This is the client implementation of the Twincat Ads protocol from Beckhoff.
(I'm not affiliated with Beckhoff)
The implementation is in C# and can be used in .Net >= 4.5, Mono >= 3.2.8, Windows 8.1 WinRT/Phone.
Because of mono you can use it on unix/linux systems and even on Android/iPhone if you have xamarin.
This library contains sync and async methods. You can't combine them.
AdsClient is the Portable Class Library.
AdsClient.WinSock, AdsClient.Finder can be used in normal .Net programs and Mono/Xamarin.
AdsClient.WinRT can be use in Widows 8.1 WinRT/Phone.
MrCircuit (https://github.com/MrCircuit)
nikvoronin (https://github.com/nikvoronin)
First you have to give your device/machine the permission to communicate with the Twincat Ads server by adding a route.
There are different ways of doing this depending on the device. You can use the Twincat Remote Manager for example. On a CX9001 device you can connect with cerhost.exe and add a route with \Hard Disk\System\TcAmsRemoteMgr.exe (You may not to reboot after this!)
You can use AdsClient.Finder.DeviceFinder for broadcast searching of network PLCs. With help of AdsClient.Finder.RouteManager you can add new route record into the remote PLC.
If the library is not working, an incorrect/missing route may be the problem!.
You only need this library. Twincat is not needed. It will not work if you have programs like system manager or PLC control running.
Here is the NuGet package: https://nuget.org/packages?q=AdsClient
You need mono >= 3.2.8
Xamarin Android: Remember to set internet permissions in the manifest. You must also configure a route for your android device.
Specification for the ADS/AMS protocol Twincat 3
Index-Group/Offset specification
using (AdsClient client = new AdsClient(
amsNetIdSource: "10.0.0.120.1.1",
ipTarget: "10.0.0.2",
amsNetIdTarget: "5.1.204.160.1.1"))
{
AdsDeviceInfo deviceInfo = client.ReadDeviceInfo();
Console.WriteLine(deviceInfo.ToString());
}Async version:
using (AdsClient client = new AdsClient(
amsNetIdSource: "10.0.0.120.1.1",
ipTarget: "10.0.0.2",
amsNetIdTarget: "5.1.204.160.1.1"))
{
AdsDeviceInfo deviceInfo = await client.ReadDeviceInfoAsync();
Console.WriteLine(deviceInfo.ToString());
}Disposing AdsClient may give you first chance exceptions in the output window. This happens because I'm closing the socket while it's listening for ads packets. These exceptions are handled in the library and don't cause any problems. (If someone knows a better way, please let me know)
using (AdsClient client = new AdsClient(
amsNetIdSource: "10.0.0.120.1.1",
ipTarget: "10.0.0.2",
amsNetIdTarget: "5.1.204.160.1.1"))
{
client.Write<byte>("MAIN.TestVar", 0);
byte value = client.Read<byte>("MAIN.TestVar");
}Async version:
using (AdsClient client = new AdsClient(
amsNetIdSource: "10.0.0.120.1.1",
ipTarget: "10.0.0.2",
amsNetIdTarget: "5.1.204.160.1.1"))
{
await client.Write<byte>("MAIN.TestVar", 0);
byte value = await client.Read<byte>("MAIN.TestVar");
}You can also use the AdsCommands directly if you need to write directly with IndexGroup/IndexOffset
using (AdsClient client = new AdsClient(
amsNetIdSource: "10.0.0.120.1.1",
ipTarget: "10.0.0.2",
amsNetIdTarget: "5.1.204.160.1.1"))
{
client.OnNotification += (sender, e) => { Console.WriteLine(e.Notification.ToString()); };
uint hNoti1 = client.AddNotification<byte>("MAIN.VarTest1",
AdsTransmissionMode.Cyclic, 2000, null);
uint hNoti2 = client.AddNotification<byte>("MAIN.VarTest2",
AdsTransmissionMode.OnChange, 10, null);
Thread.Sleep(5000);
}Here is an async example. The non async functions work the same. (functions without async at the end) Just remove all the await/async words
using System;
using System.Threading;
using System.Threading.Tasks;
using Ads.Client;
using Ads.Client.Common;
namespace AdsTest
{
class Program
{
static void Main(string[] args)
{
if (!RunTestAsync().Wait(10000))
Console.WriteLine("Timeout!");
else
Console.WriteLine("done");
Console.ReadKey();
}
private static async Task RunTest()
{
using (AdsClient client = new AdsClient(
amsNetIdSource:"192.168.5.6.1.1",
ipTarget:"192.168.3.4",
amsNetIdTarget:"192.168.3.4.1.1"))
{
AdsDeviceInfo deviceInfo = await client.ReadDeviceInfoAsync();
Console.WriteLine("Device info: " + deviceInfo.ToString());
AdsState state = await client.ReadStateAsync();
Console.WriteLine("State: " + state.ToString());
client.OnNotification += (sender,e) => {
Console.WriteLine(e.Notification.ToString());
};
uint notification1Handle = await client.AddNotificationAsync<byte>(
".VariableName1", AdsTransmissionMode.Cyclic, 5000, null);
uint notification2Handle = await client.AddNotificationAsync<byte>(
".VariableName2", AdsTransmissionMode.OnChange, 10, null);
byte value = await client.ReadAsync<byte>(".VariableName1");
Console.WriteLine("Value before write: " + value.ToString());
await client.WriteAsync<byte>(".VariableName1", 1);
Console.WriteLine("I turned something on");
value = await client.ReadAsync<byte>(".VariableName1");
Console.WriteLine("Value after write: " + value.ToString());
await Task.Delay(5000);
await client.WriteAsync<byte>(".VariableName1", 0);
Console.WriteLine("I turned something off");
}
}
}
}AdsReadStateCommand stateCmd = new AdsReadStateCommand();
string state = stateCmd.Run(client.Ams).AdsState.ToString();
Console.WriteLine("State: " + state);It's possible to read directly to a class or write from a class.
You need to set the AdsSerializable attribute on the class and the Ads attribute on the fields/properties you need.
The fields without the Ads attribute are ignored.
[AdsSerializable]
public class TestClass
{
[Ads]
public UInt16 Var1 { get; set; }
[Ads]
public byte Var2 { get; set; }
}
var testobject = client.Read<TestClass>(handle);
client.Write<TestClass>(handle, testobject);This is an example struct in Twincat:
TYPE TestStruct :
STRUCT
Var1 : INT;
Var2 : BYTE;
END_STRUCT
END_TYPE
These functions aren't documented by Beckhoff:
using (AdsClient client = new AdsClient(
amsNetIdSource: "10.0.0.120.1.1",
ipTarget: "10.0.0.2",
amsNetIdTarget: "5.1.204.130.1.1"))
{
string xml = adsClient.Special.GetTargetDesc();
xml = XDocument.Parse(xml).ToString();
}You can easily obtain IP-address of the localhost even for different network interfaces (ex.: wired ethernet, wifi, etc.) Just use Ads.Client.Finder.Helpers.IPHelper.Localhosts to obtain IP-addresses of predefined network interfaces like wifi and wired-ethernet. You should use FilteredLocalhosts(List) to define which types of networks you will use.
IPAddress localhost = IPAddress.Parse("192.168.1.10");
List<DeviceInfo> devices = await DeviceFinder.BroadcastSearchAsync(localhost, 1000);
foreach (DeviceInfo d in devices)
{
Console.WriteLine("IP: " + d.Address.ToString());
Console.WriteLine("AmsNetId: " + d.AmsNetId.ToString());
Console.WriteLine("Name: " + d.Name);
Console.WriteLine("Comment: " + d.Comment);
Console.WriteLine("OS version: " + d.OsVersion);
Console.WriteLine("TwinCAT: " + d.TcVersion);
Console.WriteLine("Runtime: " + (d.IsRuntime ? "present" : "not present (engineering)"));
}IPAddress localhost = IPAddress.Parse("192.168.1.10");
IPAddress plcIpAddress = IPAddress.Parse("192.168.1.33");
RouteInfo info = new RouteInfo();
info.Localhost = localhost.ToString();
info.LocalAmsNetId = new AdsNetId("192.168.56.1.1.1");
info.IsTemporaryRoute = false;
bool isSuccessful = await RouteManager.AddRemoteRouteAsync(localhost, plcIpAddress, info, 1000);