SIMATIC S7-300/400 Custom Process Data Sensor

Enabled Beta Sensors experimental feature

This sensor requires that the Beta Sensors experimental feature is enabled.

For more information, see the Knowledge Base: What are beta sensors and how can I use them?

Credentials

This sensor requires connection settings for Siemens S7 in settings that are higher in the object hierarchy.

Parent device

This sensor requires that the parent device is a Siemens S7-300 or S7-400 programmable logic controller.

IPv4

This sensor only supports IPv4.

Performance impact

This sensor has a very low performance impact.

Lookups

This sensor can use lookups. Select Lookup (default) as Display Channel #x As and select the lookup in Channel #x Lookup. The sensor is not intended to work with default lookups, so you should create your own custom lookup.

Connection errors

If the sensor shows a connection failure error message, such as Connection timed out, Unreachable peer, or Connection refused, make sure that the values you defined in the port, rack, and slot settings in the Connection Settings for Siemens S7 on the parent object are correct.

Simultaneous connections

This sensor shows the Down status if the number of simultaneous connections to the PLC exceeds the maximum number. Each probe and PRTG instance, as well as other tools and services, create and use an individual connection to the PLC.

In such cases, the sensor shows the error message ISO : An error occurred during recv TCP : Connection timed out. Reduce the number of simultaneous connections to the PLC to resolve the issue.

Channel errors

If the PLC is not reachable, the sensor shows the connection error on the first channel only.

If a data block, input, or output does not exist, or if an address is out of range, the sensor continues to read the remaining channels and accumulates and shows all error messages. For example, CPU : Item not available or CPU : Address out of range.

Channel #x Name

Enter a name to identify the channel. Enter a string.

You cannot change this value after sensor creation.

Channel #x Data Source

Select where in the PLC the sensor reads the data from:

• Data block (default): Monitor data of the PLC program in a data block (DB).
• Process image inputs: Monitor signal states from the input modules (I).
• Process image outputs: Monitor signal states to the output modules (Q).

You cannot change this value after sensor creation.

Channel #x Data Block Number

This setting is only visible if you select Data block (default) above.

Enter the number of the data block that you want the sensor to read. For example, for DB10.DBX2.3, enter 10. Enter an integer.

On some PLCs, data block 0 might be reserved. If your PLC reserves data block 0, do not use it as a data source.

You cannot change this value after sensor creation.

Channel #x Byte Offset

Enter the address of the first byte that you want the sensor to read in the data source. In a data block, the byte offset is relative to the start of the data block. Enter an integer.

For example:

• For DB10.DBX2.3, enter 2.
• For DB10.DBW4, enter 4.
• For I0.2, enter 0.
• For QB5, enter 5.

For more information, see Absolute Addresses below.

You cannot change this value after sensor creation.

Channel #x S7 Data Type

Select the data type that the PLC program uses for the value that you want to monitor:

• BOOL (default): 1 bit
• BYTE: 8 bits
• WORD: 16 bits
• DWORD: 32 bits
• INT: 16-bit signed integer
• DINT: 32-bit signed integer
• REAL: 32-bit floating-point number

For more information, see Supported Data Types below.

You cannot change this value after sensor creation.

Channel #x Bit Number

This setting is only visible if you select BOOL (default) above.

Enter the number of the bit in the byte that you want the sensor to read. Enter an integer from 0 to 7.

For example:

• For DB10.DBX2.3, enter 3.
• For I0.2, enter 2.
• For Q1.1, enter 1.

You cannot change this value after sensor creation.

Display Channel #x As

This setting is only visible if you select BOOL (default) above.

Select how the sensor shows the value:

• Lookup (default): Use a lookup of your choice to show the value.
• Status: Show the Up, Warning, or Down status depending on the value.

You cannot change this value after sensor creation.

Channel #x Lookup

This setting is only visible if you select BOOL (default) and Lookup (default) above.

Select a lookup file that you want to use with this channel.

The lookup must use the value 128 for FALSE and 129 for TRUE. The standard PRTG lookups for Boolean values do not work with this setting.

This setting is only visible during sensor creation. If you want to change this setting after sensor creation, use the channel settings.

Channel #x Status Mapping

This setting is only visible if you select Status above.

Select when the sensor shows the Down or Warning status. Otherwise, the sensor shows the Up status:

• Show Down status if value is FALSE (default)
• Show Warning status if value is FALSE
• Show Down status if value is TRUE
• Show Warning status if value is TRUE

You cannot change this value after sensor creation.

Display Channel #x As

This setting is only visible if you select BYTE, WORD, or DWORD above.

Select how the sensor shows the value:

• Lookup (default): Use a custom lookup to show the value.
• Integer (unsigned): Show the value as an unsigned integer.
• Integer (signed): Show the value as a signed integer. Select this option if the value can be negative.

You cannot change this value after sensor creation.

Channel #x Lookup

This setting is only visible if you select BYTE, WORD, or DWORD and Lookup (default) above.

Select a lookup file that you want to use with this channel.

The sensor uses the value that it reads from the PLC as the lookup value.

This setting is only visible during sensor creation. If you want to change this setting after sensor creation, use the channel settings.

Channel #x Unit

This setting is only visible if you select Integer (unsigned) or Integer (signed) above, or if you select INT, DINT, or REAL as Channel #x S7 Data Type.

Select the unit of the value that this channel monitors:

• Custom
• Count (default)
• Percent
• Percent (CPU)
• Temperature (Celsius)
• Time (milliseconds)
• Time (hours)
• Time (seconds)
• Bytes (memory)
• Bytes (disk)
• Bytes (file)
• Bytes (bandwidth)
• Bytes per second (disk)
• Bytes per second (network)

For more information about the available units, see section Custom Sensors.

You cannot change this value after sensor creation.

Channel #x Custom Unit

This setting is only visible if you select Custom above.

Define a unit for the channel value. For example, enter bar, rpm, or l/min. Enter a string.

You cannot change this value after sensor creation.

Channel #x Scale Factor

This setting is only visible if you select Integer (unsigned) or Integer (signed) above, or if you select INT, DINT, or REAL as Channel #x S7 Data Type.

If you want to scale the received data, enter an integer or a floating-point number. If you want to scale up, enter a value over one. If you want to scale down, enter a value below one. Use the default scale factor, 1, to not change the data.

For example, if the PLC program stores a temperature of 23.5 °C as 235, enter 0.1.

You cannot change this value after sensor creation.

Channel #2 - #10

You can define up to 10 channels. You must define at least one channel, so you see all available settings for Channel #1. Specify how to handle all other possible channels:

• Disable (default): Do not create this channel.
• Enable: Create this channel.

It is not possible to enable or disable channels after sensor creation.

Primary Channel

Select a channel from the list to define it as the primary channel. In the device tree, PRTG displays the last value of the primary channel below the sensor's name. The available options depend on what channels are available for this sensor.

You can set a different primary channel later by clicking below a channel gauge on the sensor's Overview tab.

Graph Type

Define how this sensor shows different channels:

• Show channels independently (default): Show a graph for each channel.
• Stack channels on top of each other: Stack channels on top of each other to create a multi-channel graph. This generates a graph that visualizes the different components of your total traffic.
  You cannot use this option in combination with manual Vertical Axis Scaling (available in the channel settings).

Stack Unit

This setting is only visible if you select Stack channels on top of each other above.

Select a unit from the list. PRTG stacks all channels with this unit on top of each other. By default, you cannot exclude single channels from stacking if they use the selected unit. However, there is an advanced procedure to do so.

Result Handling

Define what PRTG does with the sensor result:

• Discard result (default): Do not store the sensor result.
• Store result: Store the sensor result and the last response in the \Logs\sensors subfolder of the PRTG data directory on the probe system. The file name is Result of Sensor [ID].log. This setting is for debugging purposes. PRTG overwrites this file with each scanning interval.

This option is not available when the sensor runs on the hosted probe of a PRTG Hosted Monitor instance.

In a cluster, PRTG stores the result in the PRTG data directory of the master node.

BOOL

1 bit

FALSE or TRUE

Lookup or status

BYTE

8 bits

0 to 255 (unsigned) or -128 to 127 (signed)

Lookup, unsigned integer, or signed integer

WORD

16 bits

0 to 65,535 (unsigned) or -32,768 to 32,767 (signed)

Lookup, unsigned integer, or signed integer

DWORD

32 bits

0 to 4,294,967,295 (unsigned) or -2,147,483,648 to 2,147,483,647 (signed)

Lookup, unsigned integer, or signed integer

INT

16 bits

-32,768 to 32,767

Signed integer

DINT

32 bits

-2,147,483,648 to 2,147,483,647

Signed integer

REAL

32 bits

±1.175495e-38 to ±3.402823e+38

Floating-point number

I0.2

Process image inputs

-

0

BOOL

2

IB3

Process image inputs

-

3

BYTE

-

IW4

Process image inputs

-

4

WORD or INT

-

ID8

Process image inputs

-

8

DWORD, DINT, or REAL

-

Q1.1

Process image outputs

-

1

BOOL

1

QB5

Process image outputs

-

5

BYTE

-

QW6

Process image outputs

-

6

WORD or INT

-

DB10.DBX2.3

Data block (default)

10

2

BOOL

3

DB10.DBB4

Data block (default)

10

4

BYTE

-

DB10.DBW4

Data block (default)

10

4

WORD or INT

-

DB10.DBD6

Data block (default)

10

6

DWORD, DINT, or REAL

-

Door switch

A safety contact of a fence door that is TRUE if the door is closed. Address: I0.2

• Channel #x Data Source: Process image inputs
• Channel #x Byte Offset: 0
• Channel #x S7 Data Type: BOOL
• Channel #x Bit Number: 2
• Display Channel #x As: Status
• Channel #x Status Mapping: Show Down status if value is FALSE (default)

Motor state

The command that switches a motor on. Address: Q1.1

• Channel #x Data Source: Process image outputs
• Channel #x Byte Offset: 1
• Channel #x S7 Data Type: BOOL
• Channel #x Bit Number: 1
• Display Channel #x As: Lookup (default)
• Channel #x Lookup: A custom lookup that defines 128 as Off and 129 as On

Temperature

A temperature that the PLC program stores as a floating-point number. Address: DB10.DBD0

• Channel #x Data Source: Data block (default)
• Channel #x Data Block Number: 10
• Channel #x Byte Offset: 0
• Channel #x S7 Data Type: REAL
• Channel #x Unit: Temperature (Celsius)
• Channel #x Scale Factor: 1.0

Temperature (scaled)

A temperature that the PLC program stores as an integer in units of 0.1 °C, for example, 235 for 23.5 °C. Address: DB10.DBW4

• Channel #x Data Source: Data block (default)
• Channel #x Data Block Number: 10
• Channel #x Byte Offset: 4
• Channel #x S7 Data Type: INT
• Channel #x Unit: Temperature (Celsius)
• Channel #x Scale Factor: 0.1

Pressure

The outlet pressure of a pump in bar. Address: DB10.DBD12

• Channel #x Data Source: Data block (default)
• Channel #x Data Block Number: 10
• Channel #x Byte Offset: 12
• Channel #x S7 Data Type: REAL
• Channel #x Unit: Custom
• Channel #x Custom Unit: bar

Downtime

In the channel table on the Overview tab, this channel never shows any values. PRTG uses this channel in graphs and reports to show the amount of time in which the sensor was in the Down status.

[Value]

The value that the sensor reads from the address that you define in the channel settings. The sensor uses the channel name that you define in Channel #x Name.

The channel that you define as Channel #1 is the primary channel by default.