BACnet SC Configuration

BACnet SC Configuration Using the Workbench

Network Discovery

Note: The following describes how to configure BACnet settings via the Workbench for Desktop projects. The starting point is the Network Discovery tool.

 

From the Workbench, you need to expand your project and then browse for the device template and find the BACnet configuration provider.

 

BACnet Provider in the Workbench's Project Explorer

 

 

 

 

It is possible to discover the devices on each Channel level. So, for example, to browse for the Default Channel, right-click on it and select ‘Network Discovery’.

 

Starting Network Discovery

 

 

A dialog will appear. In this dialog, you can set some filters and start the discovery of the network.

 

Network Discovery dialog

 

This is the list of filters that can be set before starting Network Discovery:

- A global broadcast will send whols using an IP global broadcast address of 255.255.255.255 and a BACnet broadcast address.

- A broadcast will send whols messages using an IP subnet broadcast address which is Bitwise OR of the IP address and Bit Complement of the Subnet Mask and a BACnet broadcast address.

- A remote broadcast contains the network number in the BACnet destination address.

- A local network broadcast contains no BACnet network number, only the devices on the local network will respond.

When you click on the Start Discovery button, a request to the BACnet point manager is sent. The result of the call will populate the grid on the bottom of the dialog.

 

Network Discovery Dialog (with Discovered Devices)

 

For each discovered device, the grid shows:

You can easily filter/sort the results in the grid.

 

You can also select multiple devices (and set Get Properties/Static Binding flag) in one shot through the available context menu.

 

Network Discovery Dialog (Context Menu)

 

 

At this point, you can select all the devices or a subset of them and proceed with the scanning process. You have basically two options:

This is what you can see when clicking on the Next button:

 

Network Discovery Dialog (Scan Devices)

 

From this section, you can scan the previously selected devices. You can specify several scan options:

Network Discovery Dialog (Scan Devices) – Object Types Filters

 

 

The collection of available Object Types to be filtered comes from the Object Library.

 

When you click on the Start Scan button, a request to the BACnet point manager is sent. The result of the call will populate the grid on the bottom of the dialog.

 

Network Discovery Dialog (Scan Devices) – Scan Results

 

For each scanned object you can see:

Properties List

 

 

You can easily filter/sort the results in the grid.

 

You can also select multiple objects in one shot through the available context menu.

 

Device Scan Dialog (Context Menu)

 

 

At this point, you can select all the objects or a subset of them and proceed with import operation. You have basically three options:

If you click on the Finish button, the selected options will be sent to the server and a Task will be generated. The task will process the data and will execute the import operation.

 

BACnet Devices Import Task

 

 

Once the task is completed, all the entities will be now browsable in the project tree.

 

Project Tree After the Import

 

From the task explorer, you can see the log generated during the import process (right-click on the task and select View Log).

 

Task Log

 

Note: The import operation will insert the new discovered entities and update the existing. It also provide a mechanism of collision detection in case of colliding names (for Devices and Objects). Since the operation is executed on a separate task, Workbench is fully available and responsive during the execution.

Channel Root

The Channel Root entity is the top most element in BACnet hierarchy. It contains the available Channels.

 

Channel Root Level in the Project Tree

 

If you double-click on it, a dialog will be opened.

 

Channel Root Dialog

 

In this dialog, it’s possible to configure some settings that are global for all the available channels. This is the list of the settings:

 

Browsing

 

• Show Networks - If true, the Network level will be shown in the runtime tree in the Data Browser.

• Show Object Types - If true, the Object Type level will be shown in the runtime tree in the Data Browser

• Additional Browsing Info - Choose between:

 

Logging

 

• Log Level - Specifies the level of logging for the BACnet stack log file. You can choose between None, Error, Info, Warning, Network, Debug levels.

• Log File Max Size [kilobytes] - Specifies the maximum size of the log file. Range can be between 0 and 4194303.

• Log File - Specifies the path of the BACnet stack log file.

 

Statistics

 

• Show Statistics - If true, the statistics using API diagnostics will be shown at Channel level.

• Allow Subscribe Statistics - If true, the statistics tags can be subscribed.

• Statistics Polling Rate [seconds] - Specifies the refresh rate of the counters. Range can be between 0 and 4194303. Default is 10.

 

Global Counters

 

• Show Counters - If true, the counters will be shown in the Channel Root level.

• Allow Subscribe Counters - If true, the counters tags can be subscribed.

• Counters Polling Rate [seconds] - Specifies the refresh rate of the counters. The range can be between 0 and 4194303. Default is 10.

 

Click on the Apply button to apply the changes.

Channels

Under the Channel Root level, we can have multiple Channel entities. Each Channel can contain multiple Networks. There should be always a Channel marked as default. It’s possible to identify it easily since the icon contains a red flag.

 

Channel Level in the Project Tree

 

 

To create a BACnet Channel

To create a new BACnet Channel, right-click on the Channel Root (Channels) and click on Add Channels as shown below:

 

Add Channel to Database from Project Explorer

 

- OR -

 

Select the Channels branch, then click on the ‘Add Channel’ button, shown below, in the Edit section of the Home ribbon in Workbench.

 

 

 

The BACnet Channel properties window will appear in the right pane of the Workbench.

 

To edit a BACnet Channel

If you double-click on it, a dialog will open. The dialog contains four tabs to set up different sets of settings:

General Tab

This tab contains the "General" Channel settings.

 

Channel dialog (General / Runtime Settings)

 

This is the list of the configurable settings:

 

• Local Device ID - specifies the local device identifier for the BACnet API. Each BACnet device on the network requires a unique device identifier.

• Read Service Type - specifies the service type to read the data. The possible options are Automatic, Read Property, Read Property Multiple, Confirmed COV or Unconfirmed COV. Default is Automatic.­­­­

• Re-Subscribe COV Period [seconds]  - specifies the re-subscribe period for the change of value (COV) subscriptions in seconds. Default is 3600.

• Default Polling Rate - sets the frequency of communication between BACnet devices and the BACnet connector. Range can be between 0 and 4194303. Default is 30.

• Default Priority - sets a number between 1 and 16 as to the criticality of a device, in comparison with others. Assigning a priority level marks the importance of messages and which will override others. Some numbers are pre-assigned (1, 2, 5, 6, 8), with life safety naturally having highest priority. Other numbers (3, 4, 7 and 9 through 16) are not   

assigned and therefore are available for users to set their own priorities. Default is 8.

 

Priority Level                              Application

1                                               Manual Life Safety

2                                               Automatic Life Safety

3                                               Available

4                                               Available

5                                               Critical Equipment Control

6                                               Minimum On/Off

7                                               Available

8                                               Manual Operator

9                                               Available

10                                             Available

11                                             Available

12                                             Available

13                                             Available

14                                             Available

15                                             Available

16                                             Available

 

 

• Default Decimal Places - specifies the default number of decimal places of real values. -1 means automatic (calculated from the device’s properties). Default is 1.

• This is the Default Channels - True, if the Channel is the ‘default’ Channel.

 

Communication Tab

 

Channel dialog (Communication / Communication Settings)

 

This is the list of the configurable settings:

Channel dialog (Communication /Trend Settings)

 

This is the list of the configurable settings:

 

 Channel dialog (Communication / Notification Class Settings)

 

This is the list of the configurable settings:

Channel dialog (Communication / Alarm Settings)

 

This is the list of the configurable settings:

Port Tab

Channel dialog (Port / Port Settings)

 

This is the list of the configurable settings:

 

• Channel Type - specifies the port type. We support BACnetIP, Ethernet, MSTP, PTP and BACnetSC port types. Default is BACnetIP.

• Channel Network Number - specifies the network number of the port. Default is 0.

• UDP Port -specifies the UDP port number. Default is 47808.

 

Channel dialog (Port / Ethernet Settings)

 

• Type - specifies the type of ethernet settings. Possible values are Adapter or IP Address.

• Adapter - enabled if the selected type is Adapter. It specifies the adapter.

• IP Address -enabled if the selected type is IP Address. It specifies the IP Address.

 

Channel dialog (Port / BACnet SC Settings)

 

These properties are configurable when the selected Channel Type is BACnet/SC. This is the list of the configurable settings:

Time Synchronization tab

Channel dialog (Time Synchronization / Time Synchronization)

 

This is the list of the configurable settings:

Channel dialog (Time Synchronization / Recipients)

 

This is the list of the configurable settings:

Foreign Devices Tab

Channel Dialog (Foreign Devices Settings)

 

This is the list of the configurable settings:

Channel dialog (Foreign Devices / Foreign Devices)

 

This is the list of the configurable settings:

BBMD Device Tab

Channel dialog (BBMD Devices / BBMD Devices Options)

 

This is the list of the configurable settings:

Channel dialog (BBMD Devices / BBMD Devices)

 

This is the list of the configurable settings:

Send Who-Has

The Who-Has service is used by a sending BACnet-user to identify the Device object identifiers and network addresses of other BACnet devices whose local databases contain an object with a given Object_Name or a given Object_Identifier.

It’s possible to send a Who-Has right-clicking on a Channel and selecting ‘Send Who-Has’ from the context menu as shown below:

 

Send Who-Has action from Channel level

 

-          OR          -

 
 

Select the Channel for which you want to call the action, then click on the Send Who-Has button, shown below, in the Tools section of the Home ribbon in Workbench

 

Send Who-Has button

 

The Send Who-Has dialog appears as shown below:

 

Send Who-Has dialog

 

The parameters of the action are:

 

Click on the Send Who-Has button to start the action.

The result of the action will be shown in the Result section. For each object it will show:

Send Who-Is

The Who-Is service is used by a sending BACnet-user to determine the Device object identifier, the network address, or both, of other BACnet devices that share the same internetwork. The Who-Is service is an unconfirmed service. The Who-Is service may be used to determine the Device object identifier and network addresses of all devices on the network, or to determine the network address of a specific device whose Device object identifier is known, but whose address is not.

 

It’s possible to send a Who-Is right-clicking on a Channel and selecting ‘Send Who-Is from the context menu as shown below:

 

Send Who-Is action from Channel level

 

        -  OR    -

 

Select the Channel for which you want to call the action, then click on the Send Who-Is button, shown below, in the Tools section of the Home ribbon in Workbench.

 

Send Who-Is Button

 

The Send Who-Is dialog appears as shown below:

 

Send Who-Is dialog

 

The parameters of the action are:

 

Click on the Send Who-Is button to start the action.

The result of the action will be shown in the Result section. For each device it will show:

Send Who-Is Result

 

Time Synchronization

Time synchronization action can be used to synchronize the Device’s time.

 

It’s possible to execute a Time Synchronization right-clicking on a Channel and selecting ‘Time Synchronization’ from the context menu as shown below:

 

Time Synchronization action from Channel level

 

-    OR    -

 

Select the Channel for which you want to call the action, then click on the Time Synchronization button, shown below, in the Tools section of the Home ribbon in Workbench.

 

Time Synchronization button

 

The Time Synchronization dialog appears as shown below:

 

Time Synchronization dialog

 

The parameters of the action are:

Click on the OK button to start the action.

The result of the action will be shown in a message box as shown below:

 

Time Synchronization result

 

Import EDE File

BACnet SC provider allows you to import and Engineering Data Exchange (.ede) file.

 

It’s possible to execute an EDE import right-clicking on a Channel and selecting ‘Import EDE File’ from the context menu as shown below:

 

Import EDE File action from Channel level

 

-      OR    -

 

Select the Channel for which you want to call the action, then click on the Import EDE File button, shown below, in the Tools section of the Home ribbon in Workbench.

 

Import EDE File button

 

The Import EDE File dialog appears as shown below:

 

Import EDE File dialog (Settings)

 

The settings are:

By clicking on the "Next" button, the system will parse the EDE file and will show all the available devices in it.

 

Import EDE File dialog (Available Devices)

 

For each device we could see:

It’s possible to filter the devices by all the properties.

You can manually select the devices you want to import or you can use the context menu to select all, unselect all, invert current selection.

 

Import EDE File dialog (Available Devices) - Context Menu

 

 

 

 

Clicking on the Import EDE button, the Import operation will be performed and all the selected devices will be imported in the configuration database.

The operation is executed on a separate task on the server.

 

Import EDE File Task

 

We can see the log of the operation right-clicking on the task and selecting ‘View Log’ from the context menu. The log will appear as shown below.

 

Import EDE Log

 

If the action has been executed successfully the address space will be updated with the data contained in the EDE file:

 

Import EDE Address Space

 

 

Export EDE File

BACnet SC provider allows you to export the configuration data in an Engineering Data Exchange (.ede) file.

It’s possible to execute an EDE export right-clicking on a Channel and selecting ‘Export EDE File’ from the context menu as shown below:

 

Export EDE File action from Channel level

 

 

-     OR  -

 

Select the Channel for which you want to call the action, then click on the Export EDE File button, shown below, in the Tools section of the Home ribbon in Workbench.

 

Export EDE File button

 

The Export EDE File dialog appears as shown below:

 

Export EDE File dialog (Available Devices)

 

In the dialog we can see the list of available devices in the selected Channel.

 

For each device we can see:

It’s possible to filter the devices by all the properties.

You can manually select the devices you want to import or you can use the context menu to select all, unselect all, invert current selection.

 

Export EDE File dialog (Available Devices) - Context Menu

 

By clicking on the "Next" button we can do some settings before performing the export operation:

 

Export EDE File dialog (Settings)

 

It’s possible to specify:

o   Name: the name of the object

o   Instance: the instance of the object

o   Object Type: the type of the object

o   Device Name: the name of the device containing the object

o   Device ID: the identifier of the device containing the object

 

It’s possible to filter the objects using all the properties

You can manually select the objects you want to export or you can use the context menu to select all, unselect all, invert current selection.

 

Export EDE File dialog (Exportable Objects) - Context Menu

 

 

Clicking on the Export button, the Export operation will be performed and all the selected objects will be exported in the EDE file.

The operation is executed on a separate task on the server.

 

Export EDE File Task

 

We can see the log of the operation right-clicking on the task and selecting ‘View Log’ from the context menu. The log will appear as shown below.

 

Export EDE Log

 

 

To download the generated EDE file, you need to right click on the task and select download generated file. Then you just need to specify the location where to download the generated file.

Networks

Under a Channel, there can be multiple Network entities. Each Network can contain multiple Devices.

 

Network Level in the Project Tree

 

To create a BACnet Network

To create a new BACnet Network, right click on a Channel and click on Add Network as shown below:

 

Add Network to Database from Project Explorer

 

-       

  -    OR    -

 

Select the Channel branch, then click on the Add Network button, shown below, in the Edit section of the Home ribbon in Workbench.

 

 

Add Network button

 

The BACnet Network properties window will appear in the right pane of Workbench.

 

To edit a BACnet Network

If you double click on it, a dialog will open.

 

Network Dialog

 

The dialog contains some settings that you can configure. This is the list of the settings:

Click on the Apply button to apply the changes.

 

Import EDE File from Network level

It’s possible to execute an Import EDE File action in a Network. The only difference with the same action in the Channel level described above is that we don’t need to specify an attribute to retrieve the network number, since the network number is retrieved by the network itself.

 

Import EDE File action from Network level

 

-   OR   -

 

Select the Network for which you want to call the action, then click on the Import EDE File button shown below in the Tools section of the Home ribbon in Workbench.

 

Import EDE File button

 

Export EDE File from Network level

It’s possible to execute an Export EDE File action in a Network. The only difference with the same action in the Channel level described above is that the collection of available devices in retrieved from the selected network and not from all the networks in a channel.

 

Export EDE File action from Network level

 

-   OR   -

 

Select the Network for which you want to call the action, then click on the Export EDE File button, shown below, in the Tools section of the Home ribbon in Workbench.

 

Export EDE File button

 

Devices

Under a Network, there can be multiple Device entities. Each Device can contain multiple Object Types.

 

Device Level in the Project Tree

 

To create a BACnet Device

To create a new BACnet Device, right click on a Network and click on Add Device as shown below:

 

Add Device to Database from Project Explorer

 

-   OR   -

 

Select the Network branch, then click on the Add Device button shown below in the Edit section of the Home ribbon in Workbench.

 

Add Device button

 

The BACnet Device properties window will appear in the right pane of Workbench.

 

To edit a BACnet Device

If you double-click on it, a dialog will open

 

The dialog contains some settings that you can configure. This is the list of the settings:

Generic Properties

Device dialog (Generic Properties)

Static Binding

Device dialog (Static Binding)

Router Static Binding

Device dialog (Router Static Binding)

Override Settings

Device dialog (Override Settings)

Override Trend Settings

Device dialog (Override Trend Settings)

Override Notification Class Settings

Device dialog (Override Notification Class Settings)

Override Alarm Settings

Device dialog (Override Alarm Settings)

Device Counters

Device dialog (Device Counters)

Click on the Apply button to apply the changes.

 

Re-Scan Device

Workbench provider let the user to execute again a scan operation on a BACnet Device.

 

It is possible to execute a Re-Scan right-clicking on a Device and selecting ‘Re-Scan Device’ from the context menu as shown below:

 

Re-Scan Device action from Device level

 

-   OR   -

 

Select the Device for which you want to call the action, then click on the Re-Scan Device button, shown below, in the Tools section of the Home ribbon in Workbench.

 

Re-Scan Device button

 

The Re-Scan Device dialog appears as shown below:

 

 

Re-Scan Device dialog

 

The dialog is the same dialog already described in the Network Discovery section.

It works in the same way and at the end of the operation, it will execute a separate task on the server to update the configuration of the device in the database.

 

Backup Device

Workbench provider let the user execute a backup operation on a BACnet Device.

It’s possible to execute a Backup right-clicking on a Device and selecting ‘Backup Device’ from the context menu as shown below:

 

Backup Device action from Device level

 

-   OR   -

 

Select the Device for which you want to call the action, then click on the Backup Device button shown below in the Tools section of the Home ribbon in Workbench.

 

Backup Device button

 

The parameters of the action are:

Click on the OK button to start the action.

The result of the action will be shown in a message box.

 

Restore Device

Workbench provider lets the user execute a restore operation on a BACnet Device.

It is possible to execute a Restore right clicking on a Device and selecting ‘Restore Device’ from the context menu as shown below:

 

Restore Device action from Device level

 

-   OR   -

 

Select the Device for which you want to call the action, then click on the Restore Device button, shown below, in the Tools section of the Home ribbon in Workbench.

 

Restore Device button

 

 

The Restore Device dialog appears as shown below:

 

Restore Device dialog

 

The parameters of the actions are:

Click on the OK button to start the action.

The result of the action will be shown in a message box.

 

Reinitialize Device

Workbench provider lets the user execute a Reinitialize operation on a BACnet Device.

It is possible to execute a Reinitialize right clicking on a Device and selecting ‘Reinitialize Device’ from the context menu as shown below:

 

Reinitialize Device action from Device level

 

-   OR   -

 

Select the Device for which you want to call the action, then click on the Reinitialize Device button, shown below, in the Tools section of the Home ribbon in Workbench.

 

Reinitialize Device button

 

The Reinitialize Device dialog appears as shown below:

 

Reinitialize Device dialog

 

The parameters of the action are:

o   Coldstart

o   Warmstart

o   Activate Changes

o   Start Backup

o   End Backup

o   Start Restore

o   End Restore

o   Abort Restore

Click on the OK button to start the action.

The result of the action will be shown in a message box.

 

Device Communication Control

Workbench provider lets the user execute a Device Communication Control operation on a BACnet Device.

It is possible to execute a Device Communication Control by right clicking on a Device and selecting ‘Device Communication Control’ from the context menu as shown below:

 

Device Communication Control action from Device level

 

-   OR   -

 

Select the Device for which you want to call the action, then click on the Device Communication Control button shown below in the Tools section of the Home ribbon in Workbench.

 

Device Communication Control button

 

The Device Communication Control dialog appears as shown below:

 

Device Communication Control dialog

 

The parameters of the action are:

Click on the OK button to start the action.

The result of the action will be shown in a message box.

 

Time Synchronization from Device level

Workbench provider let the user execute a Time Synchronization operation on a BACnet Device.

It’s possible to execute a Time Synchronization right-clicking on a Device and selecting ‘Time Synchronization’ from the context menu as shown below:

 

Time Synchronization action from Device level

 

-   OR   -

 

Select the Device for which you want to call the action, then click on the Time Synchronization button, shown below, in the Tools section of the Home ribbon in Workbench.

 

Time Synchronization button

 

The Time Synchronization dialog appears as shown below:

 

Time Synchronization dialog

 

The parameters of the action are:

Click on the OK button to start the action.

The result of the action will be shown in a message box as shown below:

 

Time Synchronization result

 

 

Export EDE File from Device level

BACnet SC provider allows you to export the configuration data in an Engineering Data Exchange (.ede) file.

It is possible to execute an EDE export right-clicking on a Device and selecting ‘Export EDE File’ from the context menu as shown below:

 

Export EDE File action from Device level

 

-   OR   -

 

Select the Device for which you want to call the action, then click on the Export EDE File button, shown below, in the Tools section of the Home ribbon in Workbench.

 

Export EDE File button

 

The  Export EDE File dialog appears.

 

The behavior is the same as it is at Channel Device. The only difference is that in this case, we will have just one device in the list of Available Devices (the selected one).

 

Add Object to Runtime Device

Workbench provider lets the user add object on a runtime BACnet Device.

It is possible to execute the action by right clicking on a Device and selecting ‘Add Object To Runtime Device’ from the context menu as shown below:

 

Add Object to Runtime Device action from Device level

 

-   OR   -

 

Select the Device for which you want to call the action, then click on the Add Object to Runtime Device button, shown below, in the Edit section of the Home ribbon in Workbench.

 

Add Object to Runtime Device button

 

The Add Object to Runtime Device dialog appears as shown below:

 

Add Object to Runtime Device dialog

 

The parameters of the action are:

If the selected object type is a ‘simple’ object type, then click on the OK button to start the action.

Otherwise you need to click on ‘Next’ button to set the properties of the ‘special’ object type.

In this case, depending on the select object type, another dialog is shown to the user.

 

Add Object to Runtime - Event Log dialog

 

The properties in case of Event Log are:

Add Object to Runtime - Event Enrollment dialog

 

The properties in case of Event Enrollment are:

Add Object to Runtime - Notification Class dialog

 

The properties in case of Notification Class are:

 

Add Object to Runtime - Trend Log dialog

 

The properties in case of Trend Log object are:

Add Object to Runtime - Trend Log Multiple dialog

 

The properties in case of Trend Log object are:

Object Types

Under a Device, we can have multiple Object Types entities. Each Object Type can contain multiple Objects.

 

Object Type Level in the Project Tree

 

To create a BACnet Object Type

To create a new BACnet Object Type, right click on the Device and click on Add Channels as shown below:

 

Add Object Type from Project Explorer

 

-   OR   -

 

Select the Device branch, then click on the ‘Add Object Type’ button shown below in the Edit section of the Home ribbon in Workbench.

 

 

The BACnet Object Type properties window will appear in the right pane of Workbench.

 

To edit a BACnet Object Type

 

Object Type Dialog

 

The dialog contains some settings that you can configure. This is the list of the settings:

Click on the Apply button to apply the changes.

Add Object to Runtime Device action

Workbench provider lets the user add object on a runtime BACnet Device. It is possible to create it in the Object Type level too.

 

It is possible to execute the action by right clicking on "Object Type" and selecting ‘Add Object To Runtime Device’ from the context menu as shown below:

 

Add Object to Runtime Device action from Object Type level

 

-   OR   -

 

Select the Object Type for which you want to call the action, then click on the Add Object Runtime Device button shown below in the Edit section of the Home ribbon in Workbench.

 

Add Object to Runtime Device button

The  Add Object to Runtime Device dialog appears, and the behavior is the same as described for the same action at Device level.

 

Objects

Under an Object Type, there can be multiple Objects entities. Each Object can contain multiple Properties.

 

Object Level in the Project Tree

 

 

To create a BACnet Object

To create a new BACnet Object, right click on the Object Type and click on Add Object as shown below:

 

Add Object from Project Explorer

 

-   OR   -

 

Select the Object Type branch, then click on the Add Object button shown below in the Edit section of the Home ribbon in Workbench.

 

 

 

The BACnet Object properties window will appear in the right pane of Workbench.

 

To edit a BACnet Object Type

If you double-click on it, a dialog will open.

 

The dialog contains some settings that you can configure. This is the list of the settings:

Generic Properties

Object dialog (Generic Properties)

 

Generic Properties

Override Settings

Object dialog (Override Settings)

 

Override Settings

Click on the Apply button to apply the changes.

 

View Property Sheet

Workbench provider let the user get/set the values of the properties of an object in a BACnet Device.

It’s possible to execute a View Property Sheet action right-clicking on an Object and selecting ‘View Property Sheet’ from the context menu as shown below:

 

View Property Sheet action from Object level

 

-   OR   -

 

Select the Object which you want to call the action for, then click on the View Property Sheet button shown below in the Tools section of the Home ribbon in Workbench.

 

View Property Sheet button

 

The View Property Sheet dialog appears as shown below:

 

View Property Sheet dialog

 

The Property Sheet dialog will show all the available properties of the selected object with their values.

 

The user can start/stop the monitoring clicking on the link button in the right upper corner.

 

When the monitoring is disabled, the property grid is enabled and the user can modify the existing values and eventually apply the changes to send the new values to the BACnet device.

 

There are several controls to properly read/modify the values of the properties depending on their type.

 

Here is a list of the controls supported in the current version:

 

BACnet Date Time

 

These are the properties:

BACnet Collection

 

It shows:

It is possible to add new items, remove existing items, update existing items.

 

BACnet Event TimeStamps

 

These are the properties:

BACnet Priority Array

 

It shows the array of the BACnet priorities.

 

BACnet Octects

These are the properties:

BACnet TimeStamp

 

These are the properties:

BACnet Limit Enable

 

These are the properties:

 

BACnet Engineering Units

 

The available units are grouped by type (Acceleration, Area, Currency, Electrical, Energy…).

It’s possible to filter them, using the search filter.

 

BACnet Present Value

 

There are some parameters that can be set to write the present value of an object:

Click on the ‘Write Value’ button, to send a write command to set the new present value.

 

BACnet Calendar Entry

 

These are the properties:

BACnet Name Value

 

These are the properties:

 

BACnet Channel Value

 

These are the properties:

BACnet Lighting Command

 

These are the properties:

BACnet Optional Unsigned

These are the properties:

BACnet Date

 

These are the properties:

 

BACnet Time

 

These are the properties:

 

BACnet Object Types Supported

 

These are the properties:

For each object types, if true, then the object type is supported.

 

BACnet Services Supported

 

 

These are the properties:

For each service, if true, then the service is supported.

 

BACnet Fault Parameter

 

These are the properties:

BACnet Device Object Property Reference

These are the properties:

 

BACnet Event Parameter Out Of Range Value

 

These are the properties:

 

BACnet Property State

 

These are the properties:

BACnet Shed Level

 

These are the properties:

BACnet Date Range

 

These are the properties:

BACnet Special Event

 

These are the properties:

BACnet Time Value

 

These are the properties:

BACnet Timer State Change Value

 

These are the properties:

BACnet Constructed Value

 

These are the properties:

 

Delete Object from Runtime Device

Workbench provider lets the user delete an object from a runtime BACnet Device.

 

It is possible to execute a Delete Object from Runtime Device right-clicking on an Object and selecting ‘Delete Object from Runtime Device’ from the context menu as shown below:

 

Delete Object from Runtime Device action from Object level

 

-        OR     -

 

Select the Object for which you want to call the action, then click on the Delete Object from Runtime Device button shown below in the Edit section of the Home ribbon in Workbench.

 

Delete Object from Runtime Device button

 

You will be asked if you want to continue with the deletion of the object:

 

 

If you click on OK button, then the object will be deleted from the runtime BACnet device.

 

 

Properties

Under an Object, there can be multiple Property entities.

 

If you double-click on it, a dialog will open.

 

The dialog contains some settings that you can configure. This is the list of the settings:

Generic Properties

 

Property dialog (Generic Properties)

 

Add a BACnet Vendor Property

 

o   Name: specifies the name of the property

o   Property ID: specifies the identifier of the property. Range can be between 512 and 4194303

o   Vendor ID: specifies the vendor identifier

o   Custom Name: specifies the custom name of the property (to be used as display name)

o   Data Type: specifies the data type of the property

o   Read Only: if true, the property will be set as read-only

 

Override Settings

Property dialog (Override Settings)

Click on the Apply button to apply the changes.

Libraries

Under the root level, there’s another section available called ‘Libraries’.

 

Libraries in the Project Tree

 

The Libraries level contains two sub-levels:

Property Library

The Property Library is available under the Libraries root level.

 

Property Library in the Project Tree

 

If you double-click on it, a dialog will open.

 

Property Library Dialog

 

In this dialog, we can configure the available properties (modify the existings or add / remove new ones). We can have two different kinds of properties: Standard and Custom. The standard properties cannot be added/remove. You cannot even modify them except the Custom Name. The Custom properties are otherwise fully supported (you can add/remove/edit them).

 

In this dialog, we can configure the available properties (modify the existings or add / remove new ones). We can have two different kinds of properties: Standard and Custom. The standard properties cannot be added/remove. You cannot even modify them except the Custom Name. The Custom properties are otherwise fully supported (you can add/remove/edit them).

 

 

For each property, we have these properties:

Click on the Apply button to apply the changes.

 

The properties with PropertyID in the range [0..511] are automatically marked as ‘Standard’ and cannot be removed/modified by the users.

Device Templates

The Device Templates level is the virtual root level of the Device templates. It could contain multiple Device Templates. In current version we have only the Default Device Template (we cannot add new templates).

 

Device Templates in the Project Tree

 

Device Template

The Device Template entity is under the virtual root level Device Templates. Currently, we can have only one Device Template (the default one) and there are no configurable properties. It contains multiple Object Type Templates.

 

Device Template in the Project Tree

To create an Object Type Template

To create a new Object Type, right-click on the Default Device and click on Add Object Type as shown below:

 

Add Object Type from Project Explorer

 

-        OR      -

 

Select the Default Device branch, then click on the ‘Add Object Type’ button shown below in the Edit section of the Home ribbon in Workbench.

 

Add Object Type button

 

The Object Type properties window will appear in the right pane of Workbench.

 

To edit an Object Type Template

If you double-click on it, a dialog will open.

Object Type Template

The Object Type Template entity is under a Device Template entity.

 

Object Type Template in the Project Tree

 

If you double-click on it, a dialog will open.

 

Object Type Template dialog

 

The dialog contains some settings that you can configure. This is the list of the settings:

 

Object Type

Vendor Properties

 

The grid contains the list of supported properties for the object type.

 

For each property we can see:

o   Inherit from Property: to inherit the value from the referenced property

o   ReadOnly: to overwrite the value of the referenced property and set it to read-only

o   Writable: to overrider the value of the referenced property and set it to writable

Click on the Apply button to apply the changes.

 

Logger System Settings

The Logger System Settings level is one of the top most element in BACnet hierarchy.

 

 

If you double-click on it, a dialog will open.

 

Logger System Settings dialog

 

It contains the logger system settings.

 

The properties are grouped by:

 

-          Cache

-          Logger

-          Master Logger

-          Logger Data Store

-          Master Logger Data Store

 

Here are the settable properties listed for each group:

 

Cache

 

-          Flush Time - Specifies the time interval (in seconds) after which the cache is cleared. Enter the time interval in the text entry field or use the up/down arrow buttons.

-          Maximum Unused Data Blocks LifeTime - Specifies the maximum lifetime (in seconds) of unused data blocks. Enter the maximum lifetime in the text entry field or use the up/down arrow buttons.

-          Maximum Unused Index Blocks LifeTime - Specifies the maximum lifetime (in seconds) of unused index blocks. Enter the maximum lifetime in the text entry field or use the up/down arrow buttons.

 

 

Logger

 

-          Operation Retry Interval - Specifies the time interval (in seconds) after which the logger attempts to re-execute a failed operation. Enter the time interval in the text entry field or use the up/down arrow buttons.

 

Master Logger

 

-          Data File Extension - Specifies the extension for logged data files. Enter a data file extension in the text entry field.

-          Index File Extension - Specifies the extension for index files. Enter an index file extension in the text entry field.

-          Maximum Inactivity Period - Specifies the maximum inactivity period (in minutes) allowed for the master logger. Enter the maximum inactivity period in the text entry field or use the up/down arrow buttons.

-          Operation Retry Interval - Specifies the time interval (in seconds) after which the master logger attempts to re-execute a failed operation. Enter the operation retry interval in the text entry field or use the up/down arrow buttons.

-          Enable Auto Attach Archives - Specifies if automatic attach/detach feature is on.

 

Logger Data Store

 

-          Data File Buffer Size - Specifies the size (in kilobytes) of the data file buffer. Enter the size in the text entry field or click on the up/down buttons.

-          Data Slot Size - Specifies the size (in kilobytes) of the data slot. Enter the size in the text entry field or click on the up/down buttons.

-          Index File Buffer Size - Specifies the size (in kilobytes) of the index file buffer. Enter the size in the text entry field or click on the up/down buttons.

-          Index Slot Size - Specifies the size (in kilobytes) of the index slot. Enter the size in the text entry field or click on the up/down buttons.

-          Value Reservation - Specifies values reservation as a percentage. Enter the percentage in the text entry field or click on the up/down buttons.

-          Value Split Size - Specifies values split size as a percentage. Enter the percentage in the text entry field or click on the up/down buttons.

 

Master Logger Data Store

 

-          Data File Buffer Size - Specifies the size (in kilobytes) of the data file buffer. Enter the size in the text entry field or click on the up/down buttons.

-          Data Slot Size - Specifies the size (in kilobytes) of the data slot. Enter the size in the text entry field or click on the up/down buttons.

-          Index File Buffer Size - Specifies the size (in kilobytes) of the index file buffer. Enter the size in the text entry field or click on the up/down buttons.

-          Index Slot Size - Specifies the size (in kilobytes) of the index slot. Enter the size in the text entry field or click on the up/down buttons.

-          Value Reservation - Specifies values reservation as a percentage. Enter the percentage in the text entry field or click on the up/down buttons.

-          Value Split Size - Specifies values split size as a percentage. Enter the percentage in the text entry field or click on the up/down buttons.

 

Once you have completed making updates to the Logger System Settings, click on the Apply button then on the Close button to return to the Workbench.

 

Logger

The Logger level is one of the top most element in BACnet hierarchy.

 

 

If you double-click on it, a dialog will open.

 

Logger dialog

 

It contains the logger settings.

 

The properties are grouped by:

 

-          Storage

-          Storage Limit

-          Advanced Settings

 

Here the settable properties for each group:

 

Storage

 

-          Search values in max - Enter a maximum (in logger files) in the text entry field or use the up/down arrow buttons.

-          Time Zone - Select either 'Use local server time' or 'Use UTC'.

-          Recurrence type - Use the pulldown menu to select from One time only, Time interval, or Specific dates and times. Click the Preview button to open the Recurrence Preview window to see your set recurrences.

-          Starting at - Enter a date and time in the text entry field or click on the  button to open the date and time control to select your preferred date and time.

-          Recur every - Enter a value in the text entry field and then use the nearby pulldown menu to select units [Second(s), Minute(s), Hour(s), Day(s), Week(s), Month(s), or Year(s)].

 

 

If 'Specific dates and times' is selected for Recurrence type:

 

-          Pick specific times - Click this checkbox in order to set specific times. This activates the Seconds field below.

 

-          Seconds - Enter a value in the text entry field or click on the   button, which allows you to make a multi selection of units.

 

Storage Limit

 

-          Condition - Use the pulldown menu to select from 'Minimum Time Extent and Maximum Total Size', 'Minimum Time Extent', or 'None'.

-          Min. Time Extent - Enter a value in the text entry field (or use the up/down arrow buttons) then use the pulldown menu to select units from Minute(s), Hour(s), or Day(s).

-          Max. Total Size - Enter a value in the text entry field in megabytes (or use the up/down arrow buttons).

-          Check condition every - Enter a value in the text entry field (or use the up/down arrow buttons) then use the pulldown menu to select units from Second(s), Minutes(s), Hour(s), or Day(s).

 

Advanced Settings

 

-          Package Processing Rate:Enter a value in the text entry field in seconds (or use the up/down arrow buttons).

-          Package Retry Delay: Enter a value in the text entry field (or use the up/down arrow buttons) then use the pulldown menu to select units from Second(s), Minutes(s), Hour(s), or Day(s).

-          Package Max. Retry Count: Enter a value in the text entry field (or use the up/down arrow buttons).

-          Shutdown Timeout: Enter a value in the text entry field in seconds (or use the up/down arrow buttons).

 

Click Apply to save your changes then Close to return to the Workbench.

 

 

Alarms

Displaying BACnet Alarms can be done via the AlarmWorX64 Viewer within GraphWorX64. The control has the capability to view and manipulate OPC and BACnet alarms.

 

Each Event State thrown by a given BACnet object received by AlarmWorX64 Viewer is displayed in a separate row in order to notify the operator that there were several changes of state. If a row has a red background (this is by default, look & feel can be completely overridden in AlarmWorX64 Viewer configuration) then the given Alarm or Event is in Alarm State and has not been acknowledged yet.

 

 

If a row has a white background but the text is written in red then it is still in an Alarm State, but it has been already acknowledged.

 

 

If a row has a white background but the text is written in red then it is still in an Alarm State, but it has been already acknowledged.

 

 

Alarms or Events in Alarm State can’t be cleared from the list.

 

If a row has a white background and the text is black, it means that the given Alarm or Event state is not actual, but occurred in the past. This information can be cleared from the list.

 

 

AlarmWorX64 Viewer does not visually differentiate between Alarms or Events. The graphical representation is same for both.

 

Configuring BACnet and Other UA Alarms in the Alarm Logger

 

When logging extra attributes from BACnet and other UA alarms into the ICONICS Alarm Logger, users should make certain to configure the same attribute list for ALL Event Categories.

 

Use {null} if an individual attribute is missing from the list.

 

Skip Event Category if no required attributes exist in the list.

 

Logging Extra Attributes for Event Category "BACnetAlarmType"

 

BACnet Event Category ‘OutOfRange’ contains the same extra attributes so they should be configured.

 

BACnet Event Category "OutOfRange"

 

 

BACnet Event Category ‘BaseConditionType’ does not contain the needed extra attributes, so this does not need to be configured.

 

BACnet Event Category BaseConditionType

 

 

Displaying Alarms

To Display BACnet Alarms, Do the Following:

 

1.    Launch GraphWorX64.

 

2.    Insert the AlarmWorX64 Viewer control by choosing it in the ‘Controls’ tab and draw a rectangle in the canvas to place an AlarmWorX64 Viewer.

 

3.    Double-click the displayed viewer control in order to open its properties and settings.

 

 

4.    In the opened dialog, select the ‘Grid’ tree item.

 

5.    Now, click the button with the ‘+’ sign in the ‘Create/Remove Subscriptions’ section and choose ‘Real Time Subscription’ from the opened context menu.

 

6.    Select the ‘Local Alarm Server’ listbox item in the ‘Add/Remove Event Points’ section and click the ‘-‘ sign in the same section to remove an existing subscription.

 

7.    Now, press the ‘+’ button in the ‘Add/Remove Event Points’ section. This will open the Data Browser.

 

8.    In Data Browser’s tree view (under “Data Points tab)”, expand “My Computer”.

 

9.    Under “My Computer” further expand “Data Connectivity”.

 

10.      Under “Data Connectivity” further select the “BACnet with SC” to subscribe for all the alarms from the whole BACnet/SC point manager. If so, click OK to confirm the dialog. Or you can continue to select individual channels, devices, or objects from which you want to obtain /filter the alarms. If so, …

 

11.      Expand the “BACnet with SC” and browse for the desired channel, device, or object. Double click the desired channel/device/object or click OK to confirm the dialog.

 

 

 

Acknowledging Alarms

There are several ways how to acknowledge alarms in AlarmWorX64 Viewer:

 

a.    Simply double-click your desired row with unacknowledged notification.

 

b.   Right-click your desired row with unacknowledged notification and choose ‘Acknowledge’ from the context menu, then confirm the displayed dialog or change conditions within the displayed dialog in order to acknowledge more alarms or events at the same time.

 

c.    In GraphWorX64’s ribbon, switch to the ‘AlarmWorX64 Runtime’ tab, select the desired row and click ‘Acknowledge’ button in the ribbon bar.

 

 

 

Trends

Displaying BACnet Trends can be done by the TrendWorX64 Viewer within GraphWorX64. The control has the capability to view real time or historical OPC data as well as to visualize BACnet Trends. Alternatively, you can also display any historical data exposed by the IoT Subscriber Point Manager.

 

An important thing to know here is that all data are initially requested from the Trend Log object buffer when BACnetSC Point Manager is started. When the Notification Threshold hits, then new buffer data are requested. TrendWorX64 Viewer provides an interface for moving this data across to the user so he or she can seek and zoom to a specific portion of any loaded data (described in 'Displaying a specific portion of the data').

 

It is also important to know that Trends are by default switched off in the Point Manager configuration. They can be switched on in WBD on device level. If the checkbox is checked, then all TrendLog and TrendLogMultiple objects are subscribed to the device. That means there should only be the required TL and TLM objects in the configuration.

In the picture below, the trends are enabled on device level which cause subscribing to one TrendLog object and one TrendLogMultiple object (as highlighted in the picture).

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Displaying Trends from Trend Log Objects

 

To display BACnet trends, do the following:

 

1.     Launch GraphWorX64.

2.     Insert the TrendWorX64 Viewer control by choosing it in the ‘Controls’ tab and draw a rectangle in the canvas to place a TrendWorX64 Viewer.

3.     Double-click the displayed viewer in order to open its properties and settings.

4.     In the opened dialog window, right-click the ‘Chart’ tree item and choose ‘Add’ -> ’Plot’.

 

 

 

5.  Now, right-click the newly created ‘Plot’ item in the tree and choose ‘Add’ -> ‘Pen’.

6.  Select the newly created ‘Pen’ in the tree and in General Tab on the right-side insert ‘Data Source’ or click the ‘…’ button next to the ‘Data Source’. The Data Browser will open.

7.   In the Data Browser expand ‘Data Connectivity’ and ‘BACnet with SC’.

8.  Then expand BACnet address space to find your desired Trend Log object (or Trend Log Multiple object) providing trend data.

9.    Tag that support history read has name “.history” for TrendLog.

10. Confirm the selection by clicking 'OK' in the Data Browser. This will add a Data Source path to the selected Trend Log object.

11. There is a “Connection” string under the Data Source that also have its ‘…’ button which opens allows us to specify connection details when you use “Configure…”.

12. There switch the radio buttons to ‘Use HDA connection’.

13. The content of the dialog window will slightly change and you can select a filter which depends on a purpose of the signal. If you select ‘(raw data)’ then you should get the same samples as in BACnet TrendLog object.

14. Now you can close the dialog window for TrendWorX64 Viewer’s configuration.

15. Switch GraphWorX64 to Runtime mode. You will see a line representing data stored in the Trend Log (maybe you will need to change vertical scale of graph. To do so, proceed with a left mouse click to the area of vertical axis ranges. A dialog window will appear where you can change it).

 

Displaying Trends from Trend Log Multiple Objects

These steps are the same as for 'Displaying Trends from Trend Log Objects' except:

 

Displaying Trend Log Data in IoTWorX

To display BACnet Trend Log data in IoTWorX, do the following steps:

  1. In Workbench, expand your project, then expand the Internet of Things node and right-click on the Subscriber Connections node.

  2. Choose the desired IoT Hub / Event hub or MQTT connection, or create a new one.

  3. Enable 'Collect the logged data retrieved with this subscription' option in General Settings.

  4. Configure a logger for the subscriber. Make sure you enable the option “The logger is used by all subscriber connections to retrieve the collected data”.

  5. Configure the history points in the publish list under the Published Historical Points tab.

    Published Historical Points Tab


  6. By default, raw data are read but if needed, you can specify a different aggregate for each history point. Then you will also need to configure the aggregate group.

  7. History points are not available in the publisher. You need to publish them into the cloud and consume by the subscriber. You will find the history data under the device in the History Data folder.

  8. You will find other useful settings in Advanced Settings under the General Settings of the publish list. Max. History Read Threads specifies the maximum read requests that can run at the same time. You need a request per point. History Read Timeout specifies the timeout of the history read operation.