RTU Configuration

Overview

The RTU Configuration feature provides a way to read, and write the configuration data used by an RTU or flow computer. ACM can configure an RTU if the RTU stores its configuration in items/registers and can accept configuration changes through writes to those items/registers. It 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

Below is a sample configuration file. Please note that this is only a starting point. The file may have as many or as few table & row tabs as are necessary.

<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>

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.