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Collector Rockwell

06 Sep 2021
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Collector Rockwell

Updated on 06 Sep 2021
6 Minutes to read
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The purpose of this article is to serve as a reference for the Rockwell collector part of the full Data Collection Module documentation

Prerequisites

A Starter package (SiteManager + accounts A Rockwell CIP capable device, (Only Rockwell 1769 model PLC supported.)

SiteManager 15xx or 35xx with version 9.2, 9.2c, 9.4 or higher. It does not work on 9.3 or the initial release of 9.4

Rockwell Limitations

The limitations of the Rockwell collector are:

Only the following SiteManager models are supported: SM-E 6311, SM 35xx, SM 15xx
Only Control Logix-class PLCs using the AB-EIP protocol are supported
The IP address/hostname is not taken over from the agent config right now, so CollectorIPAddr is mandatory
SampleDataType "string" and "data" are unsupported
OnlySaveOnChanged is unsupported (so, ChangeLimit isn't either)
None of these sample limitation options are supported: SampleLowerLimit, SampleUpperLimit, SampleLimitDiscard, SampleLimitAlarm
Aggregation are not yet fully supported. The supported values for the Function parameter are "max", "min", "avg", "mavg", "derived", "compute". Thus, "eventcompute" is not supported.
Reading large amounts of data needs optimization

Config main

The Config main (array of objects, mandatory) contain the following fields:

Function	Type	Importance	Description
ConfigName	string	mandatory	Unique name for this configuration file. Follows the rules for names.
ConfigDescription	string	optional	text describing this configuration.
CheckpointInterval	integer == 0 or >= 60	optional	The interval with which all data from the internal datasample cache is saved to disk. This more unstable (power) the SiteManager, the more often data should be saved. Saving it often, however will also cost performance and wear on the hard-disk/flash. A value of 0 means, never checkpoint, otherwise it means interval in seconds between saves. If not specified the value 15 * 60 (15 minutes) is used.
AlarmsSaved	integer >= 4	optional	The number of alarms saved in the store-and-forward database. If this values is not specified, it will default to 32.
WaitForNTP	boolean	optional	Synchronize DCM data collection with NTP time. If this parameter is true, all DCM collectors will not begin collecting data until NTP is enabled and configured and NTP has synchronized date/time. If not specified, the value is true.

Since the JSON format itself doesn't define a comment notation, DCM accepts a fieldname comment with any type of value in any section.

Example of comment

"Comment": "Example of a comment for use in any section.":

Collector main

The Collectors (array of objects, mandatory) list elements contain the following fields:

Important:

CollectorIPAddr and CollectorPortno are mandatory in the Rockwell collector configuration.

Function	Type	Importance	Description
CollectorName	string	mandatory	Unique name (within this confguration file) of a device to collect data from. (This is the name used in the agent configuration.) Follows the normal rules for names.
CollectorDesription	string	optional	Description of this collector. (For your use, no system function.)
CollectorIPAddr	string	mandatory	Default IP address (or DNS name) for the device to be polled. The agent Target IP address must match this.
CollectorPortno	integer > 0 and < 65535	mandatory	Default port number for the device to be polled. The agent Target Port Number must match this.
Alias	string	optional	This is the CollectorName of another collector, from which, all the parameters (expect CollectorName , CollectorDescription , CollectorIPAddr and CollectorPortno ) are copied. An alias cannot refer to another alias.
Protocol	string-enum	mandatory	The protocol used to collect data. Currently 3 possible values exist: "OPC-UA/TCP", "Modbus/TCP", "Http/GET" and "Simulator".
ConnectRetryMin	integer > 0	mandatory	Minimum number of seconds before trying to reestablish a connection to the device being sampled. An exponential backoff algorithm is used to retry establishment of a connection, starting after ConnectRetryMin and increasing to ConnectRetryMax.
ConnectRetryMax	integer > 0	mandatory	Maximum number of seconds before trying to reestablish a connection to the device being sampled.
RockwellAccess	Object	optional	Collection of parameters needed to access a given Rockwell PLC.
SamplePoints	Array of objects	mandatory	List of samples to be collected, possibly aggregated, and stored in the Store'n'Forward database.

RockwellAccess

The RockwellAccess objects contains the following elements:

Function	Type	Importance	Description
RockwellPath	string	mandatory	The path of the device to connect to- e.g, "1,0".
RockwellTimeout	integer > 0	optional	Connect and read timeout (in milliseconds) for all tags of this collector. If not present, the value 500 is used.
RockwellTags	Array of objects	mandatory	List of the tags to be fetched if the Protocol is "Rockwell".

RockwellTags

The RockwellTags objects contains the following elements:

Function	Type	Importance	Description
RockwellTagName	string	mandatory	The Rockwell tag name to fetch data from. Tag names are not case-sensitive, and they may contain the characters a-Z, 0-9, colons, dots or blanks- e.g. "PROGRAM:INV.SEC". It is possible to fetch a full tag at once if all elements have the same RockwellElementSize/datatype, and a matching RockwellElementCount is given. Additionally, individual elements can be addressed directly by using a zero-based array syntax. e.g, "PROGRAM:INV.SEC[0]" will read the first element of the tag while "PROGRAM:INV.SEC[2]" will read the third.
RockwellID	integer >= 0	mandatory	Is a unique ID (within this Collectors element) for this entry. (Used by the SamplePoints entries.)
RockwellElementSize	integer > 0	mandatory	The size of one element of the tag, in bytes. For instance, When one is reading a tag composed of bytes, then a size of 1 is used, and when one is reading a tag composed of "uint64", the size is 8. See SampleDataType for the different sizes.
RockwellElementCount	integer > 0	optional	The amount of elements that should be fetched. Each element's size will be RockwellElementSize. The default is 1.
RockwellSampleInterval	integer > 0	mandatory	Number of seconds between each collection of data using this Rockwell collector.

Samplepoint

The SamplePoints objects contains the following elements:

Function	Type	Importance	Description
SampleName	string	mandatory	Name of this sampled value (sometimes called a tagname). Follows the normal rules for names.
SampleDescription	string	optional	Is a text description of this sample value.
SampleUnit	string	optional	Is a description of the unit of measurement for this sample.
SampleGroup	string	optional	Designates (in some datasrvs) that all samplepoints in that group should be handled (displayed) together. The DCM system itself places no meaning on this group affiliation.
SamplesSaved	integer > 0	mandatory	Is the number of values collected that is saved as minimum in the Store'n'Forward database. If set to 0, the Samplepoint isn't stored in the S'n'F database, and thus not delivered to cloud, but can be used for aggregations.
OnlySaveOnChanged	bool	optional	Control if new sample values should only be saved to the store-and-forward database if the values have changed since last sample. If not set, it is false.
SampleDataType	string-enum	mandatory	The type of data collected. The possible values are: "bool" (1 bit), "sbyte" (8 bit signed), "byte" (8 bit unsigned), "int16" (16 bit signed), "uint16" (16 bit unsigned), "int32" (32 signed), "uint32" (32 bit unsigned), "int64" (64 bit signed), "uint64" (64 bit unsigned), "float" (32 bit), "double" (64 bit), "string" (variable text up to 24575 bytes: includes terminating NUL), "data" (variable variable data up to 24575 bytes).
SampleLowerLimit	integer/double	optional	The lower limit for the collected data. If the collected data value is less than SampleLowerLimit, it is evaluated in accordance to SampleLimitDiscard and SampleLimitAlarm.
SampleUpperLimit	integer/double	optional	The upper limit for the collected data. If the collected data value is more than SampleUpperLimit, it is evaluated in accordance to SampleLimitDiscard and SampleLimitAlarm.
SampleLimitDiscard	bool	maybe-optional	Checks if a sample limit violation results in the sample value being discarded. Mandatory if either SampleLowerLimit or SampleUpperLimit is present.
SampleLimitAlarm	bool	maybe-optional	Checks if a sample limit violation generates an alarm. Mandatory if either SampleLowerLimit or SampleUpperLimit is present.
ModbusValue	Object	maybe-optional	Description of how to extract a collected data value from a FC collected value. Mandatory if the protocol type is "Modbus/TCP".

RockwellValues

The RockwellValue object contains the following elements:

Function	Type	Importance	Description
RockwellIDREF	integer >= 0	mandatory	This is a reference to one of the RockwellIDs used in RockwellTags.
RockwellOffset	integer >= 0	optional	Start index from which to extract values from a tag. For example if a tag "MACHINE:SENSOR:1" with a RockwellElementCount of 6 is read, then an offset of 2 would use the third element of the tag as sample value.

{
      "CollectorName": "AB-PLC",
      "CollectorIPAddr": "123.123.123.123",
      "CollectorPortno": "123",
      "CollectorDescription": "Rockwell EIP",
      "Protocol": "Rockwell",
      "ConnectRetryMin": 2,
      "ConnectRetryMax": 240,
      "RockwellAccess": {
        "RockwellTags": [
         {
            "RockwellTagName": "PROGRAM: INV.SEC",
            "RockwellID": 1,
            "RockwellElementSize": 2,
            "RockwellSampleInterval": 15
          }
        ],
        "RockwellPath": "1,0"
      },
      "SamplePoints": [
        {
          "SampleName": "Test001",
          "SampleDescription": "Counter",
          "SamplesSaved": 10,
          "SampleDataType": "int16",
          "RockwellValue": {
            "RockwellIDREF": 1,
            "RockwellOffset": 0
          }
        }
      ]
    }

Here is a second example configuration using a Controllogix L18ERM PLC with tags located in Controller Tags Scope:

{
  "CheckpointInterval": 600,
  "Collectors": [
    {
      "CollectorDescription": "SDCM Internal Simulation Server",
      "CollectorName": "DCCsim",
      "Protocol": "Simulator",
      "SamplePoints": [
        {
          "SampleDataType": "double",
          "SampleDescription": "SDCM simulation of sine curve",
          "SampleLimitAlarm": true,
          "SampleLimitDiscard": false,
          "SampleLowerLimit": -1000,
          "SampleName": "sine",
          "SampleUpperLimit": 1000,
          "SamplesSaved": 300,
          "SimulatorData": {
            "SimulatorFunction": "sine",
            "SimulatorIncValue": 100,
            "SimulatorInitValue": 1000,
            "SimulatorSampleInterval": 1
          }
        }
      ]
    },
    {
      "CollectorName": "L18ERM",
      "CollectorIPAddr": "10.100.10.5",
      "CollectorPortno": 44818,
      "CollectorDescription": "My first Rockwell1",
      "Protocol": "Rockwell",
      "ConnectRetryMin": 2,
      "ConnectRetryMax": 240,
      "RockwellAccess": {
        "RockwellTags": [
          {
            "RockwellTagName": "sine_wave",
            "RockwellID": 2,
            "RockwellElementSize": 4,
            "RockwellElementCount": 1,
            "RockwellSampleInterval": 1
          }
        ],
        "RockwellPath": "1,0"
      },
      "SamplePoints": [
        {
          "SampleName": "sine_wave",
          "SampleDescription": "Sine Wave",
          "SamplesSaved": 10,
          "SampleDataType": "float",
          "RockwellValue": {
            "RockwellIDREF": 2
          }
        }
      ]
    }
  ],
  "ConfigDescription": "Test configuration for SDCC with SIMs only",
  "ConfigName": "SDCC_SIM",
  "DataServers": [
    {
      "ConnectRetryMax": 12,
      "ConnectRetryMin": 2,
      "DatasrvName": "DCC",
      "DatasrvProtocol": "SCI/SPD",
      "SCISPDParams": {
        "DevCertName": "DCC Certificate",
        "DevPkeyName": "DCC Private Key",
        "PushInterval": 1,
        "RootCAName": "DCC CA Certificate",
        "SCIServerAddr": "dcm-dcc.secomea.com",
        "SPDPort": 443,
        "Security": "TLS1.2"
      }
    }
  ],
  "WaitForNTP": false
}

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What's Next

Collector Siemens S7

Table of contents

Prerequisites
Rockwell Limitations
Config main
Collector main
RockwellAccess
RockwellTags
Samplepoint
RockwellValues

Collector Rockwell

Prerequisites

Rockwell Limitations

Config main

Collector main

RockwellAccess

RockwellTags

Samplepoint

RockwellValues

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What's Next