A device in a LonMaker drawing corresponds to a physical device on the network. Installing a device in a LONWORKS network is a two-step process. The first step, definition, typically does not require the LonMaker tool or the device to be attached to the network. In this step you choose the device shape and name, as well as the device template, location, channel, and description for the device.
The second step, commissioning, associates the physical device with the device shape created in the LonMaker drawing. One way to complete this step is to commission devices that are attached to the network as described in Commissioning Devices and Routers. Another method is to partially commission a device, even if it is not connected to the network yet, by entering its Neuron ID into the database (manually or using a barcode scanner). Once the device and the LonMaker tool are attached to the network, you recommission it to complete the commissioning process. You can recommission all the devices in a network by right-clicking a blank area in your top-level subsystem and selecting Commission from the shortcut menu.
The separation of these steps means that you can design and configure an entire network including devices, connections, and functional blocks, off-site prior to commissioning the network using the LonMaker tool, and you can later bring the resulting database on site for commissioning, thus reducing the amount of time spent on site. This is referred to as the engineered system installation scenario.
The LonMaker tool also allows for the combination of these steps, defining and commissioning the device in one step. This allows the system installer more flexibility as additional devices can be installed as necessary. This is referred to as the ad-hoc installationscenario.
1. Drag the Device shape representing the device you wish to create from a LonMaker stencil to the LonMaker drawing page representing the subsystem in which the device is to be created. To create a NodeBuilder device, you can also drag a Release Target Device or Develop Target Device shape from the NodeBuilder basic stencil. Some devices, such as the LonPoint devices available from Echelon, have predefined LonMaker shapes associated with them that are supplied on a LonMaker stencil. You may create your own custom LonMaker device shapes as described in Device Master Shapes. If the device you are defining does not have a predefined LonMaker shape, use the generic Device shape from the LonMaker Basic Shapes stencil. When you release the mouse button, the New Device Wizard opens the following Device Name window.
Enter for the following information for the device.
Device Name The name of the device. This name must be unique within the current page (subsystem). The default name is the name of the device shape followed by an integer (e.g. Device 1). The device name may be up to 85 characters, may include embedded spaces, and may not include period, backslash, colon, forward slash, or double quote characters.
Template Name The LNS device template that defines the device interface to the device. If the shape dragged from the stencil has a pre- defined device template (such as the LonPoint device shapes), that template will be indicated in this field. Otherwise, this field will be blank. This field is read-only.
Number of Devices to
Create The number of devices to be created. If larger than 1, the LonMaker tool will automatically increment the names of the additional devices and place them on the drawing adjacent to the first shape. If the device name does not contain a numeral
at the end, LonMaker will append the number 1 to the second device (for example, “Analog” for the first device becomes “Analog 1” for the second device), and increment the value for additional devices.
Commission Device Setting this option allows you to perform the definition and commission steps of device creation together. If this option is selected, the windows used to commission a device will open after the definition windows and prompt you for
commissioning information. This option is disabled if more than 1 device is being created.
2. Click Next. If you are creating a NodeBuilder device, a window appears allowing you to select the NodeBuilder device template. See the NodeBuilder User’s Guide for more information. Once you have clicked Next from that window, the following window appears.
3. This window allows you to select or define the device template for the device. If you have dragged a device shape that has a predefined device template, you will not see this window. See Device Master Shapes for more information on devices with predefined device templates. Otherwise, select from the following options:
Upload From Device Defines a new device template based on a device interface definition uploaded from the device. This option will be
available if the LonMaker tool is attached to the network (even if it is currently OffNet). The device must be attached to the network if you select this option. If this method is used, enter a name for the new device template in the Template Name field. This template name must be unique to this network, may include
embedded spaces, and may be up to 85 characters long. Load XIF Defines a new device template based on a device interface file
(.xif extension). You may either enter the path name or click Browse to locate the desired device interface file. If the file is in one of the directories specified in the Deviceoptions page of the LonMaker Optionstab under Network Properties, you may enter the file name only. Template Name is set automatically to the name of the file (without the extension), but you can change it to any name for the new device template. The template name must be unique to this network.
Existing Template If you have defined a device template previously using either the Upload From Device or Load XIFoptions, you may select from the template names defined when those methods were used. This is most useful when defining multiple devices of the same type and same device interface.
4. Click Next to open the following window:
5. Use this window to specify the channel for the new device. If you select Auto-Detect, the
LonMaker tool will automatically determine what channel the device is on. To use this option, you must ensure that the LonMaker tool is attached to the network and all routers between the LonMaker network interface and the device being defined have been installed and commissioned, and are online. Otherwise an error will be returned during
commissioning.
Do not use the Auto-Detect option if you are using routers configured as repeaters or bridges. If Auto-Detect is clear, you must explicitly select the channel to which the device is attached. Use Xcvr Type to list only the channels for a specific transceiver type (some device shapes
will limit the types of transceivers you can select). Click Next. The following window appears.
6. Enter the following information:
Location Location information for this device. This information may be entered as an ASCII string (up to a 6 characters) or a hex string (up to 12 hex digits). It is used to document the device’s location within the network. This information is not used by the LonMaker tool, but may be useful for network recovery if you lose the LonMaker drawing and database. For example, you can put an abbreviation of the subsystem name or a subsystem number in the Location field.
Ping Interval Ping interval for this device. The ping interval determines how often a device is pinged by the LNS Server to ensure it is still operating and in communication with the network. Set the ping interval based on the expected attachment of the device to the network. If you expect that the device will never move on the network, select Never. Set the interval to 15 minutes for a device you expect will move rarely, to 2 minutes for a device you expect will move fairly often, and to 1 minute for a device you expect will move very often. The default ping interval is Never.
Any errors detected by pinging a device are displayed on the device shape in the LonMaker drawing. See Using LonMaker Styles for more information.
network operation and may be used to provide additional documentation for as-built reports.
7. Click Finish to create the device shape and complete the device definition. If a shape representing the device’s channel does not exist on the page in which the device is being created, the appropriate channel shape will be created automatically. If you selected the Commission Device option, the first commissioning window appears as described in Commissioning Devices and Routers.