DNP3 data references

A DNP3 point is defined by its outstation name, point type, point number, and optionally, a point name. When adding points to an outstation, use the following general guidelines:

• All references begin with "Telem_Server_" prepended to the Scope Name.

• Point numbers are unique within each point type. For example “Analog Input 1” (AI_1) and “Analog Output 1” (AO_1) are different points. In the case of binary output points, which contains three subtypes, the subtype does not provide differentiation. Thus, “Digital Output 1”, “Pulse (NULL) 1” and “Pulse Trip-Close 1” all refer to the same binary output point. For example “Digital Output 1”, “Pulse (NULL) 1” and “Pulse Trip-Close 1” all refer to the same binary output point.

• Point numbers must be unique within each data type. The range of valid point numbers may vary between outstations. Point numbers do not need to be contiguous.

• The point numbers (in an outstation) are configurable. Refer to the outstation configuration to determine which point numbers are valid for a particular outstation.

• The valid range of DNP3 point numbers is 0 to 65535. The Telemetry Server does not limit this range, however, values are device-specific and many devices will impose a much smaller number than 65535 for their upper limit.

Point types

A point in DNP3 can be defined as any of the following data types:

Reference syntax

When creating a Telemetry Server reference, adding a percent sign (%) before the full outstation name makes the reference a dynamic reference. The full outstation name includes the group name.

The general syntax for dynamic references is as follows :

Telem_Server_<ScopeName>:%<OutstationFullName>;<PointType>;<PointNumber>;[<PointName>]

To create the point in a different group, add the group name to the PointName with a "." separator, as follows:

Telem_Server_<ScopeName>:%<OutstationFullName>;<PointType>;<PointNumber>;[<GroupName>.<PointName>]

Note that all point types contain all the elements shown in the general syntax, but some point types contain additional parameters. For example, the syntax for Pulse data types is as follows:

Telem_Server_<ScopeName>:%<OutstationFullName>;PTC;<PointNumber1>;<PointNumber2>;[<PointName>]

When the [<PointName>] parameter is not specified and the point does not already exist, a default name is automatically assigned to the point. The name is in the format "<PointType>_<PointNumber>."

If you specify the PointName, enclose the name in brackets.