Reading TwinCAT variables dynamically using C# (.NET 7)
I have been working with TwinCAT 3 communication using Javascript, Typescript and C#.
Lately I have been doing a project using .NET 7 and ASP.NET Core. In many use cases the frontend needs some data from PLC and then backend should provide it as json, nothing else (the data would go as-is from PLC to frontend).
Traditionally this causes some extra work as you need to provide the PLC structs also in C# code to be able to serialize it to json. In Javascript using ads-client it’s easy: call ReadSymbol(), serialize data and that’s it.
After making some research on latest TwinCAT.Ads.dll (v. 6.x) and doing some testing, it seemed to be possible. It’s possible to read any PLC value, get it as dynamic type and the serialize it. And vice-versa.
— UPDATE 09.02.2024 —
Beckhoff has fixed bug with reading arrays of structs in TwinCAT.Ads.dll version 6.1.125 and newer.
Example project
There is an example project available at https://github.com/jisotalo/reading-twincat-variables-dynamically-using-csharp
Data types at PLC
Let’s assume we have following types in the PLC.
TYPE ST_Structure :
STRUCT
TextValue : STRING(50) := 'some string data';
RealValue : REAL := 20.23;
DateValue : DT := DT#2023-3-18-19:33:05;
SubStruct : ST_SubStructure;
END_STRUCT
END_TYPE
TYPE ST_SubStructure :
STRUCT
SubTextValue : STRING := 'This is substruct';
SubArrayValue : ARRAY[0..4] OF INT := [1, 2, 3, 4, 5];
END_STRUCT
END_TYPE
An instance of ST_Structure is created under GVL GVL_Test.
//GVL_Test
{attribute 'qualified_only'}
VAR_GLOBAL
StructValue : ST_Structure;
END_VAR
Therefore the instance path is GVL_Test.StructValue.
Reading data using Javascript
Just an example how it’s done using ads-client.
Note that you don’t need to specify the data structure.
try {
const res = await client.readSymbol('GVL_Test.StructValue');
console.log('Value read:', res.value);
} catch (err) {
console.log('Reading failed:', err);
}
Reading data using C# and TwinCAT.Ads.dll 4.x
Traditionally data transfer requires that the PLC data structure is specified in the C# code in a way that the data would be marshalled correctly. Also the byte alignments (pack mode) need to match in both PLC and C#.
Frist we need to add {attribute 'pack_mode' := '1'} above struct definitions:
{attribute 'pack_mode' := '1'}
TYPE ST_SubStructure :
//...
Then in C# code we need to define data types in C# code following way:
[StructLayout(LayoutKind.Sequential, Pack = 1)]
public class ST_Structure
{
[MarshalAs(UnmanagedType.ByValTStr, SizeConst = 51)]
public string TextValue;
public float RealValue;
public uint DateValue;
public ST_SubStructure SubStruct;
}
[StructLayout(LayoutKind.Sequential, Pack = 1)]
public class ST_SubStructure
{
[MarshalAs(UnmanagedType.ByValTStr, SizeConst = 81)]
public string SubTextValue;
[MarshalAs(UnmanagedType.ByValArray, SizeConst = 5)]
public ushort[] SubArrayValue;
}
Now it’s possible to read data and cast it to defined type. Note that the 4.x version does not have async methods so you need to wrap it with Task.Run() if needed.
uint handle = client.CreateVariableHandle("GVL_Test.StructValue");
var data = (ST_Structure)client.ReadAny(handle, typeof(ST_Structure));
client.DeleteVariableHandle(handle);
Console.WriteLine(JsonConvert.SerializeObject(data, Formatting.Indented));
Reading data using C# and TwinCAT.Ads.dll 6.x
The 6.x version seems to be a full rewrite or atleast it is dramatically evolved. There are now async methods available, so you it’s easier to work with.
Reading in a traditional way
It’s of course still possible to read as before, but the data type can be provided as T and await can be used, which is nice.
var handle = await client.CreateVariableHandleAsync("GVL_Test.StructValue", CancellationToken.None);
var data = await client.ReadAnyAsync<ST_Structure>(handle.Handle, CancellationToken.None);
await client.DeleteVariableHandleAsync(handle.Handle, CancellationToken.None);
Console.WriteLine(JsonConvert.SerializeObject(data, Formatting.Indented));
Reading dynamically (hard-coded variable names)
The documentation is quite awful about the new features. I found some clues from the following link:
Based on the link, it should be possible to do some magic first and then access data using dot notation, such as Symbols.GVL_Test.StructValue, without providing any data types manually.
The final solution was the following. First we create a symbol loader, read all symbols and then access value by hard-coded name.
//Creating a dynamic symbol loader
IDynamicSymbolLoader loader = (IDynamicSymbolLoader)SymbolLoaderFactory.Create(client, SymbolLoaderSettings.DefaultDynamic);
//Loading symbols - note that this is quite expensive operation
ResultDynamicSymbols resultSymbols = await loader.GetDynamicSymbolsAsync(CancellationToken.None);
dynamic symbols = resultSymbols.Symbols;
//Accessing GVL_Test.StructValue and reading its data (note, no data type defined anywhere!)
var data = await symbols.GVL_Test.StructValue.ReadValueAsync(CancellationToken.None);
Console.WriteLine(JsonConvert.SerializeObject(data, Formatting.Indented));
The cons of this is that the variable instance path is hard-coded (GVL_Test.StructValue). You can’t use a variable as instance path. For example, it would be impossible to create a method ReadValue(string plcAddress) or similar. And naturally you lose all type error checking / strong typing!
Reading dynamically (dynamic variable names)
Having hard-coded variable names is not an option for me. It makes the project very hard to maintain.
The Beckhoff documentation didn’t have any solution. All I found was how to do this to any other types than struct:
Finally, after lot’s of testing, the solution was found. The symbols need to be read using IAdsSymbolLoader instead of IDynamicSymbolLoader. Then symbols are read using GetSymbolsAsync().
When accessing the symbol, it needs to be casted to DynamicSymbol which allows dynamic data reading.
//Creating a symbol loader
SymbolLoaderSettings settings = new SymbolLoaderSettings(SymbolsLoadMode.DynamicTree);
IAdsSymbolLoader dynLoader = (IAdsSymbolLoader)SymbolLoaderFactory.Create(client, settings);
//Loading symbols - note that this is quite expensive operation
var symbols = (await dynLoader.GetSymbolsAsync(CancellationToken.None)).Symbols;
//Accessing GVL_Test.StructValue symbol, casting it to DynamicSymbol and reading its data (note, no data type defined anywhere!)
var data = await (symbols["GVL_Test.StructValue"] as DynamicSymbol).ReadValueAsync(CancellationToken.None);
Console.WriteLine(JsonConvert.SerializeObject(data.Value, Formatting.Indented));
Thanks to this, we can create for example a simple ReadValue(string plcAddress) helper method:
async Task<dynamic> ReadValue(string plcAddress)
{
var symbol = await (symbols[plcAddress] as DynamicSymbol).ReadValueAsync(CancellationToken.None);
return symbol.Value;
}
And for example a web API to read anything:
//read-value-by-name?variableName=GVL_Test.StructValue
app.MapGet("/read-value-by-name", async (string variableName) =>
{
var data = await ReadValue(variableName);
return Results.Text(JsonConvert.SerializeObject(data), "application/json");
});
You can also use device notifications with dynamic types:
var symbol = (symbols["GVL_Test.StructValue"] as DynamicSymbol);
symbol.NotificationSettings = new NotificationSettings(AdsTransMode.OnChange, 1000, 0);
symbol.ValueChanged += new EventHandler<ValueChangedEventArgs>((sender, e) =>
{
Console.WriteLine($"Symbol {e.Symbol.InstancePath} changed: {JsonConvert.SerializeObject(e.Value)}");
});
Writing data
Writing data is also possible using WriteValueAsync.
Simple example of a struct variable:
var symbol = (symbols["GVL_Test.StructValue.TextValue"] as DynamicSymbol);
await symbol.WriteValueAsync("a new string value", CancellationToken.None);
Conclusion
Handling dynamic data is trickier with C# when comparing to Javascript world. However this opens a lot of possibilities.
Personally I will still use strict typing in many cases. But sometimes, like with web APIs or simple projects, using dynamic types might be a good and fast solution.