User Manual Owner manual

1 Publication 1788-UM052B-EN-P - April 2002

Chapter

NI-FBUS Configurator Overview

This chapter introduces the NI-FBUS Configurator, lists some of its

main features, and describes the main windows of the application.

Introduction to

the NI-FBUS Configurator

You can use the NI-FBUS Configurator to configure a fieldbus network

and keep track of your configuration changes. The NI-FBUS

Configurator is an easy-to-use graphical environment for creating

linkages, loops, and a schedule based on the fieldbus concepts

described in Chapter, Fieldbus Overview.

Now that you are familiar with the basics of fieldbus communication,

you are ready to use the NI-FBUS Configurator. To use the NI-FBUS

Configurator immediately, continue to Chapter, Using the NI-FBUS

Configurator.

NI-FBUS Configurator

Features

You can use the NI-FBUS Configurator to configure a fieldbus network

as follows:

• Set block and device tags

• Set device addresses

• Create and edit function block control strategies

(function block applications)

• Configure vendor-defined function and transducer blocks

• Create and edit schedules

• Read and write to function block control strategies

(function block applications)

• Invoke Device Description (DD) methods

• Display DD menus

• Download a configuration

• Verify a configuration and compare it to a saved configuration

• Monitor a downloaded configuration

• Replace devices

• Log project download changes

• Save and print a configuration