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DDE Server User’s Guide POWER LEADER PMCS Network and Device Configurator DDE Server User’s Guide GEH-6510 GE Power Management Control System 6.11a • • • • i...
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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.
Back to Main Menu Contents Chapter One - Introduction Welcome ... 1 About DDE ... 2 About NetDDE ... 2 About the PMCS DDE Server ... 3 Installation ... 3 Chapter Two - Overview About PMCS... 7 Devices ... 9 Networks...
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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...
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(This page left blank intentionally) • • • • v DDE Server User’s Guide...
Chapter One - Introduction Welcome The PMCS Network and Device Configurator with DDE Server is the heart of a POWER LEADER you increase productivity, reduce downtime, and improve power quality by automatically collecting the wealth of data available from devices in your power network.
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.
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.
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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. 4 • • • • Chapter One - Introduction DDE Server User’s Guide...
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: When installed as NT Services, PMCS Servers can only be started or stopped using Windows 2000 SP2's Services control panel.
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.
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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.
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.
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...
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.
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.
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”...
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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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.
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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.
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.
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.
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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.
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.
“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.
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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.
Errors and error messages are defined by the NetDDE API Trouble-Shooting VNDDE.EXE VNDDE.EXE FAQ’s 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.
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28 • • • • Chapter Three - Getting Started The DDE Shares dialog box shows the available DDE Shares: Click the Add a Share... button to add a share name. In the DDE Share Properties dialog box shown below, enter the share name as GE32MODB|* or GE32MTCP|* or GE32EIND|* DDE Server User’s Guide...
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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. Click on the Permissions...
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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. 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...
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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.
Server Menu The Server pull-down menu is shown below. Descriptions of the Server options follow. 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.
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.
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.
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: Background This option allows you to change the background color of the screen where the messages are displayed.
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.
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.
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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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 .
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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.
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.
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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.
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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.
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.
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DDE Server User’s Guide If desired, set the Timeout value. 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.
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;...
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.
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.
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.
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 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.
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. Device is either not configured or is deactivated.
Trouble-Shooting Chart The following table lists a variety of common problems, possible causes and recommended solutions. Error Condition Many device time-out errors. Client application times out while setting up DDE link or receives negative acknowledgment. #NAME on Excel spreadsheet (client application) #N/A on Excel spreadsheet (client application)
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Could not find register group with name CPML3720WFRReg, so DDE execute failed. Could not enable comm notification for <comm port>. Could not find register group with name PLMeterWFCRegisterGroup, so DDE execute failed Could not open RMS data file <file name> Comport <comm port>...
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Failed to activate item(<logical device handle>, <Protocol Handle>)=>0 Failed to create item (<logical device handle>) (<toolkit handle>) (<item name>) =>0 Failed to deactivate item(<logical device handle>, <Protocol Handle>) Failed to delete item(<logical device handle>, <Protocol Handle>) Initialization failed for <comm port> 62 •...
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No Write to Individual Discrete Bits Open comm for <comm port> failed RegFormat Name is INVALID Retrieve command time not occurred <device name> RetrieveWFR : Got out of range values for depth, range is 1-3 DDE Server User’s Guide • The communication port does not exist on the PC running the DDE Server.
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The device type <device type name> is NOT a valid type for topic TIME-OUT <comm port> : <device name> Unable to free topic (hLogDev = <logical device handle>) Unable to open RMS data file for rewriting RMS data 64 • • • • Chapter Five - Troubleshooting The Waveform Client has passed an out-of-range value for the PML3720 waveform recorder depth parameter.
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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.
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.
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.
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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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.
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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.
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.
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).
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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.
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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.
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”...
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 “Register 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.
Examples Here are some examples of different types of register numbers: Register number R00005 R31005 R43010 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 Unsigned 16-bit Integer...
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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): Examples DDE Server User’s Guide X indicates an address is hexadecimal. If the X is not present, the address is read as decimal.
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: The rules for register arrays are as follows: NOTE: All arrays must be terminated by a null character (ASCII 0).
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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 –...
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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.