New Features in Do-more Designer 2.8 In-Depth from AutomationDirect

what's new in do-more rail 2.8 let's find out [Music] first on the list is some new hardware new brix palm module the vx-p-e-com ex has a secondary ethernet port but unlike the previously released bx-p-ecom lt which only has server capabilities this new ethernet palm has client capabilities of course just like the ecom lt the ecomex retains its server capabilities it's not a client only palm but client capabilities mean you can use the following protocols and client type instructions next is the new bx hsio4 this new high-speed i o module is functionally equivalent to the previously released bx hsi01 and hsio2 modules with the exception of being able to count pulses up to 2 megahertz in frequency that's 8 times faster than the hsi01 and hsi02 modules it can also generate output pulses at this same 2 megahertz frequency its input and output voltage levels are differential ttl in other words 5 volts dc it is internally powered so no external 5 volt dc is needed also the front connector is different than the hsi01 and hsi02 you will have to have a ziplink system for wiring also there are six new regular i o modules starting with the new discrete input module we have the vx-16nf3 which is a 16-point ttl level input that can be wired for syncing or sourcing next there are four new discrete output modules these are first the bx 16 ts2 which is a 16 point ttl level output module unlike other discrete outs it's powered internally meaning the commons are 0 volt ground and the onstate output pushes 5 volts at up to 20 milliamps next the bx08 trz which is an 8-point relay output dry contact module the dry contact means it has no noise suppression this means in the off state leakage current is zero this module comes also in a 16 point version called the bx 16 trz and finally in the discrete output category there is the bx05trs-1 which is a five-point high current relay output module in form factor c the contacts are rated at 8 amps at 12 to 48 volts dc or 24 to 240 volts ac or a half amp at 100 to 125 volts dc and last but not least is the new discrete combo module the bx 16 cf-3 f2 this module is an 8-point ttl level syncing or sourcing input with an 8 point ttl level sourcing output this sums up the new hardware offering for do-more version 2.8 now we'll move on to things that have been added to the do-more plc cpus themselves first is ethernet ip adapter this feature is only available on the virtual plc which we call the simulator or sim and for the brick style do-more plc's that have an ethernet port now you can make your brx plc be an ethernet ip adapter that uses implicit messaging it will support up to four adapters each with two memory blocks that can be t2o that is target to originator or o2t once you get it configured the way you want it is also possible to generate an electronic data sheet or eds file with the press of a button the major enhancement added to do-more version 2.8 is the http web server and rest api this feature is only available for the simulator and do more brick style plcs that have an ethernet port the web server is accessed in any web browser by simply using the bricks plc's ip address as the url when this is done a web page is pulled up that has several active tabs offering various information about your brx plc it even has a data view page that you can configure yourself also it's possible to make your own web page the rest api allows access to the plc's memory elements via a url in a web browser or more powerfully a web client programming package both return data in the popular json data format several new instructions were added first with just the sim and brx plcs with an ethernet port ftp client capability was added this is implemented in the new ftp get and ftp put instructions then for the sim and all bricks plcs the hardware config instruction was added this allows you to manipulate certain i o configuration settings at runtime then for more instructions for any style of do-more plc were added the index-enabled stage and indexed disable stage which allow the setting or resetting of stages based on a variable index value also added is the dm logger instruction it combines the need for selecting which ethernet port to use since you can now have two on a brx plc with the addition of the new palm with the need for using print script this instruction broadcasts your own formatted string data to any pc running do-more logger and very handy for troubleshooting finally is the test num instruction it sets the value type to one of five possible values depending on the input value for instance it can test a real number for ieee 754 floating point classifications like nan or positive and negative infinity etc we also added a server whitelist for security purposes this is also available of course on the sim and brix plcs that have ethernet ports per server function it lets you specify a white list of ip addresses and or ip address ranges for specified function like programming modbus tcp and others remember how difficult or obscure it seemed when you decided you wanted a string with formatted data you usually couldn't remember what the string formatting or print script functions were called or their syntax thus their use in string print email and now the newer dm logger instruction can be a bit difficult but in version 2.8 the original editor's multi-line text is not required instead the new editor is table-based with intelligent dialogs making it easy to see all the options for all the different print script commands this means you won't have to memorize or look up the options in the help file any longer forms for all these now exist at your fingertips many enhancements have been added to version 2.8 among the most notable are the ability to program master relay type runs like this one here x0 enables three other sub rungs which have three different coils the master relay pattern can be nested within the same run this eliminates the and above join ladder editor compiler errors next there are now two types of deadband behaviors for pid loops the original behavior type 1 freezes the error term while it is within the deadband value the new behavior type 2 zeros out the error term next the axe config instruction now has a dynamic graphic that helps you understand the behaviors of your axis encoder's feedback selection next json pretty print tool supports nesting level based background colors for ease of reading next several new system nicknames have been added mostly because of the new ecom ex palm referred to here as east 2. finally a new dialog was added to help you with the settings you need to know about when debugging using dmlogger it pulls together the system elements you need to be aware of with full explanations there are over 30 other enhancements added to version 2.8 you can read about them in the updates.pdf file to see this file open up the start page with view start page and then click on the what's new icon in the upper left finally many bugs and anomalies were also fixed most involving the ladder view for details you can read all of them in the updates.pdf file and remember to see the updates file go to view start page and then click on what's new icon that concludes what's new and do more version 2.8 thanks for using our products and thanks for watching [Music] you