Protocol manual

DataLink

applicom®

a product of Woodhead Software & Electronics

DataLink 1 08/02/2008

Copyright © 2006 Woodhead Software & Electronics. All rights reserved.

DataLink 2 08/02/2008

Copyright © 2006 Woodhead Software & Electronics. All rights reserved.

 Table of contents

1. Functionality ..................................................................................4
Access to the variables ...........................................................................................4
Maximum number of variables per frame with the library .......................................4
Maximum number of variables per frame with PCDDE ..........................................4
Maximum number of variables per frame with OPC server ....................................5

2. Configuration .................................................................................6
Configuration screen ...............................................................................................6
Slaves configuration ................................................................................................7

3. Functions usable on the master channel ....................................9

Wait mode ...............................................................................................................9
Deferred mode ........................................................................................................9
Cyclic mode.............................................................................................................9

4. Item of image variables ...............................................................10

Presentation ..........................................................................................................10
Standard descriptor ...............................................................................................10
Otic Fischer&Porter (DataLink) descriptor ............................................................11

5. Appendices ..................................................................................13
List of extra files for this protocol...........................................................................13
Evolution / compatibility.........................................................................................13

6. Return status of applicom® functions .......................................14

Introduction............................................................................................................14
applicom® general statuses..................................................................................15
Statuses according to the protocol........................................................................16

7. Glossary of terms ........................................................................17

DataLink 3 08/02/2008

Copyright © 2006 Woodhead Software & Electronics. All rights reserved.

 1. Functionality

Access to the variables

The DataLink protocol on applicom® allows communication with 1 to 31 µDCI controllers of series
2000, 5000 and 2000 Supervisor.

Accessible DataLink variables applicom® Corresponding applicom®

Addressing (adr) function (library/DLL access)
Logical (type L) Lv v
No transcoding Read and write bits
Byte (type B) Bv v
No transcoding Read and write bytes
Floating on 3 bytes(type C) Cv
Transcoded in 16 bit integer v+10000 Read and write words
Transcoded in 32 bit integer v+10000 Read and write double words
Transcoded floating IEEE v Read and write floating words
Floating on 5 bytes(type H) Hv
Transcoded in 16 bit integer v+20000 Read and write words
Transcoded in 32 bit integer v+20000 Read and write double words
Transcoded floating IEEE v+20000 Read and write floating words
v: N° of the variable

The physical connection between the applicom® interface and the regulation devices is of
4-conductor RS485 type.
The transmission rate is standard up to 9600 Baud with two extra baud rates of 14400 and 28800
Baud.
Parity and stop bits are user-definable.
Format is of type 8 data bit.
These parameters can be defined using the standard applicom® configurator and at regulation
devices using front panel keys.

Maximum number of variables per frame with the library

Object Maximum quantity in read Maximum quantity in write
Bit 125 125
Byte 70 70
Floating on 3 bytes 23 23
Floating on 5 bytes 14 14

Maximum number of variables per frame with PCDDE

Object Maximum quantity in read Maximum quantity in write
Bit 125 1
Byte 70 1
Floating on 3 bytes 23 1
Floating on 5 bytes 14 1

DataLink 4 08/02/2008

Copyright © 2006 Woodhead Software & Electronics. All rights reserved.

 The number given for read frames corresponds to the maximum number of points (as imposed by
the server and/or the protocol) which can be grouped together during dynamic optimization of the frames
carried out by the server. However, this number can be reduced to suit a specific item of equipment by
configuring the length of frames in the topic.
Where write operations are concerned, a variable automatically entails the formation of a frame.

See also:
¾ In the documentation:
9 Implementation: Topic configuration

Maximum number of variables per frame with OPC server

Object Maximum quantity in read Maximum quantity in write
Bit 125 125
Byte 70 70
Floating on 3 bytes 23 23
Floating on 5 bytes 14 14

The number given for read frames corresponds to the maximum number of points (as imposed by
the server and/or the protocol) which can be grouped together during dynamic optimization of the frames
carried out by the server. However, this number can be reduced to suit a specific item of equipment by
configuring the length of frames in the topic.

See also:
¾ In the documentation:
9 Software Interfaces: OPC server: Optimization of synchronous and asynchronous
requests
9 Implementation: Topic configuration

DataLink 5 08/02/2008

Copyright © 2006 Woodhead Software & Electronics. All rights reserved.

 2. Configuration

Configuration screen
You must declare the various target slaves for your exchanges.

Parameters Description
Electrical interface The interface module type is determined by the reference of the module installed on
the applicom® interface or on the galvanic isolation option (BX4010, BX4010R).

Module Description
RS232 (2 signals) Means that only the TxD and RxD signals are exploited
(3RS232*, 5RS232*, by the protocol task installed on the channel. RTS,
6RS232) DTR, CTS and DCD signals can be accessed from the
application by using the applicom® library
GETMODEM and SETMODEM functions.
RS232 (6 signals) Means that the protocol task installed at the channel
(3RS232*, 5RS232*, level manages the signals.
6RS232) - TxD and RxD for data transmission and reception.
- RTS, an output signal positioned by the applicom®
interface before each transmission.
- CTS, an input signal, must be active to allow
transmission.
- DCD, an input signal, must be active to validate
reception.
You can position the DTR output signal from the
applicative program by using the applicom® library
SETMODEM function.
You can query the CTS and DCD input signal status
from the application program by using the applicom®
library GETMODEM function.
BC20 mA* Conductive 20 mA current loop. The active or passive
operation is determined by wiring. The active operation
should only be used if BX4010 and BX4010R boxes
are used.
3RS485* 2-wire RS485 link. The line prepolarization as well as
the load resistance are wiring-selectable.
Caution: Wiring is different from modules 3RS485-4
and 5RS485.
3RS485-4* 4-prepolarized wire RS422 / RS485 link. The load
resistance is wiring-selectable.
DataLink 6 08/02/2008

Copyright © 2006 Woodhead Software & Electronics. All rights reserved.

 5RS485* or 6RS485 2 or 4-prepolarized wire RS422 / RS485 link. Load
resistances are wiring-selectable. In addition, the
6RS485 module ensures the galvanic isolation. Your
interface must be equipped for this type of PROM
module V3.0 or higher.
* : Not galvanically isolated. Isolation only ensured with option BX4010 and
BX4010R
Baud rate You must select a transmission speed comprised between 50 and 38400 bauds,
independently on each channel. This speed must be consistent with that of the
equipments connected on the channel.
Parity control Addition or not of a parity bit. You must select the type of parity check.
- None
- Odd
- Even
Stop bit(s) You must select the number of stop bits used for delimiting a character. You must
choose between 1 or 2 stop bits.
This parameter must be consistent with that of the equipments connected on the
channel.
Inter-frames silence This time is added to the period of silence for end-of-frame detection (in ms). This
value must always be equal to 0 unless one of the slaves does not strictly
implement character transmission continuity.

See also:
¾ In the documentation:
9 Hardware installation: Wiring: Output module compatibility

Slaves configuration
For each slave, you must define:
Slave number
Enter a slave number (between 1 and 31). This number will be recognized DataLink master.

For each DataLink slave:

Parameters Description
Time-Out This is the maximum time separating transmission of a function by the master and the
slave's response (from 10 to 60000 ms).
A slave will always have a number of specific characteristics, particularly its own
reaction time. This is why you should set a time-out value.

DataLink 7 08/02/2008

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Number of repetitions on
CRC, time-out
Scale factor on 16-bit
word
Scale factor on 32-bit
word
During the initial commissioning phase, we recommend that you set the time-out value
to a minimum of 1000 ms minimum. This time-out value must always be greater that
the inter-character Time-Out.
This value sets the number of repetitions (0 to 9) if there is no response from a slave
(applicom® Status = 33) or if there is a CRC or parity error on reception (applicom®
Status = 34).
This is a scale factor (1 to 10000) for converting type C or H variables into 16-bit
words.
E.g.:
If this factor is set to 10, a 16-bit word of value 123 will correspond to a type C or H of
12.3.
This is a scale factor (1 to 10000) for converting type C or H variables into 32-bit
words.

DataLink 8 08/02/2008

Copyright © 2006 Woodhead Software & Electronics. All rights reserved.

 3. Functions usable on the master channel

Wait mode
readpackbit writepackbit
readbyte writebyte
readpackbyte writepackbyte
readword writeword
readdword writedword
readfword writefword
getmodem setmodem

Deferred mode
readdifbit writedifpackbit
readdifbyte writedifpackbyte
readdifword writedifword
readdifdword writedifdword
readdiffword writediffword
testtransdif transdif transdifpack

Cyclic mode
createcyc
startcyc stopcyc actcyc
transcyc transcycpack

Cyclic function Type:

Type of variable in equipment Function type

Read Write
Packed bits X X
Packed bytes X X
Bytes X X
Words X X
32-bits double words X X
32-bits IEEE floating words X X

DataLink 9 08/02/2008

Copyright © 2006 Woodhead Software & Electronics. All rights reserved.

 4. Item of image variables

Presentation
The “items of image variables” are the syntaxes which allow to access to the variables through the
DDE server “pcdde” or the OPC server.

According to the configuration of the equipment, the descriptor is determined by default by the
server. In case of DataLink protocol, the default descriptor is Otic Fischer&Porter (DataLink) descriptor.

You however have the possibility of using another descriptor (in particular the applicom® standard
descriptor) by the means of the advanced options.

See also:
¾ In the documentation:
9 Software Interfaces: DDE / SuiteLink server: Access to image or local variables
9 Software Interfaces: OPC server: Access to image or local variables

Standard descriptor
The standard descriptor can be used for access to the equipments which have not specific
descriptors. The address field of the item name may be 10 digits long. It allows to compose a linear
address from 0 to 4 giga.

Type Syntaxes Parameters Examples

Bits (type: BIT)
Unitary Bx x: First bit number. B4
Table Bx_n n: Number of bits. B4_10
Matrix Bx_n_l l: Number of bits per line B4_10_5
Bytes (type: BYTE)
Unitary Ox x: First byte number. O4
Table Ox_n n: Number of bytes. O4_10
Matrix Ox_n_l l: Number of bytes per line O4_10_5
Bits in bytes(1) (type: BIT)
Unitary Ox.b x: First byte number. O4.5
b: Bit range in the byte (0 to 7).
ASCII string in bytes (type: BYTE)
String M_Ox_n x: Number of first byte which contains the string. M_O100_30
n: Potential number of bytes which can contain the In the example, the byte array
ASCII string (1 to 70). from O100 to O129 can
contain the string.
Floating words (type: 32 bits IEEE REAL)
Unitary Fx x: First floating word number. F4
Table Fx_n n: Number of floating words. F4_10
Matrix Fx_n_l l: Number of floating words per line F4_10_5

DataLink 10 08/02/2008

Copyright © 2006 Woodhead Software & Electronics. All rights reserved.

 Remark: The limiting values of the parameters n and l depend on the protocol. However, in case of
PCDDE, they cannot be greater than 128 for bits bytes, 64 for words, 32 for double words and floating
words.
(1) this syntax, the maximum numbers of variables per frame are:
¾ in read: 70*8
¾ in write: 1

See also:
¾ In this manual:
9 Maximum number of variables per frame with PCDDE
9 Maximum number of variables per frame with OPC server
9 Access to the variables

Otic Fischer&Porter (DataLink) descriptor

This descriptor is usable only for access to the Otic Fischer&Porter equipments through the
applicom® interfaces with DataLink protocol.

This descriptor is the default descriptor determined by the OPC and DDE server.

Type Syntaxes Parameters Examples

Bits (type: BIT)
Unitary Lx x: Bit number (0 to 65535). L4
Table Lx_n n: Number of bits. L4_10
Matrix Lx_n_l l: Number of bits per line L4_10_5
Bytes (type: BYTE)
Unitary Bx x: Byte number (0 to 65535). B4
Table Bx_n n: Number of bytes. B4_10
Matrix Bx_n_l l: Number of bytes per line BL4_10_5
Bits in bytes(1) (type: BIT)
Unitary Bx.b x: Byte number (0 to 65535). B4.5
b: Bit range in the byte (0 to 7).
Floating word on three bytes (type: 32 bits IEEE REAL)
Unitary Cx x: Floating word number (0 to 10000). C4
Table Cx_n n: Number of floating words. C4_10
Matrix Cx_n_l l: Number of floating words per line C4_10_5
Floating word on five bytes (type: 32 bits IEEE REAL)
Unitary Hx x: Floating word number (0 to 65535). H4
Table Hx_n n: Number of floating words. H4_10
Matrix Hx_n_l l: Number of floating words per line H4_10_5
ASCII string in the bytes (type: BYTE)
Unitary M_Bx_n x: Number of first byte which contains the string (0 M_B100_30
to 65535). In example, the bytes array
n: Number of potential bytes which can contain the B100 to B129 can contain the
ASCII string (1 to 70). string.

Remark: The limiting values of the parameters n and l depend on the protocol. However, in case of
PCDDE, they cannot be greater than 128 for bits bytes, 64 for words, 32 for double words and floating
words.
(1) For this syntax, the maximum numbers of variables per frame are:
¾ in read: 70*8
¾ in write: 1

DataLink 11 08/02/2008

Copyright © 2006 Woodhead Software & Electronics. All rights reserved.

 See also:
¾ In this manual:
9 Maximum number of variables per frame with PCDDE
9 Maximum number of variables per frame with OPC server
9 Access to the variables

DataLink 12 08/02/2008

Copyright © 2006 Woodhead Software & Electronics. All rights reserved.

 5. Appendices

List of extra files for this protocol

.OTICFP. Datalink master task

Evolution / compatibility
The protocol necessitates on applicom® interfaces a version EPROM minimum V2.9.

DataLink 13 08/02/2008

Copyright © 2006 Woodhead Software & Electronics. All rights reserved.

 6. Return status of applicom® functions

Introduction
The various applicom® functions return a status word that:
¾ Guarantees the request quality.
¾ Diagnose the cause of a failure.
The significance of the status word value is given in the following tables. As well as the general
significance, “Further details” allow you to guide your diagnostic according to the protocol used.

DataLink 14 08/02/2008

Copyright © 2006 Woodhead Software & Electronics. All rights reserved.

applicom® general statuses
Status Description
-6 The TRANSCYC (or TRANSCYCPACK) function is used with a cyclic function number that is no longer
activated.
-5 The user program tries to perform a TRANSDIF (or TRANSDIFPACK) deferred transfer although the deferred
request in progress is not completed.
-1 TRANSDIF (or TRANSDIFPACK) deferred transfer request related to a write that took place correctly.
0 No anomaly detected. The function took place correctly.
1 Unknown function.
The requested function is not supported.
2 Incorrect address.
The address of the variable you are soliciting is incorrect.
3 Incorrect data.
Further details:
Function: BINBCD, BCDBIN.
- At least one of the accessed values is not in BCD format (0 ≤ value ≤ 9999).
4 Irretrievable data.
32 Bad parameter passed into the function.
Incorrect number of variables.
35 Data not available in cyclic read.
Attempt to transfer data with TRANSCYC (or TRANSCYCPACK) before it has been read in the equipment.
40 Deferred read or write attempt when the deferred request register is full.
Another task must free the resources by making an exitbus
41 Deferred read or write attempt when the deferred request register is full
Perform deferred request transfers with TRANSDIF (or TRANSDIFPACK) in order to release the register (64
positions).
42 Deferred request transfer attempt with TRANSDIF (or TRANSDIFPACK) when the latter is empty (no deferred
requests in progress).
45 Non-resident communication software.
Initialize the applicom® interface before using it by running PCINIT tool.
46 Board number not configured, or Master/client applicom® function aiming at a channel configured as
slave/server, or vice versa.
47 No applicom® interface.
51 Driver system problem.
59 Protection key missing on the applicom® interface.
Use applicom® function without a call to INITBUS function before.
66 Insufficient applicom® interface memory.

255 Used by the “PCDDE” server. Initial value of “STATUS_READ” and “STATUS_WRITE”. This value indicates
that no transaction has been made between “PCDDE” and applicom® interface.

Comments:
Negative function codes are information codes.

DataLink 15 08/02/2008

Copyright © 2006 Woodhead Software & Electronics. All rights reserved.

Statuses according to the protocol
Status Description
-6 The TRANSCYC (or TRANSCYCPACK) function is used with a cyclic function number that is no longer
activated.
-5 The user program tries to perform a TRANSDIF (or TRANSDIFPACK) deferred transfer although the deferred
request in progress is not completed.
-1 TRANSDIF (or TRANSDIFPACK) deferred transfer request related to a write that took place correctly.
0 No anomaly detected. The function took place correctly.
1 Unknown function.
The requested function is not supported.
32 Bad parameter passed into the function.
Incorrect number of variables.
33 Response time fault (Time-Out).
Further details:
- No response to the request within time limit. Increase the Time-Out value.
- Check wiring. Check the channel and slave configuration.
- For a write, if the values are positioned in the equipment, check the reception loop. Increase the Time-Out
value.
34 Parity fault in reception or of control word (CRC16, BCC).
Check the configuration of the channel and target equipment.
Check the wiring (RC at end of line for the RS485).
35 Data not available in cyclic read.
Attempt to transfer data with TRANSCYC (or TRANSCYCPACK) before it has been read in the equipment.
36 Equipment not configured.
Define the equipment configuration with the applicom® console and start again the applicom® product.
40 Deferred read or write attempt when the deferred request register is full.
Another task must free the resources by making an exitbus
41 Deferred read or write attempt when the deferred request register is full
Perform deferred request transfers with TRANSDIF (or TRANSDIFPACK) in order to release the register (64
positions).
42 Deferred request transfer attempt with TRANSDIF (or TRANSDIFPACK) when the latter is empty (no deferred
requests in progress).
45 Non-resident communication software.
Initialize the applicom® interface before using it by running PCINIT tool.
46 Board number not configured, or Master/client applicom® function aiming at a channel configured as
slave/server, or vice versa.
47 No applicom® interface.
51 Driver system problem.
66 Insufficient applicom® interface memory.

255 Used by the “PCDDE” server. Initial value of “STATUS_READ” and “STATUS_WRITE”. This value indicates
that no transaction has been made between “PCDDE” and applicom® interface.

Comments:
Negative function codes are information codes.

DataLink 16 08/02/2008

Copyright © 2006 Woodhead Software & Electronics. All rights reserved.

 7. Glossary of terms

µDCI
Micro DCI

applicom® interface
Communication card, ISA or PCI type, with the applicom® real time multi-task kernel (PC1000,
PC2000, PC4000, PC1500PFB,...)

Bauds
Bits per second

BX4010
4 channels distribution box, with galvanic insulation

BX4010R
4 channels rack distribution box, with galvanic insulation

Channel
Physical output of an applicom® card

Client
Node which has communication initiative

CRC
Cyclic Redundancy Check

CTS
Clear To Send

DCD
Data Carrier Detect

DTR
Data Terminal Ready

Item
Defines an element

OPC
Ole for Process Control

PCDDE
applicom® DDE server

PROM
Read only memory on applicom® interfaces which contains programs

EPROM
Read only memory on applicom® interfaces which contains programs

RTS
Request To Send

DataLink 17 08/02/2008

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RxD
Recept signal

TxD
Transmit signal

DataLink 18 08/02/2008

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DataLink 19 08/02/2008

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