To discover BACnet objects

Perform this task to discover Bacnet objects as proxy point candidates.

To discover Bacnet objects in a device:

1. In the Bacnet Device Manager, in the Exts column, double-click the Points icon in the row representing the device you wish to explore.

   This brings up the Bacnet Point Manager.

2. Click the Discover button to automatically learn what BACnet objects are in the device. Niagara interrogates the device for its object list, and a progress bar appears at the top of the view.

   When the discovery job completes, discovered BACnet objects are listed in the top pane of the view, in the “Discovered” table. Each BACnet object in the device occupies one row.

   You can click to expand objects (by default, “presentValue” is on top of any object that has it). See Bacnet Point Manager “Discovered” notes for more details.

3. To proxy learned objects, see the next section: To add discovered BACnet objects as Bacnet proxy points.

To add discovered BACnet objects as Bacnet proxy points

Perform this task to add discovered BACnet objects to your station database as proxy points.

To add discovered BACnet objects as Bacnet proxy points:

1. Select the property of the discovered object you wish to proxy. Typically, this is the default (top) “presentValue” property, but you may wish to create one or more additional proxy points for other properties (expand the discovered object). Possible examples include “eventState,” or for a priority-type object, a particular “priorityArray” index (level).

2. You can map selected items in the station in a number of ways:

   • Drag from the Discovered pane to Database pane (brings up an Add dialog).

   • Double-click an item in the Discovered pane (also brings up an Add dialog).

   • Click to select in Discovered, then press “a”. (“Quick Add”, meaning no Add dialog).

   This works the same as in other driver’s Point Manager views.

3. When the Add dialog appears, you can edit the configuration of the proxy point’s BacnetProxyExt before it is added in the Niagara station. Initial property values are determined from the learned object (and are typically acceptable).

   Note the following about entries in the Add dialog:

   • Name is the Object_Name as reported by the BACnet object, plus Property_Indentifier to ensure a unique point name. For example: “AHU1-Frz_Stat-eventState”

     The exception to this is for “presentValue” points (default), where only Object_Name is used in point name. For example: “AHU1-Frz_Stat”

     Each slash (“/”) character, if any, is replaced by a period (“.”) in the Niagara name.

     This is the Niagara point name only—any change is not written to the BACnet object.

   • Type is the Niagara control point type to use for the proxy point.

     Unlike other entries in the Add dialog, you cannot edit Type later.

   • Enabled is whether the proxy point is enabled for polling, writing, etc.

     By default, any writable Type point (BooleanWritable, NumericWritable, etc.) for a “commandable” type object (any with a priority_array property, such as a Binary_Output, Analog_Output, etc), will have Enabled initially set to false. To allow for point operation, you must set this property to true. See Bacnet FAQs for more details.

   • Object ID, Property ID, and Index are how the point references its value in the remote BACnet device.

   • Tuning Policy Name specifies the Bacnet tuning policy to use for the proxy point.

   • Data Type specifies the ASN data type of the property in the BACnet object. Values are automatically converted to the appropriate Niagara type for the point. For example, Analog Input Present_Value is an ASN REAL, but can be interpreted by a StringPoint as a character string.

   • Read and Write display the read and write status of the point.

   • Device Facets represent the facets learned from the device.

   • Facets represent the parent Niagara proxy point’s facets, for how the value should be displayed in Niagara.

4. When you have a Bacnet proxy point(s) configured properly for your usage, click OK.

   The proxy points ares added to the station, and appear listed in the Database pane.

   For more details, see Bacnet Point Manager “Database” notes.