BACnet Object Browser
This section provides step-by-step instructions for BACnet Object Browser tasks. For background information, see the reference section.
Adding a Recipient List
- From the system tree in the left pane, select a device that contains a Notification Class object.
- Select the Notification Class object.
- In the Property Name column in the right pane, right-click recipient-list.
- Click Write Property.
- The Edit Recipient List dialog box displays.
- Click the Add button.
- The Edit Destination dialog box displays.
- In the Recipient section, choose one of the following types of recipient identifiers:
- Device Instance. Allows you to identify the device by device instance number. Modify this number, if appropriate.
- Address. Allows you to provide the MAC Address and Network Number of the BACnet device.
- Broadcast. Allows you to choose a type of broadcast: Local, Remote, or Global.
- In the Recipient Process section, enter the Process ID number in the field provided.
- In the Transitions section, choose any or none of the following transitions notifications:
- To-OffNormal. Check this box to send To-OffNormal event transitions to the recipient.
- To-Fault. Check this box to send To-Fault event transitions to the recipient.
- To-Normal. Check this box to send To-Normal event transitions to the recipient.
- In the Valid Days section, check one or more days of the week you want events sent to the recipient, as desired.
- In the Period section, provide the From and To times when you want events sent to the recipient by clicking the drop-down arrows in the fields. These time fields are in a 24-hour or military-time format, which displays as hours, minutes, and seconds.
For example, in the From time fields, click the first drop-down arrow and select 01, 00, and then 00 in the third drop-down field, indicating the start time of 1:00:00 A.M. In the To time fields, click the first drop-down arrow and select 05, 59, 59 in the third drop-down field, indicating the end time of 5:59:59 A.M.
- In the Notifications section, check the Issue Confirmed Notifications check box to issue confirmed event notifications.
- Click OK to exit the Edit Destination dialog box.
- Click OK to exit the Edit Recipient List dialog box.
Adding a Weekly Schedule
- From the system tree in the left pane, select a device that contains a Schedule object.
- Select the Schedule object.
- In the Property Name column in the right pane, right-click weekly-schedule.
- Click Write Property.
- The Edit Schedule dialog box displays.
- Select the day you want to add an entry to.
- Click Add.
- The Edit Schedule Entry dialog box displays.
- In the Time field, set the time by clicking the drop-down arrows in each of the three fields as desired. These time fields are in a 24-hour or military-time format. For example, 07:00:00 is 7:00 A.M., while 19:00:00 is 7:00 P.M.
- In the Value field, enter a value—for example, 15.5.
- Check the Null check box to indicate that the value you entered becomes the default value for the weekly schedule.
- Click OK to exit the Edit Schedule Entry dialog box.
- Click OK to exit the Edit Schedule dialog box.
Adding Action Text
- From the system tree in the left pane, select a device that contains a Command object.
- Select the Command object.
- In the Property Name column in the right pane, right-click action-text.
- Click Write Property.
NOTE: If the Write Property button is grayed out, the action list property is not editable.
- The Write Property dialog box displays.
- In the New Value field, enter a value.
- Click the Add button.
- When you finish adding action-text entries, do one of the following:
- Click Send Now if you have no other properties to edit.
- Click Send Later if you have other properties to edit and want to send all the changes at one time. When you are finished editing the other properties, click Send Now.
- The new value is written or commanded to the object, and the right pane of the BACnet Object Browser is updated.
Adding an Action List
- From the system tree in the left pane, select a device that contains a Command object.
- Select the Command object.
- In the Property Name column in the right pane, right-click action.
- Select Write Property.
- The Edit Actions dialog box displays.
- In the Action Text section, select the action element you want to add to.
- Beneath the Action List section, click Add.
- The Edit Action Element dialog box displays.
- Check the Device Instance check box.
- In the Specify Device field, enter the device number.
- In the Object Type field, enter the number that defines the object type, or click the drop-down arrow to select the type of object.
- In the Object Instance field, modify the number that defines the object instance.
- In the Property ID field, modify the number that defines the property, or click the drop-down arrow to select the property type.
- In the Array Index field, enter the array index number, or leave the default value if the property is not an array.
- In the Value Type field, select the appropriate data type.
- In the Value field, modify the value of the object or point for the action element.
- In the Priority field, modify the priority of the command for the action element if it has a priority array. The default setting is -1, which is equivalent to not applicable.
- Check the Delay check box.
- Modify the amount of time to delay the command.
- Check the Quit On Failure check box to quit commanding if any commands fail.
- Click OK to exit the dialog box.
- Repeat the appropriate steps to continue adding commands.
- Click OK to exit the dialog box.
Adding an Entry to a Date
- From the system tree in the left pane, select a device that contains a Calendar object.
- Select the Calendar object.
- In the Property Name column in the right pane, right-click date-list.
- Click Write Property.
- The Edit Date List dialog box displays.
- Click Add.
- The Edit Calendar Entry dialog box displays.
- Click one of the following calendar entry types:
- Date. Allows you to modify the calendar entry for a specific date.
- Date Range. Allows you to modify the calendar entry to be a date range with begin and end dates.
- Week and Day. Allows you to modify the calendar entry to be a specific week and day.
- Click OK to exit the Edit Calendar Entry dialog box.
- Click OK to exit the Edit Date List dialog box.
Adding an Exception Schedule
- From the system tree in the left pane, select a device that contains a Schedule object.
- Select the Schedule object.
- In the Property Name column in the right pane, right-click exception-schedule.
- Click Write Property.
- The Edit Exception Schedule dialog box displays.
- Click Add beneath the left pane.
- The Edit Special Event dialog box displays.
- In the Priority field, enter a priority number that indicates the special event’s priority relative to all other special events.
- Select one of the following:
- Calendar Reference. Allows you to modify the instance number of the calendar object to be used for the special event's period.
- Calendar Entry. Allows you to modify the special event period by Date, Date Range, or Week and Day.
The calendar entries for Date, Date Range, and Week and Day are organized by month, day, year, week of month, and day of week fields. You set up calendar entries by clicking the drop-down arrows in each field as necessary. For example, in the Calendar Entry Date radio button section, click the first drop-down arrow and select 6, (indicates the month of June), 1, 2005, and then Wednesday in the fourth drop-down arrow. This indicates you have selected Wednesday, June 1, 2005. If you choose to leave the fourth drop-down field as the default "ANY", the system would use only the date you specified and not the day. The default setting for all of these fields is ANY, a wildcard word that the device interprets to mean "match any available date".
- Enter the Calendar Reference or Calendar Entry section as desired.
- Click OK to exit the dialog box.
- Click OK to close the dialog box.
Adding an Object Reference List
- From the system tree in the left pane, select a device that contains a Schedule object.
- Select the Schedule object.
- In the Property Name column in the right pane, right-click list-of-object-property-references.
- Click Write Property.
- The Edit Device Object Reference List dialog box displays.
- Click Add.
- The Edit Object Property Reference dialog box displays.
- In the Device Instance field, enter the device instance number.
- In the Object Type field, enter the number that defines the object type, or click the drop-down arrow to select the object type.
- In the Object Instance field, enter the number that defines the object instance.
- In the Property ID field, enter the number that defines the property, or click the drop-down arrow to select the property type.
- In the Array Index field, enter a number other than the default, if appropriate.
- Click OK to exit the dialog box.
Adding State Text
- From the system tree in the left pane, select a device that contains a Multi-state Input, Multi-state Output, or Multi-state Value object.
- Select the Multi-state object.
- In the Property Name column in the right pane, right-click state-text.
- Click Write Property. If the Write Property button is grayed out, the state-text property is not editable.
- The Write Property dialog box displays.
- In the New Value field, enter the value for the state-text property.
- Click Add.
- When you finish adding state-text values, do one of the following:
- Click Send Now if you have no other properties to edit.
- Click Send Later if you have other properties to edit and want to send all the changes at one time. When you are finished editing the other properties, click Send Now.
- The new value is written or commanded to the object, and the right pane of the BACnet Object Browser is updated.
Adding Time-Values for Exceptions Schedules
- You want to add simple value types such as integers, enums, or strings.
- From the system tree in the left pane, select a device that contains a Schedule object.
- Select the Schedule object.
- In the Property Name column in the right pane, right-click exception-schedule.
- Click Write Property.
- The Edit Exception Schedule dialog box displays.
- Beneath the right pane of the Edit Exception Schedule dialog box, click Add.
- The Edit Schedule Entry dialog box displays.
- In the Time field, click the drop-down arrow, and then select the time of the schedule entry.
- In the Value field, enter the value of the schedule entry to command to.
- Check the Null check box to indicate that the value you entered becomes the default value for the weekly schedule.
- Click OK to exit the dialog box.
- Click OK to close the dialog box.
Deleting a Date
- From the system tree in the left pane, select a device that contains a Calendar object.
- Select the Calendar object.
- In the Property Name column in the right pane, right-click date-list.
- Click Write Property.
- The Edit Date List dialog box displays.
- Select the entry element you want to delete.
- Click Remove.
- Click OK to exit the Edit Calendar Entry dialog box.
- Click OK to exit the Edit Date List dialog box.
Deleting a Recipient List
- From the system tree in the left pane, select a device that contains a Notification Class object.
- Select the Notification Class object.
- In the Property Name column in the right pane, right-click recipient-list.
- Click Write Property.
- The Edit Recipient List dialog box displays.
- Select the destination you want deleted.
- Click Remove.
- Click OK to exit the dialog box.
Deleting a Weekly Schedule
- From the system tree in the left pane, select a device that contains a Schedule object.
- Select the Schedule object.
- In the Property Name column in the right pane, right-click weekly-schedule.
- Click Write Property.
- The Edit Schedule dialog box displays.
- Select the schedule entry you want to delete.
- Click Remove.
- Click OK to exit the dialog box.
Deleting Action Text
- From the system tree in the left pane, select a device that contains a Command object.
- Select the Command object.
- In the Property Name column in the right pane, right-click action-text.
- Click Write Property.
- The Write Property dialog box displays.
- Select the action-text entry you want to delete.
- Click Remove.
- When you finish deleting action-text entries, do one of the following:
- Click Send Now if you have no other properties to edit.
- Click Send Later if you have other properties to edit and want to send all the changes at one time. When you are finished editing the other properties, click Send Now.
- The new value is written or commanded to the object, and the right pane of the BACnet Object Browser is updated.
Deleting an Action List
- From the system tree in the left pane, select a device that contains a Command object.
- Select the Command object.
- In the Property Name column in the right pane, right-click action.
- Click Write Property.
- The Edit Actions dialog box displays.
- Click Remove.
- Continue removing action elements until you are finished.
- Click OK to exit the dialog box.
- The values are deleted from the action list.
Deleting an Exception Schedule
- From the system tree in the left pane, select a device that contains a Schedule object.
- Select the Schedule object.
- In the Property Name column in the right pane, right-click exception-schedule.
- Click Write Property.
- The Edit Exception Schedule dialog box displays.
- Select the special event you want deleted.
- From the bottom of the left pane, click Remove.
- In the Priority field, enter a priority number that indicates the special event’s priority relative to all other special events.
- Click OK to exit the dialog box.
Deleting an Object Reference List
- From the system tree in the left pane, select a device that contains a Schedule object.
- Select the Schedule object.
- In the Property Name column in the right pane, right-click list-of-object-property-references.
- Click Write Property.
- The Edit Device Object Reference List dialog box displays.
- Select the object reference you want deleted.
- Click Remove.
- Click OK to exit the dialog box.
Deleting State Text
- From the system tree in the left pane, select a device that contains a Multi-state Input, Multi-state Output, or Multi-state Value object.
- Select the Multi-state object.
- In the Property Name column in the right pane, right-click state-text.
- Click Write Property. If the Write Property button is grayed out, the state-text property is not editable.
- The Write Property dialog box displays.
- Select the value you want to delete.
- Click Remove.
- When you finish deleting state-text values, do one of the following:
- Click Send Now if you have no other properties to edit.
- Click Send Later if you have other properties to edit and want to send all the changes at one time. When you are finished editing the other properties, click Send Now.
- The new value is written or commanded to the object, and the right pane of the BACnet Object Browser is updated.
Deleting Time-Values for Exception Schedules
- You want to delete simple value types such as integers, enums, or strings.
- From the system tree in the left pane, select a device that contains a Schedule object.
- Select the Schedule object.
- In the Property Name column in the right pane, right-click exception-schedule.
- Click Write Property.
- The Edit Exception Schedule dialog box displays.
- In the right pane of the Edit Exception Schedule dialog box, select the time-value you want to delete.
- Beneath the right pane, click Remove.
- Click OK to exit the dialog box.
Editing a Date List
- From the system tree in the left pane, select a device that contains a Calendar object.
- Select the Calendar object.
- In the Property Name column, right-click date-list.
- Click Write Property.
- The Edit Date List dialog box displays.
- Select the entry type you want to change.
- Click Edit.
- The Edit Calendar Entry dialog box displays.
- Click and modify one or more of the following calendar entry types:
- Date. Allows you to modify the calendar entry for a specific date.
- Date Range. Allows you to modify the calendar entry to be a date range with begin and end dates.
- Week and Day. Allows you to modify the calendar entry to be a specific week and day.
- Click OK to exit the Edit Calendar Entry dialog box.
- Click OK to exit the Edit Date List dialog box.
Editing a Recipient List
- From the system tree in the left pane, select a device that contains a Notification Class object.
- Select the Notification Class object.
- In the Property Name column in the right pane, right-click recipient-list.
- Click Write Property.
- The Edit Recipient List dialog box displays.
- Select the destination you want to change, and then click the Edit button.
- The Edit Destination dialog box displays.
- In the Recipient section, choose one of the following types of recipient identifiers:
- Device Instance. Allows you to identify the device by device instance number. Modify this number, if appropriate.
- Address. Allows you to provide the MAC Address and Network Number of the BACnet device.
- Broadcast. Allows you to choose a type of broadcast: Local, Remote, or Global.
- In the Recipient Process section, enter the Process ID number in the field provided.
- In the Transitions section, choose any or none of the following transitions notifications:
- To-OffNormal. Check this box to send To-OffNormal event transitions to the recipient.
- To-Fault. Check this box to send To-Fault event transitions to the recipient.
- To-Normal. Check this box to send To-Normal event transitions to the recipient.
- In the Valid Days section, check one or more days of the week you want events sent to the recipient, as desired.
- In the Period section, provide the From and To times when you want events sent to the recipient by clicking the drop-down arrows in the fields. These time fields are in a 24-hour or military-time format, which displays as hours, minutes, and seconds.
For example, in the From time fields, click the first drop-down arrow and select 01, 00, and then 00 in the third drop-down field, indicating the start time of 1:00:00 A.M. In the To time fields, click the first drop-down arrow and select 05, 59, 59 in the third drop-down field, indicating the end time of 5:59:59 A.M.
- In the Notifications section, check the Issue Confirmed Notifications check box to issue confirmed event notifications.
- Click OK to exit the Edit Destination dialog box.
- Click OK to exit the Edit Recipient List dialog box.
Editing a Weekly Schedule
- From the system tree in the left pane, select a device that contains a Schedule object.
- Select the Schedule object.
- In the Property Name column in the right pane, right-click weekly-schedule.
- Click Write Property.
- The Edit Schedule dialog box displays.
- Select the day and time-value pair you want to change. You can only edit weekly schedule entries that have a simple value type, for example, float or unsigned.
- Click Edit.
- The Edit Schedule Entry dialog box displays.
- In the Time field, modify the time by clicking the drop-down arrows in each of the three fields as desired. These time fields are in a 24-hour or military-time format. For example, 07:00:00 is 7:00 A.M., while 19:00:00 is 7:00 P.M.
- (Optional) In the Value field, modify the value.
- Check the Null check box to indicate that the value you entered becomes the default value for the weekly schedule. You can only edit simple value types such as integers, enums, and strings.
- Click OK to exit the Edit Schedule Entry dialog box.
- Click OK to exit the Edit Schedule dialog box.
Editing Action Text
- From the system tree in the left pane, select a device that contains a Command object.
- Select the Command object.
- In the Property Name column in the right pane, right-click action-text.
- Click Write Property. If Write Property is grayed out, the action-list property is not editable.
- The Write Property dialog box displays.
- In the New Value field, modify the value for each action text entry.
- Click OK to exit the dialog box.
- From the system tree in the left pane, select a device that contains a Command object.
- Select the Command object.
- In the Property Name column in the right pane, right-click action-text.
- Click Write Property. If Write Property is grayed out, the action-list property is not editable.
- The Write Property dialog box displays.
- In the New Value field, modify the value for each action text entry.
- Click OK to exit the dialog box.
Editing an Action List
- From the system tree in the left pane, select a device that contains a Command object.
- Select the Command object.
- In the Property Name column in the right pane, right-click action.
- Select Write Property. If Write Property is grayed out, the action-list property is not editable.
- The Edit Actions dialog box displays.
- In the Action Text section, select the action element you want to change.
- In the Action List section, select the command you want to edit.
- Click Edit.
- The Edit Action Element dialog box displays.
- Check the Device Instance check box.
- In the Specify Device field, enter the device number.
- In the Object Type field, enter the number that defines the object type, or click the drop-down arrow to select the type of object.
- In the Object Instance field, modify the number that defines the object instance.
- In the Property ID field, modify the number that defines the property, or click the drop-down arrow to select the property type.
- In the Array Index field, enter the array index number, or leave the default value if the property is not an array.
- In the Value Type field, select the appropriate data type.
- In the Value field, modify the value of the object or point for the action element.
- In the Priority field, modify the priority of the command for the action element if it has a priority array. The default setting is -1, which is equivalent to not applicable.
- Check the Delay check box.
- Modify the amount of time to delay the command.
- Check the Quit On Failure check box to quit commanding if any commands fail.
- Click OK to exit the Edit Action Element dialog box.
- Repeat the appropriate steps to continue editing commands.
- Click OK to exit the dialog box.
Editing an Exception Schedule
- From the system tree in the left pane, select a device that contains a Schedule object.
- Select the Schedule object.
- In the Property Name column in the right pane, right-click exception-schedule.
- Click Write Property.
- The Edit Exception Schedule dialog box displays.
- In the left pane of the Edit Exception Schedule dialog box, select the special event you want to change, and then click Edit beneath the left pane.
- The Edit Special Event dialog box displays.
- In the Priority field, modify the priority level, if desired.
- Select one of the following:
- Calendar Reference. Allows you to modify the instance number of the calendar object to be used for the special event's period.
- Calendar Entry. Allows you to modify the special event period by Date, Date Range, or Week and Day.
The calendar entries for Date, Date Range, and Week and Day are organized by month, day, year, week of month, and day of week fields. You set up calendar entries by clicking the drop-down arrows in each field as necessary. For example, in the Calendar Entry Date radio button section, click the first drop-down arrow and select 6, (indicates the month of June), 1, 2005, and then Wednesday in the fourth drop-down arrow. This indicates you have selected Wednesday, June 1, 2005. If you choose to leave the fourth drop-down field as the default "ANY", the system would use only the date you specified and not the day. The default settings for all of these fields is ANY, a wildcard word that the device interprets to mean "match any available date".
- Modify the Calendar Reference or Calendar Entry section as desired.
- Click OK to exit the dialog box.
Editing an Object Reference List
- From the system tree in the left pane, select a device that contains a Schedule object.
- Select the Schedule object.
- In the Property Name column in the right pane, right-click list-of-object-property-references.
- Click Write Property.
- The Edit Device Object Reference List dialog box displays.
- Select the entry you want to change.
- Click Edit.
- The Edit Object Property Reference dialog box displays.
- In the Device Instance field, enter the device instance number.
- In the Object Type field, enter the number that defines the object type, or click the drop-down arrow to select the object type.
- In the Object Instance field, enter the number that defines the object instance.
- In the Property ID field, enter the number that defines the property, or click the drop-down arrow to select the property type.
- In the Array Index field, enter a number other than the default, if appropriate.
- Click OK to exit the dialog box.
Editing Time-Values for Exception Schedules
- You want to edit simple value types such as integers, enums, or strings.
- From the system tree in the left pane, select a device that contains a Schedule object.
- Select the Schedule object.
- In the Property Name column in the right pane, right-click exception-schedule.
- Click Write Property.
- The Edit Exception Schedule dialog box displays.
- In the right pane of the Edit Exception Schedule dialog box, select the time-value you want to change for the special event.
- Click Edit beneath the right pane.
- The Edit Schedule Entry dialog box displays.
- In the Time field, click the drop-down arrow, and then select the time of the schedule entry.
- In the Value field, enter the value of the schedule entry to command to.
- Check the Null check box to indicate that the value you entered becomes the default value for the weekly schedule.
- Click OK to exit the dialog box.
Expanding Lists
- You want to view more detailed information about a BACnet object property contained within a list, and the property value displays <Double-Click> to indicate that additional information is available.
- From the system tree in the left pane, select an object—for example, a Calendar object.
- The right pane of the BACnet Object Browser window displays the list of property names and values for that object.
- From the Value column, double-click any value with <Double-Click> displayed.
- The list updates to display the type of entry and associated information.
Importing Points
- You have selected a BACnet device with objects (points) you want to import.
- From the Services menu, select Import Points.
- Select the objects you want to import from the BACnet device. You can select one object or multiple objects using the standard CTRL and SHIFT keys.
- Click Import.
- The objects are available in System Manager.
Modifying Read/Write Properties
- You want to modify the properties of a BACnet object.
- From the system tree in the left pane, select an object.
- In the Property Name column in the right pane, select a property name.
- From the Services menu, click Write Property.
NOTE: The Write Property function is grayed out if you are not allowed to edit the object property. In addition, the BACnet device may reject the attempted write. If so, an error displays in the bottom pane.
- The Write Property dialog box displays.
- Modify the fields in the Write Property dialog box.
- Do one of the following:
- Click Send Now if you have no other properties to edit.
- Click Send Later if you have other properties to edit and want to send all the changes at one time. When you are finished editing the other properties, click Send Now.
- The new value is written or commanded to the object, and the right pane of the BACnet Object Browser is updated.
Sending a Who-Has
- You want to send a broadcast to the BACnet network to view which devices have the object you are searching for.
- From the system tree in the left pane, select a BACnet Network.
- From the Services menu, click Send Who-Has.
- The Who-Has dialog box displays.
- Enter a unique object name. Object names must be unique within each BACnet device residing on the BACnet network since you may find more than one object with the same name on the network. You can use wildcards to help you select a unique name.
- Click Send Who-Has.
- A Who-Has broadcast request is sent over the BACnet network specifying an Object Name. Any devices that contain an object matching the request respond with an I-Have, and the Listening for I-Haves list is populated with responding devices.
- Click OK.
Sending a Who-Is
- You want to start the discovery process of finding BACnet devices on a network.
- From the system tree in the left pane, select a BACnet network.
- From the Services menu, click Send Who-Is.
- The Who-Is dialog box displays.
- In the Send Who-Is to Device Range fields, enter the start and end device instance numbers.
- In the On Network field, enter the network number. Keep the default values if you want to search for every device on the entire BACnet network. Device instance numbers must be unique for each BACnet device residing on the BACnet network.
- Click Send Who-Is.
- A Who-Is broadcast request is sent over the network specifying an instance number or a range of instance numbers. Any devices that have the specified device objects respond with an I-Am to the request, and the Listening for I-Ams list is populated with responding devices.
- From the Listening for I-Ams list, select one or more devices.
- Click OK.
- The devices are added to the system tree.
Viewing Devices
- You want to view information about a BACnet device.
- From the system tree in the left pane, select a device.
- The right pane refreshes with all associated information pertaining to that device and is organized by Property Name and Value columns.
- In the View field, click the drop-down arrow and select the view that contains information you want to see.
- The information displays in the right pane.
Viewing Objects
- You want to view information about a BACnet object.
- From the system tree in the left pane, click the plus symbol next to the device whose objects you want to view.
- Select an object.
- The right pane refreshes with all associated information pertaining to the selected object type.