Automations in ModbusPal

The registers and coils defined in the slaves of the project will become dynamic by binding them to value generators, called automations. Using automations will turn simple projects into realistic simulations.

Overview

An automation is made of a succession of generators. Each generator is a formula that produces a dynamic value. A generator is executed for a limited duration, and then the next generator is used to continue producing the dynamic value.

For example, consider the following requirements: A specification for an automation The above graph is made of 3 segments. It can be simulated by using 3 linear generators: Implementation graph Additionally, the Loop option can be enabled so that the automation restarts from the beginning when its end is reached. Otherwise, it would stop.

Creating an automation

Clicking on the Add button in the Automation panel creates a new automation in the current project. The new automation is instantly added into the list. It contains no generator, and thus cannot generate a dynamic value, yet. View of an automation panel

Automation’s name

It is very important that each automation in the project has a unique name. The name of the automation is what ModbusPal uses to create the association with the registers/coils of the MODBUS slaves.

The name of the automation can be changed, but if the new name is identical to the name of another existing automation, an error message will appear.

Editing an automation

Click on the Show button to open the automation editor. Information about how to edit an automation can be found in this page.

Delete automation

Clicking on the Delete button will remove an automation from the current project.

Note

Any association between the removed automation and the MODBUS slaves will also be deleted.

Binding automation

Bindings are required to associate automations and MODBUS slaves. Refer to the information on this page to learn about bindings and how to create them.

Executing automations

When a project file is loaded, or when new automations are created, automations are stopped and do not generate dynamic values. They have to be started.

An automation is started by clicking on its Start button. It will stop automatically when its finished generating values, except if the Loop option has been activated in the editor. An automation can be stopped at any time by clicking on the Stop button.

All automations can be started and stopped at once by clicking on the Start all or the Stop all buttons.