There are two main methods of interfacing with CFLink from external software or hardware (such as other Control Systems).
In order to directly communicate with CFLink devices on a CFLink bus via Ethernet, there must be a LAN Bridge on that same CFLink network.
A LAN Bridge can be configured in many ways to allow external CFLink interfacing, including TCP Server/Client and UDP Unicast/Broadcast. By default, a LAN Bridge is configured to allow communication via UDP Broadcast on port 10207.
There are 10 communication slots that can also be configured however may be required, customising the Ethernet protocol being used, port numbers, and other settings such as maximum simultaneous connections to the port.
See the LAN Bridge documentation for more information.
Any device with an on-board RS232 port can be configured to use that RS232 port for direct CFLink communication. This is called putting the RS232 port in 'Program Mode'.
Once configured for Program Mode, all incoming data is treated as CFLink protocol format and messages can be sent to any CFLink device on the same network as the device with the RS232 port.
For more information about using the on-board RS232 port, see the on-board RS232 port documentation.