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Ports (Ethernet only)
Ethernet Gateway Users
If your host software is running on an Ethernet-based PC, you may be using a special
Ethernet device called the Ethernet Gateway to communicate to your RS-485 ports.
(Refer to GEH-6502, the PMCS Network Architecture Guide, for additional
information on the PMCS physical networks.) This extra layer of hardware entails
some minor differences in the configuration software, specifically in the Ports dialog
boxes. These differences are explained below.
Clicking on the Ports button in the Ethernet version of the software displays a
slightly different Port Configuration dialog box:
The Ethernet version of the software also supports up to 256 RS-485 ports; however,
in contrast to the Modbus version of the software, the RS-485 ports are located off
board on one or more Ethernet Gateways. Each Gateway supports up to eight RS-485
ports, and the Server supports up 32 Ethernet Gateways, hence the 256 RS-485 port
limit.
Because the ports are not part of the host PC hardware, they are considered virtual
ports. A virtual port refers to a single RS-485 port on a particular Ethernet Gateway.
The Configured Virtual Ports box lists all the virtual ports available to be
configured with proper Ethernet addressing information and RS-485 port number.
The virtual ports are named NetCOM1 through NetCOM256; these names cannot be
altered.
Click the Add button to create a new configuration for one of the virtual ports. To
change the characteristics of a previously configured port, select it and click Modify.
Select an existing port and click Delete to delete the configuration information for a
virtual port.
Clicking on Add displays the Add Virtual Port dialog box, shown below. (Clicking
on Modify brings up the same dialog box with the selected port's characteristics
displayed for your review and/or modification. Also, the Virtual Port selection pull-
down list is disabled in the Modify command.)
42 • • • • Chapter Four - Menus and Toolbars
DDE Server User's Guide
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