B&B Electronics MODSCAN32 - Manual - Manual (Page 31)

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Display Formats
As data is received from the slave device, it is displayed to the lower splitter view of the associated
document. Any errors incurred during the exchange of information will be displayed on the first line. The
font and colors used to display the data is configurable via the View, Config menu options.
Modbus register data may be displayed in any of the following formats:
Binary
Data displayed as 16 discrete values.
Decimal Ranges from -32767 to 32768
Hexadecimal 0000-ffff
Floating-Point IEEE Standard Floating Point Notation
(Requires two registers per value)
Swapped Floating
Point Inverted Floating Point used by some processors
Double Precision
Floating Point 64-bit Floating Point Notation
Swapped Double Inverted 64-bit Float Values
Connections
ModScan may be used to obtain data from modbus slave device connected to the PC in one of three basic
physical arrangements. The most common connection is via any one of the four available PC serial COM
ports. ModScan uses the standard Win32 software drivers for communication with the COM ports, thereby
providing support for any hardware serial boards which may be installed in the Windows operating system,
(including RS-232, RS-485, etc.). You have complete control over the operating characteristics of the serial
connection by selecting the appropriate baud rate, parity, and control line, (handshaking), properties to
match the slave device(s).
In remote testing situations, the ModScan application may be used to communicate with a modbus network
over a dedicated modem connection. ModScan supports the TAPI, (telephony application interface),
standard implemented in Windows and Windows NT. If selected, the modem connection dialog allows you
to enter a phone number for dialing. Any TAPI device configured within the Windows operating system is
available for use.
ModScan allows modbus communications to occur over a TCP/IP network using the modbus/TCP protocol.
ModScan operates as a modbus/TCP client application, (modbus master), accessing data from any
connected modbus/TCP server. Several vendors now offer direct TCP/IP networking support for mobus
devices and ModScan is an excellent way to access/test these devices. You may also use one of several
available modbus to TCP/IP bridge devices which can service network requests to a connected serial port.
A bridge device operates as a network server, providing support to numerous client applications distributed
over the network and interfacing modbus requests for data to slave devices connected serially. WinTECH
Software provides such a server, (MNetSvr), as an application which runs under Windows.
It is also possible to connect via modem to a remote system utilizing the built-in networking characteristics
of Windows ‘95 & NT. To do this, you will need to configure the ModScan application to connect via a
TCP/IP connection which has been setup within Windows to automatically dial and establish a PPP
connection with another Windows machine which is connected directly to the slave device(s) you wish to
use. In this case, ModScan operates as if it were using a network card connected directly to a modbus to
TCP/IP bridge device.
ModScan Commands