Echelon LNS User Manual

Page 24

LNS Programmer's Guide

imported, or from the device’s self-documentation when it uploads the device’s device

template.

In LNS, an application device’s interface is represented by an Interface object. The
Interface objects contained by an application device may be the device’s main, static

interface, or they may be custom interfaces that have been added to the device

dynamically, using the new features described in this section. You can access the main
interface of a device through the AppDevice object’s Interface property. Main

interfaces are static interfaces that cannot be modified.

You can access the collection of custom interfaces that have been added to a device
through the device’s Interfaces property. If supported by the device, you can modify
these custom interfaces by adding or removing objects from their NetworkVariables,
LonMarkObjects, and MessageTags collections.

Or, you can add custom Interface objects to a device by accessing the Interfaces

collection through the device’s Interfaces property, and then calling the Add()
method. Once you have created a custom Interface object, you can modify it to suit

your exact needs.

You can access the collection of LonMark Functional Blocks defined on the custom
Interface. A LonMark Functional Block represents a collection of network variables

and configuration properties on a device that perform a related function. For example, a

digital input device with four switches could contain one functional block for each switch.

In LNS, LonMark Functional Blocks are represented by LonMarkObject objects. Each
Interface object contains a LonMarkObjects property, which you can use to access the

collection of LonMark Functional Blocks defined on that Interface. If the interface
supports dynamic LonMark Functional Blocks, you can add and remove LonMarkObject

objects from the collection using the Add() and Remove() methods. In addition, you can
assign and un-assign existing network variables to and from the LonMarkObject objects

using the AssignNetworkVariable() and UnassignNetworkVariable() methods.
You can check if an Interface object supports the addition of dynamic LonMarkObject

objects by reading the Interface object’s DynamicLonMarkObjectCapacity property.
You can check if an Interface object supports the addition of dynamic network

variables by reading the Interface object’s MaxNvSupported and StaticNvCount

properties.

You can also access the collection of network variables defined on an Interface or on a
LonMarkObject through the object’s NetworkVariables property. This property

contains the entire set of NetworkVariable objects defined on that Interface. You

can use the Add() and Remove() methods to modify this collection on your custom
Interface objects as you desire.

In LNS Turbo Edition, each custom Interface object also contains a
DynamicMessageTags collection. You can use this collection to add dynamic
MessageTag objects to the interface. This allows you to add message tags to any device

that supports monitor sets, and use those message tags to send explicit messages from

that device to a group of devices, as with static message tags. For example, consider the
case of a Network Service Device. Network Service Devices do not contain static message
tags. However, you can now add dynamic message tags to the AppDevice object

associated with a NetworkServiceDevice. Once you have added to a message tag to a

Network Service Device, you can connect the message tag to the devices you want to send

the messages to. Following that, you can create a message monitor point on the Network