Introduction About Modular EDS Pro The program Modular EDS Pro was developed to generate EDS files (electronic data sheets) for special configurations of a SAI-gateway and different SAI-sub-bus-modules. The generated EDS files can be used by PLCs and other controllers for the communication with the SAI-unit. EDS files can be generated for DeviceNet, Ethernet/IP or CANopen, depending on the used gateway. Information on this manual It is necessary to know the operating systems Windows XP, Windows 2000, Windows Vista or Linux from experience to use this documentation. In case you do not have basic knowledge of your operating system, please have a look at the manual of it, first. Installation You do not need system administrator rights to install this program. Start/exit Modular EDS Pro There are different possibilities to start Modular EDS Pro: With Windows: 1.) double-click on the symbol of Modular EDS Pro in the workspace of your computer 2.) click on the button Start and choose Programs -> Weidmüller -> Modular EDS Pro With Linux: 1.) open the program directory in a terminal and start Modular EDS Pro by typing./modespro. 2.) choose the program directory in the file explorer and start Modular EDS Pro with a click on the modespro symbol. There are different possibilities to exit Modular EDS Pro: 1.) Choose File in the menu bar and then the menu item Exit. 2.) Click on the symbol in the left corner of the title bar and choose the menu item Exit in the context menu that follows. In case you did not save the present project, you will be asked whether you want to save your project before you can exit the program.
Overview Structure of the program The following figure (Illustration 1) shows the user interface of the Modular EDS Pro. This is divided into two areas, one lying on top of the other. The project explorer in the upper area shows the present project with the present configuration of the gateway with different sub-bus-modules. The module browser in the lower area shows all available sub-bus-modules. Illustration 1: User Interface 1 menu bar 2 title bar 3 project-explorer showing the present project 4 module-browser: lists all available sub-bus-modules 5 a sub-bus-module with short-name, order number and description file 6 status line showing the last action in the program 7 status line showing the present field bus type
Menu bar The functions of each menu are described here Menu file New You can create an new project with this menu item. Open You can open a existing project with this menu item Save You save the present project when you choose this menu item. Save as You can save the present project with a new name. EDS Export With this menu item you can generate an EDS file for your present project. Exit Exits Modular EDS Pro. Menu edit Delete last module Deletes the last module in the present project. Menu configuration/options Language Select the language for the user interface here. All languages that are available with language definition files will be shown. The change of the languages will be activated after a restart or the program. Menu help About Shows information about the program. Documentation Opens the documentation in a PDF viewer.
Project editing To work on a new project, start the program Modular EDS Pro or click on File-> New in the menu. Choosing of a SAI-Gateways When your program-installation offers only one gateway this one will be shown automatically in the project explorer. When more gateways are available a mask to select a gateway appears (Illustration 2). The content of the mask depends on the available gateways and their descriptions. Illustration 2: Gateway selection Choose a gateway and click on OK to go on. The chosen gateway will be transferred into the project explorer. Now, you can add modules from the module-browser to the gateway. How to add Sub-bus-modules There are different possibilities to add modules to your project: 1.) Choose with the mouse a module in the module-browser and take it by drag&drop into the project-explorer. Leave it there by releasing the mouse-button. 2.) Choose with the mouse a module in the module-browser an click on it with the right button. Choose add module in the context-menu. 3.) Choose with the mouse or the cursor-buttons a module and press Ctrl-A to add the module to the project-explorer. When the maximum number of sub-bus-modules for a gateway is is reached, it is impossible to add more modules and Modular EDS Pro will inform you in a pop-up window.
How to delete Sub-bus-modules It is possible to delete the last module of your project in the project-explorer. There are following possibilities to do that: 1.) Press Ctrl-X or 2.) click with the left button on the last module and choose delete last module in the contextmenu 3.) choose Edit -> Delete last module in the menu. Save and load projects You can save your projects via File ->Save or File -> Save as, and re-open them via File -> Open and go on working on them. The project files for the program Modular EDS Pro have the ending.mep. Generating EDS files After the configuration of a project and saving the project file you can generate an EDS file. To do that choose File -> EDS export. The following window appears: Illustration 3: EDS configuration The program suggests a name for the EDS file based on the name of the project file. That name can be changed in the entry EDS path to any name you wish. The entries author and file revision can be filled with any data. The data that was entered here will be adopted by the EDS file. After pressing the button generate EDS file the EDS file for your project will be generated. When the generation is finished this will be shown in the status line and the window closes automatically. Eventual faults during the generation of the EDS file (e.g. file not writable) will be shown in a popup window. The generated EDS file can be used now in controllers or configuration tools for the appropriate field buses.
Abbreviations CAN Controller Area Network CIP Common Industrial Protocol EDS Electronic Data Sheet EIP EtherNet/IP MEP Modular EDS Pro project file SAI Sensor-Aktor-Interface PLC Programmable Logic Controller XMD XML Module Description description file for a SAI-module XGD XML Gateway Description description file for a SAI-gateway XML extensible Markup Language