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Windmill 7 Technical Support

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Welcome to our technical support page for Windmill 7, ComIML and ComDebug. We hope you can find the answer to your question either here or in the software Help files. If not please get in touch.

ConfIML and the 75x Hardware | ComDebug and ComIML | RS232 Settings | RS422 and RS485 Settings | Modbus Settings | TCP/IP Settings | NMEA and GPS | Windmill Logger, Chart and DDE Panel | Excel | Request Technical Support

ConfIML and your Hardware

ConfIML runs when you install Windmill. It holds a list of the device drivers you will be using, and lets you configure some of your devices. In ConfIML, press the Add button and select the hardware you will be using. For RS232, RS422, RS485, TCP/IP or Modbus devices choose the ComIML Serial Instrument Handler. For other devices, like the 751 USB unit or the 840 Ethernet Logger, choose the appropriate driver.

For some devices you can choose some of their settings in ConfIML. For example, for the 751 unit you can choose the interval between recalibrating the hardware, and the resolution of the signal. See the ConfIML program Help for more details.

ComDebug and ComIML

ComIML reads data from almost any RS232, RS422, RS485, Modbus and TCP/IP devices. Use ComDebug to enter your serial settings. You can also use ComDebug on its own to monitor the serial port and log data from one instrument.

Getting Started

For tips on using ComDebug to enter your instrument's settings, which can then be read by the ComIML driver, see Getting Started with ComDebug and the ComIML Serial Driver.

Settings to Use

For example settings to use for specific instruments, see Windmill Serial Port Driver Settings.

"Failed to open the com port" Error Message

There three possible reasons for this error.

1. The COM port is already in use. ComDebug needs sole control of the port: if other software has already opened the COM port, ComDebug will not be able to access it.
2. You have selected a COM port that isn't present on your computer - choose a lower COM port number.
3. If your are using a USB-Serial device that is "designed for Windows" then it will have a unique serial number. Windows reads this and uses it to remember which driver and what COM port number to use for that device. This means that when you unplug the converter, Windows continues to consider its COM port number in use. It also means that if you swap converters the port number assigned will be different. You can over-ride this with Device Manager. More details on USB-Serial Converters

In ComDebug, all bytes are sent but no reply is received

1. Make sure you've entered your COM port settings correctly in ComDebug: baud rate, number of bits in the data byte and parity. These should match those used by your instrument or USB-to-Serial Converter. If you are not sure consult your manual or ask our advice. If you have information about the Stop Bits then use it, otherwise set them to 2. This will at worse slow the message down slightly.
2. Check whether your device needs a command before it will send data, and whether you have entered this command properly in ComDebug. This might be an Initialisation message, which is only sent once to the instrument on start up; or more likely a Prompt which is sent each time the computer wants the instrument to send data. Enter the Prompt in the ComDebug Terminal screen. Make sure, for example, that you have entered any Carriage Return necessary - use the NonPrint menu to enter this.
3. In ComDebug select the Status menu to see possible communication or wiring errors. For more help see our Trouble-shooting Serial Port Communication page.

I can see data in ComDebug but not in DDE Panel or Logger

You've entered your parsing instructions, clicked Run and ComDebug displays the data correctly. However, DDE Panel shows no data.

1. The problem may be that you have entered an "Initialisation Message", which is only sent once, rather than a data collection message, which is repeatedly sent. Open your *.imd file. If it shows prompt and parse details for [Message0] Initialisation, but none for [Message1], just copy the Prompt and Parse lines from one to the other.
2. If you can see data from some channels but not all then make sure that all channel names are unique, including across several instruments.

I can see data in ComDebug but am getting "Bad IML device number" Error in Logger or SetupIML

1. Make sure ComDebug is closed. If open it will have control of the COM port and the ComIML serial driver, and hence the other Windmill programs, won't be able to access it.
2. Your Windmill Device file may need changing. Close any open Windmill applications, and any IML icons on the task bar. Now open ComDebug and choose to Edit a Windmill Device. Make sure the *.imd file (which holds a record of the settings you have entered) is listed. Remove any files that you no longer need: there should be only one *.imd file for each instrument. For example, if you are logging from a GPS and a sonar you should see two *.imd files.

Slowing the Requests for Data

The Instrument Idle Time sets the minimum interval between sending messages to an instrument. This is especially important in Background mode for instruments that do not like being read too quickly. Go to the Instrument Timing window and set the Idle Time. For instruments that need a prompt string, enter a command into the prompt telling Windmill to wait for the Instrument Idle time. To do this select Wait from the menu bar.

What do I do if my laptop has no RS232 COM ports?

Windmill ComIML and ComDebug work with serial instruments connected to the COM port. If your laptop is without COM ports, you can add them by installing a serial card in the computer's PCMCIA slot, by purchasing a USB-to-Serial RS232 adaptor or, for Wi-Fi networks, by connecting a serial device server.

Using a USB-Serial converter

You need to make sure that your converter's serial settings match those of Windmill (or vice versa). For instance, if you have set Windmill to continually acquire data you must make sure that your USB-to-Serial converter is continually providing data and not buffering it. How you do this depends on your converter. For a 930-based Edgeport converter, for example, you need to use its utility program to set its ports for "low latency" and "fast read and writes". Use the Edgeport configuration utility program to do this (Port Flags button). More tips on using USB-to-Serial converters...

Can I monitor traffic signals to and from the modem?

No. As the software is designed to acquire data from measurement instruments it needs sole control of the serial device. Other applications cannot therefore access the modem whilst you're using ComDebug.

What's wrong with using multiple Ignore commands?

The Ignore Until Character command tells Windmill to ignore characters in the data string until one of the specified characters arrives. The next operation takes place at this character. So, if you repeatedly told Windmill to ignore everything until the next comma (meaning to skip several commas) it would get stuck on the first comma it found. For more help see the Parsing Messages from RS232 Instruments page.

What to do when the start character in a message changes

When extracting data from the instrument's message, you need to pin-point where in the message string the data begins. For some instruments the start indicator may change each time. To detect this use the the Ignore Until action in Comdebug - adding all possibilites into the Parameters box. You might then need to Ignore a number of characters before starting to extract data. For more help see the Parsing Messages from RS232 Instruments page.

RS232 Settings

How to Communicate with RS232 Devices

Use the Windmill with ComIML package, or ComDebug, to collect data from RS232 devices. See above for quick answers, and these pages for more detailed articles.

• Understanding RS232
• RS232 Settings for Specific Instruments: Mettler Toledo, Datel, Ohaus, Sartorius, Turner, etc
• Com Port Settings
• RS232 Handshaking
• Extracting data

RS422 and RS485 Settings

How to Communicate with RS85 Devices

Use the Windmill with ComIML package, or ComDebug, to collect data from RS422 and RS485 devices. See our Understanding RS485 page for more details.

Modbus Settings

How to Communicate with Modbus Devices

Use the Windmill with ComIML package, or ComDebug, to collect data from Modbus devices. See our Modbus settings page for more details.

TCP/IP Settings

How to Communicate with TCP/IP Devices

You can use the Windmill with ComIML package, or ComDebug, to collect data from devices over Ethernet or Internet. Windmill also has specific drivers for Ethernet hardware, such as the Microlink 840 data logger. See our TCP/IP data logger page for a tutorial on TCP/IP options.

NMEA and GPS

See also Connecting a GPS Receiver to a PC and Interfacing NMEA Devices to a PC.

Settings for instruments following the NMEA Standard

Instruments following the NMEA standard will generally work with these settings: baud rate - 4800; bits - 8; parity - none; stop bits - 1; flow control - Xon/Xoff or hardware (you may have to try both: consult your instrument's Manual), reading protocol - continuous flow, data persistence - 2 seconds. More on NMEA.

Why does my screen look funny when I plug my GPS in?

Sometimes when you plug a GPS receiver into the computers COM port, Windows detects the RS232 data as indicating that a serial mouse has been plugged in. This causes the screen to behave erratically. The solution is simply to wait until the Windows system has settled down before trying again.

Windmill SetupIML, Logger, Chart and DDE Panel

How fast can Windmill collect data?

When using ComIML or ComDebug you can run at a speed of up to 5 samples per second per channel, with a maximum of 200 readings per second. Make sure your sampling interval is not smaller than 0.2 seconds, otherwise Windmill may slow down considerably and only make a couple of readings per minute.

I can see data in ComDebug but am getting "Bad IML device number" Error in Logger or SetupIML

1. Make sure ComDebug is closed. If open it will have control of the COM port and the ComIML serial driver, and hence the other Windmill programs won't be able to access it.
2. Alternatively, you may have instruments listed in your Windmill Device file which you are not using. For example, if you have added more than one *.imd file for a single instrument. Go back to ComDebug and choose to Edit a Windmill Device. Make sure the *.imd file you have created is listed and remove any that you no longer need.
3. See also I can see data in ComDebug but not in DDE Panel or Logger

Error 105

The hardware is not supplying data. For serial instruments use ComDebug to check your settings. Choose to Edit an Instrument File then select Edit Instrument Timings. For instruments that continuously send data, make sure that:
- Read in Background is checked
- Data Persistence is longer than the Instrument Idle Time.
You may also need to increase the Instrument Idle Time. For more details click the Help button in ComDebug.

Error 114

This means "data not yet ready". For serial instruments, in ComDebug's Terminal screen press the Run button. Do you see your data appearing there? If not check your settings. Here are some example settings for a number of serial instruments.

Other Error Codes

See a list of all error codes, for all Windmill drivers and applications.

Can I scroll the Chart?

The Windmill Chart program is designed to display data in "real-time", and so there is no scroll function. To show more data at a time, change the paper speed. Should you wish to review previously saved data, you can use the Windmill Replay software. This lets you scroll through, fast-forward, rewind, zoom in and out, see tables of data, etc. You could also use Excel.

Can I use Windmill Chart to display data from Excel?

To do this you need the Windmill Harvester program. Copy the contents of Excel cells to the clipboard and paste them into Harvester. Windmill Chart can now read and display your Excel values as though they were from normal hardware channels.

DDE Panel shows the Data but Chart shows a flat line

Look carefully at the data in DDE Panel. Are there any funny characters in it? If you extract control characters as well as data DDE Panel will show them, but Chart won't be able to chart the data properly. You need to edit your parse string in ConfIML. Remember, with the Ignore command the next action occurs ON the specified character but with the Search command the next action occurs AFTER the specified characters. So if you Ignored until a carriage return and then extracted data, the carriage return would be extracted. If you searched for a carriage return and then extracted data, it wouldn't.

Can I plot an x-y diagram?

The free Windmill Chart program plots data against time. However, with Windmill you can collect data from your device and send it in real-time to other software like Excel. You can then create your x-y diagrams in Excel. For more details see our Excel Interfacing and Excel Charting Tips pages.

Excel

See also our Excel Interfacing and Excel Charting Tips pages.

How do I use Excel to send data to the serial port?

You can create an Excel macro which uses dynamic data exchange to send data to analogue or digital channels on your instrument. More information is on our Excel Serial Port page.

Can I use Windmill Chart to display data from Excel?

To do this you need the Windmill Harvester program. Copy the contents of Excel cells to the clipboard and paste them into Harvester. Windmill Chart can now read and display your Excel values as though they were from normal hardware channels.

Request Technical Support

Make and model of instrument:


Using which Software:
ComDebug  Other  
 
Communications:
RS232   RS422/485   Modbus  
TCP/IP   Ethernet   USB 

Problem:
Please give as many details as possible. for example:
what steps you have taken so far, an example of your 
instrument's message string if you have it.  

Name:        
Organisation:
Email:       

Alternatively e-mail techsupp @ windmill.co.uk giving details of the problem. It will also help if you attach these files to the e-mail - *.imd, *.ims, and iml.ini - which you will find in your windmill directory.

Iml.ini is saved by ConfIML and lists the hardware drivers you have on your system: COMIML, SigGen, etc. The *.ims file is created by SetupIML and describes how you want to use your hardware: channel names, engineering units, alarm settings, etc. The *.imd files are created by ComDebug and contain the communications settings for your individual instruments: for example you might have a gps.imd containing the settings for a GPS and a balance.imd containing the settings for a weighing scale.