Create a new Device

To create a new device, select ‘Tools’ → ’I/O Devices’ or click the icon in the toolbar. The following picture shows the first step in creating a new device:

I/O Device Name: Give a device name. This name will be used in the tag database, accompanied by the ‘Station Name’.

Select a device type

After selecting the ‘OK’ button in the previous step, the ‘Serial Communication Configuration’ dialog box will appear as shown in the following picture:

In this window, set the ‘Device Type’ to ‘MODBUS RTU Protocol’ and configure the remaining serial communication parameters. Ensure that these parameters are matched with the device’s configuration. See the Communication Configuration section for more information.

Create a station

Move to the ‘Station’ tab of the ‘Serial Communication Configuration’ dialog box. In this dialog box, connected PLC stations can be configured and registered to the Xpanel.

Each field can be configured with the following rules:

Station Name: Give a name to the PLC. This name will be used in the tag database, accompanied by the ‘Device Name’.

Station Type: Choose the type of connected PLC (Modbus RTU, Multi Write CMD, Max Block Read).

Network ID: N/A

Station No:Specify a decimal number between 1 and 247. This must match the station number of the PLC.

16-Bit Data Swap: This option swaps the upper and lower bytes of all word- or double-word-sized data. The following diagram shows an example of byte swapping:

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Almost all data types will be influenced by this option except for INT8 / UINT8 / BCD8 / UBCD8.

32-Bit Data Swap: This option swaps the upper and lower words of all double-word-sized data. The following diagram shows an example of word swapping:

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Tags with data type INT32 / UINT32 / BCD32 / UBCD32 / FLOAT will be influenced by this option.

Using Checksum: This field has no effect. This MODBUS driver always uses a checksum.

Comm. Error Message Pop Up: When this item is checked, Xpanel displays a communication error message box for every Rx and Tx error. Otherwise (unchecked), Xpanel does not display a message for communication errors. This message box will close automatically after a few secondsSee the Communication Configuration section for more information about the remaining parameters.