Ascii protocol – West Control Solutions N6600 User Manual
Page 54
5.2.3 ASCII Protocol
The protocol assumes half duplex communications. All communication is initiated
by the master device. The master sends a command or query to the addressed
slave and the slave replies with an acknowledgement of the command or the
reply to the query. All messages, in either direction, comprise:
(a) A Start of Message character
(b) One or two address characters (uniquely defining the slave)
(c) A parameter/data character string
(d) An End of Message character
Messages from the master device may be one of four types:
Type 1:
L {N} ? ? *
Type 2:
L {N} {P} {C} *
Type 3:
L {N} {P} # {DATA} *
Type 4:
L {N} {P} I *
where all characters are in ASCII code and:
L
is the Start of Message character (Hex 4C)
{N}
is the slave Controller address (in the range 1 - 99); addresses 1
- 9 may be represented by a single digit (e.g. 7) or in two-digit
form, the first digit being zero (e.g. 07).
{P}
is a character which identifies the parameter to be
interrogated/modified - see Table 5-2.
{C}
is the command (see below)
#
indicates that {DATA} is to follow (Hex 23)
{DATA}
is a string of numerical data in ASCII code (see Table 5-1)
*
is the End of Message character (Hex 2A)
No space characters are permitted in messages. Any syntax errors in a received
message will cause the slave controller to issue no reply and await the Start of
Message character.
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