Export/Import Tab

Use this area to select one or many application configurations. Multiple selection is allowed so that many configurations can be exported in a single file.

Use these buttons to Export or Import application configurations. The Export button will be disabled if no application configurations are selected, while the Import button is always active.

 

Exported configurations are written to a file in XML format. Each configuration is hashed so that it can be verified before being imported. Configurations where the hash cannot be verified are rejected when imported.

 

Imported configurations are copied into the database.

 

Use this button to generate a report of the possible register overlaps across multiple applications, Schneider Electric's Realflo flow computer and a Telepace project file. This report will list all the registers that are used by all of the SCADASuite applications, and then for each register, show which tags from which applications are using that register. Any time there are more than two tags sharing a single register, register contention is possible, and unexpected operation may occur.

 

A sample register overlap report is shown below. Possible overlaps are shown at the very top of the report, followed by details for coils, contacts, inputs and holding registers. In the sample below, lines six through 18 contain possible overlaps. The Count column shows at a glance how many tags are sharing the same register. Any number other than one in the Count column indicates a possible overlap.

 

Because each configuration group instance has its own set of registers, it is possible for register overlap to occur within registers in the same SCADASuite application. When this occurs, tags are separated by a "+++".

 

 

The PC Configuration Program can also import a Telepace Studio Project file (*.tpj) for inclusion in the register overlap report. When a Telepace file is imported, the program extracts the registers that are written to from the ladder logic networks and from the input register mapping in the project file.

 

Only registers that are written to are extracted. For example, with a MOVE block, a set of registers is used for the source, and another set of registers is the destination. Only the destination registers are written to, and thus, only the destination registers will appear in the register overlap report.

 

 

Similarly, for registers used by the register assignment, only contact and input registers are extracted, because these are the registers that are written to by the RTU.

 

The register overlap report will not find contention within the Telepace project itself. For example, if two blocks are both writing to register 42001, this will not be tagged as an internal overlap and only the first block that writes to this register will appear in the overlap report. It's quite common in ladder logic to enable or disable blocks that write to the same register depending on the execution state of the program, which means that no overlap actually occurs at runtime, which is why internal overlaps are not shown in the overlap report.

 

Registers in the Telepace column are prefixed with "tp" and then named according to the network in which they appear, then the block name, then the register number and then the user tag name, if it exists. For example, the register with "tpReset.MOVE.001_ResetCoil" is from a MOVE block on the Reset network and has a user defined tag name of "ResetCoil". The 001 indicates that it is the second register in the block. Registers in a block are numbered sequentially from 000.

 

Use the Create Telepace and RealFlo Overlap Report to create an overlap report without any SCADASuite apps. This report will look for overlaps between the imported Telepace project file and RealFlo only.

 

It is possible to export the Modbus registers used in a specific configuration through the Realflo configuration program. Use the File->Export->Export Registers in Use option to generate this file.

 

A file in this format can be imported using the Import Realflo Register File Export button. Once a file is successfully imported, it can be optionally be used in the register overlap report by selecting the Include Realflo Registers option.

 

 

 

User Configured Registers are registers that are used as a part of an application's configuration. Examples of User Configured Registers include:

 

These are User Configured Registers because the user can enter any register address based on his specific needs and the configuration of his RTU.

 

However, for any given application, it's often not clear whether a specific user defined register is actually used by the application at run time. Additionally, each instance of a configuration parameter that holds a Modbus register address will have the same default value. Because of these two factors, the register overlap report cannot reliably detect register overlaps for User Configured Registers within the same application. Overlaps for User Configured Registers within the same application must be checked manually.

 

An example of this would be the Valve Control Register in the Plunger Lift application. The default value for this is 51. If only one control loop is used, then this value doesn't need to be changed, even though the other control loops still have this value configured, because the other control loops are disabled and won't touch the output register. However, if two or more control loops are enabled, then each control loop will need to use a unique Valve Control Register. The overlap report cannot detect when the register is actually used, and so it won't show any overlap within the same application. However, if another application uses register 51, then that will appear as an overlap in the register overlap report.

 

 

 

 

Use this button to export the application's entire Modbus register map to a file in CSV format. The export includes not just configuration registers, but also control and status registers.

 

Configuration registers are used to modify the configuration of an application on an RTU. Control registers are used to make run time changes, like enabling a manual override, or changing a set point. Status registers are used to view the status of an application via Modbus.

 

The Exclude Configuration Registers option allows you to generate an export without configuration registers. Take care when using this option, because if configuration is actually enabled, then the export won't be complete and register contention may occur.

 

See the Applications and Modbus section for details.

Use this button to export the application's Modbus register map into a format that can be imported into Schneider Electric's Telepace Studio software. Telepace Studio requires that tag names are unique and less than 32 characters long. Because of this, some long names may be truncated or have numeric characters appended.

 

Each tag has an application specific prefix prepended to the tag name. This identifies what type of application that the tag belongs to, and also creates a unique name for a tag across all applications. Prefixes are listed in the table below.

 

 

The Exclude Configuration Registers option can be used to create an export that doesn't include any of the registers that are used for configuration groups and parameters. This is useful in the case where the application is configured to not allow configuration via Modbus registers. See the Applications and Modbus section for more details.

Use this button to export an application glossary in CSV format. The glossary contains all the configuration, control and status parameters for teh application along with the description of how to use the parameter that is either shown in the configuration screens are on the test tab. This makes it easier to understand what each parameter does without having to move through multiple screens.

Use this area to export an application to ClearSCADA. Make sure the ClearSCADA service is running, enter appropriate credentials, and then click the Export Application to ClearSCADA button.

 

The export uses ClearSCADA server and client (ViewX) automation to create points, configure the points for minimum, maximum and other settings, create mimics and display points on said mimics. Once the export is complete the only remaining step is to connect the automatically created Outstation object to a Channel object.

 

Select the Create Mimics option if you want the export to create and configure mimics. This feature uses ViewX automation, which is not officially not supported by Schneider Electric. Because of this, ViewX automation may contain bugs and the API changes across releases. Unchecking this option will create and configure groups and points, but won't use any ViewX automation. Uncheck this option if you see errors during the export.

 

This export is really a proof of concept, and isn't much use for real systems. But with some tweaking, it could be used to create an automated export to user templates in ClearSCADA, or to software other than ClearSCADA, including other SCADA hosts or HMIs. Contact Gen7 Systems if you're interested in this functionality.