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Chapter 4
Installing and Using the FieldPoint Software
4-20
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Some OPC clients that do not support this “GetErrorString” method
might still provide a way for you to manually look up the FieldPoint
message corresponding to the error code using the method.
Using FieldPoint with an Optomux Server
The FP-1000/1001 supports many of the commands of the standard
Optomux protocol, so it is possible to communicate with the FieldPoint
hardware using an Optomux server. This might be appropriate for an
application where you are integrating FieldPoint into a system that is
already using an Optomux server, or if you are using FieldPoint with an
operating system not compatible with the other software options provided
with your FieldPoint software. (The FieldPoint software does not include a
generic Optomux server.) The
FP-1000/1001 Programmer Reference
Manual
has detailed information on the protocol used by the
FP-1000/1001, including which standard Optomux commands are
supported and which are not. It is also a reference for working with the
ASCII protocol directly. However, a general overview of using FieldPoint
with Optomux servers is provided here as a guide.
•
Standard Optomux commands do not allow for the configuration of
hardware settings, so you must use FieldPoint Explorer to set your
hardware settings (such as are set in Step 7 in the
section, earlier in this chapter). If you make these
settings the default power-up settings for the hardware (as described in
Step 10 of that section), the FP-1000/1001 network module always
powers up the I/O modules to these settings, so you do not need to run
the FieldPoint Explorer more than once to configure your network
module.
•
The Optomux address of the FP-1000/1001 network module is the
network address set by the switches as described in Table 2-1,
Address Switch Settings for the FP-1000/1001
, in Chapter 2,
Hardware Installation and Configuration
. The Optomux address of
the I/O module in the first terminal base attached to the network
module is one plus the address of the network module, and so on. In
most cases you do not need to communicate with the network module,
expect perhaps to change watchdog timer settings.
•
Optomux analog data contains only 12 bits of resolution and is usually
represented as an integer from 0 to 4095. Data that is returned from a
FieldPoint analog channel has its minimum value represented by 0 and
its maximum value represented by 4095. In some cases Optomux data