Modbus TCP tags import

General Discussion
1

Is there any solution to import Modbus TCP tags as a csv file?
I know Ignition does not support OPC tag browsing for Siemens and Modbus, but I’m looking for a way to import my tags as a file into the Ignition.
I’m using Schneider PLCs and have hundreds of tags, so using modbus mapping tool is not useful for me.
Any idea or suggestion?
Thanks in advance.

2

Write a script and call system.tag.addTag to add the tags, using logic to convert from your csv file to the required tag config.

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3

That might be last option because it takes a lot of time to do that in my case.I want to have meaningful names for my tags in Ignition such as Tank_west, Tank_East, etc. not merely Tagg-1, Tag-2, Tag-3, etc.
I know there is an import/export feature in the designer. But I’m not sure can we create one tag manually, export it to a file, add other tags as we need into the file, and export it back into the Ignition?

4

Yes, you can.
I generally use the XML format and make a PHP file out of it. Then I can loop and use expressions to create many tags programmatically. The output of that is XML, which can be imported back into Ignition.

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5

So the format of the exported/imported tag file should be XML? Any chance to use csv instead?
I can write a script for this. But many others might not. I’m trying to find a the easiest way to show other designers how to use Ignition instead of their legacy system. Tag import/export using a CSV file is the most basic feature in a SCADA system.
Thanks

6

You absolutely can use CSV, but there are attributes that cannot be represented, like multiple alarms on a single tag. XML can reconstruct all aspects of a tag.

7

How we can define the file format?
I believe there should be a solution when we don’t have any alarm or … for tags. All I need is correlating some addresses to some tag names.

8

Get a tag working manually, possibly with dummy values in various attributes. Or one working sample tag for each combination of attributes you wish to be able to generate externally. Export as CSV and as XML. Examine the files to determine how to substitute programmatically. If something you need doesn’t appear in the CSV, you will need to use XML.
(I never use the CSV format myself, sorry.)

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9

I’ll give it a try.
Thanks

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