Native Mode Communications

The In-Sight Native Mode protocol is an ASCII protocol that allows an In-Sight sensor to be controlled from any of the following:

  • Custom application programs running on a PC.
  • Remote hosts that support standard serial communications.
  • Telnet over an Ethernet network.

The Native Mode protocol is divided into two sets of commands: Basic and Extended.

  • Basic Native Mode commands are two characters long, plus parameters (if any) and a terminator character.
  • Extended Native Mode commands include additional functions or commands.

The commands are not case sensitive. The terminator is CR + LF (ASCII characters 13 + 10) when sending Native Mode commands using a telnet connection. When using Native Mode commands over a serial port, an alternate terminator character may be specified in the Native Mode Details. The default terminator is CR (ASCII character 13).

When a Native Mode command is remotely issued to an In-Sight sensor, the In-Sight sensor processes the command and then returns a response, consisting of an ASCII string followed by the terminator character.

  • Commands that set values return 1 for "success", 0 for "unrecognized command", or a negative number for "failure".
  • Commands that get values return various values, depending on the command.
Note:
  • A subset of Native Mode commands can be sent from any PLC (that allows a generic CIP message) over an EtherNet/IP connection using Explicit Messaging: Delete File, Get File, Get Online, Get Value, Load File, Set Event, Set Float, Set Integer, Set Online, Set String and Store File. For more information, see Native Mode Commands.
  • The In-Sight 2000 series sensor has the following limitations:
    • The In-Sight 2000 series sensor does not support all basic native mode commands. For more information, see Native Mode Commands.
    • The Get Value (GV) command is only supported for Serial Native.
    • The In-Sight 2000 series sensor does not support extended native mode commands, except where noted.
    • The In-Sight 2000-110, 2000-120 and 2000-120C sensors are only capable of returning Pass/Fail data. When attempting to retrieve numeric data, an invalid permission (-6) error will be returned.

Basic Native Mode Syntax

The general syntax of a Basic Native Mode command is as follows: [command][parameter][terminator]

  • Where [command] consists of two characters. Some Native Mode commands take an optional [parameter].
  • The Basic Native Mode command is completed with a [terminator] character. The terminator is CR + LF (ASCII characters 13 + 10) when sending Native Mode commands using a telnet connection. When using Native Mode commands over a serial port, an alternate terminator character may be specified in the Native Mode Details. The default terminator is CR (ASCII character 13).
  • Basic Native Mode commands are not case-sensitive. No spaces exist between parameters.
Note:
  • Native Mode commands that are executed on a Job (such as Write Job and Delete Job) are included primarily for backwards compatibility.
  • The checksum that is used by Native Mode file transfer commands is a standard 16-bit Cyclical Redundancy Check. For more information, see Cyclical Redundancy Check (CRC).

Extended Native Mode Syntax

The general syntax of an Extended Native Mode command is as follows: [command1] [command2] [input parameters][terminator]

  • Where [command1] is any one of the three Extended Native Mode commands (Get, Put, EV). [command2] represents the secondary command, indicating which data to send, receive, or execute, based upon [command1]. [input parameters] supply optional supplementary information to the command.
  • The Extended Native Mode command is completed with a [terminator] character. The terminator is CR + LF (ASCII characters 13 + 10) when sending Native Mode commands using a telnet connection. When using Native Mode commands over a serial port, an alternate terminator character may be specified in the Native Mode Details. The default terminator is CR (ASCII character 13).
  • Note that spaces exist between certain input parameters.

Communicate with In-Sight Vision Systems via Serial Port Using Native Mode Commands

  1. On the Sensor menu, click Serial Port Settings.
  2. In the Serial Port Settings dialog, choose Native From the Mode drop-down list.
  3. Configure the remote serial device to use the same port settings as the In-Sight sensor.
Note: When using Native Mode commands over a serial port, a different terminator character may be specified in the Native Mode Details, which is accessed from the Serial Port dialog. For more information, see Native Mode Details.

Communicate with In-Sight Vision Systems via Telnet Using Native Mode Commands

Telnet is a built-in Microsoft Windows client that can be used to remotely communicate with the sensor using In-Sight Native Mode commands.

Note: Telnet must be enabled in Windows before it can be utilized. Open Control Panel > Programs and Features. Select Turn Windows features on or off. Check the Telnet Client box, then click OK.
  1. Open the telnet client application on the remote host.
  2. In the telnet application, connect to the vision system by either its Host Name or IP address. If the connection is successful, a "Welcome to In-Sight(tm)" message appears, along with the hardware model number (for example: IS8402M) and the session number.

  3. Enter a valid user name and password for the In-Sight sensor. The user name and password entered must exist in the User List for that sensor. If the log on is successful, the message "User Logged In" will appear. The default administrator logon is admin and the default password is <blank>.

    You can test the telnet connection by typing the Native Mode Get Value command, "gva000", at the telnet prompt. If successful, the command returns a 1, followed by the value in cell A0 in the spreadsheet of the In-Sight sensor, #Image:

Custom applications can be written (to run on a remote host) to automate the telnet logon process, as well as to send and receive Native Mode data.

Note:
  • By default, when connected via telnet, there is no default timeout. To set a timeout value, use the Put Timeout command.
  • Under typical use, password echo is disabled in the telnet client application for security purposes.

  • When using telnet to log on to an In-Sight sensor from a Unix-based platform, the telnet command line must be in the following format:

    > telnet <host> <port>

    where <host> is either the In-Sight sensor's Host Name or IP Address, and <port> is the remote telnet port (usually 23). Supplying the port number disables the Unix username/password authentication and forces the Unix system to prompt you for a user name and password.