-click on
the icon to start the PMCS DDE Server program.
GE32MODB
If your PMCS components are configured as NT services, they can only be started
and stopped by the Windows Service Control Manager, and the program files will not
appear in the Windows Start menu.. By default they will be configured to launch
automatically, and in the correct sequence when the computer is turned on. PMCS
components must be setup to start in the following sequence: DDE server(s),
followed by Waveform servers (if installed), and finally, the EventServer (if
installed). The PMCS installation program configures dependencies among the
PMCS applications to ensure the correct startup sequence, and configures the
components to automatically start.
What’s on the DDE Server Screen?
Now that the software is up and running, you should find yourself looking at the
PMCS DDE Server main window:
This main window is your initial view of the program. It offers two sets of
navigational and operational controls, the menu bar and the tool bar:
• Menu bar — Located directly beneath the window’s title bar. You can
access these pull-down items with the mouse or by mnemonic
keystrokes.
DDE Server User’s Guide Chapter Three - Getting Started •
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• Toolbar — Located beneath the menu bar. These control buttons
provide point-and-click access to commonly used controls.
These controls are discussed in more detail in the following sections.
Where applicable, Help icons appear below the cursor and in the status line (box at
the bottom of the main window). These prompt an action or describe an object when
the cursor “lingers” over an object.
Menu Bar
The PMCS DDE Server main window contains five pull-down menus: Server, View,
Configure, Reports, and Help, as well as the standard Windows system menu.
Complete explanations of the menus and their options are provided in Chapter 4.
Menu Conventions
Several standard buttons such as OK and Cancel are used in many dialog boxes
throughout the software. You should be familiar with the general use and function of
such buttons from experience with Windows software. Rather than repeat their
definitions in each place where they occur, the following definitions apply globally.
In general, only buttons having unique or important functions in a particular dialog
box are described in the text.
Click this button to confirm any changes made in a particular
dialog box or to confirm a selection from a list. The button may
be dimmed if no changes have been made or nothing has been
selected.
Clicking this button cancels a selection, closes the dialog box,
and returns to the previous dialog box or level.
Click this button to access the Help topic for the current dialog
box.
Similar to OK. Click on this button to finish selection and close
the dialog box.
Creates a new selection, perhaps a new topic (device), and
usually opens a dialog box with various parameters that need to
be defined.
Usually opens a dialog box regarding the current selection,
showing various parameters which may be modified.
Deletes the current selection.
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Configuring Communication ports
NOTE: If your host is running on an Ethernet (TCP/IP) platform, see the Ethernet
Users Only note at the end of this section.
The software (Modbus version) supports up to 256 RS-485 ports. The number
actually supported by your hardware depends on your RS-485 interface – see GEH-
6502, POWER LEADER Network Architecture Guide, for details. We refer to these
communication ports as “comm ports” in the documentation.
NOTE: The 256 ports supported by the Modbus version of the PMCS DDE Server
are automatically assigned to logical ports 1 through 256. Other configurations, such
as 3 through 8 are not allowed. It is therefore necessary to disable COM1 and COM2
in the host PC’s CMOS setup (typically assigned to RS-232 ports) in order to assign
COM1 and COM2 to RS-485 ports. Do not disable COM1 and COM2 if using an
external RS-232/RS-485 converter box (such as the Multilin interface converter).
For this example, we’ll assume that the RS-485 interface is an eight-port RS-485
card. If your situation is different, follow the example and adjust your procedures
accordingly.
Step 1. Click on the Configure pull-down menu and select Configure.
Now you should be looking at the Configuration dialog box, with several options.
DDE Server User’s Guide Chapter Three - Getting Started •
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We want to configure communication ports, so click on the Ports button.
This brings up the Communication Port Configuration dialog box:
Step 2. Select the communication port to configure from the Com Port pull-down
list at the top of the dialog box.
Step 3. Select the appropriate radio button for each of the communication settings:
Parity, Stop Bits and Baud Rate. The default settings are shown. Typically, only the
baud rate need be changed to match the baud rate of the devices connected to the
comm port. The rest of the communication settings are fairly standard. Refer to the
user manuals of the individual devices to be sure the communication settings match.
Step 4. Click on OK – we’re back at the Configure dialog box.
That’s it; you now know how to configure a communication port. Go ahead and
configure any other communication ports that will be used, following the procedure
above.
Hint: You don’t need to leave the Communication Port Configuration dialog box to
configure multiple ports. Select a port from the pull-down list, make your changes,
then you can select another port from the pull-down list and configure it as well.
Configure as many ports as you need to, then click OK to save your changes and
return to the Configure dialog box.
Ethernet Users Only:
EPM 7700 Xpress Card or XPLEX 1620 Max Server Users
If your host software is running on an Ethernet-based PC, you may be using a special
hardware gateway to communicate to your RS-485 ports This extra layer of hardware
entails some minor differences in the configuration software, specifically in the Ports
dialog boxes. These differences are explained below.
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Clicking on the Ports button in the Ethernet version of the software displays a
slightly different Port Configuration dialog box:
Because the ports are not part of the host PC hardware, they are considered virtual
ports. A virtual port refers to a single RS-485 port on a particular hardware gateway.
The Configured Virtual Ports box lists all the virtual ports available to be configured
with proper Ethernet addressing information and port number. The virtual ports are
named NetCOM1 through NetCOM256; these names cannot be altered.
To change the characteristics of a previously configured port, select it and click
Modify. Select an existing port and click Delete to delete the configuration
information for a virtual port.
Clicking on Add displays the Add Virtual Port dialog box, shown below. (Clicking
on Modify brings up the same dialog box with the selected port’s characteristics
displayed for your review and/or modification. Also, the Virtual Port selection pull-
down list is disabled in the Modify command.)
DDE Server User’s Guide Chapter Three - Getting Started •
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Type a valid IP address into the IP Address field. This is the address of the hardware
gateway servicing your serial devices. Enter an appropriate port number in the TCP
Port field. This is specific to the hardware gateway configuration and determines
which gateway serial port that Modbus messages will be routed to. In the example
graphic, 7802 indicates the COM2 serial port on an EPM 7700 Xpress Card.
Click OK to accept the settings and return to the main server configuration dialog.
Modbus TCP/IP Server Users
If your host software is running on an Ethernet-based PC, you may use the PMCS
Modbus TCP/IP DDE Server software application to communicate directly to
devices that are compatible with the Modicon Modbus TCP/IP standard. This version
of DDE server also supports 256 TCP ports. This communication server entails some
special configuration specifically in the Ports dialog boxes. These differences are
explained below.
Clicking on the Ports button in the GE32MTCP version of the software displays a
Port Configuration dialog box:
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The Configured Virtual Ports box lists all the ports available to be configured with
proper Ethernet addressing information. Each port represents a physical device on the
Ethernet network. The ports are named NetCOM1 through NetCOM256; these names
cannot be altered.
To change the characteristics of a previously configured port, select it and click
Modify. Select an existing port and click Delete to delete the configuration
information for a virtual port.
Clicking on Add displays the Add Virtual Port dialog box, shown below. (Clicking
on Modify brings up the same dialog box with the selected port’s characteristics
displayed for your review and/or modification. Also, the Virtual Port selection pull-
down list is disabled in the Modify command.)
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Type a valid IP address into the IP Address field. This is the network address of the
device to which you are assigning a port.
Click OK to accept the settings and return to the main server configuration dialog.
With the exception of the Ports dialog boxes and some information in the Trouble-
Shooting section, this GE32MTCP version of the PMCS DDE Server software is
functionally identical to the Modbus version. Follow the remaining instructions
without regard to which version of the software you are using.
Configuring the Devices
Our PMCS DDE Server now knows which networks are available and the
communication settings it should use for each one. To communicate with the devices
on these networks, the PMCS DDE Server also needs to know what kind of device
they are and where to find them.
A good analogy might be getting phone service. Once the line (network) is installed
(configured), we’re capable of communications, but until we know what number
(network address) to dial, we don’t know how to reach anyone. Likewise, if we don’t
know who (what kind of device) to expect on the other end, it doesn’t do us much
good to place a call even if we know the number (address). We might want to reach
our GE sales rep but call home instead.
We’ll have to let the PMCS DDE Server know the addresses of each device in the
network.
From the Configuration dialog box, click on the Device Info button.
This will bring us to the Device Configuration dialog box.
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Because this is our first foray into device setup, there will be no devices listed in the
Configured Devices box (the example above shows a few devices already
configured – they won’t appear in your dialog box.) Let’s configure our first device.
Step 1. Click on the Add button. This will display the Add Device Configuration
dialog box:
Complete the fields as described below:
Device Name
(Topic)
Fill in a device name here – not the product name, but the name by
which you know the device. This can be as descriptive or imaginative
as you’d like: Freds_Brkr, Trip_Unit_1, or Panel3_Brker1_TripA are
all acceptable. The name should be as clear, concise, and descriptive
as possible.
This will be the topic name referenced from client applications. (If
you are not familiar with what a topic is, see the Device Info section
of Chapter 4, Menus and Toolbars, for an explanation.) This name
must be unique, must begin with an alphabetic character, be no more
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than 20 characters long (8 characters if used with a third-party HMI
client). Only alphanumeric characters and underscores are permitted;
the topic name cannot include spaces or special characters, such as: +
* / /, ? () “ ‘.
Com Port This pull-down menu lists the configured communication ports.
Select the comm port to which this device is attached. If you don’t
see the correct port listed, it was not configured properly in the
previous section. Double-check your port configuration and try again.
Device Type Select the type of device from this pull-down menu, such as POWER
LEADER EPM (PLEPM). This tells the DDE Server what kind of
register map to expect for this device. (Details of PMCS device
register maps can be found in GEH-6509, the PMCS DDE Server
Interface Reference.)
Slave Add Enter the device’s Modbus address. This tells the PMCS DDE Server
what number to call to get data from the device. This address will be
in the range 1 – 247, depending on the device type. See GEH-6502,
POWER LEADER Network Architecture Guide, for details on
Modbus RTU device addressing and Modbus-equivalent addresses
for commnet devices.
Scan Interval
(in msec)
This is the frequency at which the DDE Server will try to scan the
device for data once a DDE request has been made by a client
application. The default is 1000 milliseconds. Leave this alone for the
time being – we’ll discuss it more in Chapter 6, Advanced Options.
Step 2. Now that you’ve set up the device specifics, click OK to return to the Device
Configuration screen. You should see the device you just added in the list of
Configured Devices.
Repeat these steps for each device on your networks until you’ve configured all the
devices.
At the bottom right of the Device Configuration dialog box, you’ll notice a check
box labeled Activate. This box provides a one-step way to turn a device on or off at
the Server. Make sure this box is checked for each device; devices which are not
Activated will not communicate with the Server.
When you’ve configured all the devices and clicked OK to exit the Device
Configuration dialog box, you’ll return to the Configuration dialog box. There is
only one button offered here rather than the four configuration options: Close and
Restart Server. Clicking this button exits Configuration and puts the Server on-
line.
Starting the Server
Clicking the Close and Restart Server button in the Configuration dialog box
automatically puts the PMCS DDE Server on-line. If you click on Cancel instead,
any configuration changes you may have made will be discarded.
The Server will now wait for a DDE conversation to be initiated by a client
application. When it receives a request for data, it interprets the request, fetches the
data from the appropriate device, and passes it on to the client application. The
PMCS DDE Server continues to monitor the requested data at the assigned scan
interval and updates the client if the data changes.
Activate a client application and initiate a DDE request for data (see the client
application documentation for instructions ) to ensure that the Server is running
correctly.
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When the Server is in Run mode, the Suspend Protocol menu item is available.
Suspend Protocol permits you to pause the operation of the Server without breaking
the DDE links established by client applications. You might wish to do this to scroll
back up the communication log display for trouble-shooting purposes. Suspend
Protocol does not allow you to enter Configure mode or make any changes to the
operational parameters of the Server, whereas the Stop command breaks the DDE
links and allows configuration of the Server.
To take the Server off-line for additional configuration or diagnostics, click the Stop
button on the Toolbar, or select Stop from the Server menu.
NOTE: Selecting the Stop command will attempt to stop the DDE Server, but if
there are active DDE links with client applications, the Server displays a message
that these links are present, and the Server cannot be stopped until you have closed
any active links from client applications. Switch to any active client applications,
close active links, then return to the Server and select Stop again.
Displaying I/O Traffic
When the Server is busy collecting data and passing it to the client applications, the
I/O Traffic Display feature can be used to take a look at what’s happening over our
network.
Pull down the View menu and select I/O Traffic Display. (The Server must be in
Run mode to display traffic.)
The I/O Traffic Display dialog box pops up:
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If you don’t see the device you’re interested in, press the Add Device button. If the
desired device is listed in the Devices for Display list box, select it by highlighting
the name and clicking OK or by double-clicking on the name. If the device name
does not appear, there are no client application requests for data from that device.
With the device selected in the Devices for Display list box, select the particular
register groups for display from the list box. Related registers, such as Set Points or
Voltage are organized into register groups for easy reference and viewing. If you
don’t know exactly which registers you want to watch, select all register groups for
display.
Click the Display Enabled radio button and then click Close. The I/O traffic to and
from the specified device should now be displayed on the screen.
The Register Groups selection list (the right-hand list box from the I/O Traffic
Display dialog box) shows all the available register groups for the device highlighted
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in the Devices for Display list at the left. Simply click on a register group to select it
for display. Clicking on a selected group deselects it.
You’ve completed configuring the PMCS DDE Server, started its operations, and are
viewing some data on the screen. You should now be conversant with the Server’s
major menu items. You can minimize the application and let it run in the background;
the DDE Server should require no interaction once it is properly configured.
For more advanced use, study Chapter 4, Menus and Toolbars, which goes into detail
on each menu and all available options.
NetDDE Setup
PMCS requires NetDDE to be able to share information with other PC’s. NetDDE
extends the DDE data-sharing capabilities to allow a client application on one
machine to request data from a server on another machine across a local-area
network. These remote client machines are also referred to as “View Nodes,” and
must also be equipped with Windows 2000 SP2 and NetDDE. If you will not be
accessing the PMCS DDE Server across the network, you do not need to read this
section.
Whenever data is being shared over a local-area network, it is a good idea to have
some security method to control access to the data. Windows 2000 SP2 controls
unauthorized access to information with a system of “shares” and “trusts”, which
define access to particular applications and topics. A “share” defines an application
and its topics to be available for DDE access over the network. “Trusting” the share
authorizes networked users to access the share; for example, User A trusts (allows
access to) Share X, which permits User B’s and User C’s clients on other machines to
access data from Application Z, Topics 1–10. A share must be created for each
application that may be accessed over the network, and the user of the host PC must
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“trust” this share before any client applications will be able to request data from the
shared application.
An important thing to remember is that each user of the host PC must trust the share
for the DDE Server if View Nodes are to be able to access data from the server. If
you log off the host PC and a new user logs in, they will need to trust the DDE Server
share before any View Nodes can access data. A user may or may not be able to
create and trust shares, depending on their user level at the host PC; if they log in as a
“guest”, they won’t have sufficient access privileges to create and trust shares.
If this sounds intimidating, don’t worry. To make setting up NetDDE quick and easy,
PMCS has an automatic configuration utility. If you prefer a more hands-on
approach, see the directions for manually configuring NetDDE’s shares and trusts
following the Automatic Setup instructions.
Automatic NetDDE Setup: VNDDE.EXE
The NetDDE Share Utility (VNDDE.EXE) automates the process of setting up
shares on Windows 2000 SP2. It is recommended over the manual process for speed
and ease of use.
Overview
The NetDDE share utility was created to simplify creation of DDE shares on
Windows 2000 SP2.
This utility automatically checks to see if a share exists for the DDE Server. If the
share already exists, it is automatically trusted. If no share exists, the utility creates a
DDE share for each version of the GE PMCS DDE Server (it doesn’t matter which
version is installed on the host PC) and then trusts the share. The share has default
properties that allow it to operate without additional setup. You can modify the
share’s properties once it is created, but you shouldn’t need to, in most cases.
As mentioned previously, once a share is created it must be trusted by each user of
the host PC. The consequence of this is that if a new user account is created and the
user logs on with the new account, the shares will not be trusted and requests from
remote clients will be rejected by the NetDDE share manager. The NetDDE share
utility addresses this problem by automatically trusting the share for the current user.
The PMCS installer program places a shortcut to the VNDDE.EXE utility in the
Windows 2000 SP2 "All Users" Start Menu>Programs>Startup, so that the utility
will run automatically each time a user logs in.
The utility
The utility’s file name is VNDDE.EXE, and it should be located in directory
c:\ge_pmcs\tools\. It is an NT/2000 command prompt application and executes in a
DOS command window. There aren’t any command-line parameters. When this
utility is executed, if the shares do not exist, they are created and the message Added
share GE32MODB|* or Added share GE32MTCP|* or Added share
GE32EIND|* is displayed. For the script to create a share, the current user must have
Administrator level privileges. If the shares exist but are not trusted to the current
user, they are changed to trusted and the message Trusted share GE32MODB|* or
Trusted share GE32MTCP|* or Trusted share GE32EIND|* is displayed. Any
user is allowed to trust a share, regardless of privilege level.
If the shares already exist and are trusted, the utility does nothing. No message is
displayed.
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Results
To check the results of running the utility, use the Microsoft DDE Share tool,
DDESHARE.EXE, which should be located in the winnt\system32\ directory.
Three shares will be created, GE32MODB|* GE32EIND|* and GE32MTCP|*. (A
fourth share, WFSERVER, is created if you have installed the PMCS Waveform
Capture application. Refer to GEH-6511, the PMCS Waveform Capture User’s
Guide, for details.) The shares are set up identically. The Application name is
GE32xxxx in the Old Style field. The topic is *. Item security grants access to all
items. For permissions, members of the Administrators group and the Everyone
group are given Full Control access.
The trust has the following options enabled:
• Start Application Enable
• Initiate to Application Enable
• Cmd Show Override with the value of 2. The Cmd Show Override
value can be set to 0, 1 or 2 to cause the server to start up in either a
hidden, normal, or minimized window, respectively.
In addition to these two more shares are created if the EPM7700 components and
Eventlogger are installed with PMCS. These shares are GE77GTWY and
EVENTLOG.
Tips on using VNDDE.EXE
The utility can be used in two ways. It can be run once for each user, or it can be
included in each user’s logon script. Once a user is logged on, it can be executed
from a command prompt. Putting it in the user’s logon script has the advantage that
the share is guaranteed to exist and to be functioning after each logon. To create a
logon script, see the Windows 2000 SP2 User’s Guide, the Windows 2000 SP2
Resource Kit or on-line help, or do the following:
• Start the User Manager in Local Users and Groups in System Tools
under the Computer Management (Local). This is found under the
Admistrative Tools in Control Panel. Access the profile for the desired
user from the User Manager. You must have Administrator privileges to
do this.
• Specify the name of a batch file, such as <username>.CMD. Save and
exit the User Manager.
• Create a batch file called <username>.CMD in the
\SYSTEM32\REPL\IMPORT\SCRIPTS directory.
• The script should contain the line ..\VNDDE.EXE
• Put a copy of the utility, VNDDE.EXE, in the C:\USERS directory.
At the next logon, a command prompt should appear at logon. If there is no problem,
the window flashes by and the logon will continue. If a problem occurs, execution
stops at the command prompt.
VNDDE.EXE Error Messages
The utility displays any errors that occur as it tries to add shares. The format is:
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NDDE Error # : <message>
Errors and error messages are defined by the NetDDE API
Trouble-Shooting VNDDE.EXE
Problem: The messages NDDE Error 1: Access is denied and NDDE Error 24:
Cannot bind to DSDM service are displayed.
Solution: Check that the NetDDE service and NetDDE DSDM service have their
startup option set to Automatic.
VNDDE.EXE FAQ’s
Question: I used VNDDE.EXE to set up my shares, but now I want to modify some
share settings. If I run VNDDE.EXE again, will it overwrite my changes?
Solution: No. VNDDE.EXE first checks to see if the share exists. If it exists,
VNDDE.EXE does not modify any settings. If it does not exist, it is
created.
Additional Help
Refer to the Help files on NetDDE or the Microsoft KnowledgeBase for more
information on NetDDE.
Manual NetDDE Setup
The DDE Share tool must be used to manually set up the DDE Server for sharing
data across a network. DDE Share is a tool for managing DDE conversations over a
network. With DDE Share, you can create, modify, and delete DDE shares so
applications on one computer can share data with applications on other computers.
You can also define security restrictions on DDE shares.
Follow the procedure outlined below to manually set up NetDDE.
1. On the Server computer, run DDESHARE.EXE (usually found in
winnt\system32\ddeshare.exe). You can do this directly from the Start menu;
select Run, then type ddeshare and click OK, as shown in the dialog box
below:
2. Select DDE Shares from Shares menu:
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3. The DDE Shares dialog box shows the available DDE Shares:
Click the Add a Share... button to add a share name.
4. In the DDE Share Properties dialog box shown below, enter the share name as
GE32MODB|* or GE32MTCP|* or GE32EIND|*
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Enter the Old Style Application Name as GE32MODB (or GE32MTCP,
GE32EIND) and the Topic Name as *. Leave the New Style and Static text
fields blank.
Check the Allow start application checkbox, and select the Grant access to all
items radio button.
5. Click on the Permissions... push button. The Permissions dialog box is
displayed
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Select Everyone and set Type of Access to Full Control (default is Read and
Link). Close the DDE Share Name Permissions and DDE Share Properties
dialog boxes.
6. Select GE32MODB|* (or GE32MTCP|*, GE32EIND|*) from the DDE Shares
dialog box and click the Trust Share... button. The Trusted Share Properties
dialog box is displayed:
Set the options in the Trusted Share Properties dialog box to match those shown
above, then click the Set button to accept the selected options and the OK button
to exit. You should be ready for DDE communications over your network.
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Chapter Four - Menus and
Toolbars
In this chapter, we’ll examine each menu and toolbar item in detail, describing its
functions and options. As in Chapter 3, we’ll assume that some buttons (such as OK
and Cancel) are self-evident and that you can interpret their functions from general
experience with the Windows interface.
System Menu
The system pull-down menu is shown below. The menu is standard to Windows;
refer to the Windows documentation if you have any questions regarding these
functions.
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Server Menu
The Server pull-down menu is shown below. Descriptions of the Server options
follow.
Run
NOTE: The Server automatically goes into Run mode when the application is
started. Run mode and Configure mode are mutually exclusive; i.e., selecting Run
disables the Configure menu until Stop is selected. Similarly, when the Server is
Stopped, the View menu is disabled until Run is again selected.
Run puts the PMCS DDE Server into action, ready to answer requests for data from
client applications. Clicking this menu item brings the server on-line with the
available configuration.
You must configure the server before it can be run or a client requests data from it.
Configuration is a one-time process (changes may be made later). The configuration
information is saved to disk and loaded each time the Server is run. You cannot
configure the Server while it is running. Choose Run to disable the Configure menu
item and enable the View menu. This action also enables the Suspend Protocol
menu item.
The Server waits for DDE clients to become active. When a client requests data, the
PMCS DDE Server answers the request by retrieving this data from the appropriate
devices.
Stop
Stop sets the PMCS DDE Server off-line, preventing it from requesting any data
from devices. Before you can stop the server, however, DDE links with client
applications must be broken (this may require closing the client application).
After the PMCS DDE Server is off-line, you can make configuration changes.
If, after entering Stop mode, you do not enter Configure mode, a DDE request from
a client automatically returns the Server to Run mode.
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Suspend Protocol/Resume Protocol
This menu item is enabled when the Server starts running. Suspend Protocol and
Resume Protocol are mutually exclusive options. One or the other is displayed on
the Server menu, depending on the current state of the program.
Suspend Protocol temporarily halts the operation of the DDE Server without
requiring that the links be broken, whereas Stop requires that the links be broken
first. When you select Suspend, any DDE links remain intact; they merely become
idle until you select Resume.
When you select Suspend Protocol, the Server stops data acquisition and the menu
item changes to Resume Protocol. If the I/O Traffic display option is enabled,
choosing this option stops data acquisition and display on the server screen.
When you select Resume Protocol, the suspended DDE links become active again
and the Server resumes the process of answering requests for data.
Print I/O Traffic
Print I/O Traffic sends the contents of the input/output traffic buffer to the default
printer via the standard Windows Print dialog. You should Suspend the Server
before printing or save to a file for later printing; while the Server is running, traffic
may be passing so quickly that it will not print correctly.
Exit
Exit is the standard Windows function for leaving the program.
Note that the Exit function is not available when the Server has been installed as a
Windows NT Service.
View Menu
The View menu is shown below. Descriptions of the options follow.
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I/O Traffic Display
When the Server is running and client applications are requesting data, you may view
the sending and receiving of Modbus packets. This is useful for checking what is
happening on the network or for debugging any problems. Select I/O Traffic
Display to choose devices whose communications you wish to see:
The top portion of the I/O Traffic Display dialog box is labeled Display and offers
various options to customize the way messages appear on the screen.
The bottom portion of the dialog box is labeled Device Selection and allows you to
choose the devices for which you’d like to display traffic. The Devices for Display
box lists the devices currently displayed (if display is enabled with the radio button
above). The Register Groups for Display box at the right lists the register groups to
be displayed for the currently selected device. Highlighted register groups are
displayed; click on a register group to select or deselect it for display.
The options are fairly straightforward, but are explained in more detail below.
Display
Display of I/O Traffic on the Server screen is Enabled or Disabled by selecting the
appropriate radio button.
Color
Click on this button to set the colors for messages in I/O Traffic Display. The I/O
Traffic Display - Color dialog box appears:
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Select the type of message from the list box and click on the Select Color button to
select a color.
Click on the Default Color button to set a message color to its default:
Tx Bytes - BLUE
Rx Bytes - BLACK
Error Message - RED
Standard Message - PURPLE
Background
This option allows you to change the background color of the screen where the
messages are displayed.
Add Device
Click this button to add devices to the Devices for Display list. The I/O Traffic
Display – Select Device dialog box is displayed:
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All the currently active devices are displayed in the Device List box. Select any of
the devices for traffic display by highlighting the device and selecting the OK button
or by double-clicking on the device name.
Hint: Multiple devices may be selected from this list. Hold down the shift key and
click as many devices as you like, then click OK.
Delete
Clicking this button removes the selected device from the Devices for Display list.
Register groups for display
When you select a device in the Devices for Display list box, that device’s register
groups appear in the Register groups for display list box. To select a register group
for display, click once on it to highlight it. Click a highlighted group again to deselect
it and return it to non-displayed.
Note: The GE32EIND user will not have these register groups and the corresponding
button will get disabled.
Clear Display
This menu option clears the DDE Server main window screen.
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Save Display To File
Selecting this menu option saves the I/O traffic buffer to a file. You are prompted to
enter the file name to which the buffer is to be stored. The default file name is
iotraffic.txt.
Port Statistics
This menu option displays the number of data packets transmitted, number of time-
outs, number of CRC errors, and number of retransmits for all active comm ports. It
is used for debugging communications problems.
The Port Statistics window is shown below:
Click the Save to File button to save the Port Statistics log to a text file. The default
name is portstat.txt.
Click close to shut the Port Statistics window.
Configuration
Selecting View:Configuration allows read-only access to the DDE Server’s current
configuration (the same dialog you access via the Configure menu item) without
having to stop the Server’s operation first. You may examine the settings but you
may not make any changes. To make changes to a configuration setting, you must
first stop the Server and then select the Configure menu item.
Configure Menu
The Configure pull-down menu is shown below.
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There are two options available from the Configure menu: Configure and Generic
COM Interface.
Configure
Selecting this option brings up the Configuration dialog box.
Ports (Modbus or EI)
Note for Ethernet users only: Skip this section and refer to the “Ports (Ethernet)”
section immediately following for details on the Ports option in the Ethernet
software.
The Modbus version of the PMCS DDE Server supports up to 256 communication
ports. Pressing the Ports button displays the Communication Port Configuration
dialog box:
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First, select the communications port to be configured, using the pull-down list next
to COM Port:
Now fill in the appropriate settings in the Parameters area, as described below. No
option is provided for Number of bits because this is always set to 8 in accordance
with Modbus RTU protocol standards.
Select the appropriate parity for the communications port.
None is the default selection; it is typically not changed for
Modbus RTU systems.
Select the number of stop bits for the chosen port. The
default selection is 1 stop bit; it is typically not changed for
Modbus RTU systems.
Last, select the Baud Rate for the comm port to match the baud rate of the devices
attached to this comm port:
Click OK or Cancel to accept or reject the options selected.
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Ports (Ethernet only)
Ethernet Gateway Users
If your host software is running on an Ethernet-based PC, you may be using a special
Ethernet device called the Ethernet Gateway to communicate to your RS-485 ports.
(Refer to GEH-6502, the PMCS Network Architecture Guide, for additional
information on the PMCS physical networks.) This extra layer of hardware entails
some minor differences in the configuration software, specifically in the Ports dialog
boxes. These differences are explained below.
Clicking on the Ports button in the Ethernet version of the software displays a
slightly different Port Configuration dialog box:
The Ethernet version of the software also supports up to 256 RS-485 ports; however,
in contrast to the Modbus version of the software, the RS-485 ports are located off
board on one or more Ethernet Gateways. Each Gateway supports up to eight RS-485
ports, and the Server supports up 32 Ethernet Gateways, hence the 256 RS-485 port
limit.
Because the ports are not part of the host PC hardware, they are considered virtual
ports. A virtual port refers to a single RS-485 port on a particular Ethernet Gateway.
The Configured Virtual Ports box lists all the virtual ports available to be
configured with proper Ethernet addressing information and RS-485 port number.
The virtual ports are named NetCOM1 through NetCOM256; these names cannot be
altered.
Click the Add button to create a new configuration for one of the virtual ports. To
change the characteristics of a previously configured port, select it and click Modify.
Select an existing port and click Delete to delete the configuration information for a
virtual port.
Clicking on Add displays the Add Virtual Port dialog box, shown below. (Clicking
on Modify brings up the same dialog box with the selected port’s characteristics
displayed for your review and/or modification. Also, the Virtual Port selection pull-
down list is disabled in the Modify command.)
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Enter the IP Address of the Ethernet Gateway that houses the physical RS-485 port
you’re associating with your virtual port. Next, enter the number of the Gateway RS-
485 port to be associated with your virtual port. Last, enter any notes you may wish
to associate with this virtual port, such as devices that may be attached to it or its
physical location for future reference or troubleshooting.
NOTE: The communication parameters (such as baud rate) for each actual RS-485
port configured as a virtual port must be entered at the Ethernet Gateway; refer to
GEH-6505, Ethernet Gateway Users Guide.
With the exception of the Ports dialog boxes and some information in the Trouble-
Shooting section, the Ethernet version of the PMCS DDE Server software is
functionally identical to the Modbus version.
EPM 7700 Xpress Card or XPLEX 1620 Max Server Users
If your host software is running on an Ethernet-based PC, you may be using a special
hardware gateway to communicate to your RS-485 ports This extra layer of hardware
entails some minor differences in the configuration software, specifically in the Ports
dialog boxes. These differences are explained below.
Clicking on the Ports button in the Ethernet version of the software displays a
slightly different Port Configuration dialog box:
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Because the ports are not part of the host PC hardware, they are considered virtual
ports. A virtual port refers to a single RS-485 port on a particular hardware gateway.
The Configured Virtual Ports box lists all the virtual ports available to be configured
with proper Ethernet addressing information and port number. The virtual ports are
named NetCOM1 through NetCOM256; these names cannot be altered.
To change the characteristics of a previously configured port, select it and click
Modify. Select an existing port and click Delete to delete the configuration
information for a virtual port.
Clicking on Add displays the Add Virtual Port dialog box, shown below. (Clicking
on Modify brings up the same dialog box with the selected port’s characteristics
displayed for your review and/or modification. Also, the Virtual Port selection pull-
down list is disabled in the Modify command.)
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Type a valid IP address into the IP Address field. This is the address of the hardware
gateway servicing your serial devices. Enter an appropriate port number in the TCP
Port field. This is specific to the hardware gateway configuration and determines
which gateway serial port that Modbus messages will be routed to . In the example
graphic, 7802 indicates the COM2 serial port on an EPM 7700 Xpress Card.
Click OK to accept the settings and return to the main server configuration dialog.
Modbus TCP/IP Server Users
If your host software is running on an Ethernet-based PC, you may use the PMCS
Modbus TCP/IP DDE Server software application to communicate directly to
devices that are compatible with the Modicon Modbus TCP/IP standard. This
communication server entails some special configuration specifically in the Ports
dialog boxes. These differences are explained below.
Clicking on the Ports button in the GE32MTCP version of the software displays a
Port Configuration dialog box:
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The Configured Virtual Ports box lists all the ports available to be configured with
proper Ethernet addressing information. Each port represents a physical device on the
Ethernet network. The ports are named NetCOM1 through NetCOM256; these names
cannot be altered.
To change the characteristics of a previously configured port, select it and click
Modify. Select an existing port and click Delete to delete the configuration
information for a virtual port.
Clicking on Add displays the Add Virtual Port dialog box, shown below. (Clicking
on Modify brings up the same dialog box with the selected port’s characteristics
displayed for your review and/or modification. Also, the Virtual Port selection pull-
down list is disabled in the Modify command.)
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Type a valid IP address into the IP Address field. This is the network address of the
device to which you are assigning a port.
Click OK to accept the settings and return to the main server configuration dialog.
With the exception of the Ports dialog boxes and some information in the Trouble-
Shooting section, this GE32MTCP version of the PMCS DDE Server software is
functionally identical to the Modbus version.
Device Info
Click this button to display the Device Configuration dialog box:
Add
Click this button to configure a new device. The Add Device Configuration dialog
box will appear:
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The PMCS DDE Server doesn’t just look at individual devices directly; instead it
uses a more flexible virtual addressing scheme, which looks at topics at particular
addresses. A topic consists of a user-specified device name, port number, address,
and device type, and information on how often it is to be scanned. While there is
usually just a single topic per device, it is possible to have multiple topics obtaining
data from the same device. Why would you want to do this? This feature offers the
ability to scan different data from the same device at different intervals.
For example, suppose you want to scan a set of registers at one device every 1000
milliseconds, while for other registers a 5000 millisecond scan is adequate. In this
case, you could set up two separate topics, each addressed to the same device, but set
to scan at different scan intervals.
Enter a name for the device. This will be the topic name referenced from client
applications. This name must be unique, must begin with an alphabetic character, be
no more than 20 characters long (8 characters if used with a third-party HMI client).
Only alphanumeric characters and underscores are permitted; the topic name cannot
include spaces or special characters, such as: + * / /, ? () “ ‘.
Click on the down arrow key to select the communication port. Only configured ports
are listed in the comm port list box; a device cannot be assigned to an unconfigured
port.
NOTE: If no comm ports have been configured, the Device Configuration dialog
box is not displayed. You must select Cancel, configure one or more comm ports
according to the procedures described earlier, then return to this procedure.
Select the Device Type from this list.
Enter the Slave address assigned to the device in this field. On a single RS-485
network, all addresses must be unique, though it is acceptable to have devices with
the same address if they are on different RS-485 networks. For example, Network 1,
Device 1 is recognized as different from Network 2, Device 1.
The device addresses must fall into the following ranges:
• POWER LEADER Modbus Concentrators must have addresses in the
range 1 – 32.
• Commnet devices must have addresses in the range 33 – 247.
• Modbus devices other than the Modbus Concentrator may have
addresses in the range 1 – 247.
For details on addressing requirements, refer to GEH-6502, PMCS Network
Architecture Guide.
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Enter the scan interval to be assigned to the device (default is 1000). The scan
interval is the target time in milliseconds at which the current device will be scanned;
it is the scan time which could be achieved under optimal circumstances. This will
vary greatly from network to network, depending upon the number and type of
devices being managed, the amount of data being requested by the client
applications, and even the architecture of the network itself. The valid range for scan
interval is 1 to 9999999; scan intervals less than 100 milliseconds are usually
impossible due to network timing constraints.
Clicking OK accepts the entries and returns to the Device Configuration dialog box.
Modify
Select the device (topic) to be modified and click the Modify button. The Modify
Device Configuration dialog box will appear. The options and fields in this dialog
box are similar to those in the Add Device Configuration dialog box. Make any
necessary modifications and click on the OK button. The modified information is
reflected in the Device Configuration dialog box.
Delete
To delete a device (topic), select it and click on this button.
Activate checkbox
At the bottom right of the Device Configuration dialog box, you’ll notice a check
box labeled Activate. This box provides a one-step way to turn a device on or off at
the Server. Make sure this box is checked for each device; devices which are not
Activated will not communicate with the Server. Conversely, for troubleshooting
purposes, you can use this checkbox to quickly take a device off-line.
Device Type Information
CAUTION: Advanced users only. Do not access this option unless you have studied
Chapter 6 and are sure of what you are doing. Misuse of this option may cause errors
or malfunction of the Server.
See Chapter 6 of the GEH-6510 PMCS DDE Server User’s Guide for information on
this option.
Operational Parameters
CAUTION: Advanced users only. Do not access this option unless you have studied
Chapter 6 and are sure of what you are doing. Misuse of this option may cause errors
or malfunction of the Server.
See Chapter 6 of the User’s Guide, Advanced Options, for information on this option.
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Generic Comm Interface
The second option available from the Configure pull-down menu is the Generic
Comm Interface. Select this option to open the Generic Communications
Interface window, shown below.
The DDE Server’s Generic Communications Interface enables you to communicate
with any active device for testing and diagnostics purposes.
The Generic Communications screen is divided into three sections. The Modbus
CRC section provides a utility for calculating the CRC on a byte string. Enter a
string of hex characters, then choose the Compute CRC button. The CRC is
calculated and displayed under the Byte String. You can use this feature to prepare
raw Modbus messages.
The Send and Receive portions of the window enable you to transmit and receive
messages to and from a selected port.
To use the Generic Communications feature:
1. Use the Modbus CRC fields to calculate the CRC on your character
string.
2. Enter your character string followed by the CRC in the Byte String
field, as shown in the example above.
3. Select a port to transmit on, and a port to receive on in the TX Port and
RX Port fields. (NOTE: these may be the same port.)
4. If necessary, verify the port properties for both the Transmit and
Receive ports are set correctly by clicking on the TX Port Settings and
RX Port Settings buttons. A sample ComPort Settings dialog is
shown below:
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5. If desired, set the Timeout value.
6. Select the Modbus Packet button to format your message. The Modbus
Packet window allows you to format a Modbus packet automatically.
Select a slave address, function code, and start address. If you are
transmitting a Read message, complete the End Address/No. of Regs.
Field, clicking in the check box and entering the End Address or
Number of Registers being sent. If you are transmitting a write
message, the Write Data field will be enabled. Enter the data to be
written, in decimal format separated by spaces. Click OK to close the
dialog box.
7. When you are ready to send your message, select Send. The message is
sent out on the Transmit port, and the Receive port begins listening for
a response. If the Receiving port does not receive a response within the
Timeout value, a Timeout error message is displayed. If response is
received, the received byte sequence is displayed.
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Reports Menu
The Reports pull-down menu is shown below. Descriptions of the reports options
follow. The options available on this menu permit several kinds of reports to be
generated and saved as .txt files on disk for viewing and printing. The Reports menu
is always available; the Server need not be stopped to run a report.
Configuration
Selecting this option generates a report on the current configuration of the Server.
The report is saved as a text file containing the following information:
• configured device types (with the mnemonic list, function codes added,
and register groups)
• configured comm ports (with port parameters)
• and configured devices (with Device Name (Topic), Com Port Name,
Slave Address, and Scan Interval).
A dialog box prompts you for a file name and location where to save the file. The
default file name is config.txt.
Active Links
The Active Links option (available only when Server is in Run mode) creates a text
file containing the following information: currently active comm ports and active
devices (along with their device type, register groups, and mnemonic items). You will
be prompted for a file name (default file name is active.txt). The information in this
text file can be useful for debugging communications problems.
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Help Menu
The Help pull-down menu is shown below. The options are all standard Windows
functions.
Contents brings up a listing of all the topics for which help is available. About
Server presents the program version and copyright information.
Toolbar
The main window toolbar contains eight icons, shown below in Table 1. Click on an
icon to perform the action described.
Icon Function Description
Server Run Starts the DDE Server.
Stop DDE
Server
Stops DDE Server.
Suspend/Resume Suspends or resumes the DDE Server’s activities. When in
Suspend mode, this button Resumes the Server’s operation.
When the Server is running, this button Suspends the Server.
I/O traffic
display
Displays I/O Traffic Display dialog box.
Clear current I/O
traffic display
Clears the screen of any I/O traffic being displayed.
Save display data
in text file
Saves the contents of the display data in a text file.
Print I/O traffic
display buffer
Prints the I/O traffic display buffer to the currently selected
printer.
Exit DDE Server Exits DDE Server.
Table 1. Toolbar Icons.
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Chapter Five - Troubleshooting
Trouble-Shooting the PMCS DDE Server
This section provides you with some simple steps that can be taken to isolate and
correct communication problems. The problems described here represent the most
probable causes of communication failure.
NOTE: This is a general trouble-shooting guide – it does not cover every possible
source of conflict. If you still cannot establish communications after reading this
section, call the GE Resolution Center, at 1-888-GE-RESOLV.
WWLogger
WWLogger is a software application that is included with the PMCS installation. It is
installed with Wonderware Intouch and is found in the <INTOUCH> /Common
directory, and can be used for diagnostics purposes It is installed with PMCS
Cimpliciy version in GE_PMCS\Server\ The WWLogger application tracks all error
messages generated by DDE communications or Server to device communications.
Obviously this can be of tremendous value for trouble-shooting purposes. The
messages tracked by WWLogger describe the application and topic or device that
caused a given error. This information can then be used to diagnose and correct the
cause of the error.
If you are experiencing trouble, launch WWLogger, and attempt to reproduce the
error condition. You can then use the error messages displayed by WWLogger to
troubleshoot your problem.
Error messages that may be encountered in the WWLogger are listed at the end of
this chapter, in the section titled Error Messages.
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Communications – Client to Server
This section explains the most common error situations that can occur when
attempting to establish DDE conversations between client applications and the PMCS
DDE Server.
When a client requires the status of a DDE item, it opens a link with the PMCS DDE
Server and requests the data. The DDE Server collects the data from the device and
returns it to the client application; it also begins monitoring the data and advises the
client whenever the data item changes.
The DDE Server automatically handles all of the messages to and from the device.
The client application simply tells the DDE Server what register, coil number, or I/O
point to read or write. The DDE Server then automatically updates the client upon
any change of that data value.
Always start the DDE Server before starting any client software. If a client attempts
to establish a link with a Server that is not running, an error message will result.
When an error message is displayed, note the information shown in the error
message. You can often determine the source of the error message from the message
itself – usually an application that is not running or a topic that is not properly
configured.
Below are several situations that will cause a DDE conversation error message to
appear:
1. The DDE Server application is not running. You can verify this by
opening the Windows Task List (press Shift+Ctrl+Esc keys) and
checking the list of currently running applications for the Server.
2. The Server's program name is misspelled in the DDE Access Name
definition. The Server is running, but its name is misspelled in one or
more DDE Access Name definitions. The name entered in the DDE
Access Name definition must be the DDE Server's actual program name
(less the .exe extension) as seen in the Windows File Manager. If the
name is misspelled, the Server will not be found.
3. The topic is not defined in the Server or it is misspelled. The Server
may be functioning properly, but if a client requests data from a topic
that doesn’t exist, an error is generated.
4. The mnemonic or register address is not defined in the Server or it
is misspelled. The Server may be functioning properly, but if a client
requests data from a mnemonic or register address that doesn’t exist, an
error is generated.
Let’s assume that the Server’s name is spelled correctly in the client’s DDE request
and that the Server is running. The client is now looking for a topic defined in the
Server; for example, Device1. To check the topic name, close the client (the Server
cannot be configured if the client is running) and open the Server’s program window.
Invoke the Configure:Device Info... command. Is there a topic defined as Device1
listed in the dialog box? Is it spelled exactly (including spaces, etc.) as it is in the
DDE Access Name definition?
NOTE: Make sure there are no blank spaces after the topic name in both the Server
or in the DDE Access Name definition in the client.
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When you have checked all of the above, restart the client and switch to the Server’s
program window. Make sure I/O Traffic Display is on; various messages should be
appearing in the window. This indicates that the client and the Server are
communicating.
If nothing appears in the Server’s window, try using WWLogger to track your error
messages. The most probable error message indicates that the item used with one or
more tagnames is unrecognized by the Server. Tagnames use specific naming
conventions when accessing data from a Server, and deviation from these
conventions can cause errors.
If a device you want data from is not available to any client software, make sure that
any device you wish to see data from is Active. The Activate checkbox in the
Server’s Device Configuration dialog box determines whether client software can see
the device or not. Devices whose Activate checkbox is empty will not be available to
client programs.
Communications – Server to Device
This section addresses communications between the PMCS DDE Server and a
device.
When attempting to establish communication, if no data appears in the client’s
window, check the WWLogger for error messages. For example, one of the most
common error messages is:
TIME-OUT COMn: DeviceName
This message indicates a problem between the Server and a device on comm port n
named DeviceName. In most cases, either the Server is not communicating through
the communication port or the device is not responding.
First, ensure that the RS-485 communication port configured for use with the topic
matches the physical port the device is connected to. Second, check for other
programs that may be accessing the port, such as other DDE Servers or terminal
monitors. Shut down any such programs. Third, verify that the communication port is
operating correctly in Windows. If the communications port is not operating
correctly, the WWLogger may show a message “Unable to Open Port.”
To verify that the communication port is working properly in Windows, shut down
the Server and start the Windows Terminal program. Configure the Terminal
program to use the same communication port and settings (baud rate, parity, etc.).
Use a null-modem cable to connect to another computer’s port running a Terminal
program with the same settings. See if characters can be sent between the two
computers. If you don’t have two computers but the computer you are using has
another port available, connect the two communication ports, start two Terminal
programs (each set to its own port) and try communicating between them.
Alternatively, connect an external modem to the communication port in question and
see if you can dial out with it.
NOTE: Remember, two devices cannot share interrupts (IRQs). Make sure the
communication port you are using has a unique IRQ assigned.
If the communication port is working properly, look for problems on the device side.
Potential problems in this area could be, but are not limited to, cabling, baud rate,
parity, stop bits, faulty device communication port, and improper addressing of a
Modbus Concentrator or Ethernet Gateway.
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If the device is an EPM 3710 or 3720, check to make sure the device is set to 32-bit
mode, with invalid objects set to yes and password protection set to no. These
settings must be made at the device itself.
If the problem is with a Multilin device, make sure the device is not in TEST mode.
The PMCS DDE Server does not support TEST mode for any device, as a device in
TEST mode will generate invalid data.
If you have completed all of these steps and are still unable to communicate with the
device, call the GE Resolution Center at 1-888-GE-RESOLV.
NetDDE Trouble-Shooting
If you are using NetDDE to share a Server’s data with clients across a network, make
sure a share called GE32MODB|* GE32MTCP|* GE32EIND|*) for appropriate
Ethernet system) exists in the system and has been trusted with proper parameters.
Shares need to be created only once, but each NT user should trust the share
explicitly.
Chapter Three offers instructions on setting up shares and trusting shares; see the
section entitled NetDDE. If you require further information beyond that provided in
Chapter Three, refer to the NetDDE documentation for further information on how to
set up shares and trusting a share. Information may also be found in the Microsoft
KnowledgeBase by searching for keyword “NetDDE”.
NOTE: Make sure you’re using the version of NetDDE supplied with Microsoft
Windows 2000 SP2 Workstation. The PMCS DDE Server does not support other
versions of NetDDE.
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Trouble-Shooting Flowchart
The flowchart below may help you quickly isolate problems and direct you to
solutions. If you work through the flowchart and still experience difficulty, refer to
the Troubleshooting chart in the next section.
If the MMI is not updating,
make sure the correct version
of the DDE Server is running.
Check WWLogger for
messages with the
current device name.
Device is either not
configured or is
deactivated.
Check WWLogger
or the display for
timeouts on that
device.
Server is busy collecting
data for other devices.
Wait a few seconds.
No
Yes
Communication Problems.
Check the following:
Modbus Address
Baudrate on the port
Cables
Is the comm port connected?
If using Port Server, check for
network problems.
Device specific settings
The DDE Server
accepted the link
and is trying to
collect data.
Stop the DDE Server. Check
View: Configuration: DeviceInfo:
DevieName. Add the device
name if not present or activate
by enabling the check box.
Is the device present?
(Make sure spelling is
correct.)
No
Yes
Stop DDE Server
and add device.
Check if the device is
activated. Note the port
number.
Check WWLogger
for any messages
for that port.
No
Yes
A third-party application
is using the port. Close
the application and
restart the client.
Check if the
mnemonic is
present in the
Server.
No
You have the wrong
configuration file.
Close all applications
and restart them. Check
to see if the problem
still exists.
Yes
Yes
No
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Trouble-Shooting Chart
The following table lists a variety of common problems, possible causes and
recommended solutions.
Error Condition Possible Cause Solution
Many device time-out errors. Protocol Timer Tick set
too low.
Communication Time-out
value set too low.
Increase the PTT from 30 to a higher value (multiples
of 10 only, one step at a time; i.e., 40, 50, 60…).
Check that the Communication Time-out value is set
correctly (default is 2000 milliseconds.)
Client application times out while
setting up DDE link or receives
negative acknowledgment.
Valid Data Time-out set
too low.
Increase Valid Data Time-out value. Should be around
5000 milliseconds (5 sec) for most networks.
#NAME on Excel spreadsheet (client
application)
Item name is incorrect. Check for precise spelling and correct mnemonic.
Make sure device is not deactivated.
#N/A on Excel spreadsheet (client
application)
Data is currently
unavailable.
Server may be down, suspended, or stopped, or port
may be suspended.
Data request may not yet have been processed.
Printing I/O traffic – output is
compressed and illegible.
Server is too involved with
processing traffic to print
correctly.
Suspend Protocol, then print.
Printing I/O traffic –whole I/O traffic
buffer does not print.
Server printing limitations
were exceeded.
Suspend Protocol, then save I/O traffic to a file and
print the file from the Windows Notepad accessory or a
word processor.
Error Messages
This section provides descriptions of the error messages which may be generated by
the PMCS DDE Server. These messages are logged in the WWLogger.
An additional list of error messages specific to the Ethernet-based host is presented
after the main list.
Activation of <item name> item failed, item not found in register’s item list.
Activation of item failed when client requested a link to this item. Please
contact Customer Service. This error message does not appear in normal
circumstances — it appears only if the item list is corrupt or if the toolkit
gives an out-of-sequence ProtActivateItem() call.
Could not find register group with name CPML3710WFCReg, so DDE execute
failed.
This is a device-type configuration problem. Please check that you have the
correct GE32MODB.CFG file.
Could not find register group with name CPML3720WFCReg, so DDE execute
failed.
This is a device-type configuration problem. Please check that you have the
correct GE32MODB.CFG file.
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Could not find register group with name CPML3720WFRReg, so DDE execute
failed.
This is a device-type configuration problem. Please check that you have the
correct GE32MODB.CFG file
Could not enable comm notification for <comm port>.
The Server could not initialize notification-based (interrupt-driven)
communication for the communication port. Communication with the
devices may not work well. Restart the Server. If the problem persists, check
the communication port integrity.
Could not find register group with name PLMeterWFCRegisterGroup, so DDE
execute failed
This is a device-type configuration problem. Check that you have the correct
GE32MODB.CFG file.
Could not open RMS data file <file name>
The data file to store MicroVersaTrip device Peak Demand computation
parameters could not be opened by the Server as defined in
GE32MODB.INI. The .ini file entry may be wrong or the file may have
been deleted.
Comport <comm port> is not configured, cannot close...
Server internal error. Please contact Customer Support. This error cannot
occur if the Server is functioning properly. This error indicates corruption of
the internal data structures.
COM<n> <device name> : Slave Address Error
The Server polled one Modbus address and got a response from some other
address. This condition does not occur if all the devices on network are
behaving correctly.
CPML3720WFCReg::OnRetrieveWFR Invalid BufferNo...
An incorrect buffer number was passed by the Waveform Client in the
RetrieveWFR DDE Execute command. Please contact Customer Support.
CRC ERROR <comm port> : <device name>
The Server received a response from a slave with a CRC error. If there are
frequent CRC errors, some possible causes are:
• Excess noise on the RS-485 network. Device responses are corrupted
by noise.
• Some devices may require a certain idle time on the RS-485 network. If
the Server’s protocol timer tick value is set too low, then such devices
may give frequent CRC errors. For currently supported devices, timer
tick values less than 30 milliseconds are not recommended.
CServerApp::OnDeleteDev - Invalid toolkit index
Internal error in the Server. Please contact Customer Service
DDE Execute <DDE execute command> failed
Possible causes are:
• The execute command is misspelled.
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• Parameters passed with the execute command are not proper. Refer to
the Server interface specifications for correct parameter syntax and
range.
• The execute command string has some extra space characters. The
Server does not accept extra space characters in execute commands.
Please follow the Server interface specifications strictly.
• The DDE execute command is not supported for the topic on which it
was issued.
Device <device name> DEAD
The device is declared DEAD as a result of communication failure. This
means the device has not responded to repeated queries in a certain time and
the system assumes that there is some problem at the device keeping it from
responding, that the device is dead for the moment. Dead devices are
scanned occasionally to see if they have come back on-line.
Device <device name> ACTIVE
A previously DEAD device has resumed communications.
<device name> device got deleted – discarding packet
This is an informational message. A client application deleted a topic and
the Server is deleting a scheduled communication packet.
Error allocating new topic (<topic>, <toolkit id>) => 0
The Server is unable to initiate a DDE transaction with the topic. The
possible causes are :
• The topic is not configured on the Server. Configure the topic in the
Server.
• The communication port associated with the topic could not be opened
or initialized properly. In this case, the Server displays communication
port-related error messages just preceding this error message in
WWLogger.
• The device type of the topic is not configured. Configure the topic’s
Generic Device Type in the Server.
Exception Response, Error Code = <exception code> : <exception code string>
A slave device returned an exception code to a request from the Server.
Following are the common exceptions:
• Illegal Function — The function code sent by the Server is not
supported by the slave device.
• Illegal Data Address — The data address requested by the Server is
not supported by the slave device.
• Illegal Data Value — The data value sent by the Server for a Holding
register or a Coil is not a proper value for the particular register.
• Slave Device Failure — A slave device has detected an internal
failure.
• Failure in Associated Device — An external device connected to the
slave device has failed and the data requested cannot be sent. The
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Server logs this error and continues with the next packet of data to the
same device.
• Acknowledge — The slave device has accepted the request and is
processing it, but will require a long time to do so. This response is
returned by some of the slave devices to prevent a time-out error at the
Server. The Server notes the device as “sleeping” and waits for its
response, rather than requerying the device. The length of time (in
milliseconds) the Server waits for the response is referred to as the
elapsed retry time. This parameter is set in the Server’s .ini file. When
the elapsed retry time has passed, the Server will resume sending
packets to the device.
• Slave Device Busy — A slave device is busy processing internal
computations. This message is similar to Acknowledge above. The
Server marks the device as “sleeping” and will not transmit packets of
data to the device until the elapsed retry time has passed.
• Negative Acknowledge — A slave device cannot perform the program
function in the query. An example might be a circuit breaker in local-
control mode when the Server attempts to exercise an on/off command.
The device will not permit remote control to override local control and
will reply a Negative Acknowledge.
• Memory Parity Error — The slave attempted to read extended
memory but detected a parity error in the memory.
• Unknown Error Code — The slave device has returned an unknown
error code. Check the slave device manual for explanations of device-
specific exception codes.
Failed to activate item(<logical device handle>, <Protocol Handle>)=>0
Server internal error. Please contact Customer Support.
Failed to create item (<logical device handle>) (<toolkit handle>) (<item name>)
=>0
Possible causes are :
• The item name is not spelled correctly on the client.
• The item register(s) is (are) not configured in any of the register groups
of the device type. Check the device type’s register-group
configuration.
• If the item name uses a mnemonic convention, then the mnemonic is not
defined on the Server. Check the device type’s mnemonic
configuration.
Failed to deactivate item(<logical device handle>, <Protocol Handle>)
Server internal error. Please contact Customer Support.
Failed to delete item(<logical device handle>, <Protocol Handle>)
Server internal error. Please contact Customer Support.
Initialization failed for <comm port>
The Server failed to open the communication port. Possible causes of this
error are:
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• The communication port does not exist on the PC running the DDE
Server. Reconfigure topics that are configured with this port to another
port. This problem may be caused by improper configuration of the RS-
485 card driver (if you are using some special multiport card). Please
refer to the card driver’s configuration manual.
• The port is already being used by another application. Close any other
applications on the machine and restart the Server.
• The port may not be working. Test the port with a communication
program such as HyperTerminal.
No Write to Individual Discrete Bits
The client tried writing to individual bits of a read/write register, which is
not allowed.
Open comm for <comm port> failed
This error may be followed by one of the following error messages:
• Invalid or unsupported ID <comm port> — The port is not
supported or the port ID is bad. Check the ID of the port to which the
devices are connected and reconfigure the topics with the correct port
ID.
• Device already open <comm port> — Try restarting the Server. If the
problem persists, the port may be in use by another application.
• Device not open <comm port> — Try restarting the Server.
• Unable to allocate queues — Try restarting the Server.
• Error in default parameters — The default parameters set for the port
in the DDE Server configuration or other programs are bad.
• Hardware not present or already allocated <comm port> — Port
hardware is not available. If there is a communication port-disabling
facility (some notebook PCs have this facility to save power), enable
the ports, reboot the machine, and try starting the Server again.
• Invalid byte size — The byte size is invalid.
• Unsupported baud rate — The baud rate that was programmed is not
supported by the communication port. Please refer to the
communication port hardware reference for supported baud rates.
• Unknown error from OpenComm: <error code> — Try restarting
the Server.
RegFormat Name is INVALID
The register name(either as mnemonic equivalent or as item name) is not
valid.
Retrieve command time not occurred <device name>
This error occurs when the Waveform client sends the RetrieveWFC
command very soon after it has sent the TriggerWFC command. Introduce
a small delay (approx. 5 seconds) before issuing the RetrieveWFC
command to the Server. This will allow the device to collect waveform data
properly.
RetrieveWFR : Got out of range values for depth, range is 1-3
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The Waveform Client has passed an out-of-range value for the PML3720
waveform recorder depth parameter. Valid values are 1, 2, or 3.
The device type <device type name> is NOT a valid type for topic
The Server detected an unconfigured device type for a topic being created.
Possible reasons are :
• The <device type name> has been deleted from the device-type
configuration file (GE32MODB.CFG). Reconfigure the device type
that generated the error or, if you intend to remove all the devices of
that particular type, go to device (topic) configuration and remove all
the topics with this device type. NOTE: This applies to generic devices
only.
• GE32MODB.INI entry DocFile points to an incorrect device-type
configuration file. Enter the correct path to the configuration file.
TIME-OUT <comm port> : <device name>
The Server timed out for a query to the slave device. This can happen under
various conditions :
• Topic configuration has the wrong port configured for the device.
• The slave address configured for the topic is not correct.
• The communication time-out value is set too low on the Server. Check
the value set for ‘Communication time-out’ entry of the
GE32MODB.INI file. Values less than 2000 milliseconds are not
recommended.
• The port configuration for the device does not match the port
configuration at the Server. (Wrong baud rate, wrong stop bits, wrong
number of bits, wrong parity, etc.)
• The device and the Host PC are not connected properly. Check the RS-
485 network connections.
• Excess noise on the RS-485 network. Devices may not be receiving
Server query packets properly.
• Some devices may require a certain idle time on the RS-485 network. If
the Server’s protocol timer tick value is set too low, then such devices
may give frequent time-out errors. For currently supported devices on
Server version 6.0xxx, timer tick values less than 65 milliseconds are
not recommended.
Unable to free topic (hLogDev = <logical device handle>)
Internal error for the Server. Please contact Customer Support according to
the information in the GEH-6514 PMCS Read-This-Book-First for Intouch
and DEH-211 PMCS Read-This-Book-First for Cimplicity guide.
Unable to open RMS data file for rewriting RMS data
The RMS data file has been deleted since the Server started. Restart the
Server. The Server will create a new RMS data file during startup.
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Chapter Six - Advanced Options
Warning
CAUTION: For advanced users only!
These advanced options are for experts only! Do not attempt these actions if you are
not sure of what you are doing; it is possible to render your PMCS DDE Server
inoperable, forcing you to reinstall it and potentially lose your device configurations.
Please read all instructions before attempting any advanced configuration.
The information contained in this section applies to two types of devices:
• the broadly-defined generic devices that must be completely defined by
the user
• the highly flexible GE Fanuc PLC family of products.
The GE Fanuc PLC 90/70, PLC 90/30, and Micro90 PLC consist of a backplane to
which may be attached a wide variety of modules with a broad range of functions,
from metering and data collection to process control. Because these devices are so
flexible and there is no way to predict the options that will be chosen by the end user,
they must be configured in the same manner as a generic device.
Device Type Information – Adding Generic Devices
The PMCS DDE Server is pre-configured to support the POWER LEADERTM family
of power-management devices, as well as a variety of third-party devices. However,
you may add additional kinds of devices by creating your own device type. These
“generic” devices have the register maps and functions that you assign, as explained
in this section. The generic device type does not support the use of the DDE Server’s
special device handling, such as automatic time synchronization, waveform
capability, or event handling.
The procedure for adding a generic device is as follows. The details of each option
mentioned are provided after the procedure. Remember that the Server must be
stopped before you can do any configuration.
Step 1. Select the Device Type Info option from the Configuration menu to display
the Device Types dialog box, shown below.
Step 2. Enter the name for your new generic device in the field at the bottom of the
dialog box. The field is labeled Enter Device Type Name. Click the Add Default
Type button to add the new device type to the list of Configured Device Types.
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Step 3. Next, select the generic device from the Configured Device Types list, and
click the Function Codes button to add the functions codes supported by this device
type. Setting up the register groups for a device type is mandatory; you may also
enter an optional mnemonic list. To do this, you’ll need to have on hand a complete
protocol reference for the device before proceeding.
Add Default Type
Entering the name of a new device type in the Enter Device Type Name box enables
the Add Default Type button. Names may be up to 20 alphanumeric characters long
and cannot include embedded spaces or special characters, such as + * / /, ? () “ ‘.
Click on this button to add your new device type. You will need to do further
configuration after creating a new device type. See the Register Map section for
details on defining the device type’s register map.
Delete
The standard device types may not be deleted, so this button is grayed when a
standard device type is selected. Only generic (user-defined) device types may be
deleted. Select a user-defined device type and click Delete to delete that device type.
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Function Codes
Click on this button to attach or detach function codes to a device type. You will
need the device’s Modbus RTU protocol specification to know the correct codes to
add for the new device type.
Clicking this button displays the Modbus Function Codes dialog box:
The two list boxes, Available Function Codes and Selected Function Codes, are
multiple-selection list boxes. The Available Function Codes box lists the function
codes available to any generic device type; the Selected Function Codes box lists
those function codes that are to be assigned to a specific device type. Place the
desired function codes into the Selected Function Codes box using the Add and
Delete buttons, then click OK.
Select the function codes to be added from the Available Function Codes list box
and click this button. The selected function codes are added for the device type and
displayed in the Selected Function Codes list box.
This button is displayed only when there are no user-configured register groups for
the device type. To remove a function code support from the device type, all the
register groups that are added are removed. (To delete a register group from the
device type, refer to Delete under the Register Map subsection.) Select the function
codes to be deleted from the Selected Function Codes list box and click this button.
The selected function codes are deleted for the device type and displayed in the
Available Function Codes list box.
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NOTE: You cannot delete function codes if any user-configured register group exists
for this device type. To delete already added function codes, you should first delete
all the register groups calling on those functions.
Register Map
Click this button to add, delete, or modify register groups for the selected device
type.
CAUTION: Be careful not to modify or delete the Register Map for pre-configured
devices. Only generic devices and PLC type-devices are intended to have any
modifications to their Register Groups.
When this button is clicked, the Register Map dialog box appears:
The Add New Register Group..., Delete..., Modify..., and Change Register Name
buttons are described below.
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Adding a Register Group
Click this button to add a new register group. The Select Register Group Type
dialog box appears:
Enter the Register Group name. The name may be up to 20 alphanumeric characters
and cannot include embedded spaces or special characters, such as: + * / /, ? () “ ‘.
Select the register type from the Select Register Type pull-down list. The Modbus
Register Types shown are determined by the function codes selected previously. The
four types of register groups that support some of the Modbus function codes are R0,
R1, R3, R4. The table below describes the types, registers, supported codes, and
uses.
Type
Code
Type of Register Supported
Function Codes Use
R0 Coils 01 Reading coil status
R0 Coils 05 Setting/forcing/
executing coils
R0 Coils 15 Setting/forcing
multiple coils
R1 Contacts or discrete
inputs
02 Reading
contact/discrete
inputs
R3 Actual value or input
register
04 Reading actual value
or input registers
R4 Setpoint or holding
register
03 Reading setpoint or
holding registers
R4 Setpoint or holding
register
06 Presetting single
setpoint register
R4 Setpoint or holding
register
16 Presetting multiple
registers
You will need the device’s Modbus RTU protocol specification for the correct codes
to add or delete.
Click OK to accept your new register group – the Register Group dialog box is
displayed for you to finish defining the characteristics of the new register group.
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The PMCS DDE Server supports both decimal and hexadecimal address formats.
Select the type of addressing you wish to use (refer to the device user manual if you
are unsure) by clicking either the Decimal or Hexadecimal radio button. Next, enter
the Start Address and End Address for the register group in the appropriate boxes.
The PMCS DDE Server supports Modbus RTU extended addressing; in decimal
mode, the range is 0 to 65535; in hexadecimal mode, the address range is 0 to FFFF.
Refer to Appendix A – Register Addressing Conventions for more information on
formatting register addresses.
Next, set the desired polling speed by clicking one of the radio buttons - Fast Poll,
Slow Poll, or Poll Once.
The polling speed is based on the scan interval for the topic. A polling speed of Fast
attempts to scan at the assigned Scan Interval. This is the default. Setting the polling
speed to Slow causes this register group to be read once every ten scan intervals. This
is typically used for setpoints or low-priority parameters that change infrequently.
Slow Poll is a multiple of Fast Poll, with a default value of 10. This multiple is
controlled by a setting in the PMCS DDE Server’s .ini file, and may be changed if
desired. See the section titled PMCS DDE Server .ini File, later in this chapter.
For example, if the scan interval is set to 1000 msec (1 second – this is the default
value), setting the Poll Speed to Fast Poll causes the Server to scan as close to every
1000 msec as possible (based on the network load, communication bandwidth
availability, etc.); setting the Poll Speed to Slow Poll reduces the scan attempts to
once every 10,000 msec (10 seconds), or as close to this as possible; i.e.; not less
than 10 seconds (≥ 10,000 msec.)
Poll Once means that this register group is scanned only the first time data is
requested by a client application. All future requests for the same data receive the
data from this poll. If the device is later declared to be dead, the device is scanned
periodically until it comes back on-line, at which point the Poll Once data will be re-
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read. This is useful for registers with settings of a more permanent nature, which need
to be read but are unlikely to change.
Invalid Register Blocks
A register block consists of a contiguous piece of a device’s memory that contains
many points of data. Within this block, however, some addresses may be unused by
the device. We can make the PMCS DDE Server aware of these unused or
extraneous addresses by specifying them as invalid register blocks. (The Server’s
register maps for supported devices have already been optimized; only generic
devices’ invalid register blocks must be entered manually.)
An invalid register block is a list of registers within a register group that should not
be polled for data by the Server, perhaps because they are unused by the device itself
or simply because they are not desired.
Invalid register blocks allow the Server to focus its attention on only those registers
of interest; by not asking the Server to poll addresses that contain no data of interest,
we can improve the Server’s potential performance. Also, some devices, if asked for
a valid register block that happens to contain invalid registers within it, will return a
message that the entire block is invalid. Thus, it can be of vital importance to identify
any invalid blocks to the Server.
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Add
Click this button to access the Add Invalid Register Range dialog box.
Enter the start and end addresses for the invalid block, following the addressing
conventions.
Modifying an Invalid Register Block
To modify an invalid register block, select the block from the Invalid Registers list
box and click the Modify button. The Modify Invalid Register Range dialog box
appears. Follow the method used for adding invalid register blocks to make changes
to the register block.
Deleting an Invalid Register Block
Clicking the Delete button deletes the selected invalid register block.
Deleting a Register Group
Clicking the Delete button deletes the selected register group.
Modifying a Register Group
Click the Modify button to modify the register group. The Register Group dialog
box appears. Make any necessary changes to the register group Start Address, End
Address, Poll Speed, and Invalid Register blocks, then click on the OK button.
Changing a Register Group Name
Click on this button to change the name of the selected register group. The Change
Register Group Name dialog box appears:
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Enter the new name in the Register Group field, then click OK to accept or Cancel
to back out of this dialog box.
Importing or Exporting a Register Group
Click on one of these buttons to import or export a register group. The Import
Register Group button prompts you to select a comma-separated values (csv) file for
import. The Export Register Group button prompts you for a file name to save the
current register map as. The file will be saved in CSV format.
Mnemonics
Mnemonics are an optional way of naming registers or groups of registers, by
assigning an easily remembered name to a register address. From the Device Types
dialog box, click this button to add, delete, or modify mnemonics. Mnemonics are
useful to speed selection of registers – it’s much easier to remember Trip_Set_Points
than R41234A5.
When this button is clicked, the Mnemonics dialog box appears:
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Adding a Mnemonic
Click the Add button to add a mnemonic. The Add/Modify Mnemonics dialog box
appears:
Enter the Mnemonic Name. You may use up to 20 alphanumeric characters, but no
embedded spaces or special characters, such as + * / /, ? () “ ‘.
Enter the register address in this field. Follow the register-naming conventions
presented in Appendix A.
Click OK to accept your changes.
Modifying a Mnemonic
Click on the Modify button to modify the selected mnemonic. The Add/Modify
Mnemonics dialog box appears. The procedure is similar to adding a mnemonic.
Make any necessary modifications to the mnemonic name or register address, then
click OK.
Deleting a Mnemonic
Select a mnemonic from the Item Mnemonic Map list box and click the Delete
button to remove it from the list.
Importing or Exporting Mnemonics
Click on one of these buttons to import or export a set of mnemonics. The Import
Mnemonics button prompts you to select a comma-separated values (csv) file for
import. The Export Mnemonics button prompts you for a file name to save the
currently selected set of mnemonics as. The file will be saved in CSV format.
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Optimizing Server Performance
Networks vary widely from one to another. Every network has different devices,
different numbers of RS-485 ports to support, a different number of devices, and
various client software requesting different amounts of data. System administrators
with Modbus RTU network experience may be able to analyze their particular
network’s needs and adjust some of the PMCS DDE Server’s advanced settings to
improve its performance. These settings are discussed below.
Server Operational Parameters
Clicking on this button in the Configuration dialog box causes the Server
Operational Parameters dialog box to appear:
Protocol Timer Tick
The Protocol Timer Tick is the time interval (in milliseconds) at which protocol is
executed; the frequency at which the Server checks for work to do. A good analogy
might be that the protocol timer tick serves as a metronome or heartbeat to the
Server. Every tick, the Server executes a function, whether it is to listen at a
particular port or to send a message to a device. The default is 65 milliseconds. At
values below this level, the Server may query devices too quickly for the devices to
consistently answer correctly.
The Protocol Timer Tick is the resolution of the scan interval – increasing this value
slows down the Server but may improve communication reliability. Decreasing this
value reduces communication reliability but may slightly speed up data-refresh rates.
If you are not sure how to adjust this value for your network, leave it set at 65 msec.
NOTE: 10 msec is the minimum value for this setting.
Valid Data Time-out
A client application sends a request for data to the PMCS DDE Server. The Valid
Data Time-out is the time (in milliseconds) that elapses before a time-out error
message is sent to the client that requested the data. The default number in this field
is 5000 (5 seconds). If no reply is sent from the Server to the client in this length of
time, a time-out error message is sent instead.
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When either the Protocol Timer Tick or the Valid Data Time-out fields have been
changed, the OK button is enabled. It is disabled until any changes are made. Click
on this button to accept changes. The changes take effect the next time the Server
software is launched (not to be confused with Run from the Server menu).
CAUTION: Changing the Server operational parameters can adversely affect the
Server’s performance. If you are unsure of how to adjust any of these settings,
consult Customer Support before making any changes.
PMCS DDE Server .ini File
The application program’s .ini file contains several lines that may be modified by
knowledgeable and qualified personnel to fine tune performance of an individual
network. Do not modify these items unless you are experienced with the PMCS DDE
Server.
NOTE: Back up the application’s current .ini file before attempting any of these
modifications.
Open the application’s .ini file with Windows Notepad. This file is named
GE32MODB.ini for the Modbus RTU version or GE32EIND.ini or
GE32MTCP.ini for the Ethernet version of the software, and is located in the
Windows 2000 SP2 directory. The parameters are grouped by subject:
[Server Operational Parameters]
[GE32MODB] or [GE32EIND] or [GE32MTCP]
Port Settings], etc.
Look for the GE32MODB or GE32MTCP group (depending on whether you’ve got
a Modbus-based system or an Ethernet-based system), and locate the following line
items:
Communication Time-out
When the Server receives a request for data from a client, it sends a request for data
to the appropriate device. The communication time-out is the length of time in
milliseconds that the Server will wait for a reply after sending a message to a device.
If a reply is not received in this length of time, the Server declares a time-out.
The default Communication Time-out value is 2000 milliseconds.
Increasing this number may improve communication reliability, but will decrease
performance.
Slow Poll Count
The Slow Poll Count is a multiplier, with a default value of 10. The Slow Poll
Count multiplied by the scan interval for a topic equals the scan interval for a
register block if slow poll has been selected.
Increasing the Slow Poll Count value causes the Sever to scan slow-poll data less
often, allowing more time to be devoted to scanning fast-poll registers. Decreasing
this value requires the slow-poll register groups to be scanned more often, reducing
the performance of fast-poll scanning.
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Maximum Query Retries
This is the number of time-outs that must be encountered from a device before the
Server declares the device dead. The default value is 5.
Increasing this value increases the length of time before a device is declared dead.
Decreasing this value causes a device to be declared dead sooner. The tradeoff is that
increasing the value may cause wasted time in scanning devices that are dead, while
decreasing the scan time may cause devices to be declared dead prematurely and
result in error messages.
Dead Device Scan Interval
The Dead Device Scan Interval is the interval in milliseconds at which the Server
will scan a device it has declared dead, to see if it has come back on-line. Reducing
this value devotes more time to scanning dead devices for recovery, which means that
less time is available to scan live devices. Increasing this value means that devices
that may have recovered and come back on-line may not be scanned in time to
respond to a client’s request for data.
The default Dead Device Scan Interval is 120,000 milliseconds.
SleepTime For Exception 5
SleepTime For Exception 6
Occasionally, when a power-management device is performing a very processor-
intensive computation, the device will reply to queries from the DDE Server with an
exception code of Acknowledge or Slave Device Busy. These exception codes can
be roughly interpreted as a message from the device saying “Give me a moment to
finish what I’m doing and then I can help you.”
The SleepTime for Exception X is the length of time in milliseconds that the Server
will allow a device to complete its tasks before the Server again begins processing
packets addressed to that device. The count begins from the time the Server receives
the exception code.
SleepTime values are supported for Exception Code 5, Acknowledge, and for
Exception Code 6, Slave Device Busy. The default value for both SleepTime
parameters is 1000 milliseconds.
When a device responds with Exception 5, Acknowledge, it is essentially saying “I
have received and accepted the command, now give me some time to go and execute
it.” The Server will allow the SleepTime interval to elapse, then send the next packet
addressed to the device.
When a device responds with Exception 6, Slave Device Busy, it is essentially
saying, “I cannot accept any commands now, please ask again later.” The Server will
allow the SleepTime interval to elapse, then re-send the same packet to the device.
SleepTime intervals apply only to the device in question. While the Server notes a
device as sleeping, it carries on its business with the remaining devices on the
network without interruption.
TimeDownLoad Period
The PMCS DDE Server performs automatic time synchronization by periodically
sending a time sync message to each device on the network. By default, this message
is sent every 15 minutes (900,000 milliseconds) for the Modbus Concentrator, every
5 seconds for the Modbus Monitor, and every 24 hours for all other devices. This
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can be changed on a device-by-device basis by altering the TimeDownLoad Period
parameter for an individual device in the .ini file. The value should be entered in
milliseconds. Note that increasing this value will free up processor time for the
Server’s use, but may allow devices to slip out of sync with the Server’s clock.
Decreasing this value causes the Server to spend more of its time synchronizing
device clocks and leaves less time available to process client requests for data.
NOTE: A related value, the Time Download Start Addr, is used by the Server to
address time-synchronization messages to devices. DO NOT CHANGE THIS
VALUE. If this value is changed, the device will not be able to time sync with the
DDE Server.
ExitDisable
This setting allows users to close the DDE Server. It's default setting is Disable when
PMCS DDE Server is installed as NT Service, and Enable when PMCS DDE Server
is installed as a standard application.
UIHide
This setting controls whether or not the DDE Server's user interface is visible to the
user. It's default setting is Unhide (program visible to user).
Bear in mind that if you change parameters of the .ini file, such as increasing the
Communication Time-out Factor, the Maximum Query Retries or the Dead
Device Scan Interval, you will slow down your network performance. On the other
hand, if you reduce these values, you may generate unnecessary time-outs or have
devices declared dead when they are not actually off-line.
Please avoid changing any other parameters of the .ini file beyond those listed here,
as doing so may adversely affect Server performance.
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Appendix A – Register
Addressing Conventions
Data-Addressing Conventions
The PMCS DDE Server is capable of interpreting both decimal and hexadecimal
addresses. This allows access to the Modbus RTU protocol’s extended register mode.
The two addressing schemes are identical with one exception; in hexadecimal mode,
an “X” is inserted prior to the address number to indicate that the address following
is in hexadecimal format. The R character is ALWAYS present. Items in < >
represent a variable numeric value. Capital letters in brackets [ ] indicate a hard
character that does not change; it is either present or not. Lower-case letters in
brackets [ ] indicate switches that may or may not be present; refer to the following
sections for details.
The basic addressing scheme is as follows:
R indicates a Register
address follows.
f indicates the
register type.
X indicates a address is
hexadecimal. If the X is not
present, the address is read
as decimal.
nnnn is the actual address.
Four characters are required,
so leading zeroes must be
used if necessary. For
example, the correct syntax is
0025 rather than 25.
R <f> <[X] nnnn>
Switches may be used to modify addresses. The possible switches are shown below,
and are detailed in the following sections:
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t represents the type of data, if there are any
special conventions. See the following section
“Special Naming Conventions” for details.
A
indicates that the data is an Array
.
See the following section “Registe
r
A
rray Format” for details
.
-b represents the reading of
individual bits. Not present if
reading whole registers or an
array of registers. See the
following section “Individual
Bits in Registers” for details.
lll provides the length of the array
or ASCII string in bytes, This field
is present only if the address
represents an array or an ASCII
string. Leading zeros are not
required for this field.
R <f> <[X]nnnn> [t] [A] [lll] [-b]
Standard Data Organization
Data is organized according to data type, numeric range, tag type, and access type.
Data Types
There are four data types typically used by the GE devices. These four data types are
the possible values for ‘f’ in the address. (Each data type is organized in a separate
table for each device in this manual):
1. Dynamic Value
2. Setpoint
3. Command Coil
4. Fixed Value
Each data type is assigned a range of register numbers, tag type, and access as shown
below:
Data Organization
Data
Type
Use Register
Range
(hex)
Register
Range
(decimal)
DDE
Tag
Type
Type of
Access
Command
Coil
1. Commands a device to take
action.
2. Reads the status of an
action or discrete input.
R0X0000 –
R0XFFFF
R00000 –
R09999
Discrete Read and
Write
Dynamic
Value
Read frequently, such as
metering values which change
constantly
R3X0000 –
R3XFFFF
R30000 –
R39999
Analog Read Only
Fixed
Value
Read only once at power-up.
Info such as Product ID and
configuration options
R4X0000 –
R4XFFFF
R40000 –
R49999
Analog Read Only
Setpoint Read infrequently R4X0000 –
R4XFFFF
R40000 –
R49999
Analog Read Only
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• Appendix A – Register Addressing Conventions DDE Server User’s Guide
Examples
Here are some examples of different types of register numbers:
Register
number
Represents
R00005 Coil command, number 5, with Read/Write access to the user
R31005 Dynamic value, number 1005, Read Only access
R43010 Fixed value or Setpoint, number 3010, with Read /Write access
to the user
Special Naming Conventions
Special handling of data from devices can be done by using the following
conventions:
Long Words and Special Numbers
By default, a register item is treated as an unsigned integer. To treat the contents of
any register differently, refer to the table below:
Special Data Item Naming Convention Example
Unsigned 16-bit Integer Default R40001
16-bit Signed Integers with
values between -32,768 and
32,767
Append letter I to item number. R40001I
32-bit Signed Integers
(Long Integers)
Append L to item number. R40001L
32-bit floating point numbers Append F to item number. R40001F
Modulus 10000
Used in 32-bit register mode
for EPM 3710 and 3720.
Append E to the item name
NOTE: See 3710 and 3720 ACM Modbus Protocol Manuals for
details.
R40010E
ASCII data string Append S to item number.
[lll] field immediately after S character represents the number of
characters to read. If no length is specified ([lll] field is not
provided), only one register of characters (2 or 4) will be read. The
High byte represents the first character, and the Low byte represents
the second character.
NOTE: No array type is allowed with S data items, nor are ASCII
strings supported for coil registers.
NOTE 2: For 16-bit mode devices (most devices) there are 2
characters per register. For 32-bit mode devices, there are 4
characters per register.
NOTE 3: The maximum value for the S string is 250.
R40010S020
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Individual Bits In Registers
Individual bits in registers are read-only. They can be read as discrete/integer tags by
using the following notation (explained beneath):
R indicates a Register
address follows.
f indicates the
register type.
X indicates an address is
hexadecimal. If the X is not present,
the address is read as decimal.
nnnn is the actual address. Four
characters are required, so leading
zeroes must be used if necessary.
For example, the correct syntax is
0025 rather than 25.
D stands for Discrete type
specifier, and indicates that bit
data is being requested.
L indicates the specific
number of bits being
requested.
B indicates the
starting bit
number.
R <f> <[X]nnnn>DL-B
Examples
Register
Number
Represents
R40001D1-0 Specifies least significant bit of first holding register
R30008D1-15 Specifies most significant bit of an input register
R40001D2-5 Specifies 6th and 7th from the least significant bit of first holding
register.
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• Appendix A – Register Addressing Conventions DDE Server User’s Guide
Register Array Format
If multiple data items are being requested from a single topic, it is more efficient to
request a block of contiguous registers than to place multiple requests for single
registers. This is referred to as register array format. The register array format is
used for the following applications:
• to read a block of register values into a column of cells in a worksheet
(such as Microsoft Excel).
• to pass waveform data to a client application (refer to GEH-6509,
PMCS DDE Server Interface Reference, for details)
The rules for register arrays are as follows:
1. A register array, or series of consecutive registers, can be treated as a
block of numeric values. Up to 100 sixteen-bit registers or 50 thirty-
two-bit registers can be read as a block. Enter the starting register
address, and append it with type specifier “A”, followed by the length
field. For example, the register address R30501A12 accesses registers
501 through 512 as a block.
2. When the DDE Server returns a new value for a register array to the
client, it is in the form of a character string containing a value for each
register, separated by a carriage return.
For example, for R30021A6, the values returned might look like this:
50<cr><lf>
17<cr><lf>
0<cr><lf>
5<cr><lf>
1007<cr><lf>
20<cr><lf>
NOTE: All arrays must be terminated by a null character (ASCII 0).
3. When the client application writes a value to a register array, it must be
in the form of a character string containing a value for each register in
the array. The register values can be separated by commas, tabs, spaces,
carriage returns or line feeds. For example, for R40001A6, the value
string could be written:
1,2,3,4,5,6
or
1<tab>2<tab>3<tab>4<tab>5<tab>6
or
1 2 3 4 5 6
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DDE Server User’s Guide Glossary of Terms •
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Glossary of Terms
Terms You Should Know
Application Name – The name of the DDE Server program. This is supplied by the
DDE client to establish a DDE conversation with a DDE Server application.
Client – An application requesting data from the DDE Server.
Communication Time-out – The maximum time to wait for a response from a device
after Server has requested data from the device. If no response is received within the
time-out period, the Server decides that the device will never respond and gives up
on the current request for data, responding with a time-out error message. If a device
times out repeatedly, the Server declares the device to be dead then occasionally
queries the device to see if it has recovered.
DDE – Acronym for Dynamic Data Exchange, a message protocol that allows
Windows applications to exchange data with one another.
GE32MODB – Application name for DDE Server, RS-485 Modbus version.
GE32MTCP – Application name for DDE Server, Modbus TCP/IP version
GE32EIND – Application name for DDE Server, Electro Industries Serial Protocol
version
Generic Device – A user-defined device type that is not pre-configured for support
by the PMCS DDE Server. The user must supply the associated register map,
communications parameters, function codes, etc. PLCs, due to their highly flexible
nature, are included in this device type.
Invalid Register Block – A range of register addresses within a register block that the
PMCS DDE Server has been instructed not to scan. These may be addresses unused
by the device itself, or simply registers in which the user is not interested.
Item – A name to identify the data in which communicating parties are interested. For
the DDE Server, an item is the desired data point.
Mnemonic – Easily remembered name or string of characters representing the item
register address, assigned by the user to make using the software easier.
NetDDE – Acronym for Network Dynamic Data Exchange, a message protocol that
allows Windows applications to exchange data with one another across a network.
With regard to PMCS, it means that the PMCS DDE Server could be located on one
machine and be accessed by client software programs on other machines on a
network.
Polling – Continuous scheduled acquisition of data. The DDE Server’s scanning of
devices to satisfy client’s DDE requests.
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• Glossary of Terms DDE Server User’s Guide
Protocol Timer Tick – The time interval at which the Server executes DDE protocol;
how often the Server listens for an incoming message from a device or transmits a
message to a device.
Register – Location in a device’s memory containing a single binary datum. Each
register has a particular address, and the DDE Server can access a register’s data by
specifying the device and the register’s address. Mnemonics are used to make the
numeric register addresses more meaningful; for example, VOLTS_A is
understandable as the volts on phase A of a particular device, whereas the actual
register address might be R10024-A1, which conveys no meaning to the reader.
Register Map – Comprehensive listing of all register addresses and what they
contain.
Scan Interval – Defines how often a device is to be scanned under optimal
conditions; this is a target time which may not be attained due to network traffic load,
number of devices, amount of data being requested, etc. A scan interval of 1000 msec
(1 second) indicates that the DDE Server will attempt to scan the device as close to
once per second as it can.
Server – A DDE-compliant MS Windows application providing data to other DDE-
compliant applications (clients) on their request.
Time-out – The error message generated when no reply is received to a query after a
given period of time.
Topic – A user-defined name associated with a specific device set to be polled at a
particular frequency.
Valid Data Time-out – The time (in milliseconds) that elapses after a client has made
a request for data to the PMCS DDE Server before a time-out error message is
returned to the client.
DDE Server User’s Guide Index •
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• 89
Index
C
client, 2
client-server, 2
Configure menu, 37
D
DDE, 2, 3
DDE Server, 1
DDE Server icon, 10
Dynamic Data Exchange (DDE) Server, 3
E
Ethernet, 3
Event Logger, 3
H
Help menu, 51
I
Installing PMCS DDE Server, 3
M
Main window, 10
Main window controls, 10
menu bar, 10
Modbus RTU, 3
P
PMCS DDE Server, 1
Power Management Control System (PMCS), 1
S
server, 2
Server menu, 32
System menu, 31
T
Toolbar, 10, 51
Toolbar icons, 51
V
View menu, 33
W
Waveform Capture, 3
GE Industrial Systems
General Electric Company
41 Woodford Ave., Plainville, CT 06062
GEH-6510 R13 0302 © 2001-2002 General Electric Company

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