OPC Home
OPC (OLE for Process Control or Open Connectivity) is a standard established by the OPC Foundation task force to allow applications to access process data from the plant floor in a consistent manner.
OSIsoft develops both OPC Interfaces (OPC Clients), to exchange data between OPC Servers and OSIsoft Plant Information (PI) systems, as well as OPC Servers, which expose the PI Server as an OPC Server to any other OPC Clients. In addition, OSIsoft provides various tools for testing communication between OSIsoft’s OPC Clients and Servers and third party OPC Clients and Servers. Below is a short description of each product.
OPC Interfaces
| PI OPC Interface |
The PI OPC Interface is an OPC DA COM Interface for bidirectional communication between an OPC Data Access (DA) Server that supports v1.0a and 2.05 of OPC DA standard and an OSIsoft PI System. |
| PI OPC HDA Interface |
The PI OPC HDA Interface is an OPC Historical Data Access (HDA) COM Interface for bi-directional data transfer between an OPC HDA Server (v1.2 OPC HDA standard) and an OSIsoft PI System. |
| PI OPC Alarms & Events Interface |
PI OPC Alarms and Events interface provides a means for transmitting alarm and event information between OPC Alarm and Event (A&E) Servers (v1.1 OPC A&E standard) and the OSIsoft PI System. |
| XML Interface (with OPC plug-in) |
The XML interface can be used to read XML data from a variety of sources and formats, including the OPC XML DA 1.0 standard. This support comes from the default XML plug-in which ships with the XML Interface. |
OPC Servers
PI OPC DA/HDA
Server |
PI OPC DA/HDA Server is an OPC Server for OSIsoft's PI data archives. The installation installs two *.exes, both of which implement the OPC DA standards 1.0a and 2.05, and the OPC HDA standard 1.1. They interoperate with any OPC Client that is compliant with one or more of those standards to allow the user to read data from PI, insert data into PI, or delete data from PI. |
OPC Tools
| PI OPC Client |
The OPC Client (PI_OPCClient) is a stand-alone OPC DA Client application which can be used to make ad-hoc queries to any OPC DA Server. It is designed to browse OPC Servers, configure OPC items for data collection, and verify that network and application permissions are correctly set to allow communication between an OPC server and a client application. It allows testing of Synchronous and Asynchronous operations, as well as Polling and Advising. PI_OPCClient is included with the OPC Interface version 2.2.x and later and the PI OPC DA/HDA Server. It is installed to the PIHOME\PI-OPC Tools\PI_OPCClient\ directory. |
| PI OPC Tool |
The PI OPC Tool (PI_OPCTool) is a diagnostic tool included with the OPC Interface. It is used to verify that network and application permissions are correctly set to allow communication between an OPC server and a client application. The tool is intended to be used by OPC Server vendors. It is not as well-suited for use for configuration as the PI_OPCClient, being designed to execute only one step at a time. It is installed to the PIHOME\PI-OPC Tools\PI_OPCTool\ directory. |
| OPCEnum Tool |
OPCEnum is a tool provided by the OPC Foundation to allow OPC clients to locate servers on remote nodes without having information about those servers in the local registry. This tool is freely distributed by the OPC Foundation. The PI OPC interface The PI OPC interface and the PI OPC DA/HDA server will automatically install OPCEnum as well. |
| PI OPC Server Config Tool |
The PI OPC Server Configuration Tool (PI_OPCServerConfigTool) is designed to help users to read, set, and edit debugging options and configuration parameters of both HDA and DA Servers. This is included with the PI OPC Server and is installed to the PIHOME\PI_OSIOPC\ directory. |
| PI OPC Tag Configuration Utility |
The PI OPC Tag Configuration Utility (OPCTagConfig) is a stand-alone application that aids in the creation of PI tags and PI Aliases from OPC Server items. You can download this utility from the Tech Support Download Center. |
| PI OPC HDA Server Tool |
The PI OPC HDA Server Tool (PI_HDATool) is a diagnostic tool designed to allow the user to validate data communication between an OPC HDA Client and an OPC HDA Server, as well as to verify that network and application permissions are correctly set. It is installed with the PI OPC HDA Server install kit to the PIHOME\PI-OPC Tools\PI_HDATool directory. |
OPC Interface Plug-ins
Generic OPC
Plug-in |
The Generic OPC Plug-in is used in conjunction with the OPC Interface and allows the setting of a specified system state for one or more tags when a configured OPC Item changes to a given value. For example, the underlying data system may expose a flag that indicates that a particular machine is shut down. This interface will allow the PI tags which collect information from that machine to be set to a specified state, such as “Maintenance”, when the flag gets set. This plug-in is not specific to any OPC server, but does require that the state information be exposed as an OPC item. |
| TimeArray OPC Plug-in |
The TimeArray OPC Plug-in allows the transposition of an array of values into a series of successive values for a single tag. The OPC Interface version 2.1.32.0 or greater is required and works with OPC Servers v1.0a and v2.0. |
| Metso OPC Plug-in |
The Metso OPC Plug-in is used in conjunction with the OPC Interface and enables the application of server-specific values to correctly set the digital states for profile data, allowing the use of application logic to correctly interpret the values coming from the Metso OPC Server. |
BitMask OPC
Plug-in |
The Bitmasking Plug-In DLL is used in conjunction with the OPC Interface to allow selecting of specific bits from a data word received from an OPC Server and store that value in a PI tag. OPC Interface version 2.1 or greater is required. |
Nexus OPC
Plug-in |
The Nexus OPC Plug-in is used in conjunction with the OPC Interface and enables application of server-specific values to correctly set the digital states for profile data, allowing the use of application logic to correctly interpret the values coming from the ABB-Nexus OPC server. |
| DaVinci OPC Plug-in |
The DaVinci plug-in is used in conjunction with the OPC Interface and enables application of server-specific values to correctly set the digital states for profile data, allowing the use of application logic to correctly interpret the values coming from the Honeywell DaVinci OPC Server. |
OPC APS – OPC AutoPointSync
| OPC APS |
The OPC APS Connector automatically synchronizes PI tags with your OPC Server. Go to AutoPointSync home page for additional information. |
OPC ICU controls – OPC Interface Configuration Utility controls
PI OPC ICU
control |
The PI OPC ICU control enables configuration of your OPC interface with the Interface Configuration Utility. |
PI OPC Alarms and Events
ICU control |
The PI OPC Alarms and Events ICU control enables configuration of your OPC Alarms and Events Interface with the Interface Configuration Utility. |