ControlProgram NV Configuration View

A Network Variable (NV) is a data item such as a temperature, a switch value or actuator state. NVs can be thought of simply as point parameters. LonMark functional profiles define Standard Network Variable Types (SNVTs), but additional non-standard NVs are usually available, depending on the device, to store additional non-standard data.

There are two categories of NVs that the Lon Spyder supports. They are:

The Lon Spyder provides the following four built-in functions that enable you to connect function blocks with other function blocks.

The Lon Spyder provides built-in functions, Network Variable Inputs, to allow the selection of variables that are available from/to the network. The configured network variables are mapped to the Function Block memory space to be used by any Function Block. Each Network variable may be configured with a name.

Viewing the List of Network Variables

  1. Browse to Station > Config > Drivers > LonNetwork > LonSpyder.
  2. Select ControlProgram > Views > NV Configuration View. The summary page appears with a list of pre-programmed Mandatory, Fixed, and Custom NVs in a tabular format.
    The table has the following columns:
    NV Name: The name of the network variable.
    Type: Indicates if the NV is of type NVI, NVO, NCI or Many to One NV.
    Category: Indicates if the NV is Mandatory, Fixed, or Custom.
    NV Container: Indicates where the NV is used.
  3. You have options to:
    Show Mandatory and Fixed NVs - Click this button to view list of all Mandatory and Fixed NVs for the selected Spyder model.
    Show on wiresheet as points - See the Add NVI, Add NCI, Add NVO, or Add Many to One NV topics for more details.
    Add NV - See the Add NVI, Add NCI, Add NVO, or Add Many to One NV topics for more details.
    Edit NV - See the Editing Network Variables topic for more details.
    Delete NV - See the Editing Network Variables topic for more details.
  4. The bottom half of the NV Configuration view displays the software points available on the wiresheet in a tabular format.
    The table has the following columns:
    Point Name: The name of the software point (Software Input/Software Output) as it appears on the wiresheet.
    Field Names: Indicates if the NV is of type NVI, NVO, NCI or Many to One NV.
    Point Container: Indicates where the software point is used. All software points that are used in a Program within an application are also listed.
  5. You have options to:
    Group as NV: Use this button to group points belonging to types NVI, NCI, NVO, constants, and invalid points to form a new NVI, NCI, or NVO.
    Edit Point: Select an NV and click this button to edit its configuration.
    Remove points from wiresheet:: Use this button to remove an NV from the wiresheet.

Group as NV

You can group points belonging to types NVI, NCI, NVO, Constants, and Invalid points to form a new NVI, NCI, or NVO.

Note: Use the CTRL key to select multiple points to group.

This button is disabled in the following cases:

See the Add NVI, Add NCI, Add NVO, or Add Many to One NV topics for more details.

Note:

  1. If the network type is a scalar SNVT, the new NV created is SNVT of the network type.

  2. If the network type is a Bit field, the new NV of SNVT type nearest to the selected internal data type is created automatically.

  3. In all other cases, a single-field UNVT with the same configuration as the point being copied is created.

Related Topics

Application NV Configuration