Archive for the 'BACnet' Category

BACnet Key Activation

Published by llucica January 24th, 2012 in BACnet and BACnet MSTP. 0 Comments

This step-by-step article explains how to activate CAS BACnet Key.

First of all, a user should make sure that he or she has downloaded CAS BACnet Explorer on the computer before activating the BACnet Key.

Then, click to Run CAS BACnet Explorer.

If the product key has expired or is invalid (or during the first time registration), an error message “FYI #017” will pop up. It will explain to the user that a maximum of three free software demo keys can be requested to evaluate CAS BACnet Explorer from the License dialog. Each key expires after 60 minutes upon successful activation.

If user has a valid product key but is still receiving the same error message, please make sure that the USB product key is connected to the computer and then re-start the software.

 

Otherwise, click OK and the License dialog will pop up. Enter a valid email address here and click “Request a key” button.

 

Read the instructions on the next screen and click OK.

 

 

 

A webpage with user’s information will appear. Verify the information and click “Request a key” button, it will then bring the user to a confirmation page.

 

An activation email containing the new product key will be sent to the user. Copy the product key from the activation email and paste it into CAS BACnet Explorer’s Licence page. Then click the “Activate” button to activate CAS BACnet Explorer with this software key to complete the activation process. User will be informed of the expiry date on the next screen.

Each trial key can be renewed three times, however, if a user needs to evaluate our CAS BACnet Explorer for more than an hour or on a different computer, we would suggest purchasing an USB-protection-key to avoid multiple activation processes.

If user did not get the error message in the first place, he or she can still request a new product key from the Licence dialog. It can be done by clicking the “Settings” button on the main dialog, then select “License” on the left hand side.

Please read our useful FAQ, or contact us directly if we can be of further assistance.

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Visual Test Shell – Testing MSTP Device

Published by llucica November 23rd, 2011 in BACnet and BACnet MSTP. 0 Comments

In order to test a BACnet MSTP device using the Visual Test Shell (VTS) there are a few items to take into consideration.

1)      The VTS will not connect to an MSTP link using an RS-485 port on a PC.

2)      The most common way to connect VTS with MSTP is to connect the VTS on IP and use a BACnet IP-to-MSTP router.

3)      The MSTP tab in the VTS Ports dialogue uses a device called the NB-Link from American Auto-Matrix.

If you do not have a NB-Link from American Auto-Matrix you must use the IP-to-MSTP router option to test the MSTP device with VTS.

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Visual Test Shell – Sending Packets Manually

Published by llucica November 22nd, 2011 in BACnet and BACnet MSTP. 0 Comments

After configuring the Devices (and Objects), Ports, and Names in the Visual Test Shell (VTS) the next step is to begin sending packets.  Packets can be sent in two ways:  1) Manually creating and sending the packets, or 2) By using a script.  This article will focus on manually sending packets.

In this article you will find instructions on how to create and send a Who-Is message.  Please note that there are many other messages that can be created and sent and that some experimentation is necessary to fully understand how to create these messages.

Who-Is

The following instructions are for creating and sending a Who-Is message.

1)      Click on the “Send” menu.  (See Figure 1: Send Menu)


Figure 1: Send Menu

Here is a brief description of the menu options:

-          New Packet… - Opens the send packet dialogue

-          TestPort(IP) –This is where any ports that you configured will be.  Select one to begin sending packets from that port.

-          IP, BVLL, Network…. – The rest of the items in the menu are submenus that contain specific message types.  For example in the “Object Access” submenu you will find the Read Property option.  Click on one of these options to begin creating a packet of that type.

 

2)      Move the mouse over the “Remote Device Management” submenu and Click on the “Who-Is” message. (See Figure 2: Send Packet – Who-Is


Figure 2: Send Packet – Who-Is

3)      View the Send Packet dialogue.  Note: the dialogue will contain different options depending on what was selected from the “Send” menu. (See Figure 3: Send Packet Dialogue – Who-Is).  Configure  the Who-Is fields contained in the Who-Is tab


Figure 3:  Send Packet Dialogue – Who-Is

The following is a brief description of the dialogue window:

-          Tabs – The tabs at the top of the window contain the configurable fields to create the packet.  The tabs will change depending on what packet is being created.  In this case, for creating the Who-Is message, the IP (IP options), BVLCI (Broadcast options), NPCI (NPDU options) , and Who-Is (Who-Is options) tabs will be displayed.

-          TestPort Drop Down Menu – The drop down menu on the upper right contains all the Ports that have been configured.  Use this menu to quickly select a Port.

-          File Browser – The file browser on the right side of the window contains the different message types.  Browse through them and double click on the message you want to send to begin configuring it.

-          Hex Stream – The hex stream at the bottom left of the window contains the bytes that will be sent.  These will change as you change the fields in each of the tabs.

-          Buttons – The buttons on the bottom right allow you to send the pack and/or to close the window.

 

4)      Click through the other tabs and fill in the information required there.

5)      When you are satisfied with the packet you created, you can View the byte stream that will be sent, then Click the “Send” or “Send and Close” to send the packet.  If you do not want to send the packet, simply Click the “Close” button. (See Figure 4: Byte Stream and Buttons)


Figure 4: Byte Stream and Buttons

6)      You can see the packet information in detail in the “Detail View” or the “Hex View” frames.  Note: You can click on various sections in the Detail View which will highlight the actual bytes in the Hex View.  (See Figure 5:  Detail View and Hex View )


Figure 5: Detail View and Hex View

Once the packet has been sent, you can keep track of the packets sent in the main view.

There is another way to send packets, and that involves using scripts.  The next article will discuss what elements are in a VTS script and how they are used to send packets.

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Visual Test Shell – Configuring Names

Published by llucica November 21st, 2011 in BACnet and BACnet MSTP. 0 Comments

After configuring the Devices and Ports, the next step is to configure the Names.  In the Visual Test Shell (VTS) a name is a shortcut for an address.  They are used not only in the source and destination address areas of ports, but also in the SNET and DNET portion of the BACnet network layer.

Note:  A Name specifies the physical (MAC) address AND the local Port for a BACnet destination.  AS such, make sure to set up a Port for the device (see the Visual Test Shell – Configuring Ports article) BEFORE setting up a Name.

Note:  VTS will create an entry for itself named TD ( or Test Device).  Remember, however, that you MUST create an entry for the device being tested, and it must be named IUT, which stands for Implementation Under Test.

Follow these steps and descriptions to configure a Name.

1)      Click on the “Edit” menu and Select the “Names…” option (see Figure 1: Configuring Names )


Figure 1: Configuring Names

2)      In the Names dialogue, Click the “New” Button to begin configuring a new Name (see Figure 2: Configure Names Dialogue )


Figure 2: Configure Names Dialogue

3)      Fill in the fields and options.  The following is a brief description of the various options for configuring a Name.

-          Address Type

  • Null – No type chosen.  Use this when you aren’t sure what Address Type is appropriate and want to fill it in later.
  • Local Broadcast – Packets are sent to all devices on the local network.
  • Local Station – Sends packets to any specific device on the local network.
  • Remote Broadcast – Packets are sent to all devices on the specified network.
  • Remote Station – Sends packets to any specific device the specified network, usually a network other than the TD’s local network.
  • Global Broadcast – Packets are sent to all devices on all reachable networks.

-          Name – Give the entry a name

  • Note:  IUT has a special meaning in VTS because scripts will automatically SEND and EXPECT messages from whatever address is associated with the IUT name, as long as an explicit destination is not specified in the script.

-          Port – Choose one of the configured Ports.  If no Ports have been configured, the only option will be “any port”.

-          Network – If you selected Remote Broadcast or Station as the Address Type, then enter in the specific network in this field.

-          Address – If you selected Remote Station as the Address Type, then enter in the remote device’s address in this field.

4)      Once all the fields have been filled, Click the “Okay” button to finalize the Name configuration.  You can create and configure more Names by Clicking the “New” button, or delete unneeded Names by Clicking the “Delete” button.

 

Configuring names is the last part of the configuring the VTS.  Once the configuration is complete, the next step is to test the configuration.  The easiest way to test your configuration is to send packets.  The next article will describe how to send packets manually.

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Visual Test Shell – Configuring Ports

Published by llucica November 18th, 2011 in BACnet and BACnet MSTP. 0 Comments

After configuring some devices and objects, the next step is to configure the ports (or connections) to connect to these devices.  For the Visual Test Shell (VTS) to be able to communicate with a device, a Port must refer to a configured Device object. Follow these instructions to configure ports in the VTS.

1)      In the “Edit” menu, Select the “Ports…” menu option (see Figure 1: Configuring Ports)


Figure 1: Configuring Ports

2)      You will see the Ports Configuration Dialogue.  Click on the “New” button to begin configuring a new port (see Figure 2: Port Configuration Dialgue – New Port)


Figure 2: Port Configuration Dialogue – New Port

3)      Fill in the Fields for the Port (see Figure 3: New Port Configuration)


Figure 3: New Port Configuration

Here is a brief description of these fields.

  • Name – The name of the Port (helps with identification)
  • Network – The network the port exists on.

There is also a drop down menu containing a list of configured devices.  Select one of these devices to signify a connection on this port to that specific device.

Below is a set of tabs that detail the specific type of port.  The next step will detail to different types of ports and some of their configuration fields.

4)      Select a tab to choose the type of the port.  Null contains no specific parameters.

-          IP – The IP tab is for setting up a BACnet IP port connection (see Figure 4: IP Port Configuration)


Figure 4: IP Port Configuration

  • Interface – This drop down menu contains a list of network cards installed on the computer.  Select one of them.
  • UDP Port – The is the port that the connection is on. Default is 47808 (0xBAC0)

These two are usually enough for the configuration of a simple BACnet IP port.

-          Ethernet – The Ethernet tab is for setting up a BACnet Ethernet port connection (see Figure 5: Ethernet Port Configuration)


Figure 5: Ethernet Port Configuration

  • Adapter – This drop down menu contains a list of network cards installed on the computer. Select one of them.
  • Promiscuous mode – Check this box if you want to enable this mode.

 

-          MSTP – The MSTP tab is for setting up a BACnet MSTP port connection (see Figure 6: MSTP Port Configuration)


Figure 6: MSTP Port Configuration

  • MAC Address – The unique address of the port.
  • Max Master – The maximum number of master devices to iterate through when passing the token.
  • Max Info Frames – The maximum number of information frames.
  • Baud Rate – The baud rate for the connection to the port.

 

-          PTP – The PTP tab is for setting up a BACnet PTP port connection (see Figure 7: PTP Port Configuration)


Figure 7: PTP Port Configuration

  • Serial Port – The serial port connection.
  • Baud Rate – The baud rate for the connection to the port.
  • Parity – Set at N (None).
  • Data Bits – Set at 8.
  • Stop Bits – Set at 1.

 

5)      Once a port type has been selected and configured, Check the “Enable” check box to enable the port and Click the “OK” or “Apply” buttons to save the configuration and close the dialogue (see Figure 8: Finishing Port Configuration)


Figure 8: Finishing Port Configuration

Once one or multiple ports have been configured the next step is to configure Names.  The next article will detail the steps and describe some of the options and fields required for configuring Names.

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Visual Test Shell – Configuring Devices

Published by llucica November 17th, 2011 in BACnet and BACnet MSTP. 0 Comments

To Configure a Device in the Visual Test Shell (VTS), follow these instructions.

1)      Click on the “Edit” menu and Select the “Devices…” option

Figure 1: Edit Menu Options

2)      You will now see the Devices Configuration Dialogue as shown below.

Figure 2: Device Configuration Dialogue

3)      Fill in the necessary fields for the tests that you want to run.  The Device Tab contains device specific fields, such as Name, Instance, and Vendor ID (see Figure 2: Device Configuration Dialogue).  The Options Tab contains various support options for the device (see Figure 3: Device Configuration Dialogue Options Tab).

 

Figure 3: Device Configuration Dialogue Options Tab

4)      Right-Click the newly created device.  In the Right-Click menu, Select the “New Object” option to add a new object to the selected device (see Figure 4: Device Configuration Dialogue Right-Click Menu).  Or Select the “New Device” option to add a new device.

 

Figure 4: Device Configuration Dialogue Right-Click Menu

5)      Fill in the object information fields (see Figure 5: Object Configuration).

 

Figure 5: Object Configuration

6)      From the drop down menu, Select the Object Type (see Figure 6: Object Type Selection)

Figure 6: Object Type Selection

7)      Right-Click the newly created object.  In the Right-Click menu, Select the “New Property” option to add a new property to the selected object (see Figure 7: Device Configuration Dialogue Right-Click Object Menu).

 

Figure 7: Device Configuration Right Click Object Menu

8)      Fill in the property information.  There are two ways to do this.  1) Select a property from the drop down “Description” menu.  Or 2) Enter the property ID value in the “ID” text box  (see Figure 8: Property Configuration).

 

Figure 8:  Property Configuration

9)      Right-Click the newly created property.  In the Right-Click menu, Select the “New Value” option to add a new value to the selected property (see Figure 9: Device Configuration Dialogue Right-Click Property Menu).

 

Figure 9:  Device Configuration Dialogue Right-Click Property Menu

10)   Fill in the information for the value.  Select the data type from the “Data Type” drop down menu (for example: Boolean, Real, Integer, etc.).  Enter the actual value in the “Value” text field (see Figure 10:  Value Configuration).

 

Figure 10:  Value Configuration

11)   Repeat steps 7 through 10 to add more properties and values an object.

 

12)   Repeat steps 4 through 6 and 11 to add more objects to a device.

 

13)   Right-Click to bring up the Right-Click menu and Select the “New Device” option to create a new device (see Figure 4: Device Configuration Dialogue Right-Click Menu).  Repeat steps 3 through 12 to configure another device.

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Visual Test Shell – First Time Use

Published by llucica November 16th, 2011 in BACnet and BACnet MSTP. 0 Comments

When you want to use the Visual Test Shell (VTS) for the first time, browse to the directory where you installed the application.

Double-click on the VTS.exe to start the application.

You will notice that two files will be generated:

1)      vts3.cfg – the default workspace, which contains all of the VTS configuration data. (Devices, Ports, Names, etc.)

2)      vts3.vpk – the default log file, which contains the packet data that is captured while running VTS.

 

These two files can be used to share sessions with other users and can be used to save specific sessions.

After starting the application you will see this screen:

 

Here is a brief description of the Menus and their contents:

-          File:  In this menu you can Create and Open Scripts, Create, Save, and Switch workspaces, Print, Export, and Exit

-          Edit:  In this menu you can create and edit Devices, Ports, Names, change the Logfile, and set Preferences

-          View:  The view menu controls the different viewing windows of the applications.  This includes the Detail View, Hex View and EPICS View.

-          Send:  The send menu is where you can send specific messages to created Devices or to devices that are on the network.

-          EPICS:  This menu is where you can load EPICS files

-          Tests:  The test menu is where you can back up or test for inconsistencies

-          Help:   Contains information about VTS

This is just a brief description of what you can do in VTS.  Future articles will delve into these options more and provide instructions on how to accomplish various tasks.

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Visual Test Shell – Installation

Published by llucica November 15th, 2011 in BACnet and BACnet MSTP. 1 Comment

To install the Visual Test Shell (or VTS) first visit the project website at http://sourceforge.net/projects/vts/.

Press the Download button to begin downloading.

 

Check your downloads directory for the newly downloaded zip file.

Unzip the files and you will see the following file directory:

 

Here is a description of some of the contents of the VTS directory.

Docs – Contains all the guides and documents for using VTS

-          QuickStart.html – Provides some quick and easy steps to get VTS working

-          VTS Survival Guide.doc – Provides tips and further explanation of some items from the VTS3Guide

-          VTS3Guide.doc – The complete guide for using the VTS application.

-          VTSScripting.html – A guide to using scripts with VTS.

 

Scripts – Contains examples of different types of scripts that can be run while using VTS.  More information about scripts and how to make and use them, will be included in an upcoming article.

 

PTP.dll and VTS.exe – These are the main two items that are needed for VTS to run properly.

 

To start the application, simply double-click the VTS.exe icon.

 

Note:  The PTP.dll must be included in the same directory as the VTS.exe.  If it is not, the application will not work.

 

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Visual Test Shell – General Information

Published by llucica November 14th, 2011 in BACnet and BACnet MSTP. 0 Comments

The Visual Test Shell (or VTS) is a free and open source software.  This application is used for testing the BACnet functionality of various devices used in building automation systems.

The application can “generate BACnet compliant service messages, detect and decode BACnet compliant service messages, and run scripts to generate, receive and respond to BACnet compliant service messages.”  (VTS3Guide.doc)

The project home page can be found here:  http://vts.sourceforge.net/

You can download the application here:  http://sourceforge.net/projects/vts/

The version of VTS, at the time of the writing of this article, is 3.5.5.

The VTS is a testing suite that is listed by the BACnet Testing Laboratories and BACnet.org (http://www.bacnet.org/Developer/index.html) as a useful open source tool for testing your own BACnet implementations.

For more information on the project or to find some help, visit their forums at: http://sourceforge.net/projects/vts/forums/forum/86056

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CAS BACnet Explorer Export to EDE File

Published by llucica September 15th, 2011 in BACnet, BACnet MSTP, CAS BACnet Explorer and Utilities and tools. 0 Comments

When using the CAS BACnet Explorer, a user can export the information to an Engineering Data Exchange (or EDE) .csv document.

To export to EDE follow these steps:

1. Do a Discover Action

Perform a discover action.  Make sure when discovering to also discover the objects and object’s properties.

 


2. Right-Click a Device and Select Export to EDE

Right-click a discovered device to bring up the right-click menu.  From this menu, select the Export to EDE menu option to begin the EDE export process.


3. Fill in the EDE Option Fields

Enter project information into the text fields.  These fields populate the informational portion of the EDE file.  These fields consist of the Project Name, the Version of the Reference File, and the Author of Last Change.


4. Browse to the Save File Location

Click on the Browse… button to open up the file browser.  Browse to where the files will be saved.  Enter in a name for the files (Note: this name is not used when generating the files.  The Project Name is used instead).  Once the location has been selected, click the Save button.  The EDE dialog will be updated with the File Save Location. Tip: Refer to the Note in the dialog.


5. Select which Files to Create

Check the boxes to select which files to create.  The EDE.csv file contains the list of the device’s objects and properties in EDE format.  The Units.csv file contains a complete list of all units that could be used.  The ObjectTypes.csv files contains a list of possible object types, or in this instance, BACnet object types.



6. Click the Export Button

Once all the fields have been completed, click the Export button to begin exporting.  When the export is complete, the directory where the files were to be saved will open allowing the user to view the newly created files.


7. View the Created Files
The files will be generated in the File Save Location.  To view them, simply use Microsoft Excel, or any software that can process a .csv (or comma separated value) file.

 

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