The Workbench provides the view into a node's installation, configuration and resource definition. The Workbench also provides access and control over those resources.
A device is a resource that can represent a physical device, such as a programmable logic controller (PLC), an RF tag reader or a sensor. A device can also be defined in one node to represent a device that is defined and supported in another node. This allows your application solution to have access to devices and their data independent of their location or connectivity details.
This section describes defining the following device supported by the Omron driver:
- Omron NJ
- Omron NX
To define a device that represents an Omron NJ or NX device, follow these steps:
- From the Workbench left pane, expand the node where
you want to define the device.
- Select the Devices icon.
The Devices window appears as the right pane.
The Devices window provides a table format that lists the previously defined devices. - To define a new device, select New
at the bottom of the pane.
The Device window appears. The available device types are determined by the device support that is installed in the node. - Use the Type down-arrow, to select
NJ CPU or NX CPU
under the Omron group.
The Device window changes to accommodate the selected device type.
-
To define a device that represents an Omron NJ or NX PLC, set this new device’s parameters as follows:
Parameter Description Name Enter a name for the Omron NJ or NX PLC device. Type Select NJ CPU or NX CPU. IP Address Enter the IP Address of the device. Timeout Enter the timeout value to use when communicating with this device. This is entered in milliseconds. You can also specify advanced settings for the Omron NJ or NX device. Select the Advanced Properties checkbox.
Parameter Description Port The port on the Omron NJ or NX that the Ethernet connection will be made. The default value is 44818. It is highly unlikely that this value will need to be changed. Keep Alive A value, in seconds, in which the driver should send a message to the NJ or NX PLC to ensure the communications link is still active. This message will only be sent if there has been no communications with the NJ or NX for the amount of time specified in this field. Message Time to Live A value, in seconds, in which the NJ or NX has to process a message it receives. This value differs from the value in the Timeout field in that this value is used by the NJ or NX to determine if it is too busy to process the message. The Timeout value is used to determine if the communications link between the Omron driver and the NJ or NX is still active. Per Variable Security Select False to disable the allocation of additional memory to track User to Variable access for all Variables in this Device. Select True to enable this feature if required. For more information, see Setting up Read Write per device variable. - Select Validate to have the
parameters validated and to connect to the Omron NJ or
NX device. If there is a problem connecting to the NJ
or NX device, an error code will be displayed.
- Select Save to save the device
definition. The device will appear in the Devices
window list of devices.
- You can now control the device
(Start, Stop), access
the device’s variables by using the
Variables window, and build solutions
that use the device’s resources.