Modbus TCP Data Logging to Database

Using Visual Basic 2015 we will log three holding registers from the PLC along with time and date into a Microsoft Access Database. We will log every minute into the database with the information that we collect from the PLC via Modbus TCP (Ethernet). All code will be done and shown so you can implement this in your application with different parameters. The information collected in the database can then be distributed or analyzed in the future.

VB.net Modbus Data Logging to Access Database

Visual Basic 2015 will be used with the EasyModbusTCP client/server library for .net. We will communicate to an Automation Direct – Do-More PLC. Using the free simulation software of the PLC Designer Software, we will retrieve three values of the Modbus Holding Registers using Modbus TCP. Once we have this information out of the programmable logic controller it will be placed in a Microsoft Access (2010) Database. This will be done by using a SQL command to insert the data.

Automation Direct has a powerful simulator with their Do-More PLC. The PLC software is available from Automation Direct as a free download.
http://support.automationdirect.com/products/domore.html

Do-More PLC Program – Modbus Data Logging

We will start with the PLC program. The first three holding registers will be used. That will be MHR1, MHR2, and MHR3 in the Do-More PLC. This will correspond to register numbers 40001, 40002, and 40003. The following is a table with all of the references for Modbus communications to the Do-More.

Coil/Register Numbers	Data Addresses	Type	Do-More PLC	Table Name
00001-09999	0000 to 270E	Read-Write	MC1 to MC1023	Discrete Output Coils
10001-19999	0000 to 270E	Read-Only	MI1 to MI1023	Discrete Input Contacts
30001-39999	0000 to 270E	Read-Only	MIR1 to MIR2047	Analog Input Registers
40001-49999	0000 to 270E	Read-Write	MHR1 to MHR2047	Analog Output Holding Registers

Note: The Do More PLC uses the Modbus area to communicate. This is because having direct access to the digital I/O can be dangerous when connected via Ethernet to the internet. Data must move in and out of this area via the PLC program.

Here is the PLC program that sets the three registers.

Access 2010 Database Setup – Modbus Data Logging

The next thing to do is set up our Microsoft Access 2010 Database. Our database will be named ACC_Database and it will be located at the following location: “C:\AccLog”. We will have one table called ACC_Log. In the table we will have five fields; LogDate, LogTime, Register1, Register2, Register3.

VB.Net Setup – Modbus Data Logging

Visual Basic 2015 is free and is part of Visual Studio 2015. It can be downloaded at the following location:
https://www.visualstudio.com/en-us/products/visual-studio-community-vs

EasyModbusTCP is free software. It will be referenced in our visual basic program.  It can be downloaded from the following location:
https://sourceforge.net/projects/easymodbustcp/
After downloading you must extract the files.

EasyModbusTCP is a Modbus TCP, Modbus UDP client/server library for .NET, and Client library for JAVA. .NET (.dll) Client/Server also supports Modbus RTU. It supports the following function codes: – Read Coils (FC1)
– Read Discrete Inputs (FC2)
– Read Holding Registers (FC3)
– Read Input Registers (FC4)
– Write Single Coil (FC5)
– Write Single Register (FC6)
– Write Multiple Coils (FC15)
– Write Multiple Registers (FC16)
– Read/Write Multiple Registers (FC23)

Now we will call up visual studio and create our project. The first thing that we must do is reference our EasyModbus.dll file.

Our program will log the three registers based upon a timer function. When the time expires we will set the interval to 1 minute and call a subroutine (Button1). This subroutine will communicate to the PLC via Modbus TCP and get our three registers. It will then insert the data from the registers along with the time and date into an access database.

Here is what our visual basic form will look like:

Here is the visual basic code for our project. We use the Imports command for the EasyModbusTCP namespacing.

Imports EasyModbus 'Import the EasyModbus 

Here is the part of the subroutine that will communicate to the PLC via the EasyModbusTCP, You will notice that we have used the ‘Try’ command on the ModbusClient.Connect() statement. This way we can track if we are communicating or not to the PLC.

Public Class Form1
  Private Sub Button1_Click() Handles Button1.Click
 'This subroutine will communicate using the EasyModbusTCP to the PLC
 'This will execute when the user clicks the button or at specific intervals from the Timer1
 Dim ComError = 0 'Set communication error flag to 0
 'Specify the IP Address and Port Number that we are connecting
 Dim ModbusClient As EasyModbus.ModbusClient = New EasyModbus.ModbusClient(TextBox1.Text, 502)
 Try
 ModbusClient.Connect() 'Connect to the PLC
 Catch ex As Exception 'What to do when an error occurs
 Label10.ForeColor = Color.Red
 Label10.Text = "Communication Error!"
 ComError = 1 'Set communication error flag to 1
 End Try
 If ComError = 0 Then 'Do the following when communication is OK
 Label10.ForeColor = Color.Black
 Label10.Text = "Logging..."
 Dim Registers As Integer() 'Where to store the information
 Registers = ModbusClient.ReadHoldingRegisters(0, 3) 'Read three registers starting at the first one
 Label1.Text = Registers(0) 'Value of MHR1
 Label2.Text = Registers(1) 'Value of MHR2
 Label3.Text = Registers(2) 'Value of MHR3
 ModbusClient.Disconnect() 'Disconnect from the PLC

Here is the code to open the database connection and insert the data into our ACC_Database file. We use the ‘Try’ command to ensure that if errors occur it will not stop our program. The connection string ( Provider=Microsoft.ACE.OLEDB.12.0;Data Source=C:\AccLog\ACC_Database.accdb) may be different then yours. In order to get your connection string, please review the following from a previous post and search for the connection string.

'Log values into an Access Database
 'We will use a SQL instruction to insert a record into the table
 Try
 Dim SQL As String 'SQL Command String
 Dim objCmd As New OleDb.OleDbCommand 'Command
 'Connection String to the Access Database
 Dim Con = New OleDb.OleDbConnection("Provider=Microsoft.ACE.OLEDB.12.0;Data Source=C:\AccLog\ACC_Database.accdb")
 'SQL Statement - All values must be set for the table
 SQL = "INSERT INTO ACC_Log VALUES ('" & Now.ToString("yyyy/MM/dd") & "', '" & Now.ToString("hh:mm:ss") & "', '" & Registers(0) & "', '" & Registers(1) & "', '" & Registers(2) & "')"
 Con.Open() 'Open the database connection
 objCmd = New OleDb.OleDbCommand(SQL, Con) 'Set the command
 objCmd.ExecuteNonQuery() 'Execute the SQL command
 Con.Close() 'Close the database connection
 Catch ex As Exception 'What to do when an error occurs
 Label10.ForeColor = Color.Red
 Label10.Text = "Database Error!"
 End Try
 End If
 End Sub

This timer is originally set for 100ms. When the program starts, it will log the first time and then set the timer interval to 1 minute. (60000ms)

 Private Sub Timer1_Tick(sender As Object, e As EventArgs) Handles Timer1.Tick
   Label9.Text = Now 'Display time and date
 Timer1.Interval = 60000 'Set interval for 1 minute
 Timer1.Enabled = True
 Call Sub() Button1_Click() 'Call the routine to get the PLC information and store in a database
 End Sub

This will handle the LinkLabel on the form.

 Private Sub LinkLabel1_LinkClicked(sender As Object, e As LinkLabelLinkClickedEventArgs) Handles LinkLabel1.LinkClicked
   ' Specify that the link was visited.
 Me.LinkLabel1.LinkVisited = True
 ' Navigate to a URL.
 System.Diagnostics.Process.Start("http://www.accautomation.ca")
 End Sub
 End Class

Running the program:
The status will show ‘Initializing..’ so that the imports can be loading in the program. This will happen each time the software starts.

Logging will be displayed in the status to indicate that everything is working correctly.

Error messages will show in the status when an error has occurred. We have programmed two errors:
Communication Error! – Information is not being received from the PLC. This could be due to the wrong IP address or communications links have been broken.
Database Error! – Information cannot be written into the database, the database is not present, etc.

Here is what our database looks like after collecting a few samples.

As you can see, collecting information from the PLC via ModbusTCP and inserting it into an Access database can be easily done. The next step would be to ensure that the data is always collected. What happens when the communication to the PLC is cut? Robust logging is required. This is when we create a buffer in the PLC of the logged values. Please refer to our EBook ‘Robust Data Logging for Free’ .

Download the sample database, visual basic, and PLC code for this project here.

Watch on YouTube: Modbus TCP Data Logging to Database

If you have any questions or need further information please contact me.
Thank you,
Garry

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