BASEstartm Open DAS
for Modicon®
on OpenVMStm
Installation and User's Guide
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2.3 Postinstallation Tasks

Before using the DAS for Modicon programmable controllers you must perform the following postinstallation tasks:

2.3.1 Editing the Configuration Files

Configuration files, ODS_MOD_CONFIG.TEMPLATE and BSTR_MOD_CONFIG.TEMPLATE, are supplied with the DAS for Modicon programmable controllers. The ODS configuration file contains OMNI Directory Services (ODS) registration commands for Modicon specific classes and attributes. The BASEstar Open configuration file contains definitions for sample Modicon VMDs and protocol profile(s).

Copy the template files and edit them to include site-specific directory, VMD and protocol profile definitions. When you complete your edits, execute the files to create the ODS and BASEstar Open Device Services definitions.

The following sections provide examples of ODS and BASEstar Open definitions from the configuration files, and indicate which attributes can be modified. For more information about creating VMD and protocol profile definitions, refer to the BASEstar Open for OpenVMS Command Language Interface. For more information about registering ODS definitions, refer to the Compaq OMNI for OpenVMS Guide to Using Omni Directory Services.

2.3.1.1 Editing ODS Registrations

ODS registrations allow the DAS software to locate a particular device on an Modicon Modbus network. Example 2-1 shows the configuration file commands that create the ODS registrations.

Example 2-1 ODS Registration 

REGISTER DIRECTORY NAME "/LINE=MODBUS_LINE" ATTRIBUTES "OC=MODBUS_LINE 
/PORT=LTA207:/RETRIES=3/SPEED=9600/PARITY=none/MODEM=0/TIMEOUT=3/TRACE=0" 
REGISTER DIRECTORY NAME "/LINE=MODPLUS_LINE" ATTRIBUTES "OC=MODPLUS_LINE 
/PORT=MPA1:/RETRIES=2/TIMEOUT=2/TRACE=0" 
REGISTER DIRECTORY NAME "/PATH=MOD984_PATH" ATTRIBUTES "OC=MODBUS_PATH 
/LINE_NAME=(/LINE=MODBUS)/SLAVE_ADDRESS=20/TRACE=0" 
REGISTER DIRECTORY NAME "/PATH=MODPLUS984_SLAVE_PATH" 
ATTRIBUTES "OC=MODPLUS_SLAVE_PATH/LINE_NAME=(/LINE=MODPLUS_LINE) 
/SLAVE_ROUTING=03.00.00.00.00/TRACE=0" 
REGISTER DIRECTORY NAME "/PATH=MODPLUS984_NODE_PATH" 
ATTRIBUTES "OC=MODPLUS_NODE_PATH/LINE_NAME=(/LINE=MODPLUS_LINE) 
/NODE_ADDRESS=4/TRACE=0" 
REGISTER DIRECTORY NAME "/PATH=MOD884_PATH" ATTRIBUTES "OC=MODBUS_PATH 
/LINE_NAME=(/LINE=MODBUS)/SLAVE_ADDRESS=21/TRACE=0" 
REGISTER DIRECTORY NAME "/PATH=MOD584_PATH" ATTRIBUTES "OC=MODBUS_PATH 
/LINE_NAME=(/LINE=MODBUS)/SLAVE_ADDRESS=22/TRACE=0" 
REGISTER DIRECTORY NAME "/PATH=MOD484_PATH" ATTRIBUTES "OC=MODBUS_PATH 
/LINE_NAME=(/LINE=MODBUS)/SLAVE_ADDRESS=23/TRACE=0" 
REGISTER DIRECTORY NAME "/PATH=MODTCP984_PATH" ATTRIBUTES "OC=MODTCP_PATH 
/IP_ADDRESS=19.20.20.5"

You can modify the commands for your site configuration. The following tables show ODS classes and attributes supportes by the DAS. Attribute values are not checked until a connection is initiated with the VMD.

Table 2-3 lists the classes and attributes that are supported for Modicon devices using Modbus over an RS-232 connection.

Table 2-3 Modbus RS-232 REGISTER Attributes
Class Attribute Default Value(s)
MODBUS_LINE PORT   TT01:, LTA201:, etc. 1
  SPEED   110 - 9600
  PARITY   NONE, EVEN, ODD
  MODEM NO TRUE, ON, YES, 1 or FALSE, OFF, NO, 0
  TIMEOUT 3 2-10 2
  RETRIES 3 0-20
  TRACE 3 NO TRUE, ON, YES, 1 or FALSE, OFF, NO, 0
MODBUS_TELNET IP_ADDRESS   xx.xx.xx.xx 4
  PORT_NUMBER 5    
  TIMEOUT 3 2-10 2
  RETRIES 3 0-20
  TRACE 3 NO TRUE, ON, YES, 1 or FALSE, OFF, NO, 0
MODBUS_PATH LINE_NAME   /LINE=xxx 6
  SLAVE_ADDRESS   1-247
  TRACE 3 NO TRUE, ON, YES, 1 or FALSE, OFF, NO, 0

1LTAXXX: is used for LAT connections. TTXX: is used for direct connection.
2Seconds.
3Trace is used to allow troubleshooting of the device communications. See Section 2.3.5 for details.
4The TCP/IP address must be in xx.xx.xx.xx notation where xx is a number from 0-255.
5Put a valid port number for a socket connection to the TELNET server.
6Specify a name registered earlier with ODS that specifies the line that the programmable controller with this slave address will be using.

Table 2-4 lists the classes and attributes that are supported for Modicon devices using Modbus over a Modbus Plus connection.

Table 2-4 Modbus Plus REGISTER Attributes
Class Attribute Default Value(s)
MODPLUS_LINE PORT   MPA1:, MPB1:, MPC1:, MPD1:, JPA1:, JPB1:, JPC1:, JPD1: 1
  RETRIES 3 0-20
  TIMEOUT 3 2-10 2
  SLAVE_PATHS 1 0-8 3
  MASTER_PATHS 7 1-8 4
  IND_ROUTE_PATH 5 NO TRUE, ON, YES, 1 or FALSE, OFF, NO, 0
  TRACE 6 NO TRUE, ON, YES, 1 or FALSE, OFF, NO, 0
MODPLUS_SLAVE_PATH LINE_NAME   /LINE=xxx 7
  SLAVE_ROUTING   xx.xx.xx.xx.xx 8
  TRACE 6 NO TRUE, ON, YES, 1 or FALSE, OFF, NO, 0
MODPLUS_NODE_PATH LINE_NAME   /LINE=xxx 9
  NODE_ADDRESS   1-64 10
  TRACE 6 NO TRUE, ON, YES, 1 or FALSE, OFF, NO, 0

1Specify the OpenVMS Modbus Plus device name. A maximum of four cards are allowed per system. Use the MP or JP device name depending on the driver installed on your OpenVMS system.
2Seconds.
3Specify the number of Data Slave paths for the DAS to allocate. Slave paths are used to received MSTR function block requests from the device.
4Specify the number of Data Master paths for the DAS to allocate. Master paths are used to read and write data to the device.
5If set, this flag tells the DAS that the first five words of data in the message contain the routing path of the programmable controller that sent the message. (The five bytes of the routing path are in the lower 8 bits of the 16 bit words.) The DAS uses this information to locate the local VMD of the device that sent the message and uses that VMD to look up a variable into which to place the data. If the flag is not set, then the DAS assumes that the local VMD is the same for all VMDs on the line and uses the first local VMD on the line that it finds to look up the variable. With the current implementation of local VMDs in BASEstar Open, this flag should never be set.
6Trace is used to allow troubleshooting of the device communications. See Section 2.3.5 for details.
7Specify a name registered earlier with ODS that specifies the Modbus Plus port that the programmable controller with this slave routing will be using.
8The slave routing can contain up to 5 routing bytes. If using a bridge the nodes can be 1-64 where the address is node.node.node.node.node (if using the maximum number of bridges). If no bridge is used, then the address would look like node.0.0.0.0. All five routing bytes must be specified even if they are zero. If using a bridge multiplexor, then the last three bytes of the routing information looks like node.port.address where node is the address of the bridge multiplexor (1-64), port is the port on the multiplexor (1-4) and address is the Modbus address (1-247) of the programmable controller.
9Specify a name registered earlier with ODS that specifies the Modbus Plus port that is associated with this VMS Modbus Plus device.
10Specify the Modbus Plus node address for the OpenVMS node.

Table 2-5 lists the classes and attributes that are supported for Modicon devices using Modbus over a TCP/IP connection.

Table 2-5 TCP/IP REGISTER Attributes
Class Attribute Default Value(s)
MODTCP_PATH IP_ADDRESS   xx.xx.xx.xx 1
  PROBE_TIME 2 10  
  DROP_TIME 3 30  
  TIMEOUT 3 1-10 4
  TRACE 5 NO TRUE, ON, YES, 1 or FALSE, OFF, NO, 0

1The TCP/IP address must be in xx.xx.xx.xx notation where xx is a number from 0-255. The port number is fixed, so does not need to be specified.
2Probe time is the time (in seconds) that TCP/IP will use to probe for a broken connection.
3Drop time is the time (in seconds) after a broken connection has been detected until the connection is actually dropped. The drop time must be an even multiple of the probe time.
4Seconds.
5Trace is used to allow troubleshooting of the device communications. See Section 2.3.5 for details.

2.3.1.2 Editing BASEstar Open Protocol Profile Definitions

The BASEstar Open protocol profile is used to associate a device with the correct DAS. Example 2-2 shows the configuration file commands that create protocol profile definitions.

Example 2-2 BASEstar Open Protocol Profile Configuration 

CREATE PROTOCOL_PROFILE mod_m84 \
 -APPLPROFID 101 -MAXPDUSIZE 1024 -SMA_MODE ENABLED -LOG 
CREATE PROTOCOL_PROFILE mod_184 \
 -APPLPROFID 102 -MAXPDUSIZE 1024 -SMA_MODE ENABLED -LOG 
CREATE PROTOCOL_PROFILE mod_384 \
 -APPLPROFID 103 -MAXPDUSIZE 1024 -SMA_MODE ENABLED -LOG 
CREATE PROTOCOL_PROFILE mod_484 \
 -APPLPROFID 104 -MAXPDUSIZE 1024 -SMA_MODE ENABLED -LOG 
CREATE PROTOCOL_PROFILE mod_584 \
 -APPLPROFID 105 -MAXPDUSIZE 1024 -SMA_MODE ENABLED -LOG 
CREATE PROTOCOL_PROFILE mod_884 \
 -APPLPROFID 106 -MAXPDUSIZE 1024 -SMA_MODE ENABLED -LOG 
CREATE PROTOCOL_PROFILE mod_984 \
 -APPLPROFID 107 -MAXPDUSIZE 1024 -SMA_MODE ENABLED -LOG 
CREATE PROTOCOL_PROFILE modplus_984 \
 -APPLPROFID 108 -MAXPDUSIZE 1024 -SMA_MODE ENABLED -LOG 
CREATE PROTOCOL_PROFILE modtcp_984 \
 -APPLPROFID 109 -MAXPDUSIZE 1024 -SMA_MODE ENABLED -LOG

The DAS for Modicon programmable controllers uses a different Application Profile ID for each programmable controller family that it supports. When defining a VMD, be sure to specify the proper protocol profile for the family of programmable controller being defined.

The Modicon 984 family of devices uses different protocol profiles depending on the communication method used to communicate to the programmable controller.

Use the modplus_948 protocol profile for Modus Plus connections, mod_984 protocol profile for Modbus connections and modtcp_984 protocol profile for Modbus TCP/IP connections.

The Modicon 984 protocol profiles should be used when communicating with Quantum Automation Series programmable controllers.

The MAXPDUSIZE should be greater than or equal to the largest total packet sent by the device. If a packet is segmented into several smaller packets use the total packet size for this number.

2.3.1.3 Editing VMD Definitions

The VMD definition represents a Modicon device and references previously defined ODS and protocol profile definitions. Example 2-3 shows the configuration file commands that create VMD definitions.

Example 2-3 VMD Configuration 

CREATE VMD mod_984 -MODEL "Modicon_984" \
                    -VENDOR "Modicon" \
                    -DVM_ACCESS_POINT "/PATH=MOD984_PATH":mod_984 \
                    -DESCRIPTION "Modicon 984 programmable controller" \
                    -LOG 
CREATE VMD modtcp_984 -MODEL "Modicon_984" \
                    -VENDOR "Modicon" \
                    -DVM_ACCESS_POINT "/PATH=MODTCP984_PATH":modtcp_984 \
                    -DESCRIPTION "Quantum Automation Series" \
                    -LOG 
CREATE VMD modplus_984 -MODEL "Modicon_984" \
                    -VENDOR "Modicon" \
                    -DVM_ACCESS_POINT "/PATH=MODPLUS984_SLAVE_PATH":modplus_984 \
                    -DESCRIPTION "Modicon 984 programmable controller" \
                    -LOG 
CREATE VMD mod_884 -MODEL "Modicon_884" \
                    -VENDOR "Modicon" \
                    -DVM_ACCESS_POINT "/PATH=MOD884_PATH":mod_884 \
                    -DESCRIPTION "Modicon 884 programmable controller" \
                    -LOG 
CREATE VMD mod_584 -MODEL "Modicon_584" \
                    -VENDOR "Modicon" \
                    -DVM_ACCESS_POINT "/PATH=MOD584_PATH":mod_584 \
                    -DESCRIPTION "Modicon 584 programmable controller" \
                    -LOG 
CREATE VMD mod_484 -MODEL "Modicon_484" \
                    -VENDOR "Modicon" \
                    -DVM_ACCESS_POINT "/PATH=MOD484_PATH":mod_484 \
                    -DESCRIPTION "Modicon 484 programmable controller" \
                    -LOG

An access point is created using the following syntax: APPLICATION_SIMPLE_NAME:PROTOCOL_PROFILE_NAME . The APPLICATION_SIMPLE_NAME is the definition registered in ODS. The PROTOCOL_PROFILE_NAME is defined using the BASEstar Open CLI as described in Section 2.3.1.2.

An access point tells the BASEstar Open software how to access the VMD. For more information on specifying client and DVM access points, refer to BASEstar Open for OpenVMS Command Language Interface.

Modify the command for your site configuration. Table 2-6 lists the modifiable device attributes.

Table 2-6 VMD CREATE
Parameter Value(s)
MODEL 1 Programmable controller model
VENDOR 1 Modicon
REVISION 1  
CLIENT_ACCESS_POINT 2  
DVM_ACCESS_POINT 2  
DESCRIPTION 1 Descriptive text

1The value of this field is informational only and is not checked by the DAS.
2See the BASEstar Open for OpenVMS Command Language Interface for information on specifying client and DVM access points.

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