Echelon LonMaker User Manual
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LonMaker User’s Guide
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Data Point
A network variable, configuration property, or functional block state (enabled or in override) that the
LonMaker tool can monitor and/or control.
Decommissioning
Process in which devices are temporarily uninstalled. Decommissioning devices is useful when
optimizing, troubleshooting, or repairing a network. All the configuration data of a decommissioned
device, including configuration properties and connections, are preserved in the LNS network
database. The LonMaker tool can also preserve the Neuron ID of a decommissioned device to speed
up the recommissioning process.
Deficit Credit
A LonMaker credit used to commission a device when a LonMaker license has no credits.
Destination Address
The logical address contained in every LonTalk packet of the device or group of devices designated to
receive the packet. The destination address can be the unique Neuron ID, the logical device address, a
group address, or a broadcast address.
Device
A device that communicates on a L
ON
W
ORKS
network. A device may be an application device,
network service device, or a router. Devices are sometimes referred to as nodes in L
ON
W
ORKS
documentation.
Device Interface
The logical interface to a device. A device's external interface specifies the number and types of
functional blocks; number, types, directions, and connection attributes of network variables; and the
number of message tags. The program ID field is used as the key to identify each external interface.
Each program ID uniquely defines the static portion of the interface. However, two devices with
identical static portions may differ if dynamic network variables are added or removed, or if the types
of changeable network variables are changed. Thus it is possible to have devices with the same
program ID but different external interfaces.
Device Interface File (XIF)
A file that documents a device's interface with a network. The file can be a text file (.XIF extension),
or it can be a binary file (.XFB extension).
Device Discovery
Commissioning process in which the LonMaker tool searches the network for unconfigured devices
and matches them to device shapes defined in the LonMaker drawing.
Device-Specific Configuration Property
A configuration property that has values that can be modified independent of the network database.
Changes made to a device-specific configuration property are not updated in the network database.
Device Template
A device template contains all the attributes of a given device type, such as its functional blocks,
network variables, and configuration properties. You can create a device template by importing a
device interface (XIF) file supplied by the device manufacturer, or by uploading the device interface
definition from the physical device. A device template is identified by its name and its program ID.
Both must be unique within a network—you cannot have two device templates with the same name or
the same program ID in a single network.
Device Upgrade
The process in which a new application (.nxe or .apb extensions) is loaded into a device.