-
Select the Plants tab.
Click Stations.
A list of the existing stations is displayed.
Select Data Collect from the drop-down list above the right-hand pane.
If you are looking for existing Data Collect stations you can also filter using the Area drop-down list.
Click the add icon (
) below the right-hand
pane.The station creation dialog opens.
Select the Port Handlers tab.
Data Collect has the ability to receive messages via RS-232 serial ports to handle a number of tasks – most importantly, the ability to log in a user and to switch units (via serial number or any of the three identifiers). The most common use of this capability is the attachment of RS-232 bar code scanners.
To create or edit Serial Port Handlers:
Click the add icon ().
Select TCP/IP or RS-232.
TCP/IP
The following popup appears:
Enter the following details:
Port: The port number.
Purpose: The purpose of the port handling. Select either Capture Unit or Capture User.
If Capture Unit is selected a stored procedure should be used that knows the type of identifier to use.
Example stored procedure if Capture Unit is selected:
CREATE procedure [custom].[custom_identifier_serial]
@identifier nvarchar(50)--serial
as
begin
declare @unitID int,
@identifier_type_id int
select @identifier_type_id = (select identifier_type_id from unit_identifier_types where code = 'SERIAL')
select @unitID = (select unit_id from unit_identifiers where identifier_type_id = @identifier_type_id and identifier = @identifier)
return @unitID
end
GO
If Capture User is selected and a stored procedure is used, a "user code" must be returned and not a user id as in the past. This user code is the "EXTERNAL CODE" value from Security Manager for the user.
Start bytes: The character it is expecting the message to start with (optional).
End bytes: The character it is expecting the message to end with.
Hex editor is used for the start message and end message strings. This allows for the entry of non-printable characters such as a carriage return (0x1A).
Procedure: Select a stored procedure from the drop-down list to use a stored procedure to handle the port.
Click OK.
The port handler is added to the list.
Now go to the Top Concerns tab.
RS-232
The following popup appears:
Enter the following details:
Port: The port number.
Purpose: The purpose of the port handling. Select either Capture Unit or Capture User.
If Capture Unit is selected a stored procedure should be used that knows the type of identifier to use.
BPS: Bits per second transfer rate.
Data Bits: Number of bits per character.
Stop Bits: Number of bits to detect end of character.
Parity: Method of detecting errors in transmission (None, Odd or Even).
Start bytes: The character it is expecting the message to start with (optional).
End bytes: The character it is expecting the message to end with.
Hex editor is used for the start message and end message strings. This allows for the entry of non-printable characters such as a carriage return (0x1A).
Process using stored procedure: Activate if you wish to use a stored procedure to handle the port. If you do you must then select a stored procedure from the drop-down list.
Click Save.
The port handler is added to the list.
Now go to the Top Concerns tab.
Common ASCII Character Codes
|
Character |
Hexadecimal |
Decimal |
|
Form Feed |
0C |
12 |
|
Carriage Return |
0D |
13 |
By default the port handlers look for the following:
|
Program Task |
Expected Value |
|
Serial |
Serial Number |
|
Identity #1 |
Identity #1 |
|
Identity #2 |
Identity #2 |
|
Identity #3 |
Identity #3 |
|
User |
User Code (not password!) |
If the above information is not available, other information may be passed in and processed by a stored procedure with two parameters:
Unit ID isValue: data available from RS-232 port.
ID: returned for everything except User Program Task. User Program Task returns a User ID.
Stored Procedure
Below is an example for creating a stored procedure for a station port handler.
drop procedure if exists custom.custom_find_unit_by_serial
go
create procedure custom.custom_find_unit_by_serial
(
@identifier nvarchar(50)
)
as
begin
declare @unitID int
-- Always do a 'top 1' and order by unit_id descending
-- so that you get the newest unit and protect against
-- the possibility of duplicate identifiers
select top 1 @unitID = unit_id
from unit_identifiers ui join unit_identifier_types ut
on (ui.identifier_type_id = ut.identifier_type_id)
where ui.identifier = @identifier
and ut.code = 'SERIAL'
order by unit_id desc
if (@@rowcount = 1)
begin
-- Return unit id
return @unitID
end
return -1 -- Could not find unit!
end
go