IOC configuration

Everything that concerns the connection as a whole is configured in the IOC startup script. Per-record settings are described in Records.

Startup script

A minimal startup script, parameterised so that only the top block needs editing:

dbLoadDatabase "dbd/adsExApp.dbd"
adsExApp_registerRecordDeviceDriver pdbbase

epicsEnvSet("ASYN_PORT",             "ADS_1")
epicsEnvSet("PLC_IP",                "192.168.88.63")
epicsEnvSet("PLC_AMS_NET_ID",        "$(PLC_IP).1.1")
epicsEnvSet("ADS_DEFAULT_PORT",      "851")
epicsEnvSet("PARAM_TABLE_SIZE",      "1000")
epicsEnvSet("PRIORITY",              "0")
epicsEnvSet("DISABLE_AUTOCONNECT",   "0")
epicsEnvSet("DEFAULT_SAMPLETIME_MS", "50")
epicsEnvSet("MAX_DELAY_TIME_MS",     "100")
epicsEnvSet("ADS_TIMEOUT_MS",        "5000")
epicsEnvSet("DEFAULT_TIME_SRC",      "0")

adsAsynPortDriverConfigure(${ASYN_PORT},${PLC_IP},${PLC_AMS_NET_ID},${ADS_DEFAULT_PORT},${PARAM_TABLE_SIZE},${PRIORITY},${DISABLE_AUTOCONNECT},${DEFAULT_SAMPLETIME_MS},${MAX_DELAY_TIME_MS},${ADS_TIMEOUT_MS},${DEFAULT_TIME_SRC})

asynOctetSetOutputEos(${ASYN_PORT}, -1, "\n")
asynOctetSetInputEos(${ASYN_PORT}, -1, "\n")
asynSetTraceMask(${ASYN_PORT}, -1, 0x41)

dbLoadRecords("db/adsTestAsyn.db","P=ADS_IOC:ASYN:,PORT=${ASYN_PORT},ADSPORT=${ADS_DEFAULT_PORT}")

iocInit

The complete version is in iocBoot/iocexample/st.cmd, together with the matching database adsExApp/Db/adsTestAsyn.db.

iocsh commands

Loading ads.dbd registers three commands.

adsAsynPortDriverConfigure

Creates one asyn port connected to one TwinCAT controller. Call it once per PLC, before iocInit and before any dbLoadRecords that reference the port.

adsAsynPortDriverConfigure(
    portName, ipAddr, amsAddr, defaultAmsPort, paramTableSize,
    priority, disableAutoConnect, defaultSampleTimeMS, maxDelayTimeMS,
    adsTimeoutMS, defaultTimeSource)

#	Argument	Type	Example	Description
1	port name	string	ADS_1	asyn port name used in record INP/OUT links.
2	ip-addr	string	192.168.88.63	IP address of the TwinCAT controller.
3	ams-addr	string	192.168.88.63.1.1	AMS NetId of the controller.
4	default-ams-port	int	851	Default ADS port of the runtime holding the symbols. Overridable per record with ADSPORT=.
5	asyn param table size	int	1000	Maximum number of PLC symbols (asyn parameters) for this port.
6	priority	int	0	asyn port thread priority (0 = default).
7	disable auto-connect	int	0	0 = asyn autoconnect enabled, 1 = disabled.
8	default sample time ms	int	50	Default PLC-side notification sample period, overridable with TS_MS=.
9	max delay time ms	int	100	Default maximum time the PLC buffers notifications before sending, overridable with T_DLY_MS=.
10	ADS communication timeout ms	int	5000	Timeout for synchronous ADS requests.
11	default time source	int	0	0 = PLC (ADS_TIME_BASE_PLC), 1 = EPICS (ADS_TIME_BASE_EPICS). Overridable with TIMEBASE=.

Note

Records that take their timestamp from the driver must set field(TSE, "-2"). See Timestamps.

adsSetLocalAddress

adsSetLocalAddress("192.168.114.129.1.1")

Argument	Type	Description
local_ams_id	string	AMS NetId the IOC presents to the PLC router, in A.B.C.D.E.F form.

Use this when the host has several network interfaces, or when the AMS NetId registered on the PLC does not match the automatically derived one. The string must be at least 11 characters long; shorter values are rejected with a message. Call it before adsAsynPortDriverConfigure.

adsPollInfo

adsPollInfo("")           # all polled symbols
adsPollInfo("fAmplitude") # only symbols whose name contains "fAmplitude"

Argument	Type	Description
name	string	Substring filter on the PLC symbol name, empty for all.

Prints diagnostics for the bulk-read (polling) loop, see Troubleshooting.