Flexi Line
8.2
Principle of operation Flexi Line
8.2.1
Topology
The individual stations within a Flexi Line system are not identified using addresses.
Instead, each station is connected to its immediate neighbors. Communication is
with the previous station and the next station.
The arrangement of the stations in the Flexi Line system must be confirmed during
commissioning by means of a teach process and subsequently monitored. If a
station is disconnected from the system, replaced or added, then the arrangement of
the stations must be confirmed again (see section 8.2.5).
8.2.2
Flexi Line configuration
The heart of the Flexi Line system is the process image. This process image defines
how many and which items of data are communicated from station to station, at
which update rate, with which range (routing) and with which default value (high or
low). The routing and the default value can be defined separately for each byte.
The process image is normally defined during the configuration of the first station in
the Flexi Line system and then transferred to the rest of the stations.
You can open the Flexi Line view at any time using the Network modules button on
the menu bar. The view is also opened automatically if you add a Flexi Line element
to an WS0-CPU3.
The Flexi Line view comprises the following elements:
menu bar with the Project, Device, Extras menus
toolbar with icons for quick access to frequently used menus
tabs for changing to the Hardware configuration, Logic editor, Network
modules, Report, Diagnostics and Data recorder views
toolbar for Flexi Line configuration with the Import Flexi Line definition, Export
Flexi Line definition, Teach, Reset and Configuration lock functions
navigation bar for changing the view between General settings and Byte
configuration
configuration areas for the two views mentioned above: General Flexi Line
information and Specification for the view General settings, Byte configuration
and Details and bit configuration for the view Byte configuration
drop-down information area
The configuration view for Flexi Line is split into two.
You can set the defaults in General settings. These settings are primarily the
required combination of the size of the process image, segment length and
update rate as well as the name of the process image and its revision number.
You can define the data for the process image in Byte configuration. Each byte is
given a range, a default value and a name. All bits used can also be given a tag
name. By deactivating unused bits these bits can be hidden in the logic and the
diagnostics.
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