Using the Communication Options Tab

The Communication tab of the Options dialog box is used to select and configure a communication path to an RMC.

To use the Communication tab:

Start RMCWin.
On the Tools menu, click Options, and then click the Communication tab.
You can also double-click the Communication pane of the main window's status bar, or right-click this pane and then click Communication Options from the shortcut menu. The Communication pane is the one that displays the communication path and state (e.g. "COM1: Offline").

Select the appropriate driver and options.
Click OK.

Note: Many options available in the Communication tab of the Options dialog box can be changed more quickly using the shortcut menu on the Communication pane of the status bar. To open this shortcut menu, right-click on the Communication pane of the status bar (e.g. "COM1: Offline").

RMCWin can use one of three drivers for communicating between the PC and RMC. Each is described below:

Serial: This is the easiest method to use, but—unless an RS422/485 segment is inserted into the cable—the maximum cable length is typically limited to 50 feet and there is no isolation. In either case, only a single RMC can be accessed per serial port. See Communication Driver: Serial Configuration for details on settings specific to this driver.

TCP/IP Direct to RMC-ENET: This method requires an RMC ENET module, but otherwise gives the best performance, allows routing and addressing multiple modules, and provides isolation. See Communication Driver: TCP/IP Direct to RMC-ENET Configuration for details on settings specific to this driver.

Note: If your computer has a firewall, it may prevent RMCWin from finding RMC100s on your Ethernet network from the Communications tab in the Options dialog. See the Setting the Firewall to Allow RMC100 Ethernet Browsing topic for details.

TCP/IP-to-RS232 Bridge: This method adds many of the benefits of Ethernet—it allows routing and addressing multiple modules and provides isolation—but at the expense of performance, can work on all RMCs, not just those with the RMC ENET module. It does this by using a TCP/IP-to-RS232 Bridge device. See Communication Driver: TCP/IP-to-RS232 Bridge Configuration for details on settings specific to this driver.

In addition to the driver selection and driver-specific options, there is one other option offered by this dialog box:

Closed (Work Offline) check box
Check this box to close the current communication path and work offline. When this mode is selected, no attempt will be made to connect to an RMC over the communication path. If a serial port had been open, it will be closed and therefore available for use by other applications. RMCWin will always start by trying to open the communication path, unless the -P command-line option is used; see Command- Line Options for details.