'ESC Register' tab (EtherCAT Slave Online Functions)
This topic contains the following sections:
- General information on ESC registers
- Toolbar of the 'ESC Register' editor tab
- 'Settings'
- Entries in the ESC register list
- Modifying a register value directly on the device
The following information refers to a specific, typical device type. Your screen may differ.
This help topic describes the 'ESC Register' editor of the EtherCAT 'Online Functions'. In the 'Online Functions' editor, select the EtherCAT slave station to be evaluated in the tree on the left and click the 'ESC Register' tab on top of the editor on the right.
This editor tab is only available for EtherCAT slaves but not for the master.
General information on ESC registers
ESC registers are memory addresses in the EtherCAT Slave Controller (ESC). The can be read and written by the EtherCAT master.
An EtherCAT Slave Controller (ESC) has an address space of 64KByte, divided into so-called registers. Which registers are available depends on the ESC. From 0x0000 to 0x0FFF (4KByte address space), general registers are located. The memory area for the process data starts at RAM address 0x1000, whereby its size depends on the ESC type.
- Identification and version information (standardized: 0x0000 to 0x000F): e.g. device type, ESC version number, manufacturer ID.
- Configuration, status monitoring and control of the slave (standardized: 0x0010 to 0x001F): Essential configuration parameters, such as the station address, station alias or information on the operating mode. The master can write to these registers to configure the slave and initiate, for example, state transitions. Other ESC registers in this memory area store status information, such as synchronization status, information on EtherCAT communication or error flags.
- DC synchronization (standardized: 0x0900 to 0x09FF): For slaves that support distributed clock, these registers contain corresponding DC-relevant information.
- Process data management: Configuration of PDOs.
- Interrupt and event management: Registers can display interrupts or events so that the master can react accordingly.
These memory addresses can be displayed and values changed in the 'ESC Register' editor register (if indicated by Flag = RW read/write access).
Toolbar of the 'ESC Register' editor tab
| Toolbar button | Description |
|---|---|
 | Refreshes the list by reading the registers from the slave. |
'Settings'
| Toolbar button | Description |
|---|---|
| Offset | Specifies an offset for the index from which the data is to be read. |
| Length | Specifies the length of data in byte which are read from the beginning of the offset. |
| Compact | If activated, empty register entries are not shown in the list. |
Entries in the ESC register list
| Further Info
For detailed descriptions of the ESC registers, please refer to the respective Technical Manual of the slave device. |
| Column | Description |
|---|---|
| Index | Word address of the register in the ESC memory. The ESC memory is divided into several areas as described in section "General information on ESC registers" above. |
| Name | Descriptive register name. |
| Value | Value of the register. The value type and range depends on the data type (see next row).If a value is editable (indicated by the flag RW), you can modify it as described below this table. |
| Type | Data type of the register. |
| Flag | Specification whether the register value can only be read (Flag = RO) or also written (edited, Flag = RW). |
Modifying a register value directly on the device
If a value is editable (which is indicated Flag = RW), you can modify it as follows:- Select the register to be edited.
- Enter the desired value (in decimal or hexadecimal format) into the field below the grid and select the input format with the buttons provided.
- Click 'Apply'.
The new value is entered into the grid row. The network configuration is updated, i.e., the value is transmitted to the master and processed accordingly.