--- a/NEWS	Fri Oct 28 13:07:54 2011 +0200
+++ b/NEWS	Fri Nov 04 12:21:09 2011 +0100
@@ -72,6 +72,8 @@
 * ethercat tool is now able to handle multiple masters. The --masters option
   supports ranges like '0,3,8-10'.
 * A sync manager is always enabled, if it contains registered process data.
+* Added a configuration switch --enable-wildcards to use 0xffffffff as a
+* wildcard for vendor ID and product code.
 
 Changes in 1.4.0:
 

--- a/configure.ac	Fri Oct 28 13:07:54 2011 +0200
+++ b/configure.ac	Fri Nov 04 12:21:09 2011 +0100
@@ -604,6 +604,31 @@
 AC_SUBST(ENABLE_TTY,[$tty])
 
 #------------------------------------------------------------------------------
+# Slave identification wildcards
+#------------------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+AC_ARG_ENABLE([wildcards],
+    AS_HELP_STRING([--enable-wildcards],
+                   [Enable vendor ID / product code wildcards (default: no)]),
+    [
+        case "${enableval}" in
+            yes) wildcards=1
+                ;;
+            no) wildcards=0
+                ;;
+            *) AC_MSG_ERROR([Invalid value for --enable-wildcards])
+                ;;
+        esac
+    ],
+    [wildcards=0]
+)
+
+if test "x${wildcards}" = "x1"; then
+    AC_DEFINE([EC_IDENT_WILDCARDS], [1],
+        [Use vendor id / product code wildcards])
+fi
+
+#------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 
 AC_CONFIG_FILES([
         Doxyfile

--- a/master/slave_config.c	Fri Oct 28 13:07:54 2011 +0200
+++ b/master/slave_config.c	Fri Nov 04 12:21:09 2011 +0100
@@ -214,12 +214,28 @@
         return -EEXIST;
     }
 
-    if (slave->sii.vendor_id != sc->vendor_id
-            || slave->sii.product_code != sc->product_code) {
-        EC_CONFIG_DBG(sc, 1, "Slave %u has an invalid type (0x%08X/0x%08X)"
-                " for configuration (0x%08X/0x%08X).\n",
-                slave->ring_position, slave->sii.vendor_id,
-                slave->sii.product_code, sc->vendor_id, sc->product_code);
+    if (
+#ifdef EC_IDENT_WILDCARDS
+            sc->vendor_id != 0xffffffff &&
+#endif
+            slave->sii.vendor_id != sc->vendor_id
+       ) {
+        EC_CONFIG_DBG(sc, 1, "Slave %u has no matching vendor ID (0x%08X)"
+                " for configuration (0x%08X).\n",
+                slave->ring_position, slave->sii.vendor_id, sc->vendor_id);
+        return -EINVAL;
+    }
+
+    if (
+#ifdef EC_IDENT_WILDCARDS
+            sc->product_code != 0xffffffff &&
+#endif
+            slave->sii.product_code != sc->product_code
+       ) {
+        EC_CONFIG_DBG(sc, 1, "Slave %u has no matching product code (0x%08X)"
+                " for configuration (0x%08X).\n",
+                slave->ring_position, slave->sii.product_code,
+                sc->product_code);
         return -EINVAL;
     }