lmxopcua/docs/Driver.AbCip.Cli.md

otopcua-abcip-cli — AB CIP test client

Ad-hoc probe / read / write / subscribe tool for ControlLogix / CompactLogix / Micro800 / GuardLogix PLCs, talking to the same AbCipDriver the OtOpcUa server uses (libplctag under the hood).

Second of four driver test-client CLIs (Modbus → AB CIP → AB Legacy → S7 → TwinCAT). Shares Driver.Cli.Common with the others.

Build + run

dotnet run --project src/ZB.MOM.WW.OtOpcUa.Driver.AbCip.Cli -- --help

Common flags

Flag	Default	Purpose
-g / --gateway	required	Canonical ab://host[:port]/cip-path
-f / --family	ControlLogix	ControlLogix / CompactLogix / Micro800 / GuardLogix
--timeout-ms	5000	Per-operation timeout
--addressing-mode	Auto	Auto / Symbolic / Logical — see AbCip-Performance §Addressing mode. Logical against Micro800 silently falls back to Symbolic with a warning.
--verbose	off	Serilog debug output

Family ↔ CIP-path cheat sheet:

• ControlLogix / CompactLogix / GuardLogix — 1,0 (slot 0 of chassis)
• Micro800 — empty path, just ab://host/
• Sub-slot Logix (rare) — 1,3 for slot 3

Commands

probe — is the PLC up?

# ControlLogix — read the canonical libplctag system tag
otopcua-abcip-cli probe -g ab://10.0.0.5/1,0 -t @raw_cpu_type --type DInt

# Micro800 — point at a user-supplied global
otopcua-abcip-cli probe -g ab://10.0.0.6/ -f Micro800 -t _SYSVA_CLOCK_HOUR --type DInt

read — single Logix tag

# Controller scope
otopcua-abcip-cli read -g ab://10.0.0.5/1,0 -t Motor01_Speed --type Real

# Program scope
otopcua-abcip-cli read -g ab://10.0.0.5/1,0 -t "Program:Main.Counter" --type DInt

# Array element
otopcua-abcip-cli read -g ab://10.0.0.5/1,0 -t "Recipe[3]" --type Real

# UDT member (dotted path)
otopcua-abcip-cli read -g ab://10.0.0.5/1,0 -t "Motor01.Speed" --type Real

write — single Logix tag

Same shape as read plus -v. Values parse per --type using invariant culture. Booleans accept true/false/1/0/yes/no/on/off. Structure (UDT) writes need the member layout declared in a real driver config and are refused by the CLI.

otopcua-abcip-cli write -g ab://10.0.0.5/1,0 -t Motor01_Speed --type Real -v 3.14
otopcua-abcip-cli write -g ab://10.0.0.5/1,0 -t StartCommand --type Bool -v true

subscribe — watch a tag until Ctrl+C

otopcua-abcip-cli subscribe -g ab://10.0.0.5/1,0 -t Motor01_Speed --type Real -i 500

Typical workflows

• "Is the PLC reachable?" → probe.
• "Did my recipe write land?" → write + read back.
• "Why is tag X flipping?" → subscribe.
• "Is this GuardLogix safety tag writable from non-safety?" → write and read the status code — safety tags surface BadNotWritable / CIP errors, non-safety tags surface Good.

Connection Size

PR abcip-3.1 introduced a per-device ConnectionSize override on the driver side (AbCipDeviceOptions.ConnectionSize, range 500..4002). The CLI does not expose a flag for it — every CLI invocation uses the family-default Connection Size (4002 / 504 / 488 depending on --family). When a Forward Open is rejected with a CIP error like 0x01/0x113 ("connection request size invalid"), the symptom is almost always a mismatch between the chosen family default and the controller firmware:

• v19-and-earlier ControlLogix caps at 504 — pick --family CompactLogix on the CLI to fall back to that narrower default.
• 5069-L1/L2/L3 CompactLogix narrow-buffer parts also cap at 504, which is the family default already.
• FW20+ ControlLogix accepts the full 4002.

For the warning "AbCip device 'X' family 'Y' uses a narrow-buffer profile (default ConnectionSize Z); the configured ConnectionSize N exceeds the 511-byte legacy-firmware cap..." see docs/drivers/AbCip-Performance.md — that warning is fired by the driver host, not the CLI.