Configuring I/O Items
Original instructions
About us
Overview
The final task in this example is to add I/O items to the configuration of the STB NIC 2212 EtherNet/IP network interface module and its 8 I/O modules. To accomplish this:
I/O Item Types and Sizes
The goal is to create a collection of input items and output items that equal the input size and output size specified in the STB NIC 2212 Connection properties page. In this example, items need to be created for:
The Control Expert EtherNet/IP configuration tool provides great flexibility in creating input and output items. You can create input and output items in groups of 1 or more single bits, 8-bit bytes, 16-bit words, 32-bit dwords, or 32-bit IEEE floating values. The number of items you create depends upon the data type and size of each item.
In the sample project, the following items were created:
Mapping Input and Output Items
Use the Fieldbus Image page of the I/O Image Overview window in the Advantys configuration software to identify the number and type of I/O items you need to create, as follows:
Step
Action
1
In the Advantys configuration software, select Island → I/O Image Overview. The I/O Image window opens to the Fieldbus Image page.
2
Select the first cell (word 1, cell 0) in the Input Data table to display—in the middle of the page—a description of the cell data and its source module.
3
Make a note of the word, bit(s), module and item information for that cell.
4
Repeat steps 2 and 3 for each cell containing either an S or an integer.
NOTE: The Fieldbus Image presents input and output data in the form of 16-bit words (starting with word 1). You need to rearrange this data for the Control Expert EtherNet/IP configuration tool, which presents the same data in the form of 8-bit bytes (starting with byte 0).
This process yields the following tables of input and output data:
Input Data:
Advantys Fieldbus Image
Control Expert EIP Items
STB Module
Description
Word
Bit(s)
Byte
Bit(s)
1
0-15
0
0-7
NIC 2212
NIC status
1
0-7
2
0-1
2
0-1
DDI 3230
input data
2-3
2-3
DDI 3230
input status
4-5
4-5
DDO 3200
output data echo
6-7
6-7
DDO 3200
output status
8-11
3
0-3
DDI 3420
input data
12-15
4-7
DDI 3420
input status
3
0-3
4
0-3
DDO 3410
output data echo
4-7
4-7
DDO 3410
output status
8-13
5
0-5
DDI 3610
input data
14-15
6-7
NA
not used
4
0-5
6
0-5
DDI 3610
input status
6-7
6-7
NA
not used
8-13
7
0-5
DDO 3600
output data echo
14-15
6-7
NA
not used
5
0-5
8
0-5
DDO 3600
output status
6-15
8
6-7
NA
not used
9
0-7
6
0-15
10
0-7
AVI 1270
input data ch 1
11
0-7
7
0-7
12
0-7
AVI 1270
input status ch 1
8-15
13
0-7
NA
not used
8
0-15
14
0-7
AVI 1270
input data ch 2
15
0-7
9
0-7
16
0-7
AVI 1270
input status ch 2
8-15
17
0-7
AVO 1250
output status ch 1
10
0-7
18
0-7
AVO 1250
output status ch 2
8-15
NA
NA
NA
not used
Output Data:
Advantys Fieldbus Image
Control Expert EIP Items
Module
Description
Word
Bit(s)
Byte
Bit(s)
1
0-1
0
0-1
DDO 3200
output data
2-5
2-5
DDO 3410
output data
6-7
6-7
NA
not used
8-13
1
0-5
DDO 3600
output data
14-15
6-7
NA
not used
2
0-15
2
0-7
AVO 1250
output data ch 1
3
0-7
3
0-15
4
0-7
AVO 1250
output data ch 2
5
0-7
For this example, you need to create input items for the 19 input bytes and output items for the 6 output bytes using the Control Expert EtherNet/IP configuration tool. These input and output items include:
The following examples show you how to create each kind of item.
Creating Discrete Input Items
To create discrete input items for the STB NIC 2212 example, beginning with 16 discrete inputs for NIC status:
Step
Action
1
In the Devices window of the Control Expert EtherNet/IP configuration tool, navigate to and select the connection item at Position 000, as shown below:
2
Select Devices → Properties. The Items Declaration window opens:
3
In the Default Items Name Root input box type: NICstatus.
4
In the Items List, select the rows that correspond to bits 0-7 in bytes 0 and 1—i.e., the first 16 rows:
5
Click the Define Item(s) button.The Item Name Definition dialog opens:
Note: The asterisk (*) indicates a series of discrete items with the same root name will be created.
6
Accept the default Item Name and click OK. 16 discrete input items are created:
7
Repeat steps 3 - 6 for each group of discrete input items you need to create. In this example, that includes items for each of the following groups:
  • Byte: 2, Bits: 0-1, Default Items Name Root: DDI3230_inputdata
  • Byte: 2, Bits: 2-3, Default Items Name Root: DDI3230_inputstatus
  • Byte: 2, Bits: 4-5, Default Items Name Root: DDO3200_outputdataecho
  • Byte: 2, Bits: 6-7, Default Items Name Root: DDO3200_outputstatus
  • Byte: 3, Bits: 0-3, Default Items Name Root: DDI3420_inputdata
  • Byte: 3, Bits: 4-7, Default Items Name Root: DDI3420_inputstatus
  • Byte: 4, Bits: 0-3, Default Items Name Root: DDO3410_outputdataecho
  • Byte: 4, Bits: 4-7, Default Items Name Root: DDO3410_outputstatus
  • Byte: 5, Bits: 0-5, Default Items Name Root: DDI3610_inputdata
  • Byte: 6, Bits: 0-5, Default Items Name Root: DDI3610_inputstatus
  • Byte: 7, Bits: 0-5, Default Items Name Root: DDO3600_outputdataecho
  • Byte: 8, Bits: 0-5, Default Items Name Root: DDO3600_outputstatus
8
Click on the Discrete Output Items tab to open that page.
Creating Discrete Output Items
To create discrete output items for the STB NIC 2212 example, beginning with 2 discrete outputs for the STB DDO3200 module:
Step
Action
1
The discrete output items page looks like this:
Note: Again, both the Offset/Device and Offset/Connection columns represent the byte address of the discrete output, while the Position in the Byte column indicates the bit position of the discrete output item.
2
In the Default Items Name Root input box type: DDO3200_outputdata.
3
In the Items List, select the rows that correspond to bits 0-1 in byte 0—i.e., the first 2 rows:
4
Click the Define Item(s) button.The Item Name Definition dialog opens:
Note: The asterisk (*) indicates a series of discrete items with the same root name will be created.
5
Accept the default Item Name and click OK. 2 discrete input items are created:
6
Repeat steps 2 - 5 for each group of discrete output items you need to create. In this example, that inlcudes items for each of the following groups:
  • Byte: 0, Bits: 2-5, Default Items Name Root: DDO3410_outputdata
  • Byte: 1, Bits: 0-5, Default Items Name Root: DDO3600_outputdata
7
Click on the Numeric Input Items tab to open that page.
Creating Numeric input Items
To create numeric input items for the STB NIC 2212 example, beginning with a channel 1 input data word for the STB AVI 1270 module:
Step
Action
1
The Numeric Input Items tab looks like this:
Note: In this example, both the Offset/Device and Offset/Connection columns represent the byte address. All items you create will be either an 8-bit byte or a 16-bit word.
2
In the Default Items Name Root input box type: AVI1270_CH1_inputdata.
3
In the Items List, select bytes (or rows) 10 and 11:
4
Click the Define Item(s) button.The Item Name Definition dialog opens:
5
Select Word (16 bits) as the New Item(s) Data Type, then click OK. A new item is created:
6
Repeat steps 2 - 5 for each group of numeric input item you need to create. In this example, that inlcudes items for each of the following groups:
  • Byte: 12, Default Items Name Root: AVI1270_CH1_inputstatus
  • Word: 14-15, Default Items Name Root: AVI1270_CH2_inputdata
  • Byte: 16, Default Items Name Root: AVI1270_CH2_inputstatus
  • Byte: 17, Default Items Name Root: AVO1250_CH1_outputstatus
  • Byte: 18, Default Items Name Root: AVO1250_CH2_outputstatus
7
Click on the Numeric Output Items tab to open that page.
Creating Numeric Output Items
To create numeric output items for the NIC 2212, example, beginning with a output data word for the AVO 1250 module:
Step
Action
1
The Numeric Output Items tab opens:
Note: In this example, both the Offset/Device and Offset/Connection columns represent the byte address. All items you create will be 16-bit words comprising 2 bytes.
2
In the Default Items Name Root input box type: AVO1250_CH1_outputdata.
3
In the Items List, select bytes (or rows) 10 and 11:
4
Click the Define Item(s) button.The Item Name Definition dialog opens:
5
Repeat steps 2 - 5 for the AVO 1250 channel 2 output data at bytes 4 and 5.
6
Click OK to close the Items Declaration window.
7
Select File → Save to save your edits.
Viewing Input and Output Item Addresses
The final step in this example is to view the address the Control Expert EtherNet/IP configuration tool assigns to each newly created input and output item. To do this:
Step
Action
1
In the Devices window of the Control Expert EtherNet/IP configuration tool, the item at Position 000 should still be selected. If not, select it, as shown below:
The automatically configured input and output items appear on the right side of the screen in the I/O area (as depicted in the next step, below).
2
If necessary, use the horizontal scroll bar to scroll to the far right of the input or output area and display the Address column, which identifies the location of the input or output in the TSX ETC 100: