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CAN bus DBC

DBC (CAN database) is a file format that describes the format and nature of Controller Area Network (CAN) bus data. A DBC file breaks CAN data down into Messages and Signals, the building blocks of a DBC file, so you can understand the data more clearly. For the moment, Profinity provides a DBC Viewer. The DBC Viewer takes a DBC file and shows the CAN bus traffic travelling through Profinity as Messages and Signals.

Many of the components that Profinity supports have DBC support built in. Examples are the Elmar Solar MPPT (Maximum Power Point Tracker) and the WaveSculptor. These components show their Messages and Signals without a separate DBC file.

Prohelion publishes the DBC files that describe its devices with the hardware documentation. Examples are the WaveSculptor22 DBC file and the EV Driver Controls DBC file. You can supply either file to a Custom Component as a third-party DBC file.

Opening the DBC viewer

Select CAN UTILITIES in the side menu, then DBC MESSAGES & SIGNALS, to see every Message and Signal in the profile. This needs the View DBC definitions permission. A component that has DBC support also has a Messages and Signals item in its menu. That item opens the same viewer, already filtered to that component.

The CAN DBC Viewer listing CAN messages and signals with filters on each column

CAN DBC Viewer

To use the DBC Viewer with a third-party DBC file, add a Custom Component to your profile. Provide the file in its Upload DBC File (Optional) setting. Once the file has parsed, the component appears in your profile with the Messages and Signals menu item. Refer to Using a Custom Component for the full steps.

Filters

The DBC Viewer filters messages and signals by Component, Message, Signal, Value, and Unit, so that the view shows only the CAN bus traffic of interest. Leaving a filter empty shows every result for that column. Filters on several columns apply together. The global search box filters across all columns at once.

Text filters

The Message and Signal columns take a text filter that is not case-sensitive. Space-separated terms must all match, so battery voltage shows rows containing both words. The operators & and AND behave the same way. The operators |, OR, and a comma match any of the terms instead, so error, warning, fault shows every row that contains at least one of the three. The global search box accepts the same operators.

BMU temperature
BMU | MPPT
error, warning, fault

In these examples:

  • The first line shows rows containing both BMU (Battery Management Unit) and temperature.
  • The second line shows rows containing either BMU or MPPT.
  • The third line shows rows containing any of the three words.

The Component and Unit columns offer a checklist of the values present, instead of a text box.

Numeric range filter

The Value column takes a minimum and a maximum. The filter works like this:

  • With only a minimum, it shows values greater than or equal to that number.
  • With only a maximum, it shows values less than or equal to that number.
  • With both, it shows values within the range, inclusive.

For example, a minimum of 0 and a maximum of 100 shows values from 0 to 100. A minimum of 50 with the maximum left empty shows values of 50 and above.