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TEST-TRACK 3.12.0

| Stan Versluis

The new TEST-TRACK 3.12.0 release includes new functions with regard to the TEST-TRACK Test Description Language and Command Editor.

Modbus support

TEST-TRACK now supports sending Modbus messages. This is done by adding CONFIG_PROTOCOL, a more general way of configuring the communication with your UUT.

Communication protocols

With this command it is now possible to specify custom data communication protocol settings on top of your port settings. In such a way one can define:

  • Stop and start sequences of bytes
  • Escaping characters, or a length for which escape characters are ignored
  • Checksums, with optional modifiers

CONFIG_PROTOCOL [ CommPortType, Channel ]
TXSTARTSEQ = TxStartSequence, TXSTOPSEQ = TxStopSequence,
RXSTARTSEQ = RxStartSequence, RXSTOPSEQ = RxStopSequence,
ESCAPE_CHAR = EscapeCharacter, ESCAPE_MOD = EscapeModifier,
CHECKSUM = CalcMethod,
IGNORE_LENGTH = CheckLength;

These protocol settings now are the same for serial, COM and TCP ports. First configure your port settings as you did before, but you only need to specify the minimal. Just so that the port can be used to send and receive bytes. Choose any of the ports.

For example:

CONFIG_SERIAL [ 1 ] BAUDRATE = 115200, DATABITS = 8, PARITY = NONE, STOPBITS = 1;
CONFIG_COM [ 2 ] BAUDRATE = 115200, DATABITS = 8, PARITY = NONE, STOPBITS = 1;
CONFIG_TCP [ 1 ] HOST = “192.168.1.13”, PORT = 5000;


Then define the protocol on top of the specific communication port. Here are two examples:

CONFIG_PROTOCOL [ SERIAL, 1 ]
TXSTARTSEQ = “”, TXSTOPSEQ = “\x0D”,
RXSTARTSEQ = “”, RXSTOPSEQ = “\x0D”;

CONFIG_PROTOCOL [ TCP, 1 ]
TXSTARTSEQ = “\x0F\x0F”, TXSTOPSEQ = “\x04”,
RXSTARTSEQ = “\x0F\x0F”, RXSTOPSEQ = “\x04”,
ESCAPE_CHAR = “\x05”, ESCAPE_MOD = NONE,
CHECKSUM = CRC_16_MODBUS;

The first configures the serial port on channel 1 with the specified protocol settings. Here to use just the CR character (0x0D) to be used as the end of line character.
The second specifies the TCP port on channel 1 with the specified protocol.