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- 1. Introduction..A Word about Shareware
- 1.1 What Shareware is
- 1.2 Advantages of Registration.
- 1.3 Registration of the ModScan Application
- 1.4 Licensing Agreement
- 1.5 Warranty
-
- 2. ModScan System Requirements
- 2.1 Operational Overview
- 2.2 System/Cabling Requirements
- 3. Installation
- 3.1 Making Backups
- 3.2 Installing ModScan
- 4. Basic Operation
- 4.1 MODBUS Protocol
- 4.2 Polling Operation
- 4.3 Display Parameters
- 5. Menu Selections
- 5.1 Setup
- 5.2 Display Options
- 5.3 Monitoring Serial Data
-
- 6. Technical Support
-
- 6.1 Contacting WinTECH
- Introduction..A Word about Shareware
-
- What is Shareware
- Shareware is a distribution method, not a type of software.
- Shareware products may be freely distributed among potential
- users with each user given an opportunity to fully evaluate
- the software over a specified period of time. This distribution
- method gives users a chance to try software before buying it.
- If the particular shareware application provides a service
- which the user wishes to continue beyond the specified evaluation
- period, a registration payment to the software author is required.
- Copyright laws apply to both Shareware and commercial software,
- and WinTECH Software retains all rights to its software products
- with the following exception:
- WinTECH Software specifically grants the right to copy and
- distribute unregistered copies of the ModScan Application to all
- interested parties for an evaluation period not to exceed thirty-days.
- Advantages of Registration
- The Shareware distribution system depends upon the integrity of
- the user to make the required registration payment only if the
- application proves itself useful. Shareware products have the
- ultimate money-back guarantee--if the product is not used, no
- payment is required. Registration of Shareware products support
- this system of distribution and allow continued development of
- low-cost high quality software solutions.
- Registration of the ModScan Application
- Unregistered copies of the ModScan Application are functionally
- equivalent to registered copies with the following exception:
- To encourage registration, a limit is placed on the amount of time
- data may be collected during a monitoring session. This limit
- does not effect the ability of a user to fully evaluate either
- the functionality or through-put of the application.
- Registration of the ModScan Application requires a registration
- fee of $49.95 be submitted to WinTECH Software. The user shall
- receive in return the most recent registered version of ModScan
- with all time limit constraints and registration reminder screens
- disabled. The user shall also receive a printed user manual,
- and free technical support for a period of three months after
- registration. Registered users also have direct access to the
- ModScan design engineer and a commitment from WinTECH to consider
- product enhancements based on individual application requirements.
- In other words, if you can think of anything which would make your
- life easier, let us know. If it has general marketing appeal,
- chances are it could be included in the next revision.
- Licensing Agreement
- Registered WinTECH software is protected by both United States
- Copyright Law and International Treaty provisions. Therefore,
- you must treat this software just like a book with the following
- single exception. WinTECH Software authorizes you to make
- archival copies of the software for the sole purpose of backing-up
- your software and protecting your investment from loss.
- By saying "just like a book", WinTECH means for example that this
- software may be used by any number of people and may be freely
- moved from one computer location to another so long as there is
- no possibility of it being used at two locations at the same time.
- Execution of two copies of the same registered ModScan application
- at the same time constitutes a Copyright violation and is expressly
- prohibited.
- Warranty
- With respect to the physical diskette and physical documentation
- enclosed herein, WinTECH Software warrants the same to be free of
- defects in materials and workmanship for a period of 30 days
- from the date of registration. In the event of notification within
- the warranty period of defects in material or workmanship, WinTECH
- will replace the defective diskette or documentation.
- WinTECH Software disclaims all other warranties, expressed or implied,
- including without limitation, the warranties or merchantability
- and of fitness for any purpose. WinTECH Software assumes no
- liability for damages, direct or consequential, which may result
- from the use of this program.
- ModScan System Requirements
- Operational Overview
- ModScan is a Windows application designed to operate as a master
- communications device, polling one or more slave devices according
- to the MODBUS protocol defined by Gould Modicon. ModScan operates
- using the standard Windows COM drivers and communicates using the
- electrical protocol supported by the PC hardware. Windows 3.1,
- Windows for Workgroups 3.11, or Windows '95 is required. At least
- one free serial port is required.
- ModScan was designed to operate as a simple one-on-one testing
- application to verify proper slave response to standard MODBUS
- query commands. ModScan runs a single polling cycle, configurable
- by the user, to access and display data points as required. The
- user may select any valid MODBUS slave address and range of data
- points to scan.
- System/Cabling Requirements
- This manual assumes an RS-232 based communications system is to
- be used to connect the ModScan application directly to a single
- MODBUS slave device. In this simple configuration, the cabling
- requirements are defined by the RS-232 standard and the control
- signals required by the particular slave device. The application
- supports RTS/CTS, and DSR/DCD/DTR operation, although these signals
- are not required for ModScan operation. If required by the slave
- device, these signals may wired as shown in cable drawing 2.2.1
- or jumpered out at the slave end of the cable as shown in
- drawing 2.2.2.
- Installation
- Making Backups
- The distribution diskette is not copy-protected, and the registered
- user may make backup copies as required. The ModScan application
- may be moved from one PC to another so long as the basic licensing
- agreement of only one copy in use at a time is maintained. Site
- licenses are available for commercial users by contacting WinTECH
- Software.
-
- Installing ModScan
- Installation of the ModScan Application involves simply copying
- the ModScan.exe & ModScan.hlp files from the distribution diskette
- to a working directory on the hard disk. After running the
- application for the first time, a configuration file will be
- created on the working directory. ModScan.cfg represents the
- user configurable selections, (slave address, data point type. etc.),
- in effect at the time the program terminated. These settings will
- be restored the next time ModScan is started.
- ModScan may be started from the program manager, file manager,
- or program group icon. Consult the Windows user's manual for
- details.
- Basic Operation
- The MODBUS Protocol
- The MODBUS protocol describes an industrial communications and
- distributed control system developed by Gould-Modicon to integrate
- PLC's, computers, terminals, and other monitoring, sensing, and
- control devices. MODBUS is a Master/Slave communications
- protocol, whereby one device, (the Master), controls all serial
- activity by selectively polling one or more slave devices. The
- protocol provides for one master device and up to 247 slave
- devices on a common line. Each device is assigned an address
- to distinguish it from all other connected devices.
- Certain characteristics of the MODBUS protocol are fixed, such as
- the frame format, frame sequences, handling of communications errors
- and exception conditions, and the functions performed.
- Other characteristics are user selectable. These include a choice
- of transmission mediasetup_serial, baud rate, character parity,
- number of stop bits, and the transmission modes, (ASCII or RTU).
- The user selected parameters are set, (hardwired or programmed),
- at each station. These parameters cannot be changed while the
- system is running.
- The mode of transmission is the structure of the individual units
- of information within a message, and the numbering system used to
- transmit the data. Two modes of transmission are available for
- use in a MODBUS system. Both modes provide the same capabilities
- for communicating with PLC slaves; the mode is selected depending
- on the equipment used as a MODBUS Master. One mode must be used
- per MODBUS system; mixing of modes is not allowed. The modes
- are ASCII (American Standard Code for Information Interchange),
- and RTU, (Remote Terminal Unit.)
- ASCII printable characters are easy to view when troubleshooting
- and this mode is suited to computer masters programmed in a high
- level language, such as FORTRAN, as well as PLC masters. RTU
- is suited to computer masters programmed in a machine language,
- as well as PLC masters.
- In the RTU mode, data is sent in 8-bit binary characters. In
- the ASCII mode, each RTU character is first divided into two 4-bit
- parts, (high order and low order), and then represented by the
- hexadecimal equivalent. The ASCII characters representing the
- hexadecimal characters are used to construct the message. The
- ASCII mode uses twice as many characters as the RTU mode, but
- decoding handling the ASCII data is easier. Additionally, in
- the RTU mode, message characters must be transmitted in a
- continuous stream. In the ASCII mode, breaks of up to one
- second can occur between characters to allow for a relatively
- slower master.
- Polling Operation
- Only the master initiates a transaction. Transactions are either
- a query/response type, (only a single slave is address), or a
- broadcast/no response type, (all slaves are addressed). A
- transaction comprises a single query and single response frame
- or a single broadcast frame.
- ASCII Framing
- Framing in ASCII Transmission mode is accomplished by the use of
- the unique colon, (:), character to indicate the beginning of frame
- and carriage return/line feed, (CRLF), to delineate end of frame.
- The line feed character also serves as a synchronizing character
- which indicates that the transmitting station is ready to receive
- an immediate reply.
- RTU Framing
- Frame synchronization can be maintained in RTU transmission mode
- only by simulating a synchronous message. The receiving device
- monitors the elapsed time between receipt of characters. If
- three and one-half character times elapse without a new character
- or completion of the frame, then the device flushes the frame
- and assumes that the next byte received will be an address.
- The address field immediately follows the beginning of frame and
- consists of 8-bits, (RTU), or 2 characters, (ASCII). These bits
- indicate the user assigned address of the slave device that is to
- receive the message sent by the attached master.
- Each slave must be assigned a unique address and only the addressed
- slave will respond to a query that contains its address. When the
- slave sends a response, the slave address informs the master which
- slave is communicating. In a broadcast message, an address of 0 is
- used. All slaves interpret this as an instruction to read and take
- action on the message, but not to issue a response message.
- Function Field
- The Function Code field tells the addressed slave what function to
- perform. MODBUS function codes are specifically designed for
- interacting with a PLC on the MODBUS industrial communications
- system. The high order bit in this field is set by the slave
- device to indicate an exception condition in the response message.
- If no exceptions exist, the high-order bit is maintained as zero in
- the response message.
- Data Field
- The data field contains information needed by the slave to perform
- the specific function or it contains data collected by the slave
- in response to a query. This information may be values, address
- references, or limits. For example, the function code tells the
- slave to read a holding register, and the data field is needed to
- indicate which register to start at and how many to read. The
- imbedded address and data information varies with the type and
- capacity of the PLC associated with the slave.
- Error Check Field
- This field allows the master and slave devices to check a message
- for errors in transmission. Sometimes, because of electrical noise
- or other interference, a message may be changed slightly while its
- on its way from one device to another. The error checking assures
- that the slave or master does not react to messages that have
- changed during transmission. This increases the safety and the
- efficiency of the MODBUS system.
- The error check field uses a Longitudinal Redundancy Check, (LRC),
- in the ASCII mode of transmission, and a CRC-16 check in the RTU mode.
- Display Parameters
- The display of the ModScan application consists of two parts. The
- top half of the display represents the addressing information which
- specifies the remote slave device and data point type to scan.
- Edit controls allow specification of the slave device identification,
- point type, and point addressing information used for the scanning
- operation. These controls may be modified at any time, including an
- ctive scanning session. Modification of these values during a
- scanning session will influence the next poll.
- Immediately above the horizontal line separating the addressing data
- from the actual data point display is a status line representing
- current activity of the ModScan application. During an active
- polling session, this line will represent any exception responses
- received from the addressed slave or any communications errors which
- may result from an invalid address specification or disconnected
- serial line.
- To the right of the display are two counters representing the number
- of query messages attempted and the number of valid responses received.
- During an active polling session, ModScan will attempt to poll the
- specified slave device periodically depending on the poll cycle
- selected. These counters may be reset via a menu command and are
- useful for picking up intermittent failures over an extended period
- of time.
- The bottom half of the display typically represents the results of
- the most recent data scan.
- If ModScan is configured to display MODBUS data points, Coil values
- will be displayed as below. ON status is displayed as '1', OFF as '0'.
- ModScan will attempt to display all data points defined by the Length
- parameter in the address specification using the available Window
- display area.
- Register values may be displayed in either Decimal or Hexadecimal
- notation. The address of each data point is followed by the contents
- as shown below: (Hexadecimal notation would include an 'H' after the
- value such as 1000H.)
- In order to write a MODBUS data point in a slave device, the
- communications with the device must first be initiated by scanning
- a series of data points by configuring the correct addressing
- information and initiating a polling cycle. Once the data is
- successfully displayed on the screen, double-clicking the
- address/value portion of the screen will initiate a dialog box which
- allows the value to be changed. If the polling cycle has been
- configured to represent coil addresses, double-clicking an address
- will initiate the Change Coil Dialog:
- The Change Register Dialog Box may be initiated by configuring the
- display to represent register data and double clicking on an address:
- Pressing the Update Button in either write data point dialog will
- initiate the appropriate MODBUS write command, (05 or 06), during
- the next scheduled poll.
- Menu Selections
- Setup
- The SetUp Serial menu command allows the user to control the
- physical characteristics of the MODBUS connection. The PC COM port
- to use may be selected, as well as the baud rate, number of stop bits,
- and parity. The RTU transmission mode dictates that 8 data bits
- are used while the ASCII mode of transmission allows either 7 or 8
- data bits to be used, (even though the eighth bit is not used).
- The RS-232 handshaking lines may be configured by checking the
- appropriate boxes depending on the characteristics required by
- the connected slave device.
- The Setup Protocol Menu commands allow the user to specify either
- RTU or ASCII transmission modes. The transmission mode may not be
- changed while an active session is in progress. The polling cycle
- must be stopped before these menu options are activated.
- The polling cycle and associated message time-out are also
- configurable via the Setup Protocol Menu Commands. The polling
- cycle represents the time delay between successive polls and is
- specified in seconds:
- The message time-out determines how long the ModScan application
- waits for a response from an addressed slave device and is specified
- in milliseconds:
- These menu commands initiate or stop a ModScan polling cycle. The
- Start Polling Menu command begins a repetitive cycle of polling
- the slave device specified in the addressing section of the display.
- The device to poll and the point type and addressing parameters may
- be changed at any time during a polling cycle. As data is received
- from the slave device, it is displayed in the data point section
- of the screen. The Stop Polling Menu selection simply halts the
- polling process and returns the ModScan application to an Idle condition.
- Display Options
- The SetUp Display Menu consists of four line items representing
- two mutually exclusive options. The display may be configured to
- display data points or serial traffic by clicking on the appropriate
- menu selection. The option in effect is represented by a check mark.
- Likewise, register data may be displayed in either decimal or
- hexadecimal notation depending on the menu item selected. To
- change from one notation to the other, simply click the unchecked
- option.
- Monitoring Serial Data
- In certain cases, it may be desirable to monitor the actual MODBUS
- communications between the ModScan application and a particular
- slave device. The application allows the serial data traffic to
- be displayed to the screen as it occurs by selecting the View
- Traffic option under the Setup DisplayMenu Command options. If
- enabled, the bottom portion of the ModScan display will depict
- all serial data characters transmitted and received as they occur.
- Transmitted characters are displayed in reverse video, received
- characters are displayed in normal video. Display of the actual
- serial traffic is sometimes useful for troubleshooting an
- intermittent communications fault or debugging a new design.
- Technical Support
- Contacting WinTECH
- If it ever becomes necessary to contact WinTECH concerning a
- technical question or to offer comments or suggestions for
- improving the Listen application please call or write to the
- ddress below:
- WinTECH Software
- P.O.Box 907
- Lewisburg, WV 24901
- (304) 645-5966
- For quickest response, email questions/comments to:
- modscan@win-tech.com
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