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B&B Electronics MODSCAN32 - Manual User Manual

Page 54

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ModSim Overview

ModSim32 is a Windows Application designed to simulate data from one or more modbus slave devices.
ModSim32 may be connected serially to a modbus master application, or connected to multiple modbus
master client applications via a network. Modbus supports the modbus/TCP communications protocol
standard.

ModSim32 operates as a Windows MDI, (Multiple Document Interface), application, with each document
representing a block of modbus data. Each data block is configured to represent a series of data, (inputs,
coils, input registers, or holding registers), from a defined slave address. Keyboard commands are available
to edit the contents of a data point and OLE Automation routines are supported which allows Visual Basic
or other third-party Windows applications to easily access and change simulated modbus data.

Document/View Architecture

Each ModSim32 document represents a block of data points made accessible to a modbus master
application via the serial port or network. Each data block is defined as an array of coils or registers
beginning at a specified modbus address and representing data contained within a single modbus slave
device. Multiple documents may be opened, defining additional data from the same or different device.
ModSim32 supports multiple simultaneous communication with modbus masters, and each document is
assessible via any connected COM port or network connection.

Standard Windows menu selections are used to manipulate ModSim32 documents. These include
commands to create new documents, write document data to disk, and read data from a disk file. Modbus
data is displayed in a variety of numerical formats, and edit commands are supported which allow access to
and modification of data contained within a ModSim32 document.

Modbus Data Definition


Each ModSim32 document represents a block of contiguous modbus data as defined by the following
parameters:

Device Id

Defines the physical modbus slave device represented by the document.

Point Type

Defines one of:

INPUT STATUS
COIL STATUS
INPUT REGISTER
HOLDING REGISTER

Address

Defines the modbus address of the first document data point.

Length

Defines the length of the data array contained within the document


Edit controls accessible from within each ModSim32 document provide access to the above data definition
parameters as well as the physical connection associated with the data.