Managing Connection Bits
Original instructions
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Use these instructions to configure these bits:
Identifying the Connection Health Bits
For the Ethernet communications module, discover the health bit that is mapped to a specific distributed device.
The Ethernet communication module can support up to 128 connections to distributed devices. The health of each device is represented in a single bit value:
In the Control Expert Project Browser, double-click Variables & FB instances to view health bits in an 8-word array.
EtherNet/IP Connection Health Bits
For EtherNet/IP devices, navigate to a connection node:
Step
Action
1
In the DTM Browser (Tools → DTM Browser), double-click the DTM that corresponds to the appropriate Ethernet communications module.
2
In the navigation pane, expand the Device List.
3
Select the connection that corresponds to a node in the Device List.
4
Select the Connection Settings tab.
5
Locate the value in the Connection Bit row.
NOTE: For example, a Connection Bit value of 2 maps to the third bit in the first byte of the HEALTH_BITS_IN array, which can be represented as HEALTH_BITS_IN[0].2.
NOTE: To diagnose the device health, refer to the device DDTs for the Ethernet communication module.
Modbus TCP Connection Health Bits
For Modbus TCP devices, navigate to the main device node:
Step
Action
1
In the DTM Browser (Tools → DTM Browser), double-click the DTM that corresponds to the appropriate communications module.
NOTE: These instructions assume that you selected Modbus Device from the Add window when you created a local slave instance.
2
In the navigation pane, expand the Device List to see the associated Modbus TCP devices.
3
Select a Modbus TCP device.
4
Select the Request Setting tab.
5
Locate the value in the Connection Bit column.
NOTE: For example, a Connection Bit value of 0 maps to the first bit in the first byte of the HEALTH_BITS_IN array, which can be represented as HEALTH_BITS_IN[0].0.
Access the Modbus connection settings :
Step
Action
1
In the DTM Browser, select a communications module for which you have configured a Modbus device.
2
Double-click the communications module to open the configuration window.
3
In the navigation pane, expand the Device List.
4
Select the Modbus device.
5
Select the Request Setting tab.
6
Configure requests:
  • Add a request: Click Add Request to see the request data in the next available row.
  • Remove a request: Click the row that corresponds to the request you want to remove and click Remove.
NOTE: When you add or remove a request, the corresponding request in the navigation pane (Request 001: Items; Request 002: Items; Request 003: Items; etc.) appears or disappears. You can select a request to configure its input data.
7
Click Apply.
NOTE: You can add or remove multiple requests before you click Apply.
Monitoring Connection Health Bits in an Animation Table
Use an animation table to monitor the status of connection health bits and other variables. Add health bits to an animation table:
Step
Action
1
In the Project Browser, right-click Animation Tables and scroll to New Animation Table.
2
In the New Animation Table, type these values for these fields:
  • Name: Connection_Health_Bits
  • Number of animated characters: Accept the default (100).
3
Click OK to open the Connection_Health_Bits animation table
4
Double-click the first empty row in the Name column.
5
Click the ellipsis (...) button to open the Instance Selection dialog box.
6
Find the health bits and select the entire array.
7
Click OK to add the array to the Connection_Health_Bits animation table.
NOTE: Remember that each row represents a word that contains 16 individual connection health bits. When the DTM for the Ethernet communication module is connected to the physical module, the Value field displays a value for the entire word.
Elsewhere in this guide are these instructions: