Communication lines - configuration dialog box

Editing of all objects in the process D2000 CNF is being performed in the configuration dialog box, a specific part of which is common for all editable objects and another part depends on the type of edited object.

The configuration dialog box of communication lines consists of several parts (tabs), which contains similar parameters. The display of particular tabs depends on the category of a particular communication line.

General properties
Groups
Line parameters
Other (name of the tab depends on the communication protocol of the station)
Line modes
Protocol parameters

General properties

Description

A text string describing the communication line. Maximum: 128 characters.
Possibility to use the Dictionary (to open press CTRL+L).

Value type

Selection of an object value type. For each communication line, the value type is automatically Li-Line.

Line parameters

Category

Category of the communication line. There are the following categories of lines:

The line category determines basically the type of interface to a particular device. The list of available communication protocols in the configuration of stations, which are the line children, varies according to the chosen line category. Most of the lines require the configuration of specific parameters depending on the configured line category. A typical example is an asynchronous communication line and settings of transmission parameters for individual line modes. A detailed description of these parameters and their interpretation you can find in topic communication protocols.

RQ delay

This time represents the delay [ms], that is inserted between an incoming request for communication and its processing via the thread of the communication line. The parameter may be used to slow down (delay) communication or simulation.

Priority

Using this parameter allows setting the priority of the communication line thread. A high value represents a high priority and vice versa.

Communication tracing

There are the following levels to trace the communication with the communication line:

  • None - no outputs.
  • Screen - diagnostic outputs are displayed only on the screen (in the window of the D2000 KOM process).
  • Screen & Disk - diagnostic outputs are displayed on the screen and they are saved in LINE.LOG text file, where LINE is the logical name of a particular line. The output file line_name.log is placed in the directory TRACE, which is a subdirectory of the application directory. This directory is created automatically and the maximum size of the file is given by the "Maximum trace file size" parameter. The oldest logs are deleted, new diagnostic logs are stored at the end of the file. Error logs are saved into this file automatically, although the "Monitor & Disk" radio button is not enabled. Error logs are saved automatically, together with the time and date of their occurrence.
  • Disk - diagnostic outputs are saved only into a file on disk (see "Monitor & Disk"). Error messages are also displayed on the screen.

Note: Diagnostic outputs written to disk were originally written line by line, i.e. opening the file - writing a line - closing the file. This behavior caused the file modification time to change constantly, which was a problem on some SSDs and caused them to wear out. From 04/03/2024, they are written in such a way that the file is open for a long time and is closed only once every 60 seconds. Subsequently, the file size is checked to see if it has exceeded the size given by the "Maximum trace file size" parameter (if so, it is renamed as described above). Subsequently, the file is opened again (after renaming, a new file is created). The original behavior can be turned on with the start parameter /E+RTM.KOM.FLUSH_LOGS or while the process is running by activating the debug category (Debug info) RTM.KOM.FLUSH_LOGS in the D2000 System Console.

Other

The name of the tab depends on the communication protocol selected for the station. It contains special parameters of the communication protocol and they are described in the documentation of the respective communication protocol.

Line modes

The Line modes tab is accessible only for the Serial line category in the configuration window. In modified form, these parameters can be defined also for the lines of "Serial Line Redundant", "Serial System&Line Redundant" and "Moxa IP Serial Library" categories.

Device

Selection of line communication device. For asynchronous communication lines on the Windows platform, the device names COM1, COM2, etc are used, on Linux /dev/ttyS0, /dev/ttyS1, etc.

Line modes

The table displays the parameters of individual modes of a particular communication line. These parameters are transferred into the communication process as parameters for the setting and behavior of the communication channel. Line, in dependence on category, allows defining several different sets of parameters for communication (up to 4). The choice of particular sets of parameters (mode 1, mode 2, mode 3, or mode 4) that are used for the communication depends on the value of the Line mode spin button in the configuration dialog box of a Station object, that uses the communication line. This procedure enables the communication of stations, which communicate with the use of various parameters of the communication line (Baud rate, number of bits, etc.) via one physical line. Parameters of line modes are configured in the dialog box, which is opened after double-clicking the numerical level of a particular mode in the displayed table.

Protocol parameters

This tab contains a full list of protocol communication parameters. They influence and set communication of all stations on a communication line.
When you want to set some parameters you have to choose the communication protocol in the upper part of the tab.

If the protocol is not in the list it means that it has no line protocol parameters.

The list contains the following information:

  • Parameter name
  • Value
  • Technical units and permitted range
  • Default value

Only values in the column "Value" can be modified. The parameters, which have been changed, are highlighted (red color).
If you want to set the default parameter back, choose the parameter and click on the "Def" button placed below the list of protocols.

Related pages:

Communication lines

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