8. Control Setup Manual

• 1. Introduction

  Overview of the CENTO Control service and its purpose.

• 2. Control using the web interface

  Sending control and remote control commands via the Devices, Tags, Channels editor.

• 3. Setting control

  Configuring Control and Remote Control via the web interface, Excel, and the Information Model.

• 4. Recommended settings and special cases

  Reference screenshots for common configuration scenarios.

1. Introduction

CENTO is a multifunctional software platform for data acquisition, processing, and display. This manual describes how to configure the CENTO Control service, which is used to send control commands to controlled objects.

It is assumed that the user is already familiar with the basic elements of the CENTO interface after reading the User Manual.

2. Control using the web interface

2.1. Control using the device, tags editor

A user with appropriate permissions can control objects using the Devices, Tags, Channels editor.

To control a device, navigate to Settings → Devices, tags, channels and open the Tags, channels tab. In the device tree, locate the target device. Tags with preconfigured control functionality display either a C button (Figure 2.1) or a TC button (Figure 2.2) in the Control column.

Clicking C opens a password prompt (Figure 2.3). After successful authentication, a modal window appears for entering the value to write to the device (Figure 2.4).

After entering the value, click Send. Then confirm the command by clicking Execute, or cancel with Cancel (Figure 2.5).

Clicking TC also opens a password prompt. After authentication, a command selection window appears (Figure 2.6), followed by the same confirmation step.

3. Setting control

3.1. Setting using the web interface

Control configuration for tags transmitted via Modbus, OPC DA, or IEC-104 protocols is performed in Settings → Devices, tags, channels → Tags, channels tab. Select the target device in the device tree, then click on the tag identifier or name to open the Edit parameter interface.

The interface includes protocol-dependent fields: general settings, reading settings, and settings for writing:

• Remote control (discrete signal) — for IEC-104: Remote control is allowed, Select before operate (SBO), Function, Command duration, Switch on/off address and value; for Modbus TCP: Remote control is allowed, Function, Value length, Switch on/off address and value, Write by bitmask.
• Control (positive integer write) — for Modbus TCP: Write values, Function, Device Tag Data Type, Address, Byte order, and linear transformation limits; for OPC DA: Write values, Device Tag Data Type, and transformation limits.

Remote control (TC)

The Remote Control function is available for Modbus TCP (including Modbus RTU over TCP) and IEC-104 protocols.

Field descriptions:

• Remote control is allowed — enables sending record commands to the device at the specified address.
• Select before operate (SBO) — requires command selection prior to executing the remote control command.
• Function (IEC-104) — select the appropriate ASDU type from the drop-down list (Figure 3.1.4).
• Function (Modbus) — available values:
  • FC5 (0x05) — write single coil (Force Single Coil)
  • FC6 (0x06) — write single register (Preset Single Register)
  • FC16 (0x10) — write multiple registers (1–123 registers)
• Value length — number of registers to be written (for FC16).
• Switch on/off address — register address in device memory where the enable/disable command is written (non-negative integer).
• Switch on/off value — value written to execute the enable/disable command. Can be specified in decimal, binary (0b/0B prefix), octal (0 prefix), or hexadecimal (0x/0X prefix) format.
• Write by bitmask — bitmask in decimal, binary, or HEX format.

Control (C)

The Control function is available for Modbus TCP (including Modbus RTU over TCP) and OPC DA protocols.

Field descriptions:

• Write values — enables sending value write commands to the device at the specified address.
• Function — select the Modbus write function from the drop-down list (Figure 3.1.5): FC5 (0x05) for single coil, FC16 (0x10) for multiple registers.
• Address — tag address in device memory where the value will be written (non-negative integer in decimal format).
• Byte order — selects the order of bytes and/or words in the written data (Figure 3.1.6).
• Device Tag Data Type — data type used by the device to store values; see device manual (Figure 3.1.7).

In the Transformation block (Figure 3.1.8), a linear transformation converts the physical quantity into the value to be written, using defined upper and lower limits for both. These limits define the valid ranges within which data can be entered.

For devices using OPC DA, the Control function is simpler to configure: enable Write values, select the device tag data type, and define the required transformation limits (Figure 3.1.9).

3.2. Setting control using MS Excel

To configure Control for a tag using Excel, navigate to Settings → Configuration files. On the Import/Export configuration file page (Figure 3.2.1), click Download in the Tags and Channels section to download the template.

The downloaded file contains all tags configured in CENTO. The table includes dedicated columns for Control and Remote Control (Figure 3.2.2):

• Resolution of TU — enables the ability to send remote control (write) commands.
• Register address enable / disable — register address in device memory for the enable/disable command (non-negative integer).
• Value for enable / disable — value written to execute the enable/disable command.
• Control resolution — enables the ability to send value write commands.
• Write function — see device manual; ID mapping is on the ID Directory sheet (Figure 3.2.3).
• Device data type — see device manual; ID mapping is on the ID Directory sheet (Figure 3.2.4).
• Write address — memory address of the tag in the device where the value will be written.
• Byte order — see device manual; ID mapping is on the ID Directory sheet (Figure 3.2.5).
• Transformation limits — Physical value and write value lower/upper limits for Modbus linear transformation.

After completing the configuration, upload the file back to CENTO. Click Upload in the Tags and Channels block, then Select a file and choose the edited file. Click Check to validate for errors. If the check passes, click Save to write the configuration to the database. Resolve any errors and repeat until validation succeeds.

3.3. Setting up control in the Information Model

The Information Model (IM) is an add-on to the structure recorded in CENTO. IM classes define the types and subtypes of all devices on the site.

To add Control to the IM, download the Excel file from Settings → Configuration files → Information Model Classes (Figure 3.2.1), or configure it via the web editor at Information Model Editor → Classes (Figure 3.3.2).

Creating the Write value class

In the downloaded Excel file, first create a new class Write value in the List of Classes sheet. Then create a separate sheet where the code name matches the tab name (Figure 3.3.1).

This class has four attributes:

• Tag ID — mandatory.
• Lower/upper limit — optional; define the valid range for entered values.
• Value variants — optional convenience field; reference a directory using the code ref_value_variants in the Type column (see Figures 3.3.6–3.3.7) to enable predefined value selection.

Creating the control class (e.g. Motor)

Create a class (for example, Motor) whose attributes reference the Write value class by entering the class code in the Type column (Figure 3.3.3).

Configuring the IM object

In the IM object editor, create an object with the class Motor. In the Attributes table, set the tag ID, limits, and value variants (Figure 3.3.5).

Configuring IM directories

To add named value aliases for writing, download the template from the Information model references block. On the Categories sheet, add the directory code and name (Figure 3.3.6). Then place the directory on a separate Excel tab with a name matching the code, and fill in the write values (Figure 3.3.7).

IM directories can also be configured via the Information Model Editor → Directories tab (Figure 3.3.8).

Single remote control command

For IM objects intended for remote control from a mimic diagram, add the following system attributes to the object’s class (Figure 3.3.9):

Attribute code	Description
telecontrol_on_ti	Tag ID for switching the object on
telecontrol_off_ti	Tag ID for switching the object off
telecontrolled	Flag: TRUTH – remote control available; FALSE – not available

Remote control can also be configured in the IM Editor (Figure 3.3.11).

Multiple remote control commands

For objects with multiple remote control commands, the IM includes the system class Telecontrol (class code: telecontrol) with the following attributes (Figure 3.3.12):

Create a class whose attributes reference the Telecontrol system class (Figure 3.3.13). Configure the IM object with multiple remote control commands (Figure 3.3.14). The resulting drop-down menu on the mimic diagram is shown in Figure 3.3.15.

3.3.1. Control and remote control without password

By default, sending control and remote control signals requires password entry. To enable password-free control, add the attribute Control without password with code skip_password and type bool to the object's class (Figure 3.3.16).

When creating an object of this class, include this attribute and set it to true (Figure 3.3.17).

For password-free remote control, add an attribute with any name but with the code skip_password and type bool to the class (Figure 3.3.18).

Enable this attribute on the relevant IM object (Figure 3.3.19) and test the command sending on the diagram.

3.3.2. Configuring permission for remote control

Some devices require an initial permission signal sent to a dedicated register before accepting remote control commands. To implement this in CENTO, add the following attributes to the object class (Figure 3.3.20):

Attribute code	Description
telecontrol_permit_on_ti	Tag ID for granting permission to switch on
telecontrol_permit_off_ti	Tag ID for granting permission to switch off

Assign the corresponding tag IDs to these attributes of the IM object. These tags are configured to send a signal to the register that enables remote control (Figure 3.3.21).

When using the Telecontrol system class, the permission attributes are named permit_on_tag and permit_off_tag (Figure 3.3.22).

Some devices use a single tag for this function; others use two separate tags. These permission tags are configured the same way as direct remote control tags, differing only in the register address (Figure 3.3.23).

4. Recommended settings and special cases

The following screenshots illustrate common configuration scenarios and recommended settings for control operations in CENTO.