Definition
The DiagMessages system is defined in the ETG (EtherCAT Technology Group) in the guideline ETG.1020, chapter 13 “Diagnosis handling”. It is used so that pre-defined or flexible diagnostic messages can be conveyed from the EtherCAT Slave to the Master. In accordance with the ETG, the process can therefore be implemented supplier-independently. Support is optional. The firmware can store up to 250 DiagMessages in its own CoE.
Each DiagMessage consists of
- Diag Code (4-byte)
- Flags (2-byte; info, warning or error)
- Text ID (2-byte; reference to explanatory text from the ESI/XML)
- Timestamp (8-byte, local slave time or 64-bit Distributed Clock time, if available)
- Dynamic parameters added by the firmware
The DiagMessages are explained in text form in the ESI/XML file belonging to the EtherCAT device: on the basis of the Text ID contained in the DiagMessage, the corresponding plain text message can be found in the languages contained in the ESI/XML. In the case of Beckhoff products these are usually German and English.
Via the entry NewMessagesAvailable the user receives information that new messages are available.
DiagMessages can be confirmed in the device: the last/latest unconfirmed message can be confirmed by the user.
In the CoE both the control entries and the history itself can be found in the CoE object 0x10F3:
The subindex of the latest DiagMessage can be read under 0x10F3:02.
 | Support for commissioning The DiagMessages system is to be used above all during the commissioning of the plant. |