MewtocolNet/README.md

MewtocolNet

An easy to use Mewtocol protocol library to interface with Panasonic PLCs over TCP/Serial.

Disclaimer

This library is not an official panasonic product nor does panasonic provide financial support or limitations in any form. This software was written by WOLF Medizintechnik GmbH (@WOmed/dev).

Features

Features that are not checked still need implementation

• Read out stats from your PLC
• Read and write registers in real time
• Dynamic register type casting from properties
• Change run / prog modes
• Write / read byte blocks in a whole chain
• Upload / Download programs to the PLC
• Reading / writing PLC system registers

Support

.NET Support

This library was written in netstandard2.0 and should be compatible with a lot of .NET environments.

For a full list of supported .NET clrs see this page

PLC Support

This library was only tested with a few PLCs, other types that support the Panasonic Mewtocol protocol might work. Use at your own risk, others might follow with community feedback

PLC Type	Supported	Tested
FPX C14	✔	✔
FPX C30	✔	✔
FPX-H C14	✔	✔
FPX-H C30	✔	✔
FP Sigma	✔	❌

Where is the RS232/Serial support?

Support for the serial protocol will be added soon, feel free to contribute

Installing

Install this package by using Nuget or reference

<PackageReference Include="Mewtocol.NET" Version="0.6.1"/>

in your dependencies. Alternatively use the dotnet CLI and run

dotnet add package Mewtocol.NET

Protocol description

Panasonic has published a protocol definition on their site. Refer to this site if you want to see the general functionality or add / report missing features.

This library is at the time not feature complete, but all essential features are provided

Usage

See More examples here

Connecting to a PLC

Connecting to a PLC is as simple as

 //attaching a logger
Logger.LogLevel = LogLevel.Verbose;
Logger.OnNewLogMessage((date, msg) => {
    Console.WriteLine($"{date.ToString("HH:mm:ss")} {msg}");
});

//setting up a new PLC interface
MewtocolInterface plc = new MewtocolInterface("192.168.115.5");

await plc.ConnectAsync();

Reading data registers / contacts

Detailed instructions

• Create a new class that inherits from RegisterCollectionBase

public class TestRegisters : RegisterCollectionBase {

    //corresponds to a R100 boolean register in the PLC
    [Register(100, RegisterType.R)]
    public bool TestBool1 { get; private set; }

    //corresponds to a XD input of the PLC
    [Register(RegisterType.X, SpecialAddress.D)]
    public bool TestBoolInputXD { get; private set; } 

    //corresponds to a DT7012 - DT7013 as a 32bit time value that gets parsed as a timespan (TIME)
    //the smallest value to communicate to the PLC is 10ms
    [Register(7012)]
    public TimeSpan TestTime { get; private set; }  
    
    //corresponds to a DT1101 - DT1104 string register in the PLC with (STRING[4])
    [Register(1101, 4)]
    public string TestString1 { get; private set; }

}

• Connect to the PLC and attach the register collection and logger
• attach an automatic poller by chaining .WithPoller() after the register attachment

//setting up a new PLC interface and register collection
MewtocolInterface plc = new MewtocolInterface("192.168.115.5");
TestRegisters registers = new TestRegisters();

//attaching the register collection and an automatic poller
plc.WithRegisterCollection(registers).WithPoller();

await plc.ConnectAsync(
    (plcinf) => {
        //reading a value from the register collection
        Console.WriteLine($"Time Value is: {registers.TestTime}");
    }
);

• Your properties are getting automatically updated after the initial connection

Note! this is not your only option to read registers, see here

Writing data registers / contacts

⚠ Never set a register by setting the property, always use one of the provided methods

Synchronous

Sets the register without feedback if it was set

//inverts the boolean register
plc.SetRegister(nameof(registers.TestBool1), !registers.TestBool1);

//set the current second to the PLCs TIME register
plc.SetRegister(nameof(registers.TestTime), TimeSpan.FromSeconds(DateTime.Now.Second));

 //writes 'Test' to the PLCs string register
plc.SetRegister(nameof(registers.TestString1), "Test");

You can also set a register by calling its name directly (Must be either in an attached register collection or added to the list manually)

Adding registers to a manual list

plc.AddRegister<bool>(105, _name: "ManualBoolRegister");

Reading the value of the manually added register

//get the value as a string
string value = plc.GetRegister("ManualBoolRegister").GetValueString();
//get the value by casting
bool value2 = plc.GetRegister<BRegister>("ManualBoolRegister").Value;
//for double casted ones like numbers
var value2 = plc.GetRegister<NRegister<short>>("NumberRegister").Value;