How do I use WINSOCK with VB6 to communicat​e with a Fieldpoint FP-1600 module ?

Question

I have a Fieldpoint system connected via a FP-1600 ethernet module to our local network. I can use CWDataSocket with Visual Basic 6 (under WinNT 4) to communicate with the fieldpoint hardware via the fieldpoint explorer and OPC server. But if I try to read multiple channels from say an analog input module, only one reading is returned (i.e. a single float).
It would appear that in order to read multiple channel simultaneously, I need to by-pass the OPC server and communicate directly with the FP-1600. The FP100x programmers manual explains what commands to use and what responses to expect etc. There are also exampls on the NI web site using the MSComm VB control to co
mmunicate with fieldpoint RS232 comm modules. But can't find anything that specifies how to configure the WINSOCK conection in order to achieve communication with an FP-1600.
If someone could post an example of a VB application that can do this, or explain how I should go about it, I would be very grateful.

Answer 1

Ben,
The FieldPoint OPC Server will publish only the first element of a multi-channel analog signal. What you should do is use multiple DataSocket connections (URL's), one to each channel to get all the data that you desire. There is no drawback to doing this method (other than needing to code additional connections using the same CWDS object). The information will not be any better or worse synchronized and all the data is independantly time-stamped.
I would not recommend that you try to bypass the OPC Server. The FieldPoint Ethernet modules use a NI ethernet protocol that is proprietary so there is no information or examples on doing direct communcation using winsock.