OMRON FINS Serial Communication Interface API

The DASTEC Corporation OMRON FINS Serial Communication Interface API allows the user to implement bi-directional communications to exchange data between applications running on a PC-based or embedded system with other peer devices supporting the OMRON FINS Serial protocol. The peer devices can be OMRON C, CV, CS1, CJ1 or CP1 PLC(s), other host computers or even other system applications using the API.

The OMRON FINS Serial Communication Interface API enables a system to acts as a client to other OMRON FINS peers, initiating read and write operations on behalf of the system applications. The API also allows the system to emulate an OMRON C, CV, CS1, CJ1 or CP1 PLC to respond to read and write requests and thus acts as a "virtual PLC" to other OMRON FINS Serial peers. The API is available for various combinations of operating systems and hardware platforms and can be used with C/C++ or Visual Basic.

The API consists of two component functionalities, client side and server side. The client side functionality is implemented with a single API library. Server side functionality is implemented with a library/executable pair. Together these components manage all aspects of the protocol and data exchange including responding to peers with proper acknowledgments, error/success codes and protocol data byte ordering. The system application need only to deal with the data values exchanged in native byte order. The user can employ either the API's client, server or both functionalities with minimal code implementation.

The OMRON FINS Serial Communication Interface API supports the following FINS protocol function commands:

  • Memory Area Read
  • Memory Area Write

Client API Functionality

To exchange data with OMRON PLCs via the Host Link Unit or port, a system application can initiate read and/or write operation(s) to peers by simply calling the client's library functions. The functions include the ability to create handle(s) for the peer device(s) and then using those handle(s) to call the clinet's library read and write functions. Operation results are returned directly to the calling application, as is data in the case of read operations.

Client API Supports:

  • Defining of multiple device(s) representing OMRON C, CV, CS1, CJ1 or CP1 peers.
  • Functions to read data from and write data to defined device(s).
  • Bit/Flag data can be read/written as packed bits or as bytes.
  • Word data can be read/written as 16-bit, 32-bit or as ASCII values.
  • Multiple user applications can use the client API simultaneously.

Server API Functionality

Using the server executable program provided as part of the API, a system can appear as a OMRON FINS Serial device (C, CV, CS1, CJ1 or CP1 PLC) on the network. By managing all OMRON FINS Serial communication operations, the server executable receives and responds to both read and write requests from peer devices. Data written by peers is stored into separate databases maintained by the server executable for each OMRON memory areas (CIO and DM). The data received is stored in the byte order appropriate for the system's processor. The data for read requests received from peers is retrieved and returned from these databases as well.

No user programming is required for the system to act in this server mode. Peers can read and write to the system as if it were a OMRON FINS PLC with no user application programs running. Applications have access to the server's databases indirectly through specific API library functions calls or directly via shared memory access. In this way, the user applications obtain data written from peers and can update the system's "virtual PLC's" data so that peers can retrieve it.

Server API Supports:

  • OMRON Memory Areas: CIO and DM. A separate database is maintained for each memory area.
  • Adjustable database sizes.
  • Access to databases via function calls and/or through shared memory.
  • Multiple user applications can access the server databases simultaneously.

Specifications:

  • Supported OMRON FINS protocol commands:
    • Memory Area Read
    • Memory Area Write
  • Supports multiple, multi-thread user applications simultaneously
  • Client API Supports
    • Defining of multiple device(s) representing OMRON C, CV, CS1, CJ1 or CP1 peers.
    • Read data from and write data to defined device(s) via different function calls.
    • OMRON Memory Area: Auxiliary (A), Action (AC), Auxiliary Relay (AR), CIO, Counter (CNT), DM, Data Register (DR), Expansion DM (E), CPU Bus Link (G), Holding Relay (HR), Index Register (IR), Link Relay (LR), Step (ST), Timer (TIM), Temp Relay (TR) and Work (W).
    • Bit/Flag data can be read/written as packed bits or as bytes.
    • Word data can be read/written as 16-bit, 32-bit or as ASCII values.
    • Multiple user applications can use the client API simultaneously.
  • Server API Supports:
    • o OMRON Memory Areas: CIO and DM.
    • Separate databases maintained for each memory area.
    • Adjustable database sizes: 0 - 65536 (1000 default).
    • CIO data can be exchanged as packed bits or as bytes.
    • DM data can be exchanged as 16-bit, 32-bit or as ASCII values.
    • Access to databases by multiple applications.
    • Access to databases via function calls or through shared memory.

Ordering Information

Product Name:

OMRON FINS Serial Communication Interface API

Supported Platforms Part Numbers:

Platform Part Number
.NET/.NETCF NET-OMRNFINSAPI
Contact DASTEC about other supported platforms or to inquire about supporting other platforms.