Integration Objects’ OPC Server for Modbus

Integration Objects’
OPC DA Access for Modbus Devices

OPC Server for Modbus

Version 2.0 Rev.1

USER GUIDE
OPC Compatibility
OPC Data Access 3.00
OPC Data Access 2.05a

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OPC Server for Modbus User’s Guide Version 2.0 Rev .1

November 2018

Copyright © 2015-2018 Integration Objects.

All rights reserved. No part of this document may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system,
translated, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical,
photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the prior written permission of Integration
Objects.

Windows®, Windows NT® and .NET are registered trademarks of Microsoft Corporation.

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Table of Contents
PREFACE .................................................................................................................................................. 8
About this User Guide ............................................................................................................................. 8
Target Audience ...................................................................................................................................... 8
Document Conventions ........................................................................................................................... 8
Customer Support Services ..................................................................................................................... 8
INTRODUCTION ....................................................................................................................................... 9
1. Overview....................................................................................................................................... 9
2. System Architecture ..................................................................................................................... 9
3. Features ...................................................................................................................................... 10
4. OPC Compatibility....................................................................................................................... 11
5. Operating Systems Compatibility ............................................................................................... 11
6. System Requirements ................................................................................................................ 11
GETTING STARTED ................................................................................................................................. 12
1. Pre-Installation Considerations .................................................................................................. 12
2. Installing OPC Server .................................................................................................................. 12
3. Starting-up .................................................................................................................................. 20
4. Server Registration ..................................................................................................................... 21
5. Removing the OPC Server .......................................................................................................... 21
USING OPC SERVER FOR MODBUS ........................................................................................................ 23
1. User Interface Overview............................................................................................................. 23
2. File Menu .................................................................................................................................... 24
3. OPC Server Menu ....................................................................................................................... 24
4. Settings Menu ............................................................................................................................ 24
5. Server Configuration .................................................................................................................. 26
5.1. Add Device........................................................................................................................... 27
5.2. Edit Device ........................................................................................................................... 40
5.3. Delete Device ...................................................................................................................... 42
5.4. Add Group ........................................................................................................................... 43
5.5. Edit & Remove Group .......................................................................................................... 44

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5.6. Add Tag ................................................................................................................................ 45

5.7. Add Tag Per Block ................................................................................................................ 47
5.8. Edit Tag ................................................................................................................................ 49
5.9. Delete Tag............................................................................................................................ 50
5.10. View Tags Properties ......................................................................................................... 51
5.11. Save Configuration ............................................................................................................ 52
6. Errors Management ................................................................................................................... 57
7. Connection to the OPC Server .................................................................................................... 59
TROUBLESHOOTING .............................................................................................................................. 62

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Table of Figures
Figure 1: System Architecture ................................................................................................................. 9
Figure 2: Installation Welcome Dialog Box............................................................................................ 13
Figure 3: License Agreement Dialog Box ............................................................................................... 14
Figure 4: Customer Information Dialog Box .......................................................................................... 15
Figure 5: Setup Type Dialog ................................................................................................................... 16
Figure 6: Features Dialog ....................................................................................................................... 17
Figure 7: Choose Destination Folder Dialog Box ................................................................................... 18
Figure 8: Installation Dialog Box ............................................................................................................ 19
Figure 9: Installation Completed Dialog Box ......................................................................................... 20
Figure 10: Launch the OPC Server for Modbus User Interface ............................................................. 20
Figure 11: Start Menu – Uninstaller Shortcut ....................................................................................... 21
Figure 12: Windows 10 Startup Menu - Uninstall Shortcut .................................................................. 22
Figure 13: OPC Server for Modbus – Main Interface ............................................................................ 23
Figure 14: File Menu .............................................................................................................................. 24
Figure 15: OPC Server Menu ................................................................................................................. 24
Figure 16: Settings Menu ...................................................................................................................... 25
Figure 17: Settings Configuration Windows .......................................................................................... 25
Figure 18: OPC Server for Modbus Address Space Tree View .............................................................. 27
Figure 19: Add a New Device................................................................................................................. 27
Figure 20: Add New Device Wizard ....................................................................................................... 28
Figure 21: Select Device Connection Configuration .............................................................................. 29
Figure 22: Select the TCP/IP Listening Modbus Port ............................................................................. 30
Figure 23: Select the Serial COM Modbus Port ..................................................................................... 31
Figure 24: Select the COM Port Settings ............................................................................................... 31
Figure 25: Select the TCP/IP Device Connection Parameters ............................................................... 32
Figure 26: Select the Serial Device Connection Parameters ................................................................. 34
Figure 27: Test Connection with Modbus Device.................................................................................. 35
Figure 28: Select Device Data Access & Swapping Mode Parameters .................................................. 36
Figure 29: Select Communication Failure Handling Parameters ........................................................... 39
Figure 30: Edit Device ............................................................................................................................ 41
Figure 31: Edit Serial Device Dialog Box ................................................................................................ 41
Figure 32: Edit TCP/IP Device Dialog Box .............................................................................................. 42
Figure 33: Delete Device ....................................................................................................................... 42
Figure 34: Delete Multiple Devices ....................................................................................................... 43
Figure 35: Delete All Devices ................................................................................................................. 43
Figure 36: New Group ........................................................................................................................... 43
Figure 37: New Group Dialog Box ......................................................................................................... 44
Figure 38: Edit Group ............................................................................................................................ 44
Figure 39: Edit Group Dialog Box........................................................................................................... 44
Figure 40: Delete Group ........................................................................................................................ 45

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Figure 41: Delete Multiple Groups ........................................................................................................ 45

Figure 42: New Tag ................................................................................................................................ 46
Figure 43: New Tag Dialog Box .............................................................................................................. 46
Figure 44: New Tag Block ...................................................................................................................... 48
Figure 45: New Tag Block Dialog Box .................................................................................................... 48
Figure 46: Edit Tag ................................................................................................................................. 49
Figure 47: Edit Tag Dialog Box ............................................................................................................... 50
Figure 48: Delete Tag............................................................................................................................. 50
Figure 49: Delete Multiple Tags ............................................................................................................ 50
Figure 50: Display Tags of Selected Groups .......................................................................................... 51
Figure 51: Display Tags of a Selected Device......................................................................................... 51
Figure 52: Save File As Dialog Box ......................................................................................................... 52
Figure 53: Configuration File Example .................................................................................................. 57
Figure 54: OPC Server for Modbus Log Messages................................................................................. 58
Figure 55: OPC DA Client Connected to the OPC Server for Modbus ................................................... 60
Figure 56: OPC Server for Modbus Service Administrator LogON ........................................................ 61
Figure 57: Open License Authorization Tool ......................................................................................... 62
Figure 58: Demo License Expired .......................................................................................................... 62
Figure 59: Activate License .................................................................................................................... 63
Figure 60: OPC Server for Modbus Service Properties .......................................................................... 64

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TABLE OF TABLES

Table 1: Supported OPC DA Interfaces .................................................................................................. 10

Table 2: OPC Server for Modbus Registry Entries ................................................................................. 21
Table 3: Settings .................................................................................................................................... 26
Table 4: COM Port Settings Parameters ................................................................................................ 32
Table 5: TCP/IP Device Connection Parameters .................................................................................... 33
Table 6: Serial Device Connection Parameters ..................................................................................... 35
Table 7: Device Data Access Parameters............................................................................................... 37
Table 8: Device Swapping Mode Parameters ........................................................................................ 38
Table 9: Auto-Demotion Parameters .................................................................................................... 39
Table 10: Device Block Sizes Parameters .............................................................................................. 40
Table 11: Device Error Handling Parameters ........................................................................................ 40
Table 12: Tag Parameters ...................................................................................................................... 47
Table 13: Location Type......................................................................................................................... 47
Table 14: Tag Block Properties .............................................................................................................. 49
Table 15: COM Port Configuration Section Format............................................................................... 53
Table 16: Devices Configuration Section Format .................................................................................. 55
Table 17: Tags Configuration Section Format ....................................................................................... 56
Table 18: Modbus Response Exceptions ............................................................................................... 59

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PREFACE

About this User Guide

This guide:
 Describes the main features of Integration Objects’ OPC Server for Modbus,
 Lists the system requirements for installing and running the OPC Server for Modbus,
 Explains how to use and run this OPC server,
 Describes how to connect to the server using an OPC DA client.

Target Audience
This document is intended for users that are looking for applications providing standard OPC
DA (Data Access) connectivity to Modbus devices. Knowledge of the basics of OPC DA
specification is assumed. It is also expected that you have some prior knowledge of the
Modbus protocol.

Document Conventions
Convention Description

Bold Click/selection action required

Information to be noted

Blue bold italics Reference to other sections, or to other

Integration Objects user guides

Customer Support Services

Phone Email

Americas: Support:
+1 713 609 9208 [email protected]
Sales:
Europe-Africa-Middle East
+216 71 195 360 [email protected]
Online:
www.integrationobjects.com

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INTRODUCTION

1. Overview
Integration Objects’ OPC Server for Modbus is an OPC Server software designed to provide
an OPC DA standard interface to Modbus compliant devices such as PLC, RTU and DCS. It
establishes connection with one or more Modbus devices via TCP/IP or Serial protocol in
order to collect data in real-time.

2. System Architecture
This OPC Server reads and updates data from/to devices such as RTU, PLC, and DCS. It
can be accessed locally or remotely via DCOM by any OPC DA compliant client.

The following figure illustrates the client/server architecture and demonstrates the interaction
between the OPC DA clients, the OPC Server for Modbus and the various Modbus-
communicating devices.

Figure 1: System Architecture

This OPC server can collect data from Modbus devices via the Modbus TCP or Serial
protocol and expose those data to OPC DA Clients.

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3. Features
This section details the features offered by this OPC server including OPC DA server
configuration.
 Intuitive user interface for Modbus tags configuration
The OPC Server for Modbus offers an intuitive graphical user interface to configure
the tags. This configuration will be saved in a CSV file and will be loaded at the next
OPC server startup. After startup, the server loads the configuration file to create tags
and build its address space. The server will then map the Modbus addresses with the
OPC tags.
 Tags configuration per blocks
 Support of multiple OPC DA client connections
 Support of multiple Modbus TCP devices connections
 Support of multiple Modbus Serial devices connections
 Automatic reconnection to the configured Modbus TCP devices after network glitches
 Windows service capability allowing automatic restart after the restart of the host
machine
 Traceability of events using log files and viewer
 Comprehensive OPC data access capabilities: This OPC server allows OPC DA
Clients to retrieve in real-time the preconfigured Modbus slave devices addresses
values.
The following are the current supported OPC DA interfaces:
Object Interface Supported

IUnknown Yes

IOPCCommon Yes

IOPCServer Yes
OPC DA Server
IConnectionPointContainer Yes

IOPCBrowseServerAddressSpace Yes
(Optional)

IOPCItemProperties Yes

IUnknown Yes

IOPCItemMgt Yes

OPC DA Group IOPCGroupStateMgt Yes

IOPCPublicGroupStateMgt (Optional) Yes

IOPCSyncIO Yes

IOPCAsyncIO Yes

Table 1: Supported OPC DA Interfaces

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4. OPC Compatibility
Integration Objects’ OPC Server for Modbus implements OPC Data Access specification
version 2.05 and 3.0.

5. Operating Systems Compatibility

This application was successfully installed and executed under the following operating
systems:
 Windows Seven
 Windows Server 2008
 Windows 8
 Windows Server 2012
 Windows 10
 Window Server 2016

6. System Requirements
The following are the minimum requirements to run the OPC Server for Modbus:

 Processor: 1 GHz (higher recommended)

 RAM: 512 MB (higher recommended)
 Disk Space: 100 MB hard disk space for full installation Required OPC DLLs
(described in more details in the next chapter)
 An OPC DA client compliant with OPC DA 2.05 standard
 Modbus Slave Simulators or Devices
 .NET Framework version 4.5 or higher
Click here if you need to download a client application or here for free OPC test
clients download.

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GETTING STARTED

1. Pre-Installation Considerations
In order to properly run the OPC Server for Modbus, the following software components need
to be installed on the target system:
 The OPC core components 3.00 which consists of all shared OPC modules
including the DCOM proxy/stub libraries, the OPC Server Enumerator, .NET
wrappers, etc.
 .NET framework version 4.5 or higher.

Make sure there is no firewall or antivirus blocking the application.

2. Installing OPC Server

To install the OPC Server for Modbus:

1. Double-click on the Integration Objects’ OPC Server for Modbus installation package.

The installation welcome dialog box will appear.

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Figure 2: Installation Welcome Dialog Box

2. Click the Next button. The license agreement will be displayed

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Figure 3: License Agreement Dialog Box

3. After reading the license agreement, select the first option and click the Next button. By
proceeding, you are accepting all of the license agreement terms. Otherwise, you can
cancel the installation. The customer information dialog box will then appear.

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Figure 4: Customer Information Dialog Box

4. Enter the user name and the company name and then click the Next button. The dialog
box for selecting the destination folder will be displayed.

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Figure 5: Setup Type Dialog

5. If you choose the Complete setup type, all features will be installed.
If you choose Custom setup type, the following dialog will be displayed and you will need
to check the specific features that you want to install:

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Figure 6: Features Dialog

6. After selecting the features to be installed, the dialog box for choosing the destination
folder will be displayed.

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Figure 7: Choose Destination Folder Dialog Box

7. Click the Next button to continue the installation, or the Browse button to choose a
different destination folder. The installation dialog box will then appear.

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Figure 8: Installation Dialog Box

8. Click the Install button to start installation.

The setup will then:
 Copy the necessary files to the selected target folder,
 Create shortcut icons to launch the OPC Server for Modbus and license
authorization program from the start menu and the desktop,
 Make an un-installation entry in the Programs and Features in the Control Panel.

9. Click the finish button.

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Figure 9: Installation Completed Dialog Box

3. Starting-up
The OPC Server for Modbus service is started automatically with the host machine restart. It
can be started and stopped manually from the Windows services manager or from the OPC
Server for Modbus user interface. This user interface can be launched from the start menu
shortcut.

To do so, click on Start  Programs  Integration Objects  OPC Server for Modbus 
OPC Server for Modbus

Figure 10: Launch the OPC Server for Modbus User Interface

The server can also be activated dynamically when an OPC DA client is connecting to it.

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If the server is not currently running, COM will automatically launch it at the first OPC client
connection.

4. Server Registration
In compliance with the OPC and COM specifications, the OPC Server for Modbus creates
the following registry entries under HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT when installed on the target
system. These entries will be removed when the server is uninstalled.

Registry Entry Description

IntegrationObjects.OPC.Modbus.1 Integration Objects’ OPC Server for Modbus;
http://www.integrationobjects.com

IntegrationObjects.OPC.Modbus.1\C {CLSID} =
LSID
{ 66A0F806-7490-46CB-A3D5-40EC8C9F80DF }

CLSID\{CLSID} Integration Objects’ OPC Server for Modbus;

http://www.integrationobjects.com

CLSID\{CLSID}\AppID {CLSID}

CLSID\{CLSID}\ProgID IntegrationObjects.OPC.Modbus.1

Table 2: OPC Server for Modbus Registry Entries

5. Removing the OPC Server

You can remove the server from your machine by clicking the Uninstaller shortcut from the
start menu.

Figure 11: Start Menu – Uninstaller Shortcut

This OPC Server can also be removed manually as follows:

1. Click on the Start Menu
2. Select the Settings
3. Click on the Control panel
4. In the Add/Remove programs dialog box, select “Integration Objects’ OPC Server for
Modbus”
5. Click the Change/Remove button and then OK

If you are using Windows 10, Windows Server 2012 or Windows Server 2016 operating
systems, the uninstaller needs to be run from the start menu as illustrated below.

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Figure 12: Windows 10 Startup Menu - Uninstall Shortcut

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USING OPC SERVER FOR MODBUS

In this section, you will find an overview of the OPC Server for Modbus user interface as well
as the steps required to configure and use the application.

1. User Interface Overview

Users can configure the OPC Server for Modbus with an intuitive graphical user Interface.

Figure 13: OPC Server for Modbus – Main Interface

The main user interface includes four main sections:

 Menu bar (1): contains the file menu, the server menu, the settings menu and the
help menu.
 Server address space tree view (2): allows to configure the OPC Server address
space.
 Tag & Device properties display (3): The Tag Tab displays the tags’ properties
selected from the server address space tree view and the device tab displays the
selected device properties.
 Server status summary (4): displays server status (running or suspended), the
number of connected clients, the number of created groups, the number of created
items and the last updated time.

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 Log messages (5): displays the log messages including the Modbus requests and
responses exception messages.

2. File Menu

Figure 14: File Menu

Using the File menu, you can:

 Create new configuration by clicking on New,

 Open an existing configuration by clicking on Open and selecting the
appropriate CSV configuration file,
 Save your current configuration by clicking on Save or Save As,
 Close the application by clicking the Exit button.

3. OPC Server Menu

The OPC Server is registered automatically during the installation. The end user can also
use the OPC Server menu in the user interface to manually register and unregister the
server.

In the same OPC Server menu, you can start and stop the OPC Server for Modbus service
by using the right buttons.

Figure 15: OPC Server Menu

4. Settings Menu
Using the Settings menu, you can:
 Define the default configuration that will be loaded automatically when you restart
the server.
 Remove the default configuration,

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 Set up the configuration parameters through the displayed window when you click on
the "Configuration" button.
 Select the style of the graphical user interface, which is set by default to
“Office2007Blue”.
 Configure the server setting when clicking the Configure button

Figure 16: Settings Menu

When the user clicks the Configure button, the window below will be prompted:

Figure 17: Settings Configuration Windows

In this window, you can configure the following parameters:

Parameter Description Default Value

The frequency at which the 500 ms (milliseconds)
Server Rate
server handles the
asynchronous reads/updates
Check device status The frequency at which the 60 000 ms
server will check the device

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period connection status

Default configuration The full path of the server CSV Empty

file configuration file

Log Configuration for both Application & Service

Auto append Set to true to continue writing True
log messages in the existed
log file or to false to create a
new file.
Buffer size The maximum number of 200
messages to be stored in the
runtime memory before
launching writes action in the
hard disk. It must be greater
than 100.
File extension The log file extension log

File max size The maximum size of the log 10 Mb

file (in Mb)
File name The log file name  LogServerforModBus
GUI: log file of the
configuration user
interface
 LogServerforModBus
Service: log file of the
service

Folder path The application folder path Installation Folder

Level The type of log messages to Error

be logged. The value can be
Control, Error, Warning, Inform,
and Debug.

Maximum files Maximum number of files 5

Auto save timeout Time to wait to read all 10

messages from the buffer
Table 3: Settings

5. Server Configuration
The Server address space can be configured from the tree view at the left side from the main
interface.

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Figure 18: OPC Server for Modbus Address Space Tree View

The sections below describe how to add, edit and delete Modbus devices and tags.

5.1. ADD DEVICE

Right click on the Address Space node, select New Device as illustrated below.

Figure 19: Add a New Device

Then, the following dialog screen will appear as shown below:

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Figure 20: Add New Device Wizard

 Step 1: Connection Parameters
Click the Next button. The following window will be displayed:

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Figure 21: Select Device Connection Configuration

Depending on the selected features during the installation, you can configure the
communication with the following Modbus devices types:
 TCP/IP Modbus Device
 Serial Modbus Device
You will then configure the port with reference to the selected type.
 For the Modbus TCP/IP protocol, enter the listening TCP port reserved for the
Modbus device communications. The default value is 502.

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Figure 22: Select the TCP/IP Listening Modbus Port

For the Modbus serial protocol, Click on the Port Settings button as shown below:

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Figure 23: Select the Serial COM Modbus Port

Figure 24: Select the COM Port Settings

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The table below summarizes the parameters to configure the serial COM port:

Parameter Description

Port ID The port ID

Baud Rate The baud rate to be used to configure the com port

Data Bits The number of data bits per data word

Parity The type of parity for the data

Stop Bits The number of stop bits per data word

Flow Control Defines how the RTS and DTR control lines are used

Read Timeout The read timeout

Write Timeout The write timeout

Table 4: COM Port Settings Parameters

After choosing the device type, enter the connection parameters.

Figure 25: Select the TCP/IP Device Connection Parameters

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Parameter Description

Name The device name

IP Address The Modbus device IP address

Slave Identifier The Identifier of the slave device

Connection Timeout The waiting period for an unresponsive server

The allowed timeouts number when the server does not

Timeout Number
respond
The amount of seconds that the OPC Server will wait
before setting the OPC Tag quality to bad
Request Timeout

The allowed request timeouts number before starting the

Request Timeouts
Number reconnection procedure to the device

 When unchecked, it means that the diagnostics

function will be used to check the device
communication status.
Disable Diagnostics
 When checked, it means that the diagnostics function
will not be used to check the device communication
status

Table 5: TCP/IP Device Connection Parameters

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Figure 26: Select the Serial Device Connection Parameters

Parameter Description

Name The device name

COM Port The serial communication port

Slave Identifier The Identifier of the slave device

Connection Timeout The waiting period for an unresponsive server

The allowed timeouts number when the server does not

Timeout Number
respond
The amount of seconds that the OPC Server will wait
before setting the OPC Tag quality to bad
Request Timeout

The allowed request timeouts number before starting the

Request Timeouts
Number reconnection procedure to the device

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The transmission mode. It can be either the RTU mode or

Transmission Mode the ASCII mode

 When unchecked, it means that the diagnostics

function will be used to check the device
communication status.
Disable Diagnostics
 When checked, it means that the diagnostics function
will not be used to check the device communication
status

Table 6: Serial Device Connection Parameters

You can test the availability of the Modbus Device by clicking on the Test Connection
button. If the Modbus device is available, a message box will be displayed:

Figure 27: Test Connection with Modbus Device

Step 2: Data Access and Swapping Mode Configuration

Once the device connection parameters are configured, click the Next button and the
following window will be displayed.

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Figure 28: Select Device Data Access & Swapping Mode Parameters
The data access parameters are described in the below table:

Parameter Description

 False (unchecked):The Modbus device address

numbering starts at 1 which makes the starting
address sent in the Modbus frames request will have
Use zero based bit one subtracted.
addressing  True (checked): The Modbus device address
numbering starts at 0 and the starting address
included in the Modbus frame request will remain the
same.

This option is used with bits within registers

Use zero based bit referenced as Boolean
addressing within  False (unchecked): The first bit within register begins
registers at one
 True (checked): The first bit within register begins at

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zero

This option is used to write in a bit within register

using the Boolean data type with holding registers.
Use holding register  False (unchecked): The OPC Server will use a read
bit mask writes /Write operation to update the bit of interest.
 True (checked): The OPC Server will use function 22
to update the bit of interest.

This option is related to 32 bits and 64 bits OPC tags.

Use write single
 False (unchecked): The OPC Server will use the
register function to
function 16 to write to multiple registers.
write to multiple
registers  True (checked): The OPC Server will use function 06
to write into multiple registers.

 False (unchecked): The OPC Server will use the

Use write single coil function 15 to write to multiple coils.
function to write to
multiple coils  True (checked): The OPC Server will use function 05
to write into multiple coils.

This check box determines how floating points and long

integer values are handled:
 When unchecked, it means that the Modbus device
32 bit Registers
allocates two 16 bit registers for containing a floating
Addressing Mode
point or long integer value.
 When checked, it means that the device allocates one
32 bit register for the value.

 When unchecked, it means that the asynchronous

communication will be used read/write data from/to
Modbus device
Enable synchronous
communication  When checked, it means that the synchronous
communication will be used read/write data from/to
Modbus device

Table 7: Device Data Access Parameters

You can also select the swapping mode with reference to the below description:

Parameter Description

 False (unchecked): Higher dword is sent/received first

for double values.
DWord Swap
 True (checked): Lower dword is sent/received first for
double values.

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 False (unchecked): Higher word is sent/received first

for long, unsigned long or float values.
Word Swap
 True (checked): Lower word is sent/received first for
long, unsigned long or float values.

 False (unchecked): Higher byte is sent/received first

for integer, unsigned integer, long, unsigned long or
float values.
Byte Swap
 True (checked): Lower byte is sent/received first for
integer, unsigned integer, long, unsigned long or float
values.

 False (unchecked): Higher bit is sent/received first for

Boolean, integer, unsigned integer, long, unsigned
long or float values.
Modicon Bit Ordering
 True (checked): Lower bit is sent/received first for
Boolean, integer, unsigned integer, long, unsigned
long or float values.

Table 8: Device Swapping Mode Parameters

Step 3: Auto-demotion, Block Sizes and Error Handling

After configuring the device data access and swapping mode, click the Next button and the
following window will be displayed.

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Figure 29: Select Communication Failure Handling Parameters

In addition to the connection parameters, the communication failure is also handled using the
Auto-Demotion, the block sizes and the error handling parameters.
Below are the descriptions of each option:

Parameter Description

Enable auto device When checked, This option allows to demote a device
demotion on for a specific period of time when communication
communication failures reaches an already configured limited number.
failures

The number of successive failures before demoting

Failures Number
the device

During this period ,no read request will be sent to the

Demotion Period
device

Discard write requests When checked, no write request will be sent to the
during the demotion device during the demotion period
period

Table 9: Auto-Demotion Parameters

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Parameter Description

Specifies the number of output coils in the Modbus

Output Coils
frame requests

Specifies the number of input coils in the Modbus

Input Coils
frame requests

Specifies the number of output registers in the

Input Registers
Modbus frame requests

Specifies the number of input registers in the Modbus

Holding Registers
frame requests

Table 10: Device Block Sizes Parameters

After updating the block size properties, you need to restart the service so the changes take
effects.

Parameter Description

 False (unchecked): When illegal data address error is

occurred with a block addresses. The OPC Server
remains sending read requests to the Modbus device
Deactivate tags on
illegal address  True (checked): When illegal data address error is
exception occurred with a block addresses. The OPC Server
stops sending read requests to the Modbus device

Table 11: Device Error Handling Parameters

Step 4: Click the Finish button and the device will be then added to tree view.

5.2. EDIT DEVICE

You can edit the device configuration parameters by right clicking on its node and selecting
the Edit option from the displayed menu.

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Figure 30: Edit Device

Then, the Edit Device dialog box will be displayed as illustrated below:

Figure 31: Edit Serial Device Dialog Box

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Figure 32: Edit TCP/IP Device Dialog Box

5.3. DELETE DEVICE

You can remove the selected device by right clicking on its node and selecting on the Delete
option from the displayed menu.

Figure 33: Delete Device

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You can also delete multiple devices simultaneously by selecting the devices to be deleted or
clicking the Delete All Devices option to remove all the devices. To select multiple devices
in the address space tree, use the Shift or Ctrl keys.

Figure 34: Delete Multiple Devices

Figure 35: Delete All Devices

5.4. ADD GROUP

You can add groups under the device node in order to build hierarchal organization of the
server address space. A group belongs to a device and contains one or more OPC tags. It
can also contain other sub-groups.
Right click on the device node and then select the New Group option from the displayed
menu.

Figure 36: New Group

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Then, the New Group dialog box will be displayed as illustrated below. You can have to
specify the group name.

Figure 37: New Group Dialog Box

5.5. EDIT & REMOVE GROUP

You can edit the group name by right clicking on the group node and then select the Edit
option as shown in the following figure.

Figure 38: Edit Group

The Edit Group dialog box will be then displayed as below:

Figure 39: Edit Group Dialog Box

You can also remove the selected group by right clicking on its node and then selecting on
the Delete option from the displayed menu. The Group node and all its tags and subgroups
will be removed from the address space.

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Figure 40: Delete Group

The end user can delete multiple groups simultaneously by selecting the groups using the
Shift or Ctrl keys and clicking the Delete option available in the right click menu.

Figure 41: Delete Multiple Groups

5.6. ADD TAG

A tag can be added directly to a device (address space flat organization) or to a group. The
figure below shows how to add a new tag to a device or to a group of tags.

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Figure 42: New Tag

Once the New Tag option is selected, a dialog box will be displayed allowing the user to
configure the tag parameters.

Figure 43: New Tag Dialog Box

The table below summarizes the parameters to configure your tags:

Parameter Description

Name The tag name

The Modbus address type, which can be:

 Coils
Location Type  Discrete Inputs
 Holding Registers
 Input Registers

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Refer to the Location Type table for more details.

The address from where the data will be extracted or

Address
modified. The value should be between 1 and 65534.

This is enabled with Boolean tags whose address type is

Bit Range Holding Register or Input Register. It denotes the range of
a bit in one register.
The type of data, which can be:
 VT_I2: Variable type is 2-byte signed integer
 VT_I4: Variable type is 4-byte signed integer
 VT_R4: Variable type is 4-byte real
Data Type  VT_R8:Variable type is 8-byte double
 VT_UI2: Variable type is an unsigned integer
 VT_UI4: Variable type is an unsigned long
 VT_BSTR: Variable type is binary string
 VT_BOOL: Variable type is Boolean
Data Length The bytes number of the selected data type

The data access right, which can be read only or

Access Right
read/write

Table 12: Tag Parameters

Name Object Type Access Right Description

Coils Single bit Read-Write This type of data can be altered
by an application program.
Discrete Inputs Single bit Read-Only This type of data can be provided
by an I/O system.
Holding Registers 16-bit word Read-Write This type of data can be altered
by an application program.
Input Registers 16-bit word Read-Only This type of data can be provided
by an I/O system
Table 13: Location Type

5.7. ADD TAG PER BLOCK

You can add simultaneously multiple tags having the same location type and access right but
different addresses. Right click on the group or device node and then select the Add Tag
Block option.

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Figure 44: New Tag Block

The New Tag Block dialog box will be displayed as following:

Figure 45: New Tag Block Dialog Box

Parameter Description

Base Tag Name The pattern used to generate the name of the tags

The Modbus address type, which can be :

 Coils
 Discrete Inputs
Location Type  Holding Registers
 Input Registers
Refer to the Location Type table for more details.

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The address of the first tag. Its value should be between 1

Starting Address
and 65534.

Number of Tags The number of the tags to be added

The type of data, which can be:

 VT_I2: Variable type is 2-byte signed integer
 VT_I4: Variable type is 4-byte signed integer
Data Type  VT_R4: Variable type is 4-byte real
 VT_UI2: Variable type is an unsigned integer
 VT_UI4: Variable type is an unsigned long
 VT_BSTR: Variable type is binary string
 VT_BOOL: Variable type is Boolean
Data Length The bytes number of the selected data type

The data access right, which can be read only or

Access Right
read/write

Table 14: Tag Block Properties

5.8. EDIT TAG

You can update a tag configuration by clicking on the Edit option in the right click menu.

Figure 46: Edit Tag

The Edit Tag Dialog Box will be displayed as illustrated below:

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Figure 47: Edit Tag Dialog Box

5.9. DELETE TAG

You can delete a tag from the address space by clicking the Delete option in the right click
menu.

Figure 48: Delete Tag

You can delete more than one tag simultaneously by selecting the tags to be removed using
the Shift or Ctrl keys and then selecting the Delete option in the right click menu.

Figure 49: Delete Multiple Tags

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5.10. VIEW TAGS PROPERTIES

Click on the group, device or tag node in the address space tree view and the tags properties
will be displayed in the grid view on the right. In the figure below, we can see that only the
tags under the selected groups are displayed in the grid view.

Figure 50: Display Tags of Selected Groups

Figure 51: Display Tags of a Selected Device

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5.11. SAVE CONFIGURATION

Save your configuration using the Save As or Save button available in the file menu. The
Save File As dialog box is then displayed to choose the path where the configuration will be
saved.

Figure 52: Save File As Dialog Box

The configuration will be then saved in CSV file format. The configuration is divided into three
sections;
 COM port
 Devices
 Tags
The table below describes the fields of the COM port configuration section.

Field Description

1 Port ID The port ID

2 Baud Rate The baud rate to be used to configure the com port

3 Data Bits The number of data bits per data word

4 Parity The type of parity for the data

5 Stop Bits The number of stop bits per data word

6 Flow Control Defines how the RTS and DTR control lines are used

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7 Read Timeout The read timeout

8 Write Timeout The write timeout

Table 15: COM Port Configuration Section Format

The table below describes the fields of the devices configuration section.

Field Description

1 Type The device type (SERIAL/TCP)

2 Serial Port The serial com port ID

3 Device Name The device name

IP Address
4 The Modbus device IP address

5 Slave ID The Identifier of the slave device

6 Port The listening TCP port reserved for the Modbus device
communications. The default value is 502.
The waiting period for an unresponsive server
7 Connection
Timeout

8 Timeouts Nbr The allowed timeouts number when the server does not respond
The amount of seconds that the OPC Server will wait when
9 Request Timeout
using the diagnostics function to check the Modbus Device
availability.

10 In Coils Blck Size Specifies the number of input coils in the Modbus frame
requests

11 Out Coils Blck Specifies the number of output coils in the Modbus frame
Size requests

12 In Reg Blck Size Specifies the number of input registers in the Modbus frame
requests

13 H Reg Blck Size Specifies the number of output registers in the Modbus frame
requests

14 DWord Swap  False (unchecked): Higher dword is sent/received first for

double values.
 True (checked): Lower dword is sent/received first for double
values.

15 Word Swap  False (unchecked): Higher word is sent/received first for

long, unsigned long or float values.

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True (checked): Lower word is sent/received first for long,

unsigned long or float values.

16 Byte Swap  False (unchecked): Higher byte is sent/received first for

integer, unsigned integer, long, unsigned long or float
values.
 True (checked): Lower byte is sent/received first for integer,
unsigned integer, long, unsigned long or float values.

17 Bit Order  False (unchecked): Higher bit is sent/received first for

Boolean, integer, unsigned integer, long, unsigned long or
float values.
 True (checked): Lower bit is sent/received first for Boolean,
integer, unsigned integer, long, unsigned long or float
values.

18 Base Address  False (unchecked):The Modbus device address numbering

starts at 1 which makes the starting address sent in the
Modbus frames request will have one subtracted.
 True (checked): The Modbus device address numbering
starts at 0 and the starting address included in the Modbus
frame request will remain the same.

19 Reg Base This option is used with bits within registers referenced as
Address Boolean
 False (unchecked): The first bit within register begins at one
 True (checked): The first bit within register begins at zero

20 H Reg Bit Mask This option is used to write in a bit within register using the
Boolean data type with holding registers.
 False (unchecked): The OPC Server will use a read /Write
operation to update the bit of interest.
 True (checked): The OPC Server will use function 22 to
update the bit of interest.

21 Only Single Reg This option is related to 32 bits and 64 bits OPC tags.
Write
 False (unchecked): The OPC Server will use the function 16
to write to multiple registers.
 True (checked): The OPC Server will use function 06 to write
into multiple registers.

22 Only Single Coil  False (unchecked): The OPC Server will use the function 15
Write to write to multiple coils.
 True (checked): The OPC Server will use function 05 to write
into multiple registers.

23 Double Register This check box determines how floating points and long integer
values are handled:

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 When unchecked, it means that the Modbus device allocates

two 16 bit registers for containing a floating point or long
integer value.
 When checked, it means that the device allocates one 32 bit
register for the value.

24 Auto Demotion When checked, This option allows to demote a device for a
specific period of time when communication failures reaches an
already configured limited number.

25 Failures Nbr The number of successive failures before demoting the device

26 Demotion Period During this period ,no read request will be sent to the device

27 Discard Write When checked, no write request will be sent to the device during
the demotion period

28 Deactivate Tags  False (unchecked): When illegal data address error is

occurred with a block addresses. The OPC Server remains
sending read requests to the Modbus device
 True (checked): When illegal data address error is occurred
with a block addresses. The OPC Server stops sending read
requests to the Modbus device

29 Tr Mode The transmission mode (RTU/ASCII)

30  When unchecked, it means that the asynchronous

communication will be used read/write data from/to Modbus
Synchronous device
Enabled  When checked, it means that the synchronous
communication will be used read/write data from/to Modbus
device

31  When unchecked, it means that the diagnostics function will

Diagnostic be used to check the device communication status.
Enabled  When checked, it means that the diagnostics function will not
be used to check the device communication status

32 Request Timeout The allowed request timeouts number before starting the
Nbr reconnection procedure to the device

Table 16: Devices Configuration Section Format

The table below describes the fields of the tags configuration section.

Field Description

1 Device The device name

2 Group The group name

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3 Tag Name The tag name

4 AddressType The Modbus address type, which can be:

 Discrete Inputs
 Coils
 Input Registers
 Holding Registers
Refer to the Location Type table for more details.

5 Access Right The access right, which can be read only or read/write
VarType  The type of data, which can be:
6
 VT_I2
 VT_I4
 VT_R4
 VT_UI2
 VT_UI4
 VT_BSTR
 VT_BOOL
7 Address The address of the configured tag. The value should be
between 1 and 65534.

8 Bit Range It denotes the range of a bit in one register.

9 Data Length The Bytes number of the corresponding Var Type

10 Block ID It denotes the block index to which the tag is belonging. A

block represents a group of adjacent addresses sent and
received in one message.

Table 17: Tags Configuration Section Format

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Figure 53: Configuration File Example

After saving your configuration, you need to set the default configuration, which will be
loaded automatically at the OPC Server for Modbus Service start-up. To define a default
configuration, click the Define button available in the Settings Menu.

6. Errors Management
The OPC Server for Modbus handles both OPC and Modbus protocols related errors. All
errors are tracked in the service log file and in the log messages view in the graphical user
interface, as illustrated below:

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Figure 54: OPC Server for Modbus Log Messages

When sending the Modbus request to slave devices via the OPC Server for Modbus
exception responses may happen and error codes will be sent in the response message and
will be recorded in the software log file. These errors are described in the table below.

Code
Dec/Hex Name Meaning

01/0x01 Illegal Function The function code received in the query is not an allowable
action for the server (or slave). This may be because the
function code is only applicable to newer devices, and was
not implemented in the unit selected. It could also indicate
that the server (or slave) is in the wrong state to process a
request of this type, for example because it is not configured
and is being asked to return register values.

02/0x02 Illegal Data The data address received in the query is not an allowable
Address address for the server (or slave). More specifically, the
combination of reference number and transfer length is
invalid. For a controller with 100 registers a request of offset
96 and a length of 5 will generate exception 02.

03/0x03 Illegal Data The value contained in the query data field is not an allowable
Value value for the server (or slave). This indicates a fault in the
structure of the remainder of a complex request, such as that
the implied length being incorrect. It specifically does NOT

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mean that a data item, submitted for storage in a register, has

a value outside the expectation of the application program,
since the MODBUS protocol is unaware of the significance of
any particular value of any particular register.

04/0x04 Failure In An unrecoverable error occurred while the server (or slave)
Associated was attempting to perform the requested action.
Device

05/0x05 Acknowledge Specialized in conjunction with programming commands.

The server (or slave) has accepted the request and is

processing it, but long duration of time will be required to do
so. This response is returned to prevent a timeout error from
occurring in the client (or master). The client (or master) can
next issue a poll program complete message to determine if
processing is completed.

06/0x06 Busy, Rejected Specialized use in conjunction with programming commands.

Message
The server (or slave) is engaged in processing a long-
duration program command. The client (or master) should
retransmit the message later when the server (or slave) is
free.

10/0x0A Gateway Path Specialized use in conjunction with gateways.

Unavailable
It indicates that the gateway was unable to allocate an
internal communication path from the input port to the out port
for processing the request.

11/0x0B Gateway Specialized use in conjunction with gateways.

Target Device
Failed to It indicates that no response was obtained from the target
Respond device. Usually means that the device is not present on the
network.

Table 18: Modbus Response Exceptions

7. Connection to the OPC Server

Once the OPC Server is configured, the next step will be the connection to the OPC Server
and reading/writing data. To do so, you only need to:

1. Launch your OPC DA Client as administrator.

2. Enter the IP address of the machine where the OPC Server is installed
3. Connect to the OPC Server with the following progID:
“IntegrationObjects.OPC.ModBus.1”
4. Add a group and select the items to be read

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Figure 55: OPC DA Client Connected to the OPC Server for Modbus
In case the local connection to the OPC Server for Modbus failed due to an access deny you
need to follow the steps below:

1. Open the windows service manager

2. Select the Integration Objects’ OPC Server for Modbus Service.
3. Right click and select the Log on tab.
4. Check the “This account” radio button.
5. Enter your administrator account credentials as shown in the following figure:

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Figure 56: OPC Server for Modbus Service Administrator LogON

6. Click the OK button.

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TROUBLESHOOTING

Case 1: Cannot launch the OPC Server for Modbus

If you are using an evaluation license, you should first check the license validity by launching
the License Authorization tool. You can start it directly from the startup menu:

Figure 57: Open License Authorization Tool

If the License Authorization tool shows that the demo has expired and you want to activate it
using your full activation license, you should in this case follow the steps below:
1. Run the License Authorization tool using an administrator account

Figure 58: Demo License Expired

2. Choose the features you want to activate
3. Click the Generate button

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4. Copy and send the User ID to the sales team {[email protected]} so they
can generate the dedicated activation code.
5. Enter the given Activation Code

Figure 59: Activate License

6. Click the Register button

Case 2: Cannot start the OPC Server for Modbus Service?

In case the local connection to the OPC Server for Modbus failed due to an access deny you
need to follow the steps below:
1. Open the windows service manager
2. Select the Integration Objects’ OPC Server for Modbus Service.
3. Right click and select the Log On tab.
4. Check the “This account” radio button.
5. Enter your administrator account credentials as shown in the following figure:

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Figure 60: OPC Server for Modbus Service Properties

6. Click the OK button.

Case 3: The OPC Server ProgID cannot be displayed by the OPC Client.

In case the OPC Client is not able to display the server ProgID then you need to check the
following items:
 Make sure that the OPC Core Components are installed in your machine
 Make sure that a user with local administrative rights installs the OPC server so that it
is able to create the necessary entries in the registry.
 Ensure that the OPCEnum is registered as a service, DCOM permissions are
configured properly, and the OPCEnum service is running.
 Make sure that the client is running as a user that has read access to the registry

Case 4: Why does the connection to the TCP IP Modbus device fail?

In case the connection to the TCP\IP Modbus device fails, you need to check the following
items:
 The port is not locked by another Modbus master
 The IP address and the ID of the Modbus slave are correct

Case 5: Why does the connection to the serial Modbus device fail?

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In case the connection to the serial Modbus device fails, you need to check that The COM
port is not locked by another Modbus master.

Case 6: Why do the read/write from/to the serial Modbus device timeout?

In case the reads and writes time out, you need to check your configuration and make sure it
matches the configuration of your Modbus device for the following parameters:

 Device ID
 Device Transmission Mode
 COM Port Baud Rate
 COM Port Data Bit
 COM Port Parity
 COM Port Stop Bits
 COM Port Flow Control

Case 7: Why do I get wrong values from the Modbus device?

In case the reads and writes values are wrong, you need to check your configuration and
make sure that the data access settings and the swapping mode match the configuration of
your Modbus device.

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For additional information on this guide, questions or problems to report, please contact:

Offices
- Americas: +1 713 609 9208
- Europe-Africa-Middle East: +216 71 195 360

Email
- Support Services: [email protected]
- Sales: [email protected]

To find out how you can benefit from other Integration Objects products and custom-
designed solutions, please visit our website: www.integrationobjects.com

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