Updating the ESI device description

The TwinCAT System Manager and the TwinCAT EtherCAT Master require the device description files of all EtherCAT devices for configuration in online and offline mode. These device descriptions are the so-called ESI files (EtherCAT Slave Information) in XML format. These files can be requested from the respective vendor and are made available for download. An *.xml file may contain several device descriptions.

ESI files for Beckhoff EtherCAT devices are provided at https://www.beckhoff.com.

Requirements:

ESI file for the CX7031 in XML format.
If necessary, the associated *.xsd file, which describes the structure of the XML file.

Proceed as follows:

1. Copy the ESI file into the TwinCAT installation directory: \TwinCAT\3.1\Config\Io\OnboardIo.

2. Create the folder manually if it doesn't exist.

3. Open TwinCAT and click in the menu under TwinCAT > EtherCAT Devices on Reload Device Description.
Updating the ESI device description 1:

The ESI file is re-read into TwinCAT. An error is returned if there is a faulty ESI file. Check whether the structure of the *.xml corresponds to the associated *.xsd file or whether the files match the CX7031.