Chapter
5
Operating Instructions
Flexi Soft Gateways
68
© SICK AG • Industrial Safety Systems • Germany • All rights reserved
8012664/XB29/2013-06-11
Subject to change without notice
Ethernet gateways
PLC-5/SLC/MicroLogix interface
The PLC-5, SLC and MicroLogix PLC interfaces are supported by:
the same write to PLC functionality as provided to ControlLogix PLCs provided in the
Write-to-File receive method.
PCCC based messages transferred via the PCCC object
– SLC Typed Read Message
– SLC Typed Write Message
– PLC-5 Typed Read Message (Logical ASCII and Logical Binary address format)
– PLC-5 Typed Write Message (Logical ASCII and Logic binary address format).
Normal PLC-5/SLC file naming conventions are used.
The primary differences between the PLC-5/SLC/MicroLogix interface and the ControlLogix
interfaces are:
Polling is performed through the SLC and PLC-5 specific messages instead of accessing
the Data Transfer object.
Data is written into files on the PLC, instead of tags as on ControlLogix PLCs.
While ControlLogix PLCs support the SLC and PLC-5 messages, using those messages on
ControlLogix PLCs is not recommended due to data size and performance considerations.
Receive communication methods
Polling Receive Method
This method provides a polling method that allows the PLC to request data on a periodic
basis.
In this method, the input data set information is returned in the response to the data re-
quest message. The PLC requests data by accessing the corresponding data file
address on the FX0-GENT with either a SLC typed read or PLC-5 typed read message.
The following restrictions apply to this method:
– The file location to receive the input data set on the PLC must be of type INTEGER
and large enough to contain the input data set table(s).
– If no data has been received on the for the specified module, all zeros will
be returned.
Unsolicited — Write to File Receive Method
When it is determined that data received on the Flexi Soft gateway’s inter-
face is to be sent to the PLC, the data is immediately written to a file location on the
PLC.
The following restrictions apply to this method:
– The Receive Data Area File Name must have the same name as the file defined on
the PLC. For SLC and PLC-5 PLCs, all file names must be configured with a preceding
“$” (i.e $N10:0). For MicroLogix PLCs, all file names must be configured with a
preceding “#” (i.e # N10:0).
– The file on the PLC must be of type INTEGER and must be large enough to contain
the input data set table(s).
– Data will be written with the first byte placed in the MS byte location of the integer.
Example:
aabb, ccdd, eeff, etc. where aa = byte 1, bb = byte 2, cc = byte 3, etc.
Note