Using export folders

Use Bacnet export folders to organize any collection of Bacnet server descriptors. Add export folders using the New Folder button in any of the Export Table manager views.

Prior to AX-3.5, when adding a New Folder in any manager view of the Export Table, a simple Name dialog appears, as shown in Figure 76.

Figure 76. New folder dialog prior to AX-3.5

In this case you simply enter the Niagara (station) name for the Bacnet export folder.

Starting in AX-3.5, Bacnet export folders are exposed as BACnet Structured View Objects (SVOs). When adding an export folder, the New dialog has many more fields. For more details, see the next section Structured View Object server support.

Structured View Object server support

Starting in AX-3.5, Bacnet export folders made are exposed as BACnet Structured View Objects (SVOs). Server descriptors that are children of the export folder are automatically included as entries in the SVO’s Subordinate_List property. On any export folder, there is also now an Svo Subordinate Manager view which you can use to manually configure additional subordinates, if needed.

BACnet SVOs allow an organizational interface, where each holds references to subordinate objects. These objects may include other SVOs, thus allowing multi-level hierarchies. The intent is to convey an organization beyond what is available in the (otherwise) “flat” BACnet object list. An SVO organization could be network (physical), logical, geographical, or some other structure.

See the following sections for more details:

Adding new Bacnet export folders

When adding new export folders in AX-3.5 and later from the Bacnet Export Manager view, the New dialog has several fields, as shown in Figure 77.

Figure 77. New export folder dialog (AX-3.5 and later)

Important fields in the New export folder dialog are as follows:

Name

NiagaraAX name of the export folder component. Currently this is read-only, and initially reflects the default “BacnetExportFolder” (or “BacnetExportFolderN”) name.
After adding an export folder, you can rename it (click to select it, then Ctrl-R for the rename dialog). For clarity, rename to match its Object Name (BACnet) property, described next.
Object Name

Enter the BACnet name for the Structured View Object (SVO) this export folder will represent. This name must be unique at this level in the structured view hierarchy.
Object Type

BACnet Object Type (read-only) is Structured View.
Inst Num

The numerical BACnet instance number for this Structured View Object (SVO), with a range from 0 to 4194302. Must be unique among all SVOs in the station.
Workbench automatically increments this value when adding multiple Bacnet export folders.
Description

Enter the BACnet Description property for this Structured View Object.

After adding an export folder, in addition to renaming it from “BacnetExportFolderN”, you may wish to edit one or two other properties from its property sheet, as shown in Figure 78.

Figure 78. Node Type and Node Subtype properties in Bacnet export folder property sheet

These two properties on the BacnetExportFolder’s property sheet are:

Node Type

The BACnet Node_Type property is an enumerated value to generally classify the object. A drop-down list allows selection as either unknown (the default), or else system, network, device, organizational, area, equipment, point, collection, property, functional, or other.
Node Subtype

The BACnet Node_Subtype property allows a more specific classification, using any text descriptor (default is blank).

Svo Subordinate Manager view

Starting in AX-3.5, each BacnetExportFolder has an available Svo Subordinate Manager view, as shown in Figure 79.

Figure 79. Svo Subordinate Manager view on BacnetExportFolder (AX-3.5 and later)

This view is to manage references to subordinate BACnet objects. In the exposed Structured View Object (from a Bacnet export folder), note that subordinates appear in two property lists:

Subordinate_List: List of object identifiers for all BACnet objects the SVO organizes.
Subordinate_Annotations: List of descriptions of the same objects—the same size as the Subordinate_List, where entries in one correspond to entries in the other.

Typically, most entries are “automatic” subordinates, shown on the right side. These result from either child Bacnet server descriptors or export folders.

You can select one, and click Edit Auto for an EditAuto dialog.

Figure 80. EditAuto dialog for selected “Automatic” subordinate object

As shown above in Figure 80, you can edit the “Subordinate Annotation” text—note this is actually the Description property in the referenced Bacnet server descriptor or export folder.

The left side of the Svo Subordinate Manager allows you to manually add (or edit or delete) new subordinate references, using the buttons below that view half. When you click New, a New dialog appears.

Figure 81. New dialog for manually-added subordinate object

As shown in Figure 81, there are three fields available:

Device Instance

Either accept the default “Local” (for the BACnet device represented by this Niagara station), or type in the numerical Device ID for another remote BACnet device.
BACnet allows a Structured View Object to reference subordinate objects in other BACnet devices. If you elect to use this feature, this is how it is done.
Object Id

Using the drop-down control, select the BACnet object type (on the left side), and on the right-side enter a valid instance number (from 0 on up), overwriting the default “-1” instance number.
Subordinate Annotation

Enter a text string for the Description property of this BACnet object.

Other buttons below the left side of the Svo Subordinate Manager view allow you to Edit or Delete manually-added entries for subordinate objects.

The same BACnet object can be a subordinate in more than one Structured View Object. For example, an Analog Input object that represents a temperature can be a subordinate in both a “Temperatures” SVO tree as well as a “Admin Building” SVO tree.