3rd Party BACnet Reference

Third party BACnet devices can be integrated in the management platform Online or Offline depending on the application or availability of project data. The selected import to the management platform also impacts how project data is depicted in System Browser.

Online Import

For online engineering, you must connect to the third party BACnet device online in order to import project data in the management platform.

Advantage

• You import the latest project data from the third-party BACnet device.
• Extensive coordination with the third-party BACnet device project engineer is not required.
  NOTE: The following information must, however, be clarified in advance: PICS, device ID, device name, UDP port.

Disadvantage

• Scanning the network can take quite a long time.
• The hierarchy structure for viewing in System Browser cannot be influenced.
• Only the Management View is generated in System Browser. The display is alphabetical regardless of object type.

Offline Import

You need an Engineering Data Exchange (EDE) file for the offline import of third-party BACnet devices in the management platform. An online connection with the BACnet device is not required.

Advantage

• Engineering can take place in the office.
• The following views are supported in System Browser:
• Management View (generated automatically by the system cannot be influenced).
• Logical View (controlled via the Configuration file)
• User View (only if already created in the engineering tool and it is then controllable via the Configuration file)
• Graphic engineering can be completed in advance at the office.

Disadvantage

• Project data from the third-party BACnet device may not be up-to-date.
• Requires more coordination to receive the EDE data from the third-party BACnet device project engineer.

Precondition

• The Desigo system extension module must be installed on the project computer.

The data points are displayed in various views, depending on the import type. The Management View is generated on all import types.

Online

The list of imported data points can be displayed alphabetically after an online import.

Offline

In addition to Management View, that is identical offline to the Online variant, the Logical View and the User View can also be generated offline using Configuration files.

The Protocol Implementation Conformance Statement (PICS) document lists all devices of the manufacturer and describes the supported BIBBs, object types, characters sets, and options of communication. PICS of the respective manufacturers are listed under:

• http://www.bacnetinternational.net/btl/
• http://www.bacnet.org
• http://www.big-eu.org

The following PICS are available for vendors’s devices:

• BACnet Advanced Operator Workstation (B-AWS)
• BACnet Building Controller (B-BC)
• BACnet Advanced Application Controller (B-AAC)
• BACnet Application Specific Controller (B-ASC)
• Other BACnet Devices (B-Oth)

Functions AutoDiscovery or EDE Import support only standard BACnet objects, i.e. BACnet extensions made by the manufacturer are not supported by these Desigo CC functions. The current version supports the defined BACnet objects in the following library: Project > System settings > Libraries > BA (HQ) > Devices > BACnet > Object models.

A BACnet driver and a network must be created or exist in advance for online or offline import.

Information

NOTE:
Select the same type of import for each manufacturer and network to avoid potential data loss.

BACnet ensures interoperability among devices from various manufacturers. The EDE file documents BACnet project data of a device and integrates it in Desigo CC.

Project data

EDE data is designed as follows to exchange project data:

• General project information
• Required information for an individual object (column: Mandatory)
• Required information for an individual object (column: Optional)

Available optional information is taken over as an object instance in the project database. In the event that no optional information exists in the EDE file, the missing information is derived from the function or the object model.

Object information

Two data formats (CSV and XLSX) are available for data import to prepare object information. In addition, the file format may differ for CSV.

CSV file format

• Information is located in various CSV files:
• Object description
• Object type
• Unit
• State text
• All information is available in a CSV file (object description, object type, unit, state text). The individual information is defined in the corresponding column.

XLSX file format

• All information is available in a XLSX file (object description, object type, unit, state text). The individual information is defined under its own tab.

The Desigo CC import function supports these three data forms. An error message is displayed if the data format does not meet the requirements.

Information

NOTE:
By default, the object type is taken over from the associated object model for the BA_Device_BACnet_HQ_1 library (Family = BACNET). A different library may be referenced by using the Family attribute. The information from the EDE standard file is ignored during import.

Hierarchy Mapping in System Browser

Multiple views of an object are possible in System Browser depending on the integrated field networks:

• Project data is only displayed in Management View without additional configuration. The information from the Object Name column is taken to create the objects in Management View.
• The logical and user views can be defined using a configuration file (Hierarchy-Logical.txt or Hierarchy-User.txt). The company executing the project must comply with project specifications to properly map the hierarchy in Desigo CC. This is the only way to hierarchically import the object information using separators and to display it in System Browser.

Field-Network-Specific Special Cases

Behavior (creating objects or views) during import may differ from the standard EDE file depending on the field network used. The requirement for integration is that the extension module Desigo_System and the corresponding field network extension modules are available in the project.

Integration of Simatic S7 Solutions

Adding Object for Hierarchy Mapping

For field networks that do not know objects for mapping hierarchies, all objects with the same descriptive text, for example Meters, are displayed one below the other which makes it difficult to select a particular object.

To render selection more user friendly, the EDE file must be extended by an additional entry for each object. It is this object that carries the corresponding description.

NOTICE

Prevent Data Loss

Any changes made to previous versions are overwritten once a newly generated EDE file is imported.

Back up the edited EDE file and compare the changes to the new EDE file. Edit one or both of the EDE files and import the revised EDE file.

Alternatively, use the SX Open tool to make the relevant changes to the EDE file.

Creating Desigo PX Objects

An EDE file can be extended to include additional column information. This creates a Desigo PX BACnet object, if extensions are available, rather than a standard BACnet object. It is thus 100% compatible with Desigo PX.

NOTICE

Display in System Browser is incorrect
The columns Function name and Short name are required for the program to be able to switch to the S7 mode. The information in the columns depends on the function but the columns can also be empty.

− A Logical View, but no User View, is created if there are no Hierarchy-User.txt and Hierarchy-Logical.txt files. The Logical View is then derived from the object name (Delimiter = ' ; min = 1; max = 50) and hard-coded.

Naming Conventions

File Names

The following naming conventions apply if object description, object type (is not evaluated), unit, and state text are saved in different CSV files.

Information

An error message is displayed if the file names for object type, unit, or state text cannot be determined.

Column Titles

Column titles may vary depending on the manufacturer. At a minimum, the keyword must be included in the column title for the import to be executed correctly (case-sensitive).

Information

A keyword used in multiple columns may result in an incorrect data import. Use the column titles according to the EDE specification where possible.

Mapping in System

Indicates where the information is displayed in the system.

Format of Configuration Files

Terms

• File delimiters
• Defines where a new entry (column information) starts in the main file (CSV).
• In the main file, defines the inline state texts (off, on), and in the supplemental files, where a new entry (column information) starts.
• Definition delimiter
  Defines the delimiter used to separate individual entries in the configuration file.
• Hierarchy delimiter
  Used during object import to define the applicable hierarchy level.

Delimiters in the Files

General

A text editor can be used to create the Hierarchy-User.txt and Hierarchy-Logical.txt files. The file format for the Hierarchy-User.txt and Hierarchy-Logical.txt files is divided into two parts:

• Design of EDE file
• Design of Hierarchy mapping

File format

!encoding!utf-8

#separators-1#;

#separators-2#,;

:column-name:keyname

,_,1,15,Location

,:,1,15,Building

,_,1,15,Floor

,_,1,20,Plant

,_,1,20,Object

,_,1,25,Data point

Information

NOTE:
Any character may be used as the definition separator but it must not occur in the corresponding line.

Partial Definition for EDE File

Five properties can be used to import an EDE file to Desigo CC:

• Encoding (Optional): must be used, if imported characters are no displayed correctly
• Separators-1 (Optional): Default = ";")
• Separators-2 (Optional): Default = ";,")
• Column-name (Optional): Default (Logical) = "object-name", Default (User) = "keyname"
• Family (Optional): Default = "BACNET”

Syntax for the EDE Component

!encoding!utf-8

#separators-1#;

#separators-2#,;

:column-name:keyname

Using the Family Property Extension

The Family property may be used to choose other Object Models than the ones from the standard BACnet library (Family = BACNET). The BACnet type to EO-Type mapping is hardcoded by default. This means that the Family attribute can normally only be used for libraries which are 100% BACnet compliant, (for example, Object-Type ‘0’ EO_BA_AI_1, ‘1’ EO_BA_AO_1, …).

If this is not the case, the EDE-file must be extended with a new column (with the name EoType) which specifies the EO-Type for each object individually.

Example of using EO-Type:

Example of using Family property:

!encoding!utf-8

#separators-1#;

#separators-2#,;

:column-name:keyname

;Family;System_name

+EOType-Aggregator+EO_System_name_AGG_1

?EOType-Folder?EO_System_name_FDR_1

When the flexible Import Rule Family is applied, the hierarchical Object Models Aggregators and Folders of the subsystem must be defined. If required, the aggregator and the folder are added to hierarchy structure during the import of the EDE file.

Encoding

Encoding permits clear assignment of characters (alphanumeric) and symbols within a character set. The characters are partially displayed incorrectly in the system if encoding is false. This generally occurs if an EDE file is created on a computer in Western Europe and then imported to a computer used in Eastern Europe. Usually, this is not a problem if encoding utf-8 (with BOM) is used when saving the EDE file.

Troubleshooting version 1

On the first row, define the code-page information that was created with the EDE file. In the event the code-page information is unknown, try entering encoding=UTF-8.

An explicit entry of the correct encoding generally provides the correct results. The benefits of this variant are:

‒ No additional settings are required if the supplier supplies a new EDE file.

‒ If multiple EDE files are imported, the encoding only needs to be defined once in the configuration file.

Information

Encoding can be indicated both as text as well as numerical value. For example, 1252 or Windows-1252.

Troubleshooting version 2

Open the EDE file using a normal editor (the editor must correctly display all characters) and save the file with the setting Encoding = UTF-8. The disadvantages of this variant are:

‒ Any new EDE file supplied by the supplier must be resaved with UTF-8.

‒ Each EDE file must be saved in this manner.

• General information on implementing the EDE function
• Both hierarchy files are read with Encoding.Default.
• The other EDE text files are read using the indicated encoding.
• The default for the encoding property is Encoding.Default.
• Encoding.Default uses the code-page Information as set in the operating system unless a Byte Order Mark (BOM) exists. In this case, encoding is derived from BOM.

When there is a BOM in a file the correct encoding is always used.

Separators-1

Separators-1 is required to classify the columns of the EDE file. The property is optional and not needed. The default value semi-colon (;) is used if no separator is defined.

Separators-2

The file separator (separators-2) is needed:

• In the EDE main file, to recognize the inline texts in a column, for example, Off, On, Stage 1, Stage 2;
• To classify the columns into state text and unit text files.

The default separators are comma (,) and semi-colon (;).

Column Name

Column name is used to establish the reference column to create the objects hierarchy.

Partial Definition for Hierarchy Mapping

Five properties must be defined for hierarchy mapping in System Browser:

• Definition Separator
• Hierarchy Separator
• Minimum user designation length
• Maximum user designation length
• Description of hierarchy levels

Syntax for Hierarchy Elements

,_,1,15,Location

,:,1,15,Building

,',1,15,Floor

,-,1,20,Plant

,_,1,20,Object

,+,1,25,Data point

Definition Separator

The first character of each individual line is the definition separator. It may be a special character, letter, or number. The definition separator must, however, differ from the defined hierarchy separator for the corresponding line.

Hierarchy Separator

The hierarchy separator defines the location in the text where a new hierarchy level is created (AAA_BBB:CCC'DDD-EEE_FFF+GGG).

Information

A definition separator that is also used in the object text as a character can result in an incorrect hierarchy level.

Minimum User Designation Length

Defines the minimum text length (1-255) of the corresponding hierarchy level. A warning is displayed if the designation is shorter than defined.

Maximum User Designation Length

Defines the maximum text length (1-255) of the corresponding hierarchy level. A warning is displayed if the designation is longer than defined.

Description (Optional)

In System Browser, the descriptive text is displayed on the corresponding hierarchy level.

Special Case: Fixed Field Length

For a user designation with a fixed field length, no hierarchy separators are available. In this case:

• The minimum and maximum field length must be defined as the same.
• No hierarchy separators may be defined.

EDE Files Examples

The following examples display the supported file formats.

XLSX File

All information is saved in the XLSX file under the various tabs.

Information

NOTE:
If the information in the XLSX EDE file displays in one column only, change the file separators as follows.

1. Select Start > Control Panel > Clock, Language and Region > Change the date, time, or number format.
2. Select Format > Additional settings > List separators.
3. Enter the corresponding file separators.

CSV with Reference Files

In the CSV file with reference files, various types of information are saved in individual files.

CSV without Reference Files

All information is saved in one CSV file without reference files.

Text Groups

State Text

One text group is created for each state text during an EDE file import. The text groups are saved in Management View in System Browser under Project > System Settings > Libraries > Project > Common. The descriptive name of the text group is formed from EdeStateTexts+File name+Number. A file name with a space is supplemented with _ (underscore).

Units Text

An EdeUnitsTexts+File name text group is created to map units used.

Languages

A Languages text group is created for project languages.

Information

NOTE:
The import function does not support multiple languages. The imported text (in one language) is entered into all the different language fields so that the functionality of the system is maintained.

Deleting

The text groups are only deleted if referenced on a device. Multiple referenced text groups must be manually deleted using the Text Group Editor.