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Overview

The RTU Configuration feature provides a

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method for reading and writing the configuration data used by an RTU or flow computer.

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If the RTU stores its configuration in items/registers and can accept configuration changes through writes to those items/registers

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, it can be configured in ACM. This is simply a means of backup for the device configuration.
This feature is designed to work with any device which reads its configuration from items/registers. As such, the layout of data in those items/registers must be defined by the user. This is accomplished by manually creating an XML file for that layout. After that file is initially created, it will be used as a template when ACM reads the configuration from the device. The initial XML configuration file may be created using any text editor. An editor with XML syntax highlighting is recommended.

Sample Configuration

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Storage Location

These configuration files are stored in the Windows ProgramData folder. The following is the default location:

C:\ProgramData\AutoSol\Communication Manager\7\DataFiles

Any manually created files should be placed in this directory.

File Naming Convention

Three versions of a configuration file can be kept for a given device: Development, Production, and Last Read.

The files are named in the following format:

Table Tag

In the above sample file, notice that individual configuration items are grouped into tables. This is simply a logical grouping for the sake of readability. The user may add as many or as few tables as desired.

The table tag has several attributes:

Number – An identifier for the table. This can be of the user’s choosing, but must be unique.
Description – An optional description for human readers.
Selected – Can be “True” or “False”. If the value is “True” the data in that section will be used when writing to the device. Otherwise, it will be ignored.
Last Read - An attribute that will be updated with the current date and time whenever the configuration data is read from the device and stored in the file. This attribute may be left blank when creating the initial file.

Display Tag

Within each table tag, there must be at least a Display tag. The Display tag must have a Key & F1 attributes.

Key - The BenchMark item address (RecordType:IPN) to be read.
F1 - The value read from the associated BenchMark item (Key).
ID1 - An optional identifier to give the BenchMark item (Key) a descriptive name.
ID2 - An optional identifier to give the BenchMark item (Key) a descriptive name (not
used by ACM).
• ExternalID1 - An optional identifier to link the BenchMark item with an external system.
• Lnk - A second optional identifier to link the BenchMark item with an external system.

<Tables>
 <Table Number="0" Description="Allocation Table" Selected="False" LastRead="2001/01/01 00:00:00">
  <Display Key="IPN" F1="AllocatedRows" ID1="" ID2="" Lnk=""/>
   <Types Default="VT_I2"/>
    <Data>
     <row Key="0:1" F1="581" ID1="" ID2="0" Lnk=""/>
     <row Key="0:2" F1="140" ID1="" ID2="0" Lnk=""/>
     <row Key="0:3" F1="24" ID1="" ID2="0" Lnk=""/>
    </Data>
 </Table>
 <Table Number="1" Description="Analog Input" Selected="True" LastRead="2014/04/15 02:04:20">
  <Display 
     Key="IPN" F1="CCMIPN{CCM}" F2="Desc 1{62}" F3="Desc 2{62}" F4="Value" 
     F5="Units{62}" F6="" F7="Lockout" F8="Zero" F9="Span" F10="Manual Override" 
     F11="Max Overrange" F12="RBE Deadband" F13="Exception Occurred{bool}" 
     F14="RBE Enabled{bool}" ID1="" ID2="" Lnk=""/>
   <Types 
     Default="VT_I2" F1="VT_I2" F2="VT_I2" F3="VT_I2" F4="VT_R4" F5="VT_I2" 
     F6="VT_R4" F7="VT_R4" F8="VT_R4" F9="VT_R4" F10="VT_R4" F11="VT_R4" 
     F12="VT_R4" F13="VT_I1" F14="VT_I1"/>
    <Data>
     <row Key="1:1" F1="1" F2="16" F3="17" F4="0" F5="18" F6="0" F7="0" F8="0" 
          F9="900000" F10="-999999" F11="945000" F12="0.5" F13="0" F14="1" 
          ID1="E700870NE" ID2="4" Lnk="70087.E.0.NE"/>
     <row Key="1:2" F1="65" F2="16" F3="19" F4="0" F5="20" F6="0" F7="0" F8="0" 
          F9="900000" F10="-999999" F11="945000" F12="0.5" F13="0" F14="1" 
          ID1="E700870NF" ID2="4" Lnk="70087.E.0.NF"/>
    </Data>
 </Table>
</Tables>

<ObjectID>_RtuConfig_<Version>.xml

ObjectID is the object ID in ACM and the suffix can be _Prod, _Dev, or _Read for Production, Development, or Last Read respectively

For example:
1234_RtuConfig_Prod.xml – The configuration file for the device with object ID 1234 when running in a production environment.
5555_RtuConfig_Dev.xml – The configuration file for the device with object ID 5555 when running in a development environment.
9876_RtuConfig_Read.xml – The configuration file for the device with object ID 9876 created by the last run of the Read RTU Configuration command.

Assigning XML Config Files To A Device

Before first use, the initial Last Read file must be created manually as described by device sample files above. This informs the driver of which items/registers to read and store. After the file is created, the file can be controlled & assigned to devices through the ACM Configuration Client by opening the device, selecting the RTU Configuration tab, and selecting the desired type from the drop down list. From there, changes can then be made from the RTU Configuration tab rather than editing the file manually.

The Development and Production files can also be created so the driver can write configuration data to the RTU. Either or both of these files can be created. The Development file is designed as a way to test the configuration data. Once satisfied that the configuration is correct, the Development file can be ‘promoted’ to a Production file. During this process the driver copies the Development file to the Production file. The Production file can be written to the RTU via the ACM command API.

Configuration Interface

The RTU Configuration Tab is used to view and edit the contents of a particular configuration file for the device object. The user can also upload and download values to/from the RTU.

Image Added

Sample RTU Configuration File Loaded

Commands

The following commands are available for devices with RTU Configuration capabilities. They can be accessed from the commands listing of the device.

Command Name	Description	Parameters
Read RTU Configuration	The Read RTU Configuration command references the existing _Read XML file to obtain the necessary addresses, reads those addresses from the device, and creates a new _Read.xml file containing the data received from the device. This command can be executed on a schedule if desired.	None
Write Last Read RTU Configuration	Takes the configuration found in the _Read.xml configuration file and writes it to the appropriate registers in the device.	None
Write Development RTU Configuration	Takes the configuration found in the _Dev.xml configuration file and writes it to the appropriate registers in the device.	None
Write Production RTU Configuration	Takes the configuration found in the _Prod.xml configuration file and writes it to the appropriate registers in the device.	None

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