Debug messages in TwinCAT->Error List

Debug messages that are written in TwinCAT XAE->Error List facilitate troubleshooting in the system. To view the activated debug messages, start TwinCAT XAE and select in the menu: View->Other Windows->Error List. A debugging output is shown below. The different types of messages were marked with numbers.

The messages are activated in different ways (by different parameters) depending on whether you are using the "low-level" or "high-level" interface. Below is a list of the different parameter names.

1. Debug messages logged when establishing or terminating the TCP/IP connection:

Name	ON	OFF	Substation		Central station
Name	ON	OFF	Low-Level	High-Level	Low-Level	High-Level
F_CreateServerHnd	CONNECT_MODE_ENABLEDBG	0	Yes	Yes	-	-
FB_ClientServerConnection	CONNECT_MODE_ENABLEDBG	0	-	-	Yes	-
FB_IEC870_5_104Master.sysPara.dbgMode	IEC870_DEBUGMODE_LINKERROR	IEC870_DEBUGMODE_DISABLED	-	-	-	Yes

2. Hexadecimal output of ASDUs (without link layer control header). 32 ASDU data bytes per row are output as hexadecimal numbers. Longer ASDUs are spread across several rows:

Name	ON	OFF	Substation		Central station
Name	ON	OFF	Low-Level	High-Level	Low-Level	High-Level
ST_IEC870_5_101TBuffer.eDbg	eIEC870_FIFO_DBG_ALL	eIEC870_FIFO_DBG_OFF	Yes	-	Yes	-
FB_IEC870_5_104Slave.sysPara.dbgMode	IEC870_DEBUGMODE_ASDU	IEC870_DEBUGMODE_DISABLED	-	Yes	-	-
FB_IEC870_5_104Master.sysPara.dbgMode	IEC870_DEBUGMODE_ASDU	IEC870_DEBUGMODE_DISABLED	-	-	-	Yes

3. Hexadecimal output of the APDUs (TCP/IP telegrams). 32 APDU data bytes per row are output as hexadecimal numbers. Longer APDUs are spread across several rows:

Name	ON	OFF	Substation		Central station
Name	ON	OFF	Low-Level	High-Level	Low-Level	High-Level
FB_IEC870_5_104TProtocol.bOutDbg	TRUE	FALSE	Yes	-	Yes	-
FB_IEC870_5_104Slave.sysPara.dbgMode	IEC870_DEBUGMODE_LINKLAYER	IEC870_DEBUGMODE_DISABLED	-	Yes	-	-
FB_IEC870_5_104Master.sysPara.dbgMode	IEC870_DEBUGMODE_LINKLAYER	IEC870_DEBUGMODE_DISABLED	-	-	-	Yes-

4. Station status messages:

Name	ON	OFF	Substation		Central station
Name	ON	OFF	Low-Level	High-Level	Low-Level	High-Level
FB_IEC870_5_104Slave.sysPara.dbgMode	IEC870_DEBUGMODE_DEVSTATE	IEC870_DEBUGMODE_DISABLED	-	Yes	-	-
FB_IEC870_5_104Master.sysPara.dbgMode	IEC870_DEBUGMODE_DEVSTATE	IEC870_DEBUGMODE_DISABLED	-	-	-	Yes

5: Output of link layer errors as messages:

Name	ON	OFF	Substation		Central station
Name	ON	OFF	Low-Level	High-Level	Low-Level	High-Level
FB_IEC870_5_104Slave.sysPara.dbgMode	IEC870_DEBUGMODE_LINKERROR	IEC870_DEBUGMODE_DISABLED	-	Yes	-	-
FB_IEC870_5_104Master.sysPara.dbgMode	IEC870_DEBUGMODE_LINKERROR	IEC870_DEBUGMODE_DISABLED	-	-	-	Yes

6. Messages logged by the PLC application (sample project) using the ADSLOGSTR, ... functions.

Further diagnostic tools:

TwinCAT ADS Monitor;
Network monitor;
Wireshark®;
Ethereal;
Diverse protocol test suite products;