modbus_set_slave

Name

modbus_set_slave - set slave number in the context

Synopsis
    int modbus_set_slave(modbus_t *ctx, int slave);

Description

The modbus_set_slave() function shall set the slave number in the libmodbus context.

It is usually only required to set the slave ID in RTU. The meaning of this ID will be different if your program acts as client (master) or server (slave).

As RTU client, modbus_set_slave() sets the ID of the remote device you want to communicate. Be sure to set the slave ID before issuing any Modbus requests on the serial bus. If you communicate with several servers (slaves), you can set the slave ID of the remote device before each request.

As RTU server, the slave ID allows the various clients to reach your service. You should use a free ID, once set, this ID should be known by the clients of the network. According to the protocol, a Modbus device must only accept message holding its slave number or the special broadcast number.

In TCP, the slave number is only required if the message must reach a device on a serial network. Some not compliant devices or software (such as modpoll) uses the slave ID as unit identifier, that's incorrect (cf page 23 of Modbus Messaging Implementation Guide v1.0b) but without the slave value, the faulty remote device or software drops the requests! The special value MODBUS_TCP_SLAVE (0xFF) can be used in TCP mode to restore the default value.

The broadcast address is MODBUS_BROADCAST_ADDRESS. This special value must be use when you want all Modbus devices of the network receive the request.

Return value

The function shall return 0 if successful. Otherwise it shall return -1 and set errno to one of the values defined below.

Errors

    •   EINVAL, the slave number is invalid.

Example
    modbus_t *ctx;
    ctx = modbus_new_rtu("/dev/ttyUSB0", 115200, 'N', 8, 1);
    if (ctx == NULL) {
        fprintf(stderr, "Unable to create the libmodbus context\n");
        return -1;
    }
    rc = modbus_set_slave(ctx, YOUR_DEVICE_ID);
    if (rc == -1) {
        fprintf(stderr, "Invalid slave ID\n");
        modbus_free(ctx);
        return -1;
    }
    if (modbus_connect(ctx) == -1) {
        fprintf(stderr, "Connection failed: %s\n", modbus_strerror(errno));
        modbus_free(ctx);
        return -1;
    }

See also

    •   modbus_get_slave ⟨modbus_get_slave.md⟩