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The Advosol Team
The HDANS Server toolkit is discontinued but still supported.
The DANSrv server toolkit is well suited to quickly implement simple servers or to create high performance OPC servers with ten thousands of items.
The NSPlugin.dll .NET customization assembly interface defines a small number of methods that are called from the generic server and a few callback methods that allow the customization assembly to call methods in the generic server, such as writing new item values into the cache.A license of the uaPLUS server toolkit is required in addition to the DANSrv license.
Standard Edition
All basic features for OPC V2/V3 servers with a static item address space.
Professional Edition
Additional features increase the functionality and the performance.
Both editions support 32-bit and 64-bit operation. A version of the generic server is provided for each platform. The server customization .Net plug-in assembly built for ANY CPU works on both platforms.
The OPC DA .NET Server Features include:
Additional Features of the Professional Edition Include:
OPC Alarms & Event Option:
The OPC AE .NET Server Toolkit can be combined with this OPC DA .NET Server toolkit to make the server compliant with OPC DA2, OPC DA3 and OPC AE1.1.
OPC AE event sources can be DA server items or any other signal source.
Sample Servers
The following sample server customizations are provided as Visual Studio solutions with VB and C# source code:
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This is a simple server with a few items, statically defined within the code. |
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This sample works as the 'Simple' sample and additionally defines and handles custom item properties. With project for .NET7 and generic .NET7 main application code. With the generic DANSrv server with UA combination capability. Configuration files for DCOM registration and UA communication. Requires DLLs from the uaPLUS Toolkit for operation. With project for .NET7 and generic .NET7 main application code. Configuration files for DCOM registration and UA communication. Works with the generic DANSrv server with UA combination capability. Requires DLLs from the uaPLUS Toolkit for operation. |
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This sample is very similar to the 'Properties' sample but implements a dynamic item address space. At startup no items are defined in the generic server. All items are added dynamically when they are first accessed by a client. The browse mode is set to virtual and the client browse calls are handled in this sample. The return the items that could be added to the server cache. For the client this handling is invisible. It appears identical to the 'Properties' sample. Only in the DANSrv Professional Edition because the Standard Edition does not support virtual browsing. |
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This sample loads the item configuration from the file CfgSample.xml and creates the defined items at startup. The XML file can be modified with the ConfigBuilder application. The new configuration used when the server is restarted. No compilation is required. The sample does embed the XML file to show this possibility. To use the embedded file the sample has to be modified to use the LoadEmbedded() method in place of LoadFromExeDir(). The method call is in the code as comment. Only in the DANSrv Professional Edition because the Standard Edition does not support the ConfigBuilder. |
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This sample defines 20000 items at startup and updates the first 1000 items every 100ms. It should give an impression of the performance and can be used as the base for a custom benchmark application. |
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This sample uses a TCP socket on port 6500 for device communication. For tests a Device simulator console application is provided. |
Tools
The OPCDA.NET server toolkit provides tools for quick and simple server development and testing:
System Requirements:
The XML-DA Client to OPC-DA Server Gateway (XDAGW-SS) enables XML DA client applications to access OPC DA servers.
The XDAGW-SS Gateway offers a way to allow existing XML DA client applications access to the wide base of installed OPC DA servers.
The gateway is provided in version for IIS web services and one for WCF.
WCF offers more communications options but is useful only when both sides, client and server, are WCF based.
XDAGW-SS is compliance tested for XML-DA V1.0.1 and OPC-DA V2.05 and 3.0. If connected to an OPC-DA V3 server the OPC DA V3 features such as WriteVQT() are used, otherwise the server is accessed OPC-DA V2.05 compliant.
Configuration and Diagnostic Utility
The XDAGW-SS gateway configuration settings are defined in the AppSettings section of the web.config file.
The configuration utility displays the settings and changes can be made interactively instead of modifying the web.config file with a text editor.
The diagnostic features test the access to the OPC DA server and the XML DA gateway web service.
The .NET3 configuration is also in the web.config file and is modified with the WCF configuration utility.
Security
Web services don't provide a high level of security. Using HTTPS is the only option.
The gateway implements effective security measures. It can be configured to restrict the server access to an item subset. E.g. make some items read-only or allow only a subset of the items to be accessed.
The XDAGW-SS gateway is provided in a version for WCF that can be configured for secure communication.
In communication with WCF based XML DA servers, any WCF communication bindings can be used, including X.509 certificates
System Requirements
Advosol offers a comprehensive set of OPC toolkits and utilities for the .NET platform.
.Net OPC Client ToolkitsThe client development components allow .Net client applications to access OPC servers. These software packages are much more than simple .Net wrapper. They provide everything needed for efficient application development. All OPC defined functions can be called through easy to use classes with all data properly converted. Additional software layers offer a number of higher level functions like browsing the server supported items into a .Net TreeNode structure. Visual Studio project and class generation wizards make usage simple and quick.
OPCDA .NET | The OPCDA.NET Client Component offers highly efficient and flexible access to OPC DA V2/V3 servers. |
XMLDA.NET | The XMLDA.NET Client Component supports access to OPC DA V2/V3 and XML DA servers. The clients are developed as XML DA clients, independent of the type of server. |
OPCHDA.NET | The OPCHDA.NET Client Component handles access to OPC HDA historian servers and can be used in combination with OPCDA.NET and OPCAE.NET. |
OPCAE.NET | The OPCAE.NET Client Component handles access to OPC Alarm and Events servers and can be used in combination with OPCDA.NET and OPCHDA.NET. |
EasyUA Client SDK | The EasyUA Client SDK handles the communication with UA servers with DA/HD/AC/Methods functionality. |
.Net OPC Server Toolkits
The .NET server toolkits have a generic server that implements the OPC specified client interface and a application specific .NET plug-in assembly that allows the application specific server functionality to be implemented with C# or VB.Net .
The DANSrv is an OPC DA V2.05 / V3.0 compliant server that can be customized in .Net assembly. OPC servers that e.g. front-end a database or an Ethernet connected device can take advantage of the .Net tools. A simple .Net assembly has to be created, no COM and OPC knowledge is required. The customization assembly can also be used with the XML-DA and UA server toolkit. No further effort is required to support the new OPC standards. |
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OPC Historian .NET Server Toolkit | With the HDANSrv server toolkit OPC HDA servers can be implemented in C# or VB.Net. |
OPC UA Server Toolkit | The uaPLUS server toolkit makes the transition to OPC UA simple. It can use the same application plug-in DLLs as the toolkit for classic OPC DA. Or, the devices can be handles with application specific UA node managers. |
OPC DA server that enables OPC DA clients to access remote XML DA servers. | |
XML DA web service that enables XML DA clients to access OPC DA servers. | |
COMtoUA | OPC DA/HDA/AE server that enables Classic OPC clients to access OPC UA servers. |
UAtoCOM | OPC UA server that enables OPC UA clients to access Classic OPC DA/HDA/AE servers. |
Web Services are a high-level application-to-application communication technology embraced by virtually all platform providers including Microsoft, IBM, Sun, and Linux.
XML (eXtensible Markup Language) is one of the key enabling technologies for achieving global inter-connectivity and it has industry-wide support as a standardized way of handling data among systems using a variety of operating systems. On a higher layer the SOAP specification defines remote procedure call messages in a platform independent fashion, using XML. Web services such as XML DA or UA base on SOAP and are defined in WSDL documents.
XML DA
In October 1999 the OPC Foundation announced that it will publish XML schema based
on OPC specifications that define application interoperability and
communications between disparate industrial automation devices, systems
and applications running across the manufacturing enterprise.
In July 2003 the first version of the XML DA specification was released.
XML DA specifies a rather simple web service
with eight methods that handle all of the features typically used in the
OPC Data Access applications.
The XML DA specification didn't get the attention it deserves, mainly because the OPC Foundation announced the United Architecture specification shortly after the release of XML DA and allocated its resources on this new specification. Another reason is performance concerns. Due to the XML based communication XML DA is much slower than the COM based OPC DA. This caused users to decide for proprietary tunnel solutions instead of XML DA. However, it needs to be noted that XML DA is actually fast enough for many OPC data access applications.
XML DA Characteristics
WCF (Windows Communication Foundation)
introduced in .NET3 eliminates many of the web services short comings. The communication
can now be configured for either high performance and/or security.
The XML DA specification defines SOAP messages for requests and responses. With .NET2 the communication is restricted the HTTP transport. With .NET3 (WCF) the communication can be configured in a wide range to include TCP and Pipe transports and many security options. The WCF basicHttp binding is compatible with .NET2.
Advosol OPC XML DA Products
Advosol offers software development tools for XML-DA clients, XML-DA Servers and Gateways (converters). The products are provided in two version, for IIS web services and for WCF.
Developers have many options for the development
of .NET OPC client applications. What's best depends on many factors and on
personal preferences.
The basic choices are the API and the communication.
Type of Application Interface
OPC client applications increasingly have to access different types of OPC servers. This can be accomplished with wrappers, either embedded in the client or as external converter servers.
The chosen application interface and the servers that need to be accessed determine the needed wrappers.
OPC defined interfaces are:
Classic OPC |
The classic OPC DA, HDA, AE specification define a C++ COM interface and a
COM Automation interface. For .NET the OPC Foundation provided sample .Net
wrapper code but didn't create a .NET API specification. |
XML DA |
The OPC XML DA specification was created in 2003. It defines .NET2 web
service SOAP messages for the functionality of OPC DA (Data Access). See OPC-DA / XML-DA
Comparison for an overview and comparison of the two OPC
specifications. |
OPC UA |
OPC UA was started in 2003 with the ambitious goal of a multi-platform
specification with the capability to model all kinds of systems. |
Type of Server Communication
The interface specification defines the communication supported by the server.
(D)COM
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The Classic OPC Specification defines a COM interface. OPC DA, HDA, AE
servers are COM server and need to be accessed through (D)COM. |
.NET2 web services |
The .NET2 web services (ASMX) eliminate the DCOM remote communication limitations and configuration issues. However, the communication is restricted to HTTP and the security options are limited. The .NET2 based XML DA is available since 2003 and is often used to remotely access OPC DA servers through an XML DA gateway server. |
OPC UA |
OPC UA communication is either TCP or HTTP. The security handling and the
upper layer communication are UA specific to make it consistent on all
platforms. |
Products are available for many combinations of
API and server communication.
Application designers should decide the used
API based on:
Advosol offers the most complete set of client components, converter servers and server toolkits.
The Classic OPC DA (Data Access) interface is implemented in .NET classes. All OPC DA V2.05 and 3.0 features are supported. In a layered class structure the upper level classes provide server access features with a minimal amount of code. OPCDA.NET can be combined with OPCHDA.NET and OPCAE.NET for HDA (Historical data access) and Alarm&Events.
OPCAE.NET
client component
The Classic OPC AE (Alarms&Events) interface is
implemented in .NET classes. All OPC AE V1.1 features are supported. In a
layered class structure the upper level classes provide server access features
with a minimal amount of code. OPCAE.NET can be combined with OPCHDA.NET
and OPCDA.NET for HDA (Historical data
access) and DA (Data Access).
OPCHDA.NET
client component
The Classic OPC HDA (Historical Data Access) interface is implemented in .NET
classes. All OPC HDA V1.2 features are supported. In a layered class structure
the upper level classes provide server access features with a minimal amount
of code. OPCHDA.NET can be combined with OPCDA.NET
and OPCAE.NET for HDA (Historical data access) and
Alarm&Events.
EasyUA Client SDK
EasyUA implements a .NET interface with base layer classes with methods according the UA Communicatin Stack.
The application can full control of teh server communication.
Upper layer classes simplify the server access.
XMLDA.NET client
component
Thru the XML DA API the client application can access:
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XML DA servers with .NET web services or WCF communication
- OPC DA
V2.05 and 3.0 servers
XMLDA.NET is especially well suited for web
client applications.
Used in combination with XDAGW-SS
server-side XML DA gateway, the client application can access local OPC DA
servers directly or remote server thru the XML DA gateway.