Software Toolbox Technical Blog

When working with Modbus communication, understanding the key concept of function codes is essential for ensuring efficient and accurate data exchange. Sometimes a device manual might only refer to the supported Modbus function codes and the range of offsets available for those function codes. A solid understanding of function codes is critical in achieving optimized performance and resolving potential communication issues.

After reading this blog, you'll know how you can leverage TOP Server’s Modbus driver to automatically handle the appropriate function codes for your application – while also taking advantage of its flexibility and other advanced features – to enhance performance, ensure compatibility with your devices, and reduce troubleshooting time.

When you hear "EFM data", you probably think of well-known Oil & Gas devices like ABB TotalFlow, Fisher ROC, or OMNI Flow and their native protocols, or perhaps Enron Modbus. However, the Oil & Gas industry is quickly embracing the DNP3 protocol for its speed and security in pipeline monitoring.

Current generation Emerson devices, like the FB1000 and FB2000 Series Flow Computers or FB3000 RTUs, support secure DNP3, which is the recommended protocol by Emerson. But how can you extract both real-time data as well as EFM alarm, event and flow history data from them? Don’t worry, we’ve got you covered! 

In this blog, you’ll learn about the powerful capabilities of the DNP3 protocol and how you can use the TOP Server DNP3 Driver and Software Toolbox EFM Exporter for Emerson FB Automation Platform together to efficiently and accurately provide automated, scheduled liquid and gas real-time and accounting data retrieval from your Emerson Devices and export that EFM data to the FLOWCAL CFX format.

When working with Modbus devices and TOP Server, one critical factor that can significantly influence communication efficiency is the concept of block sizes. Optimizing block sizes for your application ensures smooth data transfer between your Modbus device and TOP Server, improving overall system performance.

In this blog, we’ll talk about what Modbus block sizes are, why they matter, and how to configure them effectively in TOP Server for the best results. We’ll also cover what happens when a block request includes non-contiguous addresses or undefined memory, causing potential issues with valid data. Additionally, it is important to note that other drivers/protocols may utilize block sizes as well, so these concepts could apply to other protocols beyond just Modbus.

Risk is often defined as the likelihood that something will occur multiplied by the impact it would have. In the world of automation, some of those possible impacts are unexpected downtime, loss of data, theft of information, damage to people and products, and inaccurate data – not to mention the fines and penalties when government regulations are not met.

At Software Toolbox, we understand that data availability, integrity, and confidentiality are of the utmost importance. As the adoption of IIoT grows, so does network exposure, increasing the likelihood of potential security issues. Implementing safe protocols and practices are essential to mitigating these risks.

Software Toolbox has provided AVEVA™ (formerly Wonderware) users, integrators, OEMs, and channel partners in over 100 countries with best-in-class connectivity solutions since 1996. Many of you will be familiar with our TOP Server for AVEVA that offers a wide range of device connectivity options and client interfaces such as SuiteLink, OPC DA, and OPC UA. While TOP Server is known for its extensive list of driver options that allow for connectivity to thousands of device types, they are only part of how TOP Server helps with integrating your industrial data with AVEVA software. How does the device data actually make its way into AVEVA?

In this video blog, we'll show you how to make a basic connection from AVEVA InTouch to TOP Server using SuiteLink, a communications protocol that runs over TCP/IP at the application layer, created by Wonderware to succeed FastDDE in the mid-1990's. Unlike OPC DA, SuiteLink doesn’t rely on COM or DCOM technology, making SuiteLink a common choice for remote connectivity to Software Toolbox solutions. With an integrated SuiteLink interface, no OI Gateway or FSGateway is required to get your InTouch application connected to a wide range of additional device types.

The TOP Server^® from Software Toolbox and KEPServerEX^® from the Kepware division of PTC^® are well known connectivity solutions for extracting industrial automation data from PLCs and other devices, and integrating that data with virtually any HMI, SCADA, MES, Historian, or database on the market. These products have a global installed base serving sophisticated users across every industry imaginable.

Welcome to the next installment of our Data Storage Deep Dive series! For years, Software Toolbox has been synonymous with terms like “device connectivity” and “data integration” thanks to our variety of connectivity solutions that help collect real-time data for all your industrial automation operations. Beyond just real-time data, our team recognizes the value of historical data within the industry, and we aim to help businesses make larger data backed decisions over time.

Welcome to the kickoff post of our Data Storage Deep Dive blog series! In this series, we will explore the crucial role of data storage solutions and Historians in industrial automation. Over the coming weeks, we’ll be looking into how solutions delivered by Software Toolbox can be utilized with Historians, helping you make the most of your industrial data.