plc emulation/scada issues

[rodson2005]

Hi everyone,
i am developing a program for a slc5/03 processor,using logix500
and testing via rsemulate500, this is all fine, but when i try to go online with my scada package(CITECT), it keeps saying that my plc is offline...Has anyone had this issue with emulators or am i going to have to wait until i get the actual processor to test the whole system.
thanks in advance for any ideas.

 

[Ken Roach]

From an OPC perspective, the Emulate500 driver in RSLinx treats the emulated controller just like a real controller.

If you are using an OPC connection from Citect to RSLinx, and RSLinx is licensed for local (RSLinx OEM or better) or remote (RSLinx Gateway) OPC service, then it ought to work fine.

If Citect is trying to use some other driver to access RSLinx, I am less certain of success.

How have you configured your Citect station to communicate to the emulator ?

 

[NOP]

I think that Ken's got it dead right but just to spell it out a different way: you've probably got an unlicensed version of RSLinx (It says RSLinx Lite in the title bar when you open it, right?) which, whilst it allows uploads and downloads, will not allow a SCADA to connect via OPC/DDE. The answer to your problem is simple but entails parting with money.......

 

[JesperMP]

He MAY have a license, but has not yet configured an OPC topic in RSLinx.
Normally, OPC clints needs a "topic" to be configured in the OPC server (RSLinx), the client (Citect) then uses the name of the topic when accessing tags.

edit: Use an OPC test client to see if everything is OK with the OPC setup in RSLinx.

 

[NOP]

True, but the default is for RSLinx to generate a topic automatically every time RSLogix connects to a controller so the topics are probably there. May not have set the topic in Citect though......

 

[rodson2005]

Hi guys thanks for all the tips,
this is where its currently at.
I have Rslinx Professional, so its not that NOP
As for as topics in RSlinxs thats o.k they have been generated automatically.
I have used the rockwell opc client to connect to the server, and this is fine.

Not sure what you mean NOP as far as setting the topic in Citect.

In the Citect Boards Config I have the machine name (currently my laptop machine name) in the special options
and in the IO devices i have "RSLinx OPC Server" in the address field.

A couple of things i am wondering are
-i am currently developing the citect so have no dongle, would this matter? ( i thought that you got a few minutes of runtime for testing, i have only one tag defined.)
-is the addressing for the variables in citect, the same as it is for the slc??
i.e B3:1/3

thanks again for all the ideas, it's much appreciated

Simon

 

[rodson2005]

problem solved....


it helps if you activate your citect as an ioserver

doh!

couldn't see the forest cuz of the trees

thanks for your ideas fellas, it made me read a lot more about OPC ect anyways.

another quick question -- Isn't the ABRSLINX driver normally used for comms to the SLC or has it always been the OPC driver???