SIEMENS S7 PPI Direct (Serial)

This driver provides a software interface between Xpanel and SIEMENS SIMATIC S7-200 PLCs via the PPI protocol.

Communication Setup: Xpanel

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 ‘SIEMENS S7 PPI Direct’ and configure the remaining communication parameters. These parameters must match those chosen for the PLC.

The parameters should be set to the following values:

Baud Rate: 9600 or 19200 (must be matched with the PLC)

Parity: Even

Data Bits: 8 Bits

Stop Bits: 1 Bit

RTS/CTS: OFF

Comm. Type: RS485

See the Communication Configuration section for more information about the remaining parameters.

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 ‘S7’ (this is the only available option).

Network ID: N/A

Station No: Specify a decimal number between 0 and 126. This number must match the station chosen for the PLC.

See the Communication Configuration section for more information about the remaining parameters.

Communication Setup: S7-200

The following picture shows a screenshot of the STEP 7-Micro/Win software application.

The network address and communication speed (Baud rate) of the PLC are configured in this dialog box.

Please note that the configuration options chosen here should match the I/O Device configuration within XpanelDesigner.

Address Notation

The address of device tags used in Xpanel must have the following format:

Tag Type	Format	Example
Analog	[Symbol][Address]	VW064
Digital	[Symbol][Address].[Bit Number] or [Symbol][Address][Bit Number]	M012.3 or M0123

Address: decimal number (0 – 65535)
Bit Number: decimal number (0 – 7)

The following table lists the device addresses which can be referenced within the Xpanel database:

Symbol	Description	Word Notation	Bit Notation	Type	Access
I	Input	-	I7.7	Digital	R
Q	Output	-	Q7.7	Digital	R/W
M	Internal Memory	-	M31.7	Digital	R/W
SM	Special Memory	-	SM85.7	Digital	R/W
T	Timer	-	T127	Digital	R
C	Counter	-	C127	Digital	R
IW	Input	IW7	-	Analog	R
QW	Output	QW7	-	Analog	R/W
MW	Internal Memory	MW31	-	Analog	R/W
SMW	Special Memory	SMW85	-	Analog	R/W
VW	Variable Memory	VW4095	-	Analog	R/W
TW	Timer SV	TW127	-	Analog	R
CW	Counter SV	CW127	-	Analog	R

Communication Cable Wiring

Supported Functions

The following tables lists functions which are supported by this driver:

Function	Support	Remark
Block Data Read	YES	This function allows multiple words to be read at a time. This function is used when you use the Xpanel recipe, data bridge, or trend features.
Block Data Write	YES	This function allows multiple words to be written at a time. This function is used when you use the Xpanel recipe, data bridge, or trend features.
String Real Tag	YES	This function treats the device as serialized memory so you can store string data from the Xpanel on the PLC.
Word Swap	YES	This function swaps the upper and lower bytes of all word- or double-word-sized data. It is only available when the 16-Bit Data Swap option is selected.
Dword Swap	YES	This function swaps the upper and lower words of all double-word-sized data. It is only available when the 32-Bit Data Swap option is selected.