# `otopcua-twincat-cli` — Beckhoff TwinCAT test client Ad-hoc probe / read / write / subscribe tool for Beckhoff TwinCAT 2 / TwinCAT 3 runtimes via ADS. Uses the **same** `TwinCATDriver` the OtOpcUa server does (`Beckhoff.TwinCAT.Ads` package). Native ADS notifications by default; `--poll-only` falls back to the shared `PollGroupEngine`. Fifth (final) of the driver test-client CLIs. ## Build + run ```powershell dotnet run --project src/ZB.MOM.WW.OtOpcUa.Driver.TwinCAT.Cli -- --help ``` ## Prerequisite: AMS router The `Beckhoff.TwinCAT.Ads` library needs a reachable AMS router to open ADS sessions. Pick one: 1. **Local TwinCAT XAR** — install the free TwinCAT 3 XAR Engineering install on the machine running the CLI; it ships the router. 2. **Beckhoff.TwinCAT.Ads.TcpRouter** — standalone NuGet router. Run in a sidecar process when no XAR is installed. 3. **Remote AMS route** — any Windows box with TwinCAT installed, with an AMS route authorised to the CLI host. The CLI compiles + runs without a router, but every wire call fails with a transport error until one is reachable. ## Common flags | Flag | Default | Purpose | |---|---|---| | `-n` / `--ams-net-id` | **required** | AMS Net ID (e.g. `192.168.1.40.1.1`) | | `-p` / `--ams-port` | `851` | AMS port (TwinCAT 3 PLC = 851, TwinCAT 2 = 801) | | `--timeout-ms` | `5000` | Per-operation timeout | | `--poll-only` | off | Disable native ADS notifications, use `PollGroupEngine` instead | | `--verbose` | off | Serilog debug output | ## Data types TwinCAT exposes the IEC 61131-3 atomic set: `Bool`, `SInt`, `USInt`, `Int`, `UInt`, `DInt`, `UDInt`, `LInt`, `ULInt`, `Real`, `LReal`, `String`, `WString`, `Time`, `Date`, `DateTime`, `TimeOfDay`. The four IEC time/date variants marshal as `UDINT` on the wire — CLI takes a numeric raw value and lets the caller interpret semantics. ## Commands ### `probe` ```powershell # Local TwinCAT 3, probe a canonical global otopcua-twincat-cli probe -n 127.0.0.1.1.1 -s "TwinCAT_SystemInfoVarList._AppInfo.OnlineChangeCnt" # Remote, probe a project variable otopcua-twincat-cli probe -n 192.168.1.40.1.1 -s MAIN.bRunning --type Bool ``` #### Health probe The OtOpcUa server's TwinCAT driver runs an internal probe loop (PR 3.2, issue #314) that — alongside the cheap `ReadStateAsync` reachability check — samples four well-known system symbols once per probe interval and surfaces the result through the cross-driver `driver-diagnostics` RPC (added for Modbus, task #154). The same symbols can be probed directly via the CLI for ad-hoc troubleshooting: ```powershell # Cycle time (UDINT, 100 ns ticks → ÷10000 for ms) otopcua-twincat-cli probe -n 192.168.1.40.1.1 -s "TwinCAT_SystemInfoVarList._TaskInfo[1].CycleTime" --type UDInt # Last task execution wall-clock (UDINT, 100 ns ticks → ÷10000 for ms) otopcua-twincat-cli probe -n 192.168.1.40.1.1 -s "TwinCAT_SystemInfoVarList._TaskInfo[1].LastExecTime" --type UDInt # Online-change count — increments on every accepted online change otopcua-twincat-cli probe -n 192.168.1.40.1.1 -s "TwinCAT_SystemInfoVarList._AppInfo.OnlineChangeCnt" --type UDInt # Loaded PLC project name (STRING(80)) otopcua-twincat-cli probe -n 192.168.1.40.1.1 -s "TwinCAT_SystemInfoVarList._AppInfo.AppName" --type String ``` Within the running OtOpcUa server these four signals land on `DeviceState.LastDiagnostics` as a `TwinCATDeviceDiagnostics` record + are folded into `DriverHealth.Diagnostics` keyed `TwinCAT.CycleTimeMs`, `TwinCAT.LastExecTimeMs`, `TwinCAT.JitterMs` (computed `LastExecTimeMs - CycleTimeMs`), `TwinCAT.OnlineChangeCnt`, and `TwinCAT.OnlineChangeIncrements`. See `docs/drivers/TwinCAT-Test-Fixture.md §Diagnostics` for the full mapping. ### `read` ```powershell # Bool symbol otopcua-twincat-cli read -n 192.168.1.40.1.1 -s MAIN.bStart -t Bool # Counter otopcua-twincat-cli read -n 192.168.1.40.1.1 -s GVL.Counter -t DInt # Nested UDT member otopcua-twincat-cli read -n 192.168.1.40.1.1 -s Motor1.Status.Running -t Bool # Array element otopcua-twincat-cli read -n 192.168.1.40.1.1 -s "Recipe[3]" -t Real # WString otopcua-twincat-cli read -n 192.168.1.40.1.1 -s GVL.sMessage -t WString ``` ADS variable handles for `read` / `write` symbols are cached transparently inside the CLI's underlying `AdsTwinCATClient`. The first read of a symbol resolves a handle; repeats reuse the cached handle for smaller AMS payloads and skipped name resolution. The cache wipes on reconnect, on `DeviceSymbolVersionInvalid` (with a one-shot retry), and on CLI exit. See `docs/drivers/TwinCAT-Test-Fixture.md §Handle caching` for the full story including the staleness caveat after an online change. ### `write` ```powershell otopcua-twincat-cli write -n 192.168.1.40.1.1 -s MAIN.bStart -t Bool -v true otopcua-twincat-cli write -n 192.168.1.40.1.1 -s GVL.Counter -t DInt -v 42 otopcua-twincat-cli write -n 192.168.1.40.1.1 -s GVL.sMessage -t WString -v "running" ``` Structure writes refused — drop to driver config JSON for those. ### `subscribe` ```powershell # Native ADS notifications (default) — PLC pushes on its own cycle otopcua-twincat-cli subscribe -n 192.168.1.40.1.1 -s GVL.Counter -t DInt -i 500 # Fall back to polling for runtimes where native notifications are constrained otopcua-twincat-cli subscribe -n 192.168.1.40.1.1 -s GVL.Counter -t DInt -i 500 --poll-only # Coalesce bursty changes — runtime buffers up to 500 ms before dispatch otopcua-twincat-cli subscribe -n 192.168.1.40.1.1 -s GVL.Counter -t DInt -i 50 --max-delay-ms 500 ``` | Flag | Default | Purpose | |---|---|---| | `-s` / `--symbol` | **required** | Symbol path — same format as `read` | | `-t` / `--type` | `DInt` | IEC type (see Data types section) | | `-i` / `--interval-ms` | `1000` | **Cycle time** — minimum interval between change checks the PLC runtime applies | | `--max-delay-ms` | `0` | **Max coalescing window** — upper bound on how long the runtime buffers change events before dispatch. `0` = fire ASAP, no coalescing | | `--poll-only` | off | Disable native notifications, use `PollGroupEngine` instead | `-i` / `--interval-ms` and `--max-delay-ms` are different things and both flow into the Beckhoff `NotificationSettings` ctor: - **`--interval-ms`** is the *cycle*: the runtime checks for value changes at most this often. Smaller = lower latency, higher CPU. - **`--max-delay-ms`** is the *coalescing ceiling*: once a change is detected, the runtime can hold it for up to this long before dispatching, which lets it batch a burst of changes into a single callback. Default `0` means every detected change fires immediately — same as the pre-PR-3.1 behaviour. For high-frequency signals (a counter incrementing every 10 ms PLC cycle), pair a small `-i` (so latency stays bounded) with a non-zero `--max-delay-ms` (so the OPC UA queue downstream doesn't flood). For slow signals just leave `--max-delay-ms` at `0`. The subscribe banner announces which mechanism is in play — "ADS notification" or "polling" — and includes the `max-delay` value when set, so it's obvious in screen-recorded bug reports. `--poll-only` polls go through the same cached-handle path as `read`, so repeated polls of the same symbol carry only a 4-byte handle on the wire rather than the full symbolic path.