Ethernet ASCII Protocol

You can use a programmable logic controller (PLC) that supports the Ethernet ASCII protocol to operate a sensor and receive values and decisions. To use the ASCII protocol, it must be enabled and configured in the active job. By default, the control port used to connect to the sensor is 8190. For information on enabling Ethernet ASCII, as well as changing the control port and other protocol configurations in GoPxL, see Ethernet ASCII Protocol.

Two modes are available: asynchronous and polling.

When the sensor is in asynchronous mode, results are sent automatically, as soon as they are available. No commands are required, but the client can still send a command to the sensor to receive output data or to control the device.

When the sensor is in polling mode, you use commands to operate the sensor and to retrieve results. Ethernet ASCII protocol in polling mode only supports a subset of the tasks that can be accomplished in the web interface, and only measurement results can be transmitted to the PLC (scan data is not sent).

This section describes the following aspects of the Ethernet ASCII protocol:

• the polling operation commands you can use to control a sensor and retrieve results from it

• result formats

The protocol communicates using ASCII strings. The output result format from the sensor is user-configurable.