Using EDE Files For Configuring BACnet Devices
It is not always practical to scan the BACnet network to discover the available devices. For example, the network might not be complete or you could be developing the application at a different location. As an alternative, you can use the device configuration from one or more EDE (Engineering Data Exchange) files. We call this offline configuration as opposed to online configuration when scanning the network for devices.
The format of the data in EDE files is defined by the BIG-EU organization. By default, PcVue expects them to be in csv (comma-separated value) format and with a .csv file extension. In order to cope with files generated by vendor-specific tools that are not fully compliant with the standard EDE format, PcVue provides the ability to import a file even if its syntax or format is vendor-customized. See below for more information.
After associating an EDE file with a Network, you also have to configure the devices in which PcVue is interested before they appear in the mapping dialog. See the topic Adding devices to the BACnet network.
How to add an EDE file for use when configuring devices
- Select a BACnet network from the Application Explorer configuration tree and, from the task list, select Properties. The BACnet Network Properties dialog opens.
- Select the EDE files tab.
Show picture - Click the Add button. A File Select dialog opens. By default, it displays files in the project's TP folder but you can navigate to an alternative location if necessary.
- Select the file to add and click the Open button. A dialog box opens with which you can define any format or syntax element specific to your EDE file. See below for more information. Once you validate, the selected EDE file is added to the configuration.
- Repeat steps 2 and 3 if you have more than one file to import.
- Close the BACnet Network Properties dialog.
PcVue allows referencing EDE files containing up to 10 000 BACnet objects. If an EDE file contains more objects, it can be split over multiple files.
About the Keyname property
The Keyname is a property only found in EDE files - it cannot be discovered online from the BACnet network. It represents a unique combination of an Object and Instance.
Non-standard EDE files
A syntax detection mechanism is available to simplify loading a file that do not fully comply with the EDE standard. This includes detection of the delimiter, some of the usual alternate field names...
When this automatic syntax detection is not enough, and in particular if the EDE file does not includes a header row, you can manually customize some of the parsing elements. It is accessible after you have selected an EDE file (step 4) and allows you to define:
- File format elements: Delimiter and Code page,
- File syntax elements: Name of fields required by PcVue.
Example:
An EDE file may be using the semicolon as separator instead of the standard comma. In this case, simply select Semicolon as the Delimiter when adding the EDE file.
The most common use case is due to vendors using non-standard field names. In this case, open the Content tab of the dialog box, spot the expected field name (for example 'hi-limit'), and type-in the field name in the first row called Reference, as it appears in your particular EDE file (for example 'high-limit').
The Content tab can be used to check if the EDE file is interpreted correctly. As soon as you click the Apply button, the file is loaded using any parsing customization you may have defined, and its content is shown in the Content tab's grid. Show picture
Despite efforts to cope with files that are not fully compliant with EDE format guideline, the import will be aborted if a necessary field is missing in the file.