Use the Protocol Editor to define and edit Protocols/Signals

by Marco Wuelser

 

This Guide Article has been written for Version 2.1 of the DATAFLOW Software. For Previous Releases use the version selection in the navigation bar at the top of this page.

 

Edit existing protocols

To open the Protocol Editor for existing Protocols/Signals, use the following options:

  1. Right click the ouput port or channel that has a protocol/signal assigned
    • Select Protocol/Signal -> Edit assigned Protocol/Signal
  2. Select the Protocol/Signal from the Type Group in the Explorer window.
      • Right click and select Edit from the context menu.

                                                                    mceclip3.png

Open Protocol Editor

 

Protocol Editor

The Protocol Editor has four sections:

  • Header (Protocol Name)
  • Details
  • Documentation
  • Fields

mceclip0.png

Protocol Editor Window

 

Details

In the details section it is possible to set the

  • Name
  • Channel Color (this color is used in the diagram for any channel that uses this protocol)
  • Protocol ID (if AutoID is not selected)
  • Category (categories can be used to group data types)

 

Documentation

In the documentation section it is possible to set the

  • Description
  • Documentation Reference
  • Documentation Path
    • The placeholder <REF> can be used to use the reference ID within a URL
      mceclip3.png

 

Fields

Fields can be created by dragging a native type, enumeration or protocol from the Protocol Explorer to the list of fields.

The fields are serialized in the given order without any padding bytes. Fields can be scalar types (integer, Boolean, floating point) or arrays of scalar types.

Fields can also be Enumerations (see above) or other Protocols. In that way, complex datatypes can be created.

 

The list of Fields can be filtered and sorted by

  • Data Type
  • Range
  • Name
  • Description

 

Assign Protocol/Signal to output Port

To assign a protocol or signal to an output port, drag the protocol/signal from the toolbox to the port. The protocol must be first created in one of the above mentioned ways.

 

The lines at both sides of the port will turn black to indicate that a protocol/signal is assigned.

mceclip1.png

Assign Protocol/Signal

NOTE

Protocols can only be assigned to output ports in the Active Part and Interrupt components. 
To affect the output port of an Active Container, the protocol must be assigned to the 
connected output port in the child diagram.

 

Required Module: DATAFLOW Designer

This Article has been written based on V2.1.1 of the DATAFLOW software. 
Latest update 2023-05-31 by WUM.

Go back