Beckhoff.TwinCAT.Ads.TcpRouter 5.0.0-preview1

Description

The package 'Beckhoff.TwinCAT.Ads.TcpRouter' implements a lean TCP ADS Router class to use on systems where no standard TwinCAT router is established or available.

It is running in UserMode only (no realtime characteristics) and contains no further functionality than distributing the ADS Frames (e.g. no Port 10000, no ADS Secure). It is just used to route ADS frames locally between AdsServers and to/from remote ADS devices.

Implemented in asynchronous .NET Code it can be run in your own services/daemon, as standalone console application and also in your customized application.

Requirements

• .NET Core 3.0, .NET Framework 4.8 or .NET Standard 2.0 compatible SDK (included in VS2019 16.3)
• No other System allocating the same port (e.g. a regular TwinCAT installation)
• Installed Nuget package manager or Dotnet CLI

Installation

Together with the package deployment, there comes a "StaticRoutes.xml" file. This file is loaded by the 'TwinCAT.Ads.TcpRouter.AmsTcpIpRouter' class and must contain the Local AmsNetId (can be chosen, but must be unique) and the RemoteConnections that will be available from the outside.

An example of the local "StaticRoutes.xml" is given here:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<TcConfig xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance" xsi:noNamespaceSchemaLocation="C:\TwinCAT3\Config\TcConfig.xsd">
  <Local>
      <Name>MyLocalSystem</Name>
      <NetId>192.168.1.22.1.1</NetId> 
  </Local>
  <RemoteConnections>
    <Route>
      <Name>MyRemoteSystem</Name>
      <Address>RemoteSytem</Address> 
       
      <NetId>192.168.1.21.1.1</NetId>
      <Type>TCP_IP</Type>
    </Route>
  </RemoteConnections>
</TcConfig>

This file must be edited to configure the ADS Router. It is not reloaded during the runtime of the 'TwinCAT.Ads.TcpRouter.AmsTcpIpRouter' class.

To enable ADS Communication, the following settings have to be made:

• Select the Local AmsNetId and the Route Name of the System in the local "StaticRoutes.xml"
• Add Remote Connections to the local StaticRoutes
• Add the "Backroute" from the Remote system linking to the our system (via AmsNETId) running the AdsRouteConsole. This can be done via SystemManager / SystemService System Tray or 'StaticRoutes.xml' on the remote systems.

First Steps

Example of starting the TcpIpRouter from a simple Console application with logging.

using System;
using System.Diagnostics;
using System.Threading;
using System.Threading.Tasks;
using Microsoft.Extensions.Logging;
using TwinCAT.Ads.TcpRouter;

namespace TwinCAT.Ads.AdsRouterConsole
{
    class Program
    {
        static void Main(string[] args)
        {
            // Run the TcpIP Router on a background thread.
            Task.Run(async () =>
                {
                    try
                    {
                        await MainAsync(args);
                    }
                    catch (Exception ex)
                    {
                        Console.WriteLine("Error: " + ex.Message);
                    }
                }
            );

            Console.WriteLine("Press Enter to stop Server");
            Console.ReadLine();
            Console.WriteLine("Stopping!");
            StopMain();
            Console.WriteLine("Server Stopped! Enter to exit.");
            Console.ReadLine();
        }

        /// <summary>
        /// The router object
        /// </summary>
        static AmsTcpIpRouter s_router = null;

        /// <summary>
        /// Cancellation source
        /// </summary>
        static CancellationTokenSource s_cancel = null;

        /// <summary>
        /// Async main method.
        /// </summary>
        /// <param name="args">Console arguments.</param>
        /// <returns>Task.</returns>
        public static async Task MainAsync(string[] args)
        {
            ILoggerFactory loggerFactory = LoggerFactory.Create(builder =>
            {
                builder.AddFilter("Microsoft", LogLevel.Warning)
                .AddFilter("System", LogLevel.Warning)
                .AddFilter("AdsServerCore.Program", LogLevel.Information)
                .AddConsole();
            }
            );

            ILogger logger = loggerFactory.CreateLogger("Router");
            // You must close or flush the trace to empty the output buffer.  
            Trace.Flush();
            s_cancel = new CancellationTokenSource();

            s_router = new AmsTcpIpRouter(logger);
            await s_router.StartAsync(); // Start the router
        }

        /// <summary>
        /// Stops the router.
        /// </summary>
        public static void StopMain()
        {
            s_router.Stop();
        }
    }
}