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Instruction manual
FlowDDE
Doc. no.: 9.17.067F Date: 14-01-2016
ATTENTION
Please read this instruction manual carefully before installing and operating the instrument.
Not following the guidelines could result in personal injury and/or damage to the equipment.
Head Office: Nijverheidsstraat 1a, NL‐7261 AK Ruurlo, The Netherlands, Tel. +31 573 458800, info@bronkhorst.com
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Summary of Contents for BRONKHORST FlowDDE
- Page 1 Instruction manual FlowDDE Doc. no.: 9.17.067F Date: 14-01-2016 ATTENTION Please read this instruction manual carefully before installing and operating the instrument. Not following the guidelines could result in personal injury and/or damage to the equipment. Head Office: Nijverheidsstraat 1a, NL‐7261 AK Ruurlo, The Netherlands, Tel. +31 573 458800, info@bronkhorst.com ...
- Page 2 The information in this manual has been reviewed and is believed to be wholly reliable. No responsibility, however, is assumed for inaccuracies. The material in this manual is for information purposes only. Copyright All rights reserved. This documentation is protected by copyright. Subject to technical and optical changes as well as printing errors. The information contained in this document is subject to change at any time without prior notification. Bronkhorst® reserves the right to modify or improve its products and modify the contents without being obliged to inform any particular persons or organizations. The device specifications and the contents of the package may deviate from what is stated in this document. Symbols Important information. Discarding this information could cause injuries to people or damage to the Instrument or installation. Helpful information. This information will facilitate the use of this instrument. Additional info available on the internet or from your local sales representative. Page 2 FlowDDE 9.17.067 ...
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Page 3: Table Of Contents
5.2.1 Channel 0 ............................... 16 5.2.2 Parameter 0 ............................ 16 5.2.3 Server topic ............................ 17 6 FLOWDDE TECHNICAL DETAILS ...................... 1 8 7 SERVICE ............................ 1 9 Page 3 FlowDDE ... -
Page 4: General Product Information
NTRODUCTION This manual will explain the operation of the software tool FlowDDE. It has been written based on FlowDDE V4.67, but should be suited for former (and future) versions as well, although functionality may differ from what is described. FlowDDE is a Dynamic Data Exchange (DDE) server, an easy connection between Windows applications and digital Bronkhorst instruments. DDE provides a basic level of interprocess communication between Windows applications. By using DDE commands, sent by software to FlowDDE, data can be sent to or requested from digital instruments. FlowDDE handles all communication to the instruments and provides the data to applications. ... -
Page 5: Supported Instruments
Follow on‐screen instructions when installing FlowDDE. FlowDDE will be installed in C:\Program Files\Bronkhorst\FlowDDE32. Start FlowDDE through the Start menu: Start >> (All) Programs >> Bronkhorst >> FlowDDE V4.67. C:\Program Files is a system folder and is followed by (x86) on 64‐bit Windows versions and may differ on non‐English Windows versions. 1.5.1 Start up options In some situations, it is convenient that FlowDDE behaves differently or performs an action after startup. The following start up options are available: FlowDDE /o open communication to FLOW‐BUS FlowDDE /s start simulation mode ... -
Page 6: Interfaces
Pin number Description not connected 2 TXD 3 RXD 4 not connected 5 0 Vd 6 DTR 7 CTS 8 RTS 9 Shield Page 6 FlowDDE 9.17.067 ... -
Page 7: Applications, E.g. El-Flow
2.2.1 Applications, e.g. EL‐FLOW Instrument supplied through the D‐sub DB‐9 connector mass flow meter/controller Power Supply FLOW mass flow meter/controller FLOW For proper cable installation please consult the applicable hook‐up diagram mentioned in paragraph 1.2.2 By default, the interface offers communication at a baud rate of 38400 baud. On instruments that offer the possibility to change the RS232 baud rate, the baud rate may be configured differently. See the technical documentation of your instrument which baud rates are supported. Page 7 FlowDDE 9.17.067 ... -
Page 8: Parameter Information
Length of string in bytes (characters) used in combination with Type c for strings ‐2 indicates that a string is zero‐terminated, not defined in length, but until the first 0‐char. X indicates a string with a length of X bytes 0 means no info required (not a string type parameter) Min Minimum value of parameter allowed when parameter is read/written. The value will be checked on this limit (error when out of limit). Max Maximum value of parameter allowed when parameter is read/written. The value will be checked on this limit (error when out of limit). Read Indication if parameter is allowed to be read via FLOW‐BUS. Write Indication if parameter is allowed to be written via FLOW‐BUS. Poll Indication if parameter should be polled continuously by FlowDDE in order to keep the (changing) parameter value up to date. Advanced Indication if parameter is for advanced users only. These are mainly parameters for maintenance/service. Secured Indication if parameter is secured for use through FLOW‐BUS. Reading this parameter is possible, but changing it needs special handling. High security Indication if parameter is highly secured (only few parameters). Reading this parameter is possible, but changing it needs special handling. Description Short description about the meaning of parameter or where it is used for. DDE str Parameter DDE string (max. 10 characters). This becomes the DDE value when parameter is not ... - Page 9 ® BRONKHORST For communication with FLOW‐BUS through other ways than DDE, directly via RS232 ASCII‐strings or via C‐libraries, use the parameter numbers for the FLOW‐BUS modules (in column FBnr of Parameter properties table). Also you will need to know the node address of the instrument on the FLOW‐BUS, the process number and the parameter number on the instrument. The node address is the node address of the instrument on the FLOW‐BUS. RS232 interfaces accept node address 128. When sending messages to node address 128, the message will always be accepted, regardless the true node address of the instrument on the bus. The process can be found in the parameter table or has to be determined when nothing is filled in. In that case, the process number most often is 1, but on devices with e.g. multiple sensor channels, the process will be 1 for the first channel, 2 for the second, and so on up to 32. On these modules also process 33, 65 and 65 are multiplied in this way. It is important to know that not all parameters are available on all (FLOW‐BUS) instruments. For more details about parameters and their use see also the technical documentation of your instrument. The Bronkhorst® software application FlowDDE also gives an overview of which parameters are available on which devices. Page 9 FlowDDE 9.17.067 ...
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Page 10: Operation
Once FlowDDE has been started, the main window will appear. It consists of a menu bar, an information line and a messages section. In the messages section the general procedure to start serving client applications with the FlowDDE server is described in four steps: 1. Connect an instrument to a COM port of the PC 2. Set the communication settings 3. Start the communication 4. Wait until FlowDDE is ready Using the information of chapter 2 and/or the hook‐up diagram, physically connect the instrument to the COM port of the PC. 4.1.1 Communication settings Before communication to the instrument(s) can be made, the communication settings have to be correctly configured. Open the communication settings from the menu Communication >> Communication settings… or by pressing F2. The window shown at ... -
Page 11: Open Communication
Open communication Once the communication settings are correctly configured, the communication to the instruments can be started and instrument values can be used by client applications. From the menu, click Communication >> Open communication or press F3. Now FlowDDE will try to make a connection to the FLOW‐BUS interface. Once a connection is established, FlowDDE will initialize the interface when needed and scan the connected FLOW‐BUS when present. When the FLOW‐BUS configuration is different than the previous configuration, FlowDDE shows a warning. To all connected instruments a channel number is assigned and for ... -
Page 12: Settings
Suppress compatibility errors: older instrument don’t have the latest parameters. Read errors related to non‐ existing parameters are suppressed. Hide advanced parameters: hide advanced parameters in parameters lists and FlowDDE windows. For normal instrument operations, the hidden parameters are not needed. For maintenance or service, these parameters may be needed visible and this option can be disabled. Although these parameters are hidden, they can still be reached via DDE. Trim CRLF from received DDE value: some Windows ... -
Page 13: Simulation Mode
Several advanced settings are available for troubleshooting purposes. Some applications do not support enabling these settings. If you experience problems, disable these options: Enable indirect polling: each FLOW‐BUS instrument keeps track of which parameters are changed by itself or any other instrument. Parameter 81 shows the process in which a parameter is changed. When this option is enabled, FlowDDE reads parameter 81 and polls the processes that are changed, so applications don’t need to poll the parameters themselves. Note: this option slows down communication, as much more data is read from the FLOW‐BUS. Enable communication to unavailable parameters: DDE items are created for parameters above number 237 when the instrument does not contain the parameter. Close and open the communication after changing this setting. Ignore database restrictions: FlowDDE doesn’t generate errors based on the parameter information in its database (see chapter 3 and 6), but reads and writes all command to the instrument. When the instrument returns an error, that error is shown. 4.3.3 Simulation mode In simulation mode only DDE‐communication with a virtual system stored in the database is possible. This can be used when you don’t have a FLOW‐BUS system available. Parameter values can be read and write through DDE by your client. Only controllers are simulated in this mode. Sending a setpoint will result in the same value for measure after a few seconds. Simulation start‐up: - Start‐up FLOWDDE.EXE, by clicking the icon - Select [Server][Simulate]... -
Page 14: Edit Parameters
FLOW‐BUS and DDE communication and one to test lower level ProPar communication. 4.5.1 Test FLOW‐BUS and DDE Open the FlowDDE test form from the menu FLOW‐BUS >> Test FLOW‐BUS and DDE or F6. The following window appears. ... -
Page 15: Test Propar
As soon as the Read or Write button is pressed for the first time, the communication is opened. When the window is closed, the communication is closed as well. 4.6 S ERVICE LOG In case of problems with your instrument(s) and you need to contact an expert (e.g. Bronkhorst® Support), all parameter values of your instrument can be logged to a file. To create such a service log, click File >> Service log or Ctrl+L and enter the file name. Page 15 ... -
Page 16: Dde Communication By Clients
P(1) is the read status information channel. When FlowDDE is reading data from the FLOW‐BUS, all status/error messages will be send to this parameter. When the value of this parameter is 0, everything is OK, otherwise will contain the status/error message. ... -
Page 17: Server Topic
® BRONKHORST Any combination of the above is valid by separating the parts by a comma, e.g. C(X)!P(0) = 1‐10,20,GROUP3 will read parameters 1 to 10, 20 and all parameters in group 3 of channel X. 5.2.3 Server topic Information about the FlowDDE server, several settings and FLOW‐BUS configuration information can be obtained by clients through the server topic. The server topic has several items: Server!ProductName FlowDDE or FlowDDE2 Server!FlowDDEVersion Version of FlowDDE Server!DatabaseVersion Version of FlowDDE database (FlowDDE.mdb) Server!FLOWBUSDLLVersion Version of Flowb32.dll Server!Status Status of FlowDDE Server!ComStatus Status of FlowDDE – Idle, Normal polling, Simulation, Scanning FLOW‐BUS Server!OpenCom Communication status/command – 0 = close, 1 = open Server!MaxChan Maximum channel number in FLOW‐BUS configuration Server!MaxNode Maximum node address in FLOW‐BUS system ... -
Page 18: Flowdde Technical Details
® BRONKHORST 6 FLOWDDE TECHNICAL DETAILS In the following diagram, the communication from a DDE client to the instrument is schematically drawn. The FlowDDE application makes use of the Flowb32.dll and the parameter database. DDE client DDE messages Included in the FlowDDE application FlowDDE installation calls to DLL Flowb32.dll FlowDDE parameter database ProPar (binary) RS232/FLOW‐BUS interface or multibus instrument ... -
Page 19: Service
7 SERVICE For current information on Bronkhorst® and service addresses please visit our website: http://www.bronkhorst.com Do you have any questions about our products? Our Sales Department will gladly assist you selecting the right product for your application. Contact sales by e‐mail: sales@bronkhorst.com For after‐sales questions, our Customer Service Department is available with help and guidance. To contact CSD by e‐ mail: support@bronkhorst.com No matter the time zone, our experts within the Support Group are available to answer your request immediately or ensure appropriate further action. Our experts can be reached at: +31 859 02 18 66 Page 19 FlowDDE 9.17.067 ...
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