Example

Consider a factory with 50 PLC-controlled devices with the CFX Gateway deployed to make all 50 devices appear to be CFX-compliant devices. All 50 devices could be identical in nature—alternatively, all 50 devices could be unique in nature, for example one might be a simple counter, another a barcode scanner, and yet another could be a complex piece of equipment such as a torque driver controller supporting a variety of different tools.

To avoid the need to configure each device completely and independently, the registration for a device has the following elements:

• Device Name - Identifies a single PLC-driven device. The device name must be unique across all device names defined in the CFX Gateway.
• Device-specific configuration - Comprises properties whose values are unique to a single device.
• Common device-type configuration - Comprises properties that are defined once and then shared across multiple devices of the same type. The common device-type configuration is recorded in an equipment profile.

Add a device

When defining a device, the Devices area of the CFX Gateway lists all configured devices and provides the ability to add new devices, edit existing devices, and delete selected devices.

When registering a new device, an equipment profile detailing the CFX capabilities the device supports is part of the device configuration. If a suitable equipment profile is not already defined, you can define a new profile.

1. Log into the CFX Gateway and select Devices from the left side of the window.

2. Select the Add Device  button to display a dialog where you can add details for a new device.
   
   
   
   

3. Use the following table to define the properties for the new device.
   
   

   Property	Description
   Name	The name for the PLC-driven device (the name must be unique across all defined devices).
   Description	An optional value to help identify the device to users configuring the CFX Gateway.
   Connection Profile	Identifies the connection profile that specifies how the CFX Gateway will connect to and communicate with the entity hosting the device.
   Paths	A value that identifies the base address of the device within the entity identified in the connection profile, for example: root (simulator.simulator01) Select the Add Path button to display a dialog where you can enter the path and an alias for the path (required), then select OK. (Select the Remove Path button to remove a selected path.)
   Equipment Profile	Identifies the equipment profile that specifies the detail of the CFX capabilities the device supports and all tag mapping information. Use the Add, Edit, and Duplicate buttons to the right of the Equipment Profile field to add new profiles, edit existing profiles, or duplicate similar profiles, then edit them to create additional equipment profiles. See Add, edit, or duplicate an equipment profile for details.
   CFX Handle	A value that uniquely identifies the device in all CFX messages related to the device. Is Active - Use this toggle button to allow the CFX Gateway to start or stop support for the device.
   Capabilities	Show All - Use this toggle button to display or hide all of the device capabilities in the Edit Device dialog.
   CFX Message Tag Mapping	Use the Discover Tags button to locate all the CFX message tags related to the device profile you're creating or editing. Note: For details about defining tag expressions and using the Tag Expression Editor, see Define message property tag expression functions.