Simulated

Connection String Options

Name

Type

Default Value

Required

Description

Name

Simulated PLC4X Datasource

Code

simulated

Maven Dependency

 
<dependency>
  <groupId>org.apache.plc4x</groupId>
  <artifactId>plc4j-driver-simulated</artifactId>
  <version>pre-release</version>
</dependency>

Supported Transports

Config options:
Name Value Description

Supported Operations

read

Supports all standard IEC 61131 data types outlined below.

write

Supports all standard IEC 61131 data types outlined below.

Individual Resource Address Format

Connection String

The simulated driver has the following connection string format:-

simulated:{transport}://{ip-address}:{port}

An example connection string would look like:-

simulated://127.0.0.1

Note the transport and port fields are optional.

General Format

The simulated addresses have this format:

{simulation-type}/{alias}:{data-type}[{array-size}]

If the array-size part is omitted, the default size of 1 is assumed. If the data-type part is omitted, it defaults to STRING.

Simulation Types

The simulation device supports 3 different simulation types

  • STATE - This holds in memory a value for a given alias. This value can be read or written to, however this should only be used in conjunction with a persistent connection. Once the connection is closed the memory area is cleared.

  • RANDOM - This provides a new random value for each read. When writing, a log message is recorded and the value is discarded.

  • STDOUT - Always returns a null value when reading. When writing, a log message is recorded and the value is discarded.

Alias

Aliases are used to identify the different field addresses. They should only contain alpha-numeric and the full stop (.) character. For readability and language specific technical purposes they should be less than 256 characters.

Data Types

The following data types are supported:-

  • BOOL (boolean)

  • SINT (int 8)

  • USINT (uint 8)

  • BYTE (uint 8)

  • INT (int 16)

  • UINT (uint 16)

  • WORD (uint 16)

  • DINT (int 32)

  • UDINT (uint 32)

  • DWORD (uint 32)

  • LINT (int 64)

  • ULINT (uint 64)

  • LWORD (uint 64)

  • REAL (float)

  • LREAL (double)

  • CHAR (char)

  • WCHAR (2 byte char)

  • STRING (254 bytes)

Some useful tips

The simulation driver uses a lot of the same logic templates that is used for the other drivers. It is a good way to test PLC4X functionality without having a device to connect to.

Examples

All of these address formats are valid:-

  • RANDOM/foo:INT

  • RANDOM/foo:UDINT

  • RANDOM/device1.machineA.sensor1:UINT

  • RANDOM/device1.machineA.sensor1:STRING

  • STATE/device1.machineA.sensor1:INT

  • STDOUT/device1.machineA.sensor1:INT