Help Topics

Help - HMI Configuration

Overview:

The HMI server is configured by means of a text file. The format and features of that configuration file are described here.

Configuration:

Server configuration is performed through a configuration file. This file holds all the tag names, addresses, and other definitions used by the server. Any tag names or addresses which are not contained in the configuration file are not recognised by the server. The configuration file is defined as follows:

One line per parameter. Each parameter must appear on a separate line.
Comments. Any line beginning with a "hash" ("#") character is a comment and is ignored.
Sections. Sections begin a series of related configuration values. A section name is an identifier which is enclosed by square brackets ("[ ]"). A section includes all items until the beginning of a new section, or until the end of the file.
Configuration items. Any line following the beginning of a section is considered to be an item which belongs to that section (excluding comments). Configuration items are key/value pairs in the format "key=value".

Configuring Reserved Tags:

Certain tags are defined as "reserved tags". These include tags for defining the client version and the server id. The configuration system allows "clientversion" and "serverid" to be defined by the server. For "clientversion" there is one item "ver" which defines the version. For "serverid", there is also one item "id" which allows the server id to be defined.


	# Client page(s) version.
	[clientversion]
	ver=Ver 0.1 Demo
	
	# Server ID.
	[serverid]
	id=demo test server

Configuring Events and Alarms Tags:

Events and alarms are defined in separate sections. The events section is indentified by the name "&events". The alarms section is indentified by the name "&alarms". Since HMI protocol tags cannot start with an "&" character, these will not conflict with any other permitted tag name.

Each of the events and alarms sections has three types of items. The "base" item is used to define an offset (or "base address") in the data table. The "base" address is added to the address configured for each event or alarm. The events and alarms section must each define a base address. This item takes the form "base=(integer)". For example, "base=1024".

The data table address type for alarms and events is fixed as follows:

Modbus/TCP - Coils.
SAIA Ether SBus - Flags.

The second type of item is the associate of each event or alarm tag with a data table address. For any item other than "base" the key is assumed to be a data table address, and the value is assumed to be an event or alarm tag. The data table address is added to the "base" value to give the actual address which is monitored for events or alarms.

The third type of data is the zone list. A "zone" is a tag which is used to identify a group of alarms or events. An event or alarm tag can be assigned to any number of zones. The zone list is consists of any names following the alarm or even tag. Zone names must be separated by commas.


	# Event definitions.
	[&events]
	base=32300
	0=PumpRunning, zone3
	1=PumpStopped, zone3
	2=Tank1Empty, zone1
	3=Tank1Full, zone1, zone2
	4=Tank2Empty, zone2
	5=Tank2Full, zone2
	
	# Alarm definitions.
	[&alarms]
	base=32400
	0=PB1Alarm, zone1
	1=PB2Alarm, zone2
	2=PB3Alarm, zone3

Configuring Address Tags:

Any section name other than a reserved tag or events and alarms is considered to be an address tag. Each data table address which is to be accessed via the HMI protocol must have an address tag.

Each address tag has a series of items defining the data table type, data table address, and various other characteristics. The number and type of items required will vary depending on the data type.

Data Types:

Data types determine the format for data which transmitted between the server and the client. The system will convert between integer and floating point if necessary. It does not determine server data table storage size or packing. The following data types are recognised:

boolean - This is for bit (0/1 or true/false) values.
integer - Integer data types.
float - Floating point data types.
string - String data types.

Address Types:

Address types determine how data is stored in the server data table. This includes the number of storage locations (e.g. registers) and the byte ordering. For numeric address types which occupy multiple registers, the least significant word is stored in the platform's native format. For Intel type CPUs (big endian), the first (lower address) register. For string data types, characters are stored in consecutively increasing addresses.

Address types are inherently protocol dependent. They are what provides the translation between the abstract (and protocol independent) "data types" the HMI screens deal with, and the actual native data types of the protocol. That means that the details of this part of the HMI configuration will inherently be protocol dependent.

Address Types for Modbus/TCP

The following data types are recognised for Modbus communications:

Address Type	Data Type	Storage Location	# Storage Elements	Extended Data Type
coil	boolean	coil	1	No
discrete	boolean	discrete inputs	1	No
holdingreg	signed 16 bit integer	holding register	1	No
inputreg	signed 16 bit integer	input register	1	No
holdingreg32	signed 32 bit integer	holding register	2	Yes
inputreg32	signed 32 bit integer	input register	2	Yes
holdingregfloat	single precision (32 bit) floating point	holding register	2	Yes
inputregfloat	single precision (32 bit) floating point	input register	2	Yes
holdingregdouble	double precision (64 bit) floating point	holding register	4	Yes
inputregdouble	double precision (64 bit) floating point	input register	4	Yes
holdingregstr8	string	holding register	2 characters per register	Yes
inputregstr8	string	input register	2 characters per register	Yes
holdingregstr16	string	holding register	1 character per register	Yes
inputregstr16	string	input register	1 character per register	Yes

Address Types for SAIA Ether SBus

Address Type	Data Type	Storage Location	# Storage Elements	Extended Data Type
sbusinput	boolean	inputs	1	No
sbusoutput	boolean	outputs	1	No
sbusflag	boolean	flags	1	No
sbusreg	signed 32 bit integer	registers	1	No
sbusregstr	string	registers	1 character per register	Yes

Configuration Items:

Valid items are:

addrtype - This may be any valid address type.
memaddr - This must be a valid data table address.
datatype - This must be a valid supported HMI protocol address type. See the section on supported data types for more information on which HMI protocol data types are supported.
range - This is the range limit applied to numeric values. Attempting to write a value outside of this range will result in a "range" error. Range takes two parameters separated by a comma. The first is the lower limit, and the second is the upper limit.
scale - This is a scale factor which is applied to values written to or read from the data table. This takes two parameters, separated by a comma. The first parameter is the offset (or "b") and the second parameter is the gain (or "m"). When a value is read from the data table and sent to the client, the forumla y=mx + b, where "x" is the register value and "y" is the value sent to the client. When a value is written to a register, the formula y=(x - b)/m is applied, where "x" is the value sent from the client, and "y" is the value written to the data table. If the resulting address is out of range, an error is returned.
strlen - This is the maximum length for strings. This is only valid for string data types.

Defaults and Type Over-rides:

The data table address type is the primary configuration parameter. If the data type can be determined by the address type, then the data type will automatically default to the correct type and any configured data type will be ignored. Any additional parameters which are not requird for that address type will also be ignored.

When "addrtype" corresponds to a boolean data type, (e.g. "discrete" or "coil"):

The data type is assumed to be "boolean", and any configured "datatype" is ignored.
Any configured "range", "scale", or "strlen" are ignored.

When "addrtype" is a selection corresponding to an integer or floating point storage type:

If no datatype is configured, a default of "integer" is used.
If no range is configured, the default range is used.
if no scale is specified, a default offset of 0 and a default gain of 1 is used.
Any configured "strlen" is ignored.

The default integer range is:

For Modbus/TCP: -32768 to 32767
For SAIA Ether SBus: -2147483648 to 2147483647

When "addrtype" is a selection corresponding to a string storage type:

The data type is assumed to be "string", and any other configured "datatype" is ignored.
Any configured "range" or "scale" are ignored.

Review the documentation on the system data table before deciding which registers, coils, or discrete inputs to use. Remember that some registers are used to hold the coils and discrete inputs and should not be used as regular registers. Remember that some coils are reserved for resetting communications faults.

Examples for Modbus/TCP:


	# HMI config file.
	# 08-Jan-2009.
	
	# Client page(s) version.
	[clientversion]
	ver=Ver 0.6 Demo
	
	# Server ID.
	[serverid]
	id=HMI demo server
	
	#########################################################

	[PB1]
	addrtype=coil
	memaddr=0

	[PL1]
	addrtype=discrete
	memaddr=0

	[Tank1Level]
	addrtype=holdingreg
	memaddr=32000
	datatype=integer
	range=0, 100
	scale=0, 1

	[PumpSpeedCmd]
	addrtype=holdingreg
	memaddr=32002
	datatype=integer
	range = -1800, 1800
	scale = 5, 0.10

	[IntegerTagRO2]
	addrtype=inputreg
	memaddr=40002
	datatype=integer
	range = -32768, 32767
	scale = 0, 1

	[FloatTagRW1]
	addrtype=holdingreg
	memaddr=40001
	datatype=float
	range = -32768, 32767
	scale = 0, 1

	#########################################################

	# 32 bit integer.
	[Testholdingreg32]
	addrtype=holdingreg32
	memaddr=20000
	datatype=integer
	range = -2147483648, 2147483647
	scale = 0, 1
	
	[Testinputreg32]
	addrtype=inputreg32
	memaddr=20000
	datatype=integer
	range = -2147483648, 2147483647
	scale = 0, 1
	
	# Single precision floating point.
	[Testholdingregfloat]
	addrtype=holdingregfloat
	memaddr=20010
	datatype=float
	range = -2147483648, 2147483647
	scale = 0, 1
	
	[Testinputregfloat]
	addrtype=inputregfloat
	memaddr=20010
	datatype=float
	range = -2147483648, 2147483647
	scale = 0, 1
	
	# Double precision floating point.
	[Testholdingregdouble]
	addrtype=holdingregdouble
	memaddr=20020
	datatype=float
	range = -2147483648, 2147483647
	scale = 0, 1
	
	[Testinputregdouble]
	addrtype=inputregdouble
	memaddr=20020
	datatype=float
	range = -2147483648, 2147483647
	scale = 0, 1
	
	# String with 2 characters per register.
	# The 'datatype' parameter can be omitted.
	[Testholdingregstr8]
	addrtype=holdingregstr8
	memaddr=20030
	datatype=string
	strlen=8
	
	[Testinputregstr8]
	addrtype=inputregstr8
	memaddr=20030
	datatype=string
	strlen=8
	
	# String with one character per register.
	# The 'datatype' parameter can be omitted.
	[Testholdingregstr16]
	addrtype=holdingregstr16
	memaddr=20040
	datatype=string
	strlen=10
	
	[Testinputregstr16]
	addrtype=inputregstr16
	memaddr=20040
	datatype=string
	strlen=9

	#########################################################

	# Event definitions.
	[&events]
	base=32300
	0=PumpRunning, zone3
	1=PumpStopped, zone3
	2=Tank1Empty, zone1
	3=Tank1Full, zone1, zone2
	4=Tank2Empty, zone2
	5=Tank2Full, zone2
	
	# Alarm definitions.
	[&alarms]
	base=32400
	0=PB1Alarm, zone1
	1=PB2Alarm, zone2
	2=PB3Alarm, zone3

Example for SAIA Ether SBus:


	# MB-HMI config file.
	# This version is for SBus
	
	
	# Client page(s) version.
	[clientversion]
	ver=Ver 0.71 Demo
	
	# Server ID.
	[serverid]
	id=HMIServer SBus demo
	
	#########################################################
	
	# Push buttons.
	[PB1]
	addrtype=sbusflag
	memaddr=0
	
	[PB2]
	addrtype=sbusflag
	memaddr=1
	
	[PB4]
	addrtype=sbusreg
	memaddr=5000
	datatype=integer
	range=0, 6
	scale=0, 1
	
	# Tank level readings.
	[Tank1Level]
	addrtype=sbusreg
	memaddr=5002
	datatype=integer
	# range=0, 100
	scale=0, 1
	
	# Tank level numeric readings.
	[Tank1Number]
	addrtype=sbusreg
	memaddr=5002
	datatype=float
	range=0, 250
	scale=0, 2.5
	
	[PackedStrDemo]
	addrtype=sbusregstr
	memaddr=20030
	datatype=string
	strlen=10
	
	
	#########################################################
	
	# Event definitions.
	[&events]
	base=32300
	0=PumpRunning, zone3
	1=PumpStopped, zone3
	2=Tank1Empty, zone1
	3=Tank1Full, zone1, zone2
	4=Tank2Empty, zone2
	5=Tank2Full, zone2
	
	
	#########################################################
	
	# Alarm definitions.
	# We are using the push buttons as triggers for testing purposes.
	[&alarms]
	base=32400
	0=PB1Alarm, zone1
	1=PB2Alarm, zone2
	2=PB3Alarm, zone3