Echelon LonMaker - Manual (Page 24)

8 Introduction
Creating Dynamic Functional Blocks
You can create dynamic functional blocks on devices that support them. Device manufacturers can
implement dynamic functional blocks on devices that support customized interfaces, such as
programmable controllers. Within the LonMaker tool, dynamic functional blocks are similar to the
more common static functional blocks except that they can only be added to a compatible device and
they do not contain configuration properties. When you create a dynamic functional block, you can
select whether to create shapes all for mandatory and optional network variables defined in that
dynamic functional block.
See Creating Functional Blocks in Chapter 4, Designing Networks, for more formation on creating
dynamic functional blocks.
Connections
The new features in the LonMaker Turbo Editions for connections are described in the following
sections. See Creating Connections in Chapter 4, Designing Networks, for more detailed information
on using these new features.
Creating a Connection with the Connector Tool
You can use the Connector tool on the Visio Standard toolbar to connect network variables and
message tags on functional blocks and supernodes that are located in the same subsystem.
Automatic Connection Description Selection
You can use the LonMaker tool to automatically select the connection services for network variable
connections. The LonMaker tool will select the connection service that optimizes network
performance, while providing reliable message delivery and minimizing network resource usage. For
example, you can use this feature to minimize the use of ANSI/CEA-709.1 (EN14908) groups in large
networks.
Fast Connection Property Modification
You can manually change a connection type quickly by right-clicking the connection, pointing to Set
Connection Description, and then selecting the new connection description. Selecting a connection
description that does not start with “SCD_” disables automatic connection description selection. To
automatically select the appropriate smart connection description (SCD), select <Recompute>.
New Connection Descriptions
To provide more flexibility when manually selecting a connection type, five new default connection
descriptions have been added:
1. Acknowledged with Alias Multicast
2. Repeated with Alias Multicast
3. Repeated
with Broadcast Multicast
4. Unacknowledged with Alias Multicast
5. Unacknowledged with Broadcast Multicast
Hiding and Showing Connector Shapes
You can hide connector shapes to simplify a LonMaker drawing, or you can selectively show the
connector shapes attached to specific functional blocks or supernodes to examine their connections.
You can also set an option on a functional block to not create connection shapes. See Hiding and
Showing Connector Shapes in Chapter 4, Designing Networks, for more detailed information on the
different ways you can hide and show connector shapes.