Virtual device
How to set up your virtual device
Virtual data points can be created by using a virtual device. These can be used in the context of the following application examples:
- Saving the result of a SoftPLC data processing task in an independent data point
- Support for complex conversion types (weekly timer, time, date)
- Providing data storage when using the APIs
By clicking on the icon, a new virtual device can be entered.
| Property | Description |
|---|---|
| Protocol type | Select Virtual Device |
| Name | Enter the name of the device |
| Description | Specify the description of the device |
| Labels | Labels of the device |
Actions
The setup of the virtual devices allows a number of possible actions.
| Action | Description |
|---|---|
| Edit end device settings | |
| Export data points (if data points are available) | |
| Import data points (if no data points are available) | |
| Remove device (if no data points are recorded) |
Data points
For collecting a new device data point, also click on the corresponding icon.
| Property | Description |
|---|---|
| writeable | When activated, values can be written to this data point |
| asynchronous | Read and write operations are executed asynchronously on this data point. Can be helpful for data processing in the SoftPLC with asynchronous protocols (MQTT, KNX) |
| Data point | Enter the name of the data point |
| Description | Specify the description of the data point |
| Data type | Select the data type (B1, U8, V8, U16, V16, F16, U32, V32, F32) |
| Conversion | If necessary, convert your values (e.g. the temperature in °C, with one digit after the decimal point) |
| Unit | If desired, specify the units in the LaTeX format (e.g. ^\circ C for °C) |
When using the U32 data type, additional conversion types are available:
| Conversion | Use |
|---|---|
| Time | Data point for time specification |
| Date | Data point for date specification |
| Date and time | Data point for date and time |
| Weekly timer | Data point for weekly timer, which can be processed in the SoftPLC |
Actions
The setup of the data point allows a number of possible actions.
| Action | Description |
|---|---|
| Edit data point settings | |
| Edit Smart UI settings | |
| Show trend data point | |
| Write data point (if writeable) | |
| Duplicate data point | |
| Remove data point |