KNX Tag Import

Plant SCADA can automatically generate variable tags for all supported KNX group addresses configured in the KNX Device. Tags are imported per I/O device from an XML file, exported from ETS5. It is important that group addresses exported from ETS5 are for device objects linked to a router, configured for Unicast mode communication with the I/O device.

To generate variable tags using tag import corresponding to KNX device properties:

1. In ETS5, export the group address to an export file using xml format.

   Note: Make sure that each group address has a data type association.

2. Open Plant SCADA Studio, and select Import Tags from the Topology activity.

3. The Import Variable Tags dialog box opens.

4. In the Destination panel, select the I/O Device.

   Note: Make sure the I/O device is configured for the KNX protocol. Otherwise you will not be able to configure the device connection. Ensure that the I/O device name does not contain comma, else an error message is displayed saying tags cannot be imported. If I/O device name contains any other special character, then compilation errors will occur.

5. In the Source panel, set the Database type to KNX.

6. In the External database field, click Browse button to open KNX Device Configuration dialog box. To configure the KNX device:

   1. In Tag Import Options, identify the required XML file to import in the XML File Path field. Click Browse button to locate the file.

      Note: The tag import functionality is available for XML file format generated by ETS5 configuration tool only. XML file format from previous versions such as ETS4 or before does not contain the data type.

   2. In the Advanced Options panel, if you select Use GroupAddress Name as Tag Name, variable tags are generated in the following format:

      <IODEVICE>\<GroupAddressName> For example, "IODev1\sensor"

      Else, the tags will be generated in the following format:

      <IODEVICE>\<Tag<n>>For example, "IODev1\Tag1", "IODev1\Tag2" and so on.

   3. Click OK to close the KNX Device Configuration dialog box.

7. Click Import button from the Import Variable Tags dialog box.

Plant SCADA reads the group addresses and data types from the XML file, and generates the variable tags for the KNX group addresses.

Note: At present, the tag import functionality is limited to generating the variable tags and the corresponding tag address. Here, the tag address contains a group address and a data type. The description associated with the group address will be copied in to the comment field of the corresponding Plant SCADA tag.
It does not support creating different value ranges for variable tags of a particular data type where the range is defined by minor encoding. For example: 5.001, 5.004. Here 5.001 refers to percentage from 1 to 100 and 5.004 refers to percentage from 1 to 225. If the value ranges are different, you have to configure manually in Plant SCADA.

Tag import log file

Each time a tag import is executed a log file is created in KNXImportLog folder, under the Logs folder, at the location specified in the [CtEdit] section of ini file. The log file will be overwritten each time.

Below are some of the special scenarios of tag import:

• Group addresses sharing identical name and communicating via same router.

  In each of the following scenario, the XML file will have duplicate group names:

  1. If Use GroupAddress Name as Tag Name option is selected on the KNX Import File Browser dialog box

     In this case the XML file contains multiple group addresses with duplicate group address name. After import, you need to rename tags created with duplicate names, else compiler errors will occur.

  2. If Use GroupAddress Name as Tag Name option is not selected on the KNX Import File Browser dialog box

     In this case the XML file contains multiple group addresses with duplicate address name. Tags with separate names will be created for these group addresses.

• Special characters in group address name.

  Consider an example where a group address name contains special characters and the tag import option Use GroupAddress Name as Tag Name is selected. In this case, KNX driver will skip the special characters and generate the tags, as special characters are not allowed in tag names. Hence there is a chance of duplication of tags. In such case, you need to rename the tags, else compiler errors will occur. Refer tag import log file for details of group address names with special characters.

  Note: Backslash and under scores are allowed.

• Group address without a data type.

  Any group address with data type not configured will not be considered during tag import. Refer tag import log for details of group addresses with data type not configured.