Factorytalk Transaction Manager User Guide
Factorytalk Transaction Manager User Guide
Factorytalk Transaction Manager User Guide
Transaction Manager
User Guide
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Chapter 1
Welcome To FactoryTalk What Is FactoryTalk Transaction Manager? ............................................. 9
Transaction Manager What Can FactoryTalk Transaction Manager Do For Me? ...................... 9
Understanding FactoryTalk Transaction Manager Concepts ................10
Transaction Control Manager Service ...............................................10
FactoryTalk Transaction Manager Service and Control Connectors11
Control Connectors.............................................................................. 11
Enterprise Connectors......................................................................... 12
Configuration Server ........................................................................... 12
Transactions ......................................................................................... 12
FactoryTalk ................................................................................................. 12
FactoryTalk Services Platform Components...................................... 13
Intended Audience ..................................................................................... 13
Where Can I Go for Help? .......................................................................... 14
Chapter 2
Installing FactoryTalk Hardware and software requirements..................................................... 15
Transaction Manager Distributed Installations ........................................................................... 15
Installing FactoryTalk Transaction Manager .......................................... 15
Install FactoryTalk Services ................................................................. 15
Install FactoryTalk Transaction Manager .......................................... 16
Activate FactoryTalk Transaction Manager ....................................... 17
Chapter 3
Migrate and Upgrade Migrate FactoryTalk Transaction Manager from version 10.20 to 13.10
FactoryTalk Transaction .................................................................................................................... 20
Step 1: Back up your FactoryTalk Administration Console
Manager
configuration ....................................................................................... 20
Step 2: Install FactoryTalk Transaction Manager .............................. 21
Step 3: Copy the cfgs70.dat filer .......................................................... 21
Step 4: Copy the configuration files and folder structure ................ 22
Step 5: Convert the FactoryTalk Transaction Manager configuration
.............................................................................................................. 22
Migrate FactoryTalk Transaction Manager from version 12.00, 12.10 or
13.00 to 13.10 ............................................................................................... 24
Step 1: Back up your FactoryTalk Administration Console
configuration ....................................................................................... 25
Step 2: Back up your FactoryTalk Transaction Manager
configuration ....................................................................................... 26
Step 3: Install FactoryTalk Transaction Manager ............................. 26
Chapter 4
Exploring the FactoryTalk Starting FactoryTalk Transaction Manager............................................. 33
Transaction Manager User Exploring the FactoryTalk Transaction Manager User Interface .......... 33
Title Bar ................................................................................................. 34
Interface
Menu Bar .............................................................................................. 34
Toolbar .................................................................................................. 35
Configuration Tree ..............................................................................36
Configuration and Connector Status...........................................36
Configuration Server Status .........................................................36
Workspace ............................................................................................ 37
Transaction Definition View ............................................................... 37
Transaction Monitor View ................................................................. 38
Error Log Files View ............................................................................ 38
FactoryTalk Transaction Manager system graphic ........................... 41
Status Bar.............................................................................................. 41
Configuration Checklist ............................................................................ 41
Step 1: Defining and Naming a New Configuration ........................ 42
Step 2: Defining Connectors ............................................................... 43
Step 3: Defining Data Points ............................................................... 43
Step 4: Defining Data Objects ............................................................ 44
Step 5: Defining Transactions ............................................................ 44
Step 6: Verifying Transactions ............................................................45
Miscellaneous .............................................................................................45
Viewing Configuration Properties .....................................................45
Starting Configurations ..................................................................... 46
Stopping Configurations.....................................................................47
Starting and Stopping Connectors .....................................................47
Monitoring Configurations.................................................................47
Understanding FactoryTalk Transaction Manager External Files .........47
Chapter 5
Understanding FactoryTalk Introducing FactoryTalk Transaction Manager Services ...................... 49
Transaction Manager Services Control Connectors .................................................................................. 49
FactoryTalk Live Data ......................................................................... 49
Generic OPC ........................................................................................ 50
Enterprise Database Connectors ............................................................. 50
Microsoft OLE DB ............................................................................... 50
ODBC ................................................................................................... 50
Oracle OCI ............................................................................................ 51
Enterprise Application Connectors .......................................................... 51
Time-Series Data Compression .......................................................... 51
FactoryTalk Metrics Enterprise Application Connector ................... 51
Enterprise Connector Options .................................................................. 51
FactoryTalk Transaction Manager Service .............................................. 52
Transaction Control Manager Service ..................................................... 52
Configuration Server ................................................................................ 52
Chapter 6
Defining Data Points Introducing Data Points ........................................................................... 55
FactoryTalk Live Data Data Points ...........................................................56
Selecting a Collection Mode ................................................................ 57
Scheduled: Maintain the Current Subscribed Value................... 57
Device Scheduled: Request the Current Value From the Device57
Unscheduled: Send Subscribed Value Whenever It Changes .... 57
Consecutive Data Point and Data Block Support ............................. 58
Selecting Timeout Properties ..............................................................59
Data Valid .......................................................................................59
Data Retrieval Timeout .................................................................59
Selecting a Substitution Option ......................................................... 60
Preventing Stale and Mismatched Data ............................................ 60
Specifying Quality ................................................................................ 61
OPC Data Points ......................................................................................... 61
Generic OPC Data Points ................................................................... 62
Chapter 7
Defining Data Objects Introducing Data Objects ..........................................................................63
Enterprise Database Objects.................................................................... 64
Oracle Call Interface (OCI) Data Objects .......................................... 64
Microsoft SQL Server Data Objects ................................................... 64
Rockwell Automation Publication FTTM-UM001A-EN-E-July 2021 5
Table of Contents
Chapter 8
Creating Transactions Introducing Transactions .........................................................................67
Transaction Types ..................................................................................... 68
Unidirectional Transactions .............................................................. 68
Bidirectional Transactions ................................................................. 69
Bidirectional or Unidirectional Transactions With Transaction
Bindings ............................................................................................... 70
Transaction Timeout .................................................................................. 71
Transaction Completion ........................................................................... 72
Cached Transactions........................................................................... 72
Real-time Transactions ....................................................................... 72
Transactions With Bound Transaction Results ................................. 73
Database Triggers ................................................................................ 73
Using the Expression Editor ..................................................................... 73
Logical and Mathematical Operators .................................................74
Time Functions.....................................................................................74
Data Point Range and Advanced Functions.......................................74
Parse Function...................................................................................... 75
Transaction Trigger and Storage Options................................................ 75
Chapter 9
Understanding Online Edits Introducing Online Edits ..........................................................................79
Understanding Online Edit Concepts......................................................79
Online Edits Workflow ....................................................................... 80
Configuration That Uses Online Edits .............................................. 80
Assembling Pending Edits .................................................................. 81
Canceling Pending Edits .................................................................... 82
Pending Edit Alerts ............................................................................. 82
Occurrence Conditions of Pending Edit Alerts .......................... 82
Creating a Configuration That Uses Online Edits .................................. 83
Editing Data Points In a Running Configuration That Uses Online
Edits ..................................................................................................... 83
Adding New Data Points .............................................................. 84
Editing Existing Data Points ....................................................... 84
Saving Data Point Pending Edits ................................................ 84
Chapter 10
Advanced Topics Remote User Interface.............................................................................. 89
Configuring the Remote User Interface ........................................... 89
Distributed Configurations ...................................................................... 90
Licensing Required For a Distributed Configuration ...................... 90
Establishing Microsoft Windows Privileges ..................................... 90
Creating a Distributed Configuration................................................ 91
Using UNC Paths ................................................................................. 91
Changing the Transaction Cache File Path.................................. 91
Changing the Error Log File Path ................................................. 91
Data Point Buffering........................................................................... 92
Buffering In the Controller .......................................................... 92
Buffering In the FactoryTalk Transaction Manager Control
Connector ...................................................................................... 92
Buffering In the Transaction Control Manager Service ............ 92
Buffering In the FactoryTalk Transaction Manager Service ......93
Buffering In Cached Transaction Files ........................................93
Increasing Performance ............................................................................93
Control System .....................................................................................93
Database .............................................................................................. 94
FactoryTalk Transaction Manager ..................................................... 94
Hardware and Operating Environment.............................................95
Windows Performance Counters..............................................................95
Chapter 11
FactoryTalk Transaction External Trigger Sample Application ...................................................... 99
Manager Sample Applications Application Contents ................................................................................ 99
Running the Sample Application............................................................. 99
Chapter 12
Glossary
Glossary A - D ............................................................................................................ 111
E - O ............................................................................................................113
P - U ........................................................................................................... 116
Legal Notices
Index
•
Concepts Transaction Control Manager service.
• FactoryTalk Transaction Manager service.
• Control connectors.
• Enterprise connectors.
• Configuration Server.
• Transactions.
Transaction Control The Transaction Control Manager is a service that controls and executes
Manager Service FactoryTalk Transaction Manager transactions contained in a configuration,
but with the additional functionality of the FactoryTalk Live Data control
connector embedded in it. In a configuration enabled for editing, the
Transaction Control Manager replaces the separate FactoryTalk Transaction
Manager and control connector services.
FactoryTalk Transaction The FactoryTalk Transaction Manager service is used to control and execute
FactoryTalk Transaction Manager transactions contained in configurations
Manager Service and that do not require online edits, were created prior to the existence of the
Control Connectors newer Transaction Control Manager service, or there is some other reason to
not run the Transaction Control Manager service. For more information on
how the FactoryTalk Transaction Manager functions, see the following figure.
Control Connectors The FactoryTalk Transaction Manager service communicates with the
industrial control system device via a control connector. A control connector
is a Microsoft Windows service that collects data from a controller and sends
it to the FactoryTalk Transaction Manager service in the FactoryTalk
Transaction Manager. You can use the following types of control connectors:
Enterprise Connectors The Transaction Control Manager service and the FactoryTalk Transaction
Manager service communicate with enterprise systems, such as databases, via
an enterprise connector service. An enterprise connector is a Microsoft
Windows service that transfers data between the Transaction Control
Manager service or the FactoryTalk Transaction Manager service and a
database.You can use the following types of enterprise connectors:
Configuration Server The Configuration Server is a service that runs continuously to provide a
single interface to the configuration files (with the .dat file extension) which
make up the FactoryTalk Transaction Manager configuration. The
Configuration Server simplifies access to the configuration files by filtering all
changes to the files and by communicating with other FactoryTalk
Transaction Manager services. A collection of all changes that affect a
configuration is recorded in an audit trail (via either FactoryTalk Diagnostics
or the Configuration Server *.log file).
FactoryTalk Services With each coordinated release, additional Rockwell Software products build
on the FactoryTalk platform and integrate more of the FactoryTalk
Platform Components components. All of the FactoryTalk components are installed together as a
platform, integrated into each FactoryTalk-enabled product installation
process:
Item Description
FactoryTalk FactoryTalk-enabled products use the FactoryTalk Directory to share a common address
Directory book, which automatically finds and provides access to plant-floor resources, such as
data tags and graphic displays. Unlike a single database, FactoryTalk Directory provides
searchable references to resources stored anywhere across an automation system,
offering the benefits of central data storage without the risk of a single point of failure.
Changes made to the automation system automatically update across all participants in
a FactoryTalk-enabled application.
FactoryTalk Live FactoryTalk Live Data manages connections between FactoryTalk-enabled products and
Data data servers. It notifies clients when a connection is lost, automatically reconnects
clients, and combines data from multiple controllers and servers into a single group with
a single data server connection. This results in faster real-time data transfer and more
reliable, efficient connections to data servers. It also assists in redundancy support for
data servers by automatically handling detection and failovers for all FactoryTalk-
enabled products.
FactoryTalk The FactoryTalk Administration Console is a stand-alone tool that allows you to
Administration configure and manage FactoryTalk-enabled applications.
Console
FactoryTalk Audit FactoryTalk Audit and FactoryTalk Diagnostics provides the ability to log errors,
and FactoryTalk warnings, and other status messages generated throughout a FactoryTalk-enabled
Diagnostics system to either local logs or a central location.
FactoryTalk Security FactoryTalk Security is intended to improve the security of your automation system by
limiting access to the users with a legitimate need. FactoryTalk Security authenticates
user identities and authorizes user requests to access a FactoryTalk-enabled system.
These security services are fully integrated with the FactoryTalk Directory and are
included as part of the FactoryTalk Services Platform that is installed with many
Rockwell Software products.
FactoryTalk Security replaces the product-specific privilege configuration that was
available in previous releases of FactoryTalk Transaction Manager. For more information
about using FactoryTalk Transaction Manager with FactoryTalk Security, refer to
Securing FactoryTalk Transaction Manager using FactoryTalk Security.
Intended Audience For this guide it is assumed that you are a control engineer or a database
administrator, and that you are familiar with the following:
• Release Notes
The release notes contain current information about the product,
including hardware and software requirements, new features, known
and fixed anomalies.
• RSBizWare Administration Guide
The administration guide helps the RSBizWare administrator install
and configure the software as well as understand the architecture of
the RSBizWare suite and its components.
This manual is supplied only if you have purchased another
RSBizWare product that uses FactoryTalk Transaction Manager, such
as FactoryTalk Metrics or FactoryTalk Historian Classic.
• Online help
The online help provides general information and step-by-step
procedures for working with the product.
• Rockwell Automation Support Center
The support center provides a variety of services, such as trainings,
webinars, and online support that will improve your experience using
the FactoryTalk Transaction Manager.
Distributed Installations You may want to run FactoryTalk Transaction Manager or its services on
more than one computer. To run the software in a distributed mode, it must
be installed on all computers that are referenced in a configuration. For more
information, see Distributed Configurations on page 90.
Installing FactoryTalk When installing FactoryTalk Transaction Manager, you will perform the
following steps:
Transaction Manager
• Install FactoryTalk Services on page 15
• Install FactoryTalk Transaction Manager on page 16
• Activate FactoryTalk Transaction Manager on page 17
To begin the installation, run the FactoryTalk Transaction Manager
installation media and select Required Steps in the Welcome screen.
Install FactoryTalk Services FactoryTalk Transaction Manager requires the installation of FactoryTalk
Services Platform. It can work with any of the compatible versions of
FactoryTalk Services Platform and does not require the installation of the
version contained on the FactoryTalk Transaction Manager installation
media. Refer to the Release Notes for compatible versions of FactoryTalk
Services Platform.
Install FactoryTalk
Transaction Manager To install FactoryTalk Transaction Manager:
1. Click Install FactoryTalk Transaction Manager.
The installation wizard appears.
2. Click Next.
In this chapter you will learn how to perform the migration and upgrade of
your FactoryTalk Transaction Manager configuration to version 13.10 in the
following environments:
Migrate FactoryTalk When migrating from version 10.20 to version 13.10, move all the
configuration and data structure directly to the target computer and then
Transaction Manager from update your configuration. To do this, you will need to perform the following
version 10.20 to 13.10 steps:
Step 1: Back up your On your source computer, back up the following elements of your FactoryTalk
Administration Console configuration:
FactoryTalk Administration
• Applications (Please note that only a single application can be backed
Console configuration at a time, so you may have to perform multiple backups)
• Areas
• Servers
• User Groups
• Users
Step 3: Copy the cfgs70.dat The cfgs70.dat file is located in the following path by default on the source
computer:
filer
C:\Program Files (x86)\Rockwell Software\RSSql
Copy this file from the source computer to the same directory on the target
computer.
Step 4: Copy the Copy the FactoryTalk Transaction Manager configuration files and folder
structure from the source computer to the target computer. When you copy
configuration files and the configuration files and folder structure, make sure that you recreate this
folder structure structure on the target computer exactly like it was on the source computer.
Multiple configurations (folders) may be copied, but make sure the folder
names are all exactly the same as they were on the source computer.
4. When the conversion tool is finished, click Exit to close the utility.
Migrate FactoryTalk When migrating from version 12.00, 12.10 or 13.00 to version 13.10 , back up
and restore the configuration from your source computer to your target
Transaction Manager from computer and then update your configuration. To do this, you will need to
version 12.00, 12.10 or 13.00 perform the following steps:
to 13.10
Start the Migration
Step 1: Back up your FactoryTalk Administration Console configuration.
Step 1: Back up your On your source computer, back up the following elements of your FactoryTalk
Administration Console configuration:
FactoryTalk Administration
• Applications (Please note that only a single application can be backed
Console configuration at a time, so you may have to perform multiple backups)
• Areas
• Servers
• Shortcuts to controllers
• User Groups
• Users
Step 2: Back up your Back up your FactoryTalk Transaction Manager configuration on your source
machine by going to Configuration > Back up in the FactoryTalk Transaction
FactoryTalk Transaction Manager UI. This will create an rsq file on this server. You will need this
Manager configuration backup when you restore it to your target machine.
Step 3: Install FactoryTalk Install FactoryTalk Transaction Manager on your target machine using the
steps provided in Installing FactoryTalk Transaction Manager on page 15.
Transaction Manager This machine should be a clean computer where FactoryTalk Transaction
Manager has never been installed.
Step 4: Restore your Restore your FactoryTalk Transaction Manager configuration on your target
machine by going to Configuration > Restore in the FactoryTalk Transaction
FactoryTalk Transaction Manager UI. Use the rsq backup file you created in Step 2: Back up your
Manager configuration FactoryTalk Transaction Manager configuration on page 26.
Finish the Migration After you have completed the steps appropriate for your migration, perform
the following steps to finish the migration.
7. Click Yes.
The following message appears:
8. Click OK.
9. Click Close.
10. In the Configuration Checklist dialog box, under Define Connectors,
click Step 2.
The Connector Definition dialog box appears.
11. In the Host Name text box, replace the name of the source computer
on which you backed up the FactoryTalk Transaction Manager
configuration with the name of the target computer on which you
restored the configuration.
12. In the User Name text box, replace the name of the user of the source
computer with the name of the user of the target computer.
13. In the Password text box, replace the password of the user of the
source computer with the password of the user of the target computer.
• Make sure that all the applications and objects from the source
computer are restored.
• Only a single application can be restored at a time, so you may have to
perform multiple restore transactions.
• Users that are restored from the source machine may not be valid due
to an incorrect machine name. Make sure to check your users and edit
their configuration as needed under Explorer > System > Users and
Groups.
Step 3: Configure your Configure your database connections by performing the following as
database connections applicable:
• For SQL Server (ODBC connector), configure the ODBC data source
(System DSN) to have the same name as the one used on the source
computer to make sure the connection to the same database is
available.
• For Oracle (OCI connector), use the Net Configuration Assistant to
configure the TNS name to have the same name as the one used on the
source computer to make sure the connection to the same database is
available.
Step 1: Remove FactoryTalk Stop all the configurations and then remove the older version of FactoryTalk
Transaction Manager using Control Panel or the Start menu.
Transaction Manager
Step 2: Install the new Install the new version of FactoryTalk Transaction Manager using the
FactoryTalk Transaction Manager installation package. See Installing
version of FactoryTalk FactoryTalk Transaction Manager on page 15 for details.
Transaction Manager
Step 3: Convert the IMPORTANT Only perform this step if you are migrating from FactoryTalk Transaction Manager 10.20
to 13.10. This step is required.
FactoryTalk Transaction FactoryTalk Transaction Manager 13.10 supports UNICODE (double byte)
Manager configuration strings, so the format of the files that hold information about the FactoryTalk
Transaction Manager configurations has changed. Old configuration files
must be updated to the new format in order to be recognized and used by
FactoryTalk Transaction Manager 13.10.
4. When the conversion tool is finished, click Exit to close the utility.
5. Verify that the conversion files were created by looking in the directory
where the FactoryTalk Transaction Manager configuration is stored.
Note that after running the conversion:
• Old configuration files have been given an extension of .old. They will
no longer be used.
• New configuration files have been given names containing 70 instead
of 60.
• If at any point it is necessary to have the old configuration files again,
they can be found here. To use them with FactoryTalk Transaction
Manager 10.20, change their names from .old to .dat. Please note that
any changes made to the configuration from this point on will not be
present in the .old files.
Exploring the FactoryTalk When you start FactoryTalk Transaction Manager for the first time (and if it
is the first Rockwell Software product run on your computer), you are
Transaction Manager User automatically logged on to FactoryTalk Security using your Windows-linked
Interface user account information. The system graphic appears in the right pane (or
workspace) of the FactoryTalk Transaction Manager user interface.
Menu Bar You can access many features from the FactoryTalk Transaction Manager
menu bar.
Note: For a description of the available shortcuts, see Toolbar on page 35.
Displays the online help for any design element (click this button and place the cursor on any
design element).
Starts the configuration or connector currently selected in the Configuration tree. If the edit
enabled configuration has pending edits, a message appears prompting the user to ignore the
pending edits and start the configuration anyway.
Stops the configuration or connector currently selected in the Configuration tree.
Assembles all data point and transaction pending edits in the edit enabled configuration. For more
information, see Understanding Online Edits on page 79.
Opens the Pending Edit Alerts dialog box. For more information, see Understanding Online Edits on
page 79.
Verifies the selected configuration. You can verify multiple transactions and choose to save the
results to a text file.
Displays diagnostic information about the configuration that is currently running in the right pane.
Configuration Tree The FactoryTalk Transaction Manager user interface is divided into two
panes. The left pane is known as the Configuration tree. It displays all the
items of the current configurations in the form of a tree.
The top level in the item tree is the Configuration Server, with the name of the
computer on which it is running. The second level is the configuration name.
The third level displays the Transaction Control Manager service (if the
configuration uses online edits) or the FactoryTalk Transaction Manager
service. The Transaction Control Manager service or the FactoryTalk
Transaction Manager service are followed by the control connectors and
enterprise connectors defined for the configuration. For more information,
see Understanding Online Edits on page 79.
Configuration and The traffic lights in the Configuration tree represent the status of FactoryTalk
Transaction Manager connectors and configurations, turning from red to
Connector Status green when services are started.
Stopped. All of the connectors are not running. Additionally, the Not running properly.
Transaction Control Manager service or the FactoryTalk
Transaction Manager service is not running.
Configuration Server Status The icons that are displayed in the Configuration tree represent the status of
the configuration servers. The following table shows the status icons, state,
and a description of that state:
Workspace The right pane of the FactoryTalk Transaction Manager user interface is
known as the workspace. Depending on the view option that you have
selected, it displays:
Error Log Files View The following is a sample Error Log Files View.
To specify error log files, click Define > Error Logging then the Error Log tab
appears.
This dialog allows you to specify the logging behavior for the configuration.
These settings apply to all the services in the configuration that support
File Messages
This option allows you to create log files on a local or network drive, and to
exercise a great deal of control over how much data will be logged and saved.
1. Message types: check all the following message types you wish to log
to files.
2. Path: enter the path or browse to the directory that will contain the log
files. For distributed configurations, you should use a UNC path.
3. Log file size: two parameters determine the maximum size of a log file.
If either of these is reached, the log file will be closed.
• Messages Per File - the maximum number of messages contained in
the file
• Message File Size - the maximum size of the log file in kilobytes
4. Message File Count - the maximum number of log files to keep each
time the configuration is run. The Message File Count parameter is a
number between 1 and 100 that specifies how many log files will be
kept during a single continuous run of a FactoryTalk Transaction
Manager configuration (a revision). Once the count is reached, the
oldest log file will be overwritten. If the Message File Count is 1 (the
default), then a single log file will be continuously overwritten.
5. Message Buffer Size - the internal buffer size that determines how
often data is written to the log file. A valid range is between 0
SERVICENAMEBB_#CCYYYYMMDDHHMM.log
Where:
1. SERVICENAME refers to the service that created the log file. Where
names were entered for services those names will be used, and default
names otherwise.
2. BB refers to the version number. For the current version being
recorded, BB is blank.
Note: The version number of all saved files will be incremented every time the configuration
is started.
3. CC refers to the file number within the version. For the first file CC is
blank.
4. YYYY - year timestamp.
5. MM - month timestamp.
6. DD - day timestamp.
7. HH – hour timestamp.
8. MM – minute timestamp.
For distributed configurations, you must use a UNC path on page 91 for the
error log file.
Status Bar The status bar at the bottom of the main FactoryTalk Transaction Manager
user interface displays the following information:
Item Description
Rows Selected (includes The number of rows selected before you saved, assembled or canceled pending
pending edits) edits.
Transactions Selected The number of transactions selected.
Passed The number of successful operations.
Disregarded FactoryTalk Transaction Manager does not allow the action to be performed.
Failed Operations that did not take place because of an internal error.
You can create a configuration using the Configuration Checklist, which lists
the required steps and displays the progress of your configuration. A green
check mark indicates a completed step, while a yellow check mark indicates a
partially completed step.
The connector service uses the Microsoft Windows username and password
assigned to the connector when it runs on the host computer.
In general, control connectors must run on the computer that contains the
data server to which they will communicate. This is not the case with some
OPC servers that support DCOM or OPC used in a FactoryTalk architecture.
After this step is complete and you exit the Configuration Checklist, the new
configuration appears in the Configuration tree. Each connector service that
is used by the configuration appears in the item tree. Individual control and
enterprise connectors appear under the connector services. The
Configuration tree displays all configurations recognized by each registered
configuration server.
6. Click Apply, and then click Close. A check mark appears next to Step 3
to indicate it is complete.
For more information about data points, see Defining Data Points on page 55.
In a configuration that uses online edits, you can perform Step 3 on the
Configuration Checklist while the configuration is running. For information
about distributing control connectors and remote browsing capabilities, see
Advanced Topics on page 89.
To define a transaction:
1. Click Step 5. The Transaction Definition dialog box appears.
2. Provide a name for the transaction, and then select the data object to
which you want to bind (the process of mapping a column in a
database table to a data point) the data points. The data object’s
columns or parameters appear in the list of available bindings near the
bottom of the dialog box.
From the Transaction Definition dialog box, open the Trigger and Storage
Parameters dialog box to specify the events that will initiate your transactions
and timeout values. For more detailed information about transactions, see
Creating Transactions on page 67.
In a configuration that uses online edits, you can edit existing or create new
transactions while the configuration is running. When you have pending
edits, you can view the differences between the current and pending
definitions on the Transaction Differences dialog box. If the pending edits
that you created have caused pending edit alerts, you can view them on the
Pending Edit Alerts dialog box. For a detailed description of the information
displayed on these dialog boxes, see Understanding Online Edits on page 79.
Step 6: Verifying To verify multiple completed transactions, click Verify on the Configuration
Checklist. You can also verify transactions individually from the Transaction
Transactions Definition dialog box, which provides informational messages or warnings
about the configuration.
Once you have started a configuration manually, you can set the configuration
to start automatically.
Starting and Stopping To start an individual connector when a configuration is running, in the
Configuration tree, right-click the connector, and on the shortcut menu click
Connectors Start Connector Service.
Monitoring Configurations You can monitor transactions as they are executed while a configuration is
running. Click Transaction Monitor on the toolbar to view a summary of
cumulative activity organized by transaction.
Note: Click any column header, except Total, to sort the list. The list refreshes every 30 seconds, or
when you click the column headers.
Understanding FactoryTalk FactoryTalk Transaction Manager generates several types of external files
while creating and running a configuration. You can set the location of these
Transaction Manager files from the FactoryTalk Transaction Manager user interface. You can
External Files determine where the configuration files are stored by viewing the
Configuration Properties dialog box. For more information on viewing
configuration properties, see Viewing Configuration Properties on page 45.
Control Connectors The control connector services manage the interaction between the industrial
control system and the FactoryTalk Transaction Manager service in the
FactoryTalk Transaction Manager. The control connector services
communicate with the data server using the appropriate protocol. You can use
the following control connectors:
FactoryTalk Live Data The FactoryTalk Live Data control connector service is used to interface with
data items provided by the FactoryTalk Live Data servers. The FactoryTalk
Directory provides a common name space for factory automation products
from Rockwell Software, allowing all applications to use the same naming
Generic OPC The Generic OPC control connector service can be used to interface with
items provided by any OPC server that conforms to the OPC custom interface
specifications. The Generic OPC connector is an OPC client that supports
OnDataChange subscription callback using either:
Enterprise Database The enterprise database connector services manage FactoryTalk Transaction
Manager interaction between a database and the Transaction Control
Connectors Manager service or FactoryTalk Transaction Manager service. Each enterprise
database connector service can manage connections with multiple databases
on multiple computers. You can use the following enterprise connectors:
Microsoft OLE DB The Microsoft OLE DB connector allows you to browse a Microsoft SQL
Server database without a DSN. Please note that the datetime2 data type is
not supported on this connector.
ODBC An acronym for Open Database Connectivity. ODBC is a widely accepted API
for database access that is based on the Call-Level Interface (CLI)
specifications from X/Open and ISO/IEC APIs, and uses Structured Query
Language (SQL) as its database access language.
Oracle OCI The Oracle Call Interface (OCI) enterprise database connector allows you to
connect to database objects from an Oracle server. If you are using Oracle OCI
in FactoryTalk Transaction Manager, you need to locally install either of the
following Oracle services:
FactoryTalk Metrics The FactoryTalk Metrics enterprise application connector is only used with
FactoryTalk Metrics. The FactoryTalk Metrics enterprise application
Enterprise Application connector can only be configured through the Service Console.
Connector
Enterprise Connector You can set additional options for enterprise connectors in the Enterprise
Connector Options dialog box.
Options
FactoryTalk Transaction The FactoryTalk Transaction Manager service performs the following tasks:
Transaction Control The Transaction Control Manager is a service that controls and executes
FactoryTalk Transaction Manager transactions contained in a configuration,
Manager Service but with the additional functionality of the FactoryTalk Live Data control
connector embedded in it. In a configuration enabled for editing, the
Transaction Control Manager replaces the separate FactoryTalk Transaction
Manager and control connector services.
Configuration Server The Configuration Server is a service that runs continuously to provide a
single interface to the configuration files (with the .dat file extension) which
make up the FactoryTalk Transaction Manager configuration. The
Configuration Server simplifies access to the configuration files by filtering all
changes to the files and by communicating with other FactoryTalk
Transaction Manager services. A collection of all changes that affect a
configuration is recorded in an audit trail (via either FactoryTalk Diagnostics
or the Configuration Server *.log file).
Notice the following fields on the status bar at the bottom of the FactoryTalk
Data Point dialog box:
Item Description
Configuration status The status of the current configuration.
Rows The number of rows selected before you saved, assembled, or canceled pending
edits.
Points The number of data points that specific row represents. For example, two rows
may be two different data points or they may be the current definition and the
pending definition of the same data point.
Passed The number of successful operations.
Disregarded The number of rows on which FactoryTalk Transaction Manager does not allow the
action to be performed. For example, selecting a row that does not have a pending
edit and clicking Cancel Edits.
Failed Operations that did not take place because of an internal error.
FactoryTalk Live Data Data FactoryTalk Transaction Manager uses FactoryTalk Live Data to communicate
with the FactoryTalk Live Data servers. With access to the FactoryTalk
Points Directory, the FactoryTalk Transaction Manager service can browse available
data items directly. This is the only method that can be used to transfer data
to and from FactoryTalk View SE or FactoryTalk Linx, and is the
recommended method to transfer data to and from RSLinx Classic.
In a configuration that uses online edits, you can use only FactoryTalk data
points. For further details about using FactoryTalk data points in a
configuration that uses online edits, see Understanding Online Edits on page
79.
Selecting a Collection Mode You can select a collection mode for FactoryTalk data points. This section
provides more detail about the following collection modes:
• Scheduled on page 57
• Device Scheduled on page 57
• Unscheduled on page 57
Scheduled: Maintain the In the scheduled collection mode, each data point is continuously scanned at
Current Subscribed Value a configurable rate. The data server sends any change in value or quality to
the control connector. The control connector retains the current value in a
buffer, and provides it to the FactoryTalk Transaction Manager service when
requested. The Transaction Control Manager service also buffers the data
internally and uses it as needed.
The data server reads the value of the data point at the Subscription Scan Rate
that is set in the FactoryTalk Data Point dialog box; if a new value is found, it
is sent to the data client. If the value has not changed in the data server, no
data is transferred. Thus network bandwidth is not used to transmit the same
value between the data server and the control connector.
Typically, this collection mode is used to support a transaction that logs data
constantly and rapidly (for example, logging a data point every second while
an assembly line is running).
Device Scheduled: Request In the device scheduled collection mode, the data points are not scanned, and
the data is not buffered in the control connector or data server. The data
the Current Value From the server reads directly from the device. Each value is read from the controller
Device only when the Transaction Control Manager service or FactoryTalk
Transaction Manager service requests it from the control connector. The
value is then retrieved from the controller and passed to the control
connector.
Typically, this collection mode is used to support a transaction that logs data
infrequently.
Unscheduled: Send This collection mode is driven by the data server, and each data point is
continuously scanned at the specified rate. When the server detects a change
Subscribed Value Whenever to a data point value or quality, it sends the value to the control connector,
It Changes which passes it to the Transaction Control Manager service or the FactoryTalk
Transaction Manager service. This collection mode is event-based, not time-
based.
Note: Keep in mind that any unsolicited message sent by the controller that does not include a
change in value or quality will never be sent to FactoryTalk Transaction Manager.
The Subscription Scan Rate specifies how fast new data can arrive. For
example, if the Subscription Scan Rate is 150 milliseconds, the data server
cannot send changes faster. Even if the underlying data value is changing
Typically, this collection mode is used for a transaction trigger that executes at
a high or low transition, or exceeds a valid range.
Consecutive Data Point and In your application, you can quickly add multiple consecutive data points (for
example, N7:0 through N7:6).
Data Block Support
Note: This feature also applies to the Generic OPC control connector.
Selecting Timeout Keep the following sections in mind when selecting timeout properties.
Properties
Data Valid Regardless of the trigger mechanism, once a transaction is started, the
Transaction Control Manager service or FactoryTalk Transaction Manager
service checks each required data point to determine if the value in its local
cache is still valid.
A data point value is not valid if the data valid time has passed or is set to zero.
The following calculation demonstrates the validity requirements.
Data is valid = Time Received + Data Valid value < Current
Time
Once the data point value is no longer valid, the Transaction Control Manager
or FactoryTalk Transaction Manager service requests the data point from a
data server, and starts a timer for the retrieval of the data point. If the data
point is not returned by the time specified in the data retrieval parameter, the
rules of substitution are applied.
Data Retrieval Timeout The data retrieval timeout is measured from the transaction start to the data
point arrival. The data point timeout may be affected if there is
communication latency between any of the following:
Selecting a Substitution All data points need to have valid values to allow a transaction to complete
successfully. If a data point is not retrieved and times out, the Transaction
Option Control Manager service or FactoryTalk Transaction Manager service uses a
substitution value. Unscheduled data points do not have substitution policies.
If unscheduled data points are invalid, the transaction will fail.
Preventing Stale and Stale data is data that no longer matches the value in the control system.
Mismatched data refers to a set of data in which individual data values from
Mismatched Data different times were collected, and they are not synchronized. Several
strategies exist to eliminate stale and mismatched data, depending on the
transaction type. For scheduled transactions, data may be read while values
are changing. For most applications, this should not be a concern (except for
the case of high-speed data changes). If the data is changing at a high rate,
you need to switch the transactions to unscheduled.
The best way to prevent stale or mismatched data is to use unscheduled data
point blocks. All data is handled as a single unit, managed by the controller
and parsed into separate units using the Parse function. This method may
also reduce traffic on the controller network because the data is not scanned
at a constant rate.
Specifying Quality For the FactoryTalk Live Data connectors, choose one of the bad quality
options if you want the Transaction Control Manager service or FactoryTalk
Transaction Manager service to use bad quality values. Otherwise, select Use
Substitution Option for Bad Quality in the Edit Collection Parameters dialog
box. If you do not select a bad quality value, the Transaction Control Manager
or FactoryTalk Transaction Manager service will use one of the substitution
policies listed earlier in this chapter when it receives a bad quality value for
this data point.
If you choose to allow bad quality values, use the QualityOf() expression in the
Expression Editor dialog box to bind the quality value to a column in your
database. In addition, the bad quality status is saved to the Transaction
Control Manager service log file or the control connector’s log file (when using
the FactoryTalk Transaction Manager service) at an error level. The
QualityOf() expression provides the following quality values:
Server returns: QualityOf() returns:
Bad (0) 1
Uncertain (1) 2
N/A (2) 3
Good (3) 0
Note: This function only applies to FactoryTalk Live Data and OPC data servers.
If you are using the bad quality substitution option and the controller is switched off, set the Data
Retrieval property to a value large enough so that the server has enough time to respond.
OPC Data Points OPC data points are typically used by the Generic OPC connectors, but can
also be used by FactoryTalk Live Data connectors.
The OPC Specification is a non-proprietary technical specification that
defines a set of standard interfaces based upon Microsoft’s OLE/COM
technology. The application of the OPC standard interface facilitates the
interoperability between automation/control applications, field
systems/devices and business/office applications. For further information,
visit the OPC Foundation web site (https://opcfoundation.org/).
Generic OPC Data Points The Generic OPC control connector service is an OPC client. It communicates
with an OPC server according to OPC standards. In the OPC Data Points
dialog box, you can browse a list of servers supported by the Generic OPC
control connector. If the OPC server supports tag browsing, you can browse
for the desired OPC items to create data points. The Generic OPC control
connector has full DCOM support, which allows the OPC server to reside on a
remote PC provided that the DCOM security is set correctly.
In FactoryTalk Transaction Manager, you can define data objects in the Data
Object Definition dialog box. To access the dialog box, click Checklist on the
Configuration menu, and then click Step 4.
You can assign the following attributes to a data object:
Enterprise Database The following sections describe how to connect to database objects for the
enterprise database connectors.
Objects
Oracle Call Interface (OCI) The Oracle Call Interface (OCI) allows you to connect to database objects from
an Oracle server. In the OCI Data Object Definition dialog box, you can
Data Objects create, modify, or delete FactoryTalk Transaction Manager data objects.
When you create a data object, you need to enter a valid connection for the
Oracle OCI server.
Microsoft SQL Server Data The Microsoft OLE DB connector service allows you to connect to database
Objects objects from Microsoft SQL Server and browse the database without entering
a DSN. Please note that the datetime2 data type is not supported on this
connector.
ODBC Data Objects The ODBC connector service allows you to connect to database objects using
an ODBC 2.0 or a newer version of a compliant server. You need to use a valid
system DSN, which is available to all Microsoft Windows services.
Enterprise Application The following sections describe how to connect to database objects for the
enterprise application connectors.
Objects
FactoryTalk Metrics Data You can only connect to FactoryTalk Metrics data objects from the
FactoryTalk Metrics Server. This connector is different from the other
Objects connectors because it preprocesses the data before sending it to the database.
For more information, see the FactoryTalk Metrics User Guide.
Enterprise Connector Error The following are the most likely FactoryTalk Transaction Manager error
conditions that can affect the enterprise connector:
Handling
• Lost connection with the enterprise connector - The Transaction
Control Manager service or FactoryTalk Transaction Manager service
cannot communicate with the enterprise connector. This may occur
because the enterprise connector service has stopped running, or the
enterprise connector is located on another computer and the
communication between the computers has been interrupted. The
Transaction Control Manager or FactoryTalk Transaction Manager
service will create cache transaction files for transactions that use
historical logging (if the Use Cached Transaction Files check box is
selected in the Transaction Definition dialog box). Therefore, you
should store configuration cache files on the same computer as the
Transaction Control Manager or FactoryTalk Transaction Manager
service.
• Lost connection with the enterprise database - The enterprise
connector cannot communicate with the database. This may occur
because the database service has stopped running, or the database is
located on another computer and the communication between the
computers has been interrupted. The enterprise database connector
stores the data to be reapplied when the database connection returns.
Note: If you select the Use Cached Transaction Files check box in the Transaction
Definition dialog box, a *.sql file is generated, which you need to manually apply to the
database. The software keeps generating *.rsl files until the connection returns. FactoryTalk
Transaction Manager does not process any further *.rsl files if there is no connection.
Inserting and Updating Data When logging data to a table, you can use FactoryTalk Transaction Manager
to directly insert data (creating new records in the table), or update existing
Table Records data in the table.
In the Data Object Definition dialog box, the Insert mode is selected by
default. When you select the Update mode, some of the data points may be
used as criteria for selecting rows to be updated, while other data points will
be used to update the values in the selected columns. If no rows match the
given criteria, the data will be inserted into a new row.
When you select the Stored Procedure option in the Data Object Definition
dialog box under Database, FactoryTalk Transaction Manager queries the
database for all stored procedures accessible by the chosen database user
account, and they appear in the Stored Procedure list. When you select a
stored procedure, the input and output parameters are displayed under
Parameters. Since all parameters for a stored procedure are required, the
software automatically adds them under Data Object Columns when they are
selected.
Creating Transactions
In the dialog box, you can assign the following transaction attributes:
• Transaction name
• Transaction timeout
• Data object name
• Bindings of data object elements to data points/expressions
• Trigger/Storage
• Transaction (cached or real-time) and storage options
Transaction Types FactoryTalk Transaction Manager supports two types of transactions,
regardless of the trigger mechanism:
• Unidirectional transactions
• Bidirectional transactions
For either transaction type, you can optionally specify the transaction result to
be bound back to a control system.
Unidirectional Transactions Unidirectional transactions are transactions that use information from the
control system to add records to a database table, or to update the contents of
existing records. They do not return data to the control system.
For transactions with output bindings, the Real Time Thread Storage option
needs to be selected in the Transaction Definition dialog box, because the
procedure or method must complete before the data can be returned to the
Transaction Control Manager service or FactoryTalk Transaction Manager
service. FactoryTalk Transaction Manager allows you to specify the number of
database threads used by a connector to improve performance.
The transaction result, which notifies the control system that the transaction
was successful, is sent variably based on the transaction type. In a real-time
transaction (where data flows straight to the database), the transaction result
is sent upon the data being successfully logged into the database. However, in
the case of a cached transaction, where a cache is used to ensure data
integrity, the transaction result is sent once the data has been logged into the
cache, and not necessarily into the database. The transaction result is used to
confirm that the test result was recorded. If it indicates that the test result was
not recorded, the control system can respond appropriately by alerting the
Transaction Timeout The transaction timeout parameter specifies how long the Transaction
Control Manager service or FactoryTalk Transaction Manager service should
wait for a transaction to complete. The timeout for an unscheduled
transaction does not affect other copies of the same transaction, because
multiple copies of an unscheduled transaction can be executed at the same
time.
Transaction Completion It is important to determine when the Transaction Control Manager service
or FactoryTalk Transaction Manager service considers a transaction to be
complete, because the services run only one occurrence of a scheduled
transaction at a time. The next occurrence cannot start until the current
transaction is complete. Additionally, if a transaction has a transaction result
binding, the transaction result is written when the transaction completes.
Cached Transactions With the Use Cache Transaction Files option selected in the Transaction
Definition dialog box under Transaction Options, unidirectional transactions
complete as soon as the data is written to the cache file. The data is not stored
to the database yet, but it is on the disk.
Real-time Transactions With the Use Real Time Thread option selected in the Transaction Definition
dialog box under Transaction Options, unidirectional transactions complete
when the Transaction Control Manager service or FactoryTalk Transaction
Manager service receives a reply from the enterprise connector that the data
has been stored. This means that the time necessary for the enterprise system
to store the values is included in the transaction completion time. This may
cause the transaction to time out if the Transaction Control Manager service
or FactoryTalk Transaction Manager service has not received the reply from
the enterprise connector in the allotted time. The transaction timeout does
not determine if the data was logged to the database. The transaction can time
out prior to sending the data to the database or after the data was successfully
stored.
The table below shows how FactoryTalk Transaction Manager handles each
transaction type and storage method.
Transaction type Transaction storage method Lost connection with enterprise connector Lost connection with enterprise system
Unidirectional Cached transaction files Cache files are applied when the connection is One cache file can be converted to an .sql file and returns
restored. Database Failed. Remaining cache files are processed
when connection is restored.(1)
Unidirectional Real time thread The transaction fails and transaction data is Transaction returns Database Failed, transaction data is
lost. written to an .sql file.(2)
Bidirectional Real time thread The transaction fails and transaction data is Transaction returns Database Failed, transaction data is
lost. written to an .sql file.(2)
Transaction Result Cached transaction files The transaction data is written to a cache file. Transaction returns a successful result. One cache file can
Binding The transaction returns a successful result to be converted to an .sql file and returns Database Failed.
the controller. The cache files are processed Remaining cache files are processed when the connection
when the connection is restored. is restored.(1)
Transaction Result Real time thread The transaction fails and transaction data is Transaction returns Database Failed, transaction data is
Binding lost. The failure is sent to the controller. written to an .sql file.(2)
(1) If multiple database connections are defined in the configuration, the cache files continue processing. All data for the failed connection is written to an .sql file.
(2) Data is stored in separate .sql files, depending on whether the Use Real Time Thread or the Use Cache Transaction Files option was selected in the Transaction
Definition dialog box. This allows you to recover the data.
Transactions With Bound Bidirectional transactions that use a transaction result binding are not
complete until the Transaction Control Manager service or FactoryTalk
Transaction Results Transaction Manager service receives a reply from the control connector that
the bound result was written. If a transaction times out after the bind
transaction result is sent to the control connector, all data is moved
successfully to the controller, and a message indicates that the transaction
failed.
Database Triggers Database triggers are functions that are executed by the database whenever
the triggering operation occurs. For example, a trigger can be set in such a
way that whenever a value is inserted into a table, the data is verified, and
then another value is updated with the verified data. The amount of time
necessary to process the trigger and the associated function is charged
against the transaction timeout. In this case, the database insert does not
return control to the enterprise connector until the insert and it’s triggered
function are complete. In other words, a real-time transaction is considered
complete when the FactoryTalk Transaction Manager transaction and any
database triggers caused by the transaction are complete.
Using the Expression Editor Use the Expression Editor to define calculations or formulas with
mathematical operators and functions that can be bound to a data object. To
display the Expression Editor, right-click a data object in the Transaction
Definition dialog box, and then select Bind Expression.
Logical and Mathematical Mathematical operators define simple expressions, which perform
calculations that are evaluated after all data has been collected (or
Operators substituted). There is also a set of operators for both bitwise and logical
operations. Once an expression has been defined, the syntax and semantics
are checked to determine if it can be evaluated at runtime. After the data
points have been collected, their current values are used to evaluate the
expression. The results are then passed to the database for processing.
Time Functions The Expression Editor provides several functions for storing the current time.
Select time functions can be expressed in either Coordinated Universal Time
(UTC) or system local time.
The TimestampOf( ) function logs the time when a data point is read. This
may differ from the time the transaction executed because the data point may
have a data valid time of greater than zero.
Data Point Range and The Expression Editor supports a data point range syntax that compares a
data point value over a series of transactions. Each time a transaction runs, a
Advanced Functions new value is added to the data range for a given transaction. The expression is
then evaluated using the range of values. This allows the expression to
calculate an average of the previous 10 transaction values (avg(datapoint[0,9]),
as well as calculate the minimum (min) or maximum (max) value of a data
point over several transactions.
Note: You must run the transaction to reflect the changes in the historical values. However, you do
not need to store the results.
Using the Store on Every N Transactions option, you can collect the data
needed for an average, but not store the data to the database. If a transaction
executes every second but only stores its data every 60 times, and there is an
avg(datapoint[0,59]), the value that is stored once a minute is the average of
the values taken every second.
Parse Function The Parse function in the Expression Editor ensures that all the data for a
transaction is synchronized. The input for the Parse function is a block of
data, and the output is a parsed subset. This allows the control system to
manage all the data into a single data point, which can be sent to the control
connector using an unsolicited message. The control connector then sends the
data as a single unit to the Transaction Control Manager service or
FactoryTalk Transaction Manager service. The service uses the data point
arrival as a trigger, and then parses out the individual values as needed. Since
the control system gathered all of the data into a single block and the block
was sent to the service as a single unit, it is synchronized. The Parse function
can also be used on scheduled data points and in scheduled transactions to
separate data values from a single data point.
The Trigger and Storage Parameters dialog allows you to select from the
following options the type of event you want to initiate your FactoryTalk
Transaction Manager transaction.
• On Scheduled event
The transaction is initiated by an internal timer that can be set using
the following parameters:
Starting event: The transaction starts when the specified scheduled
event occurs.
Stopping event: The transaction stops when the specified scheduled
event occurs.
Scan rate: The transaction executes at the specified scan rate between
the starting event and the stopping event (inclusive).
Note: If the online enabled configuration is running, you can change the type of event, but not
its definition. However, you can change the scan rate.
• On Unscheduled event
The transaction is initiated by an external event such as a change in
value of a controller data point.
The following options are available:
On High Transition: The transaction is triggered only when the value
changes from zero to not-zero. Transaction starts when the specified
scheduled event occurs.
On Low Transition: The transaction is triggered only when the value
changes from not-zero to zero.
On Change: The transaction is triggered when a positive or negative
delta is exceeded.
Scan On High Rate: The transaction is triggered at the specified rate
when the data point value is any number other than 0. A scan rate of 0
is invalid.
If you are using Scan On high Rate and you want to log the trigger in
the same transaction, create a new data point pointing to the same tag,
set the mode to scheduled, and then use the scheduled data point in
the transaction binding.
A controller can send an unsolicited message to RSLinx Classic and
have it trigger a FactoryTalk Transaction Manager transaction. This
allows the controller complete control over when the transaction is
triggered.
Ignore the First Unscheduled Event: Using this option in a running,
edit enabled configuration may cause unexpected results. See the
Known anomalies in the Release Notes for further details.
• On External Application Trigger
The transaction is initiated by an external source, such as another
application program. To use an external source as a trigger, you must
use a FactoryTalk Transaction Manager API function call from an
application written in Visual Basic, Powerbuilder, or Visual C++.
• On Completion
The transaction is sent to the enterprise connector when it has
completed. This is the default operating mode.
• On True Expression
The transaction is sent to the enterprise connector when the result of
an expression is true. This field allows you to use the expression editor
to build an expression that can be validated as true (any number other
than 0) or false (0). For example, check a data point that is equal to a
constant.
• On Number of Completed Transactions
The transaction is sent to the enterprise connector after a
predetermined number of transactions occur. This feature, which is
useful in trending calculations, saves the first few transactions in
memory but does not write them to the database. This feature is
intended to be coupled with any transactions that use the Data Range
function to examine values during a specified time period. With this
capability, you can write data for an average of a number of
transactions.
• On Data Change and/or Rate
The transaction is sent to the enterprise connector when the value of
the data point changes or a specified time expires. This feature allows
you to design a transaction that monitors a set of conditions every few
seconds, but only log data to the database when a change is detected.
Only new values are sent to the enterprise connector, which reduces
the number of records in the database table. This function also
provides a "keep alive" timer-based backup that states that even if the
values have not changed, the database is updated periodically at a rate
determined by the user. You can write the value after a specified
amount of time to indicate that the data is still active.
Online edits include current and pending edits. A current edit reflects how a
data point or a transaction is currently defined in the running configuration.
A pending edit reflects a new definition of a data point or transaction after
you change and save it (before it has been assembled). Pending edits do not
affect the currently running configuration until they are assembled. When
assembled, the pending edits replace the current definition (i.e., become the
new current definition).
When discussing online edits, you need to understand the difference between
how data points and transactions are defined in the currently running
configuration, and what changes take place when you assemble.
Transaction Control Similar to the FactoryTalk Transaction Manager service, but with the additional
Manager functionality of the FactoryTalk Live Data control connector embedded in it. In a
configuration that uses online edits, the Transaction Control Manager service
replaces the separate FactoryTalk Transaction Manager service and FactoryTalk
Live Data control connector services.
Online Edits Workflow The following diagram illustrates the multi-step process of changing a
configuration that uses online edits.
The running configuration is not affected until the end of the process when
the pending edits are assembled. Saving, reviewing, or canceling pending
edits prior to assembling only affects the configuration files, not the running
configuration itself.
Configuration That Uses A configuration that uses online edits allows you to add new data points and
transactions, as well as change existing data points and transactions while it
Online Edits is running. These changes are referred to as pending edits. In defining
configurations that use online edits, you automatically use the Transaction
Control Manager, which communicates exclusively with FactoryTalk Live Data
data servers.
Assembling Pending Edits Assembling pending edits is the process of making the running configuration
aware of the changes made to data points or transactions. The process may
affect different types of pending edits, depending on the location in which
they are assembled. To start assembling pending edits, you need to save them
first; otherwise, a warning message appears.
You can assemble pending edits in the following locations:
Canceling Pending Edits Canceling pending edits is the process of removing pending edits made to
data points and transactions in a running configuration that uses online
edits. Canceling pending edits does not affect the running configuration.
Data points or transactions return to their original definitions.
You can cancel pending edits in the FactoryTalk Data Point, Pending
Transaction Definition, and Pending Edit Alerts dialog boxes. To cancel
pending edits, you need to save them first. You cannot cancel pending edits if
they are already assembled.
Pending Edit Alerts Informational messages describing that transactions with state information
will lose the state information when the associated data point or transaction
is assembled.
Occurrence Conditions of Some transactions require the state information for their correct execution. If
you make some changes to the transactions or the bindings they use, the
Pending Edit Alerts transactions reset or behave as though they are starting for the first time
when you assemble pending edits. FactoryTalk Transaction Manager warns
you that the transaction will be reset by displaying a pending edit alert
message.
That Uses Online Edits • Use the FactoryTalk Live Data control connector exclusively
• Select the Enable Online Edits check box
Editing Data Points In a You can edit data points (or create pending edits) in a running configuration
by adding new data points or editing existing data points in the FactoryTalk
Running Configuration That Data Point dialog box. The FactoryTalk Connector and Application fields
Uses Online Edits cannot be edited.
Adding New Data Points To add new data points, navigate to the correct area in your FactoryTalk
Directory in the Select Tags group and double-click to open the folder/area.
Select a tag in the Contents of window, and then click Add Selected Tag(s).
The new data points appear in red in the data point grid. This new data point
is considered a pending edit.
In creating new data points and saving them, saving pending edits does not
affect the running configuration because they have not been used in a
transaction. Assembling new data points that are not used in a configuration
that uses online edits does not affect the running configuration because
FactoryTalk Transaction Manager does not collect data for data points that are
not used. Data points must be assembled before they can be used in a new
transaction.
Editing Existing Data Points While editing existing data points, you may change any of the data point
parameters except the data point name and mode (scheduled, unscheduled or
device-scheduled). To open the Edit Collection Parameters of Selected Row(s)
dialog box and change the properties of data points, use one of the methods
described below:
• Select the data point row in the data point grid, right-click and select
Edit Selected Collection Parameters from the menu.
• Double-click in the data point row to which you want to make the
change.
• Select the data point row in the data point grid and select Create Edits.
• Select the data point row in the data point grid, and copy or paste data
points from Excel.
After you have finished modifying the data point parameters, you must save
the changes before you close the FactoryTalk Data Point dialog box.
Saving Data Point Pending When you are finished adding new data points or changing existing data
points, you must save the pending edits. Select the data point rows in the data
Edits point grid and click Save Edits or select the data point rows in the grid, right-
click and select Save Selected Edit(s) from the menu. You must always save
pending edits before you assemble.
Assembling Data Point To make the pending edits effective in the running configuration, you must
assemble them. On the FactoryTalk Data Point dialog box, select the data
Pending Edits point rows in the grid and click Assemble Edits or select the data point rows
in the grid, right-click and select Assemble Edits from the menu.
It is not critical to assemble pending edits at a specific time in the online edits
process. If you have already created data point pending edits, you can close
the FactoryTalk Data Point dialog box without assembling and proceed to
make changes to transactions on the Pending Transaction Definition dialog
box. However, data point pending edits do not display on the Pending
Transaction Definition dialog box until they have been assembled. It is a good
idea to save and assemble data point pending edits before creating
You can also click Assemble Edits on the main FactoryTalk Transaction
Manager user interface to assemble data point pending edits.
Canceling Data Point To cancel pending edits, select the data point rows in the grid and click
Cancel Edits or select the data point rows in the grid, right-click and select
Pending Edits Cancel Edits from the menu. You can cancel pending edits after you have
saved. You cannot cancel pending edits after you have assembled.
Editing Transactions In a When you open the Transaction Definition dialog box to edit an existing
transaction, notice that the fields are all disabled. You must first click Create
Running Configuration That Edits to begin making changes to the transaction. Notice that the title
Uses Online Edits changes to Pending Transaction Definition dialog box. Then you can change
transaction bindings and parameters such as scan rate or timeout, and even
enable or disable the transaction. If you want to change the transaction name
or the data object that the transaction uses, you must create a new
transaction. When you are finished modifying the transaction, click Save
Edits to save your changes. You must always save pending edits before you
assemble. The following figure is an example of the Transaction Definition
dialog box.
In the main FactoryTalk Transaction Manager window you can edit multiple
transactions in a running configuration that uses online edits. Select one or
more transactions in the Transaction Definition View in the right pane, right-
click, and select one of the following menu options.
Item Description
Enable Transaction or A new pending edit row is displayed with the new state. The pending edit is
Disable Transaction automatically saved, but it must be assembled manually.
Edit Transaction The parameters displayed in the Trigger and Storage Parameters dialog box are
Parameters FactoryTalk Transaction Manager default values, not the values of the selected
transactions. Once again, the pending edit is automatically saved, but it must be
assembled manually.
Saving Transaction Pending When you finish changing the transaction, you need to save the pending
edits. You must save pending edits before assembling. Saving pending edits
Edits does not affect the running configuration, it only saves the pending
definition.
Assembling Transaction To make the pending edits effective in the configuration, you must assemble
them. In the Pending Transaction Definition dialog box, click Assemble
Pending Edits Edits. You can also click Assemble Edits in the main FactoryTalk Transaction
Manager window to assemble transaction pending edits.
Note: There may be a delay between the time you assemble the pending definition and the time the
pending definition actually becomes effective, regardless of when the FactoryTalk Transaction
Manager user interface indicates the changes have been made.
The rules governing when the actual transaction is changed are complex,
because they take into consideration the management of the currently
running transactions. Keep the following in mind:
Viewing Transaction In the Transaction Differences dialog box, you can see the differences
between the current definition and the pending definition for a specific
Differences transaction. You need to save pending edits before you view the transaction
differences. To view the differences, click Show Differences in the Pending
Transaction Definition dialog box.
Transaction properties are displayed at the top of the dialog box. Bindings
(including the address location of the data points, not just the data point
names) are displayed at the bottom of the dialog box. The default option is All,
but you may select Differences to display only the properties or bindings that
are different between the current and pending definitions. You can view the
You can also view transaction differences in the Transaction Definition View
in the main FactoryTalk Transaction Manager window. To view the
differences, right-click a transaction and select Show Transaction
Differences.
Canceling Transaction You cannot cancel pending edits after they have been assembled. Canceling
pending edits does not affect the running configuration; it only removes the
Pending Edits pending definition. If you stop a running configuration with pending edits,
you cannot make any further changes to the configuration until you cancel or
assemble the pending edits.
To cancel pending edits after saving them in the Pending Transaction
Definition dialog box, click Cancel Edits.
Advanced Topics
Remote browsing allows you to browse DSNs and Oracle connection strings
that cannot be found on the local computer. All the browsing for FactoryTalk
data points and databases is performed in the context of Computer B.
Establishing Microsoft The FactoryTalk Transaction Manager user interface must be logged into a
Microsoft Windows account that has administrative privileges for all the
Windows Privileges computers being part of the FactoryTalk Transaction Manager system. This
requirement gives the FactoryTalk Transaction Manager user interface access
to the Microsoft Windows Service Control Manager, in order to start and stop
the FactoryTalk Transaction Manager services.
For example:
\\Computer 1\c$\rssql_config
Note: It is important that the account you are currently logged into (and the one that FactoryTalk
Transaction Manager services will run as) has read and write privileges to the shared folder.
Data Point Buffering Simple logging applications include many locations for buffering data. This
means that there is a risk of discrepancies between the values in your
controller and the values in your database. The sections that follow describe
different areas in which data point buffering can be used.
Buffering In the Controller Values may change between scans, or, more likely, the data server may read a
series of related values while the controller is updating them. In such a case,
the values will not be synchronized. This problem can be solved by either
blocking the data in a single message sent by the controller or by making sure
that the controller does not trigger the transaction until all the values are set.
You should also use a transaction result to alert the controller that the values
have been read and can now be changed.
Buffering In the FactoryTalk The FactoryTalk Transaction Manager control connector maintains a copy of
the data. Data servers, which may have separate copies of the data, send
Transaction Manager changed values to the control connector. Once in the control connector, the
Control Connector data is either sent to the FactoryTalk Transaction Manager service
(unscheduled data points) or is buffered until it is requested (scheduled data
points).
Buffering In the Transaction The Transaction Control Manager service has a local data point cache that
contains the current values for every data point and the time the value was
Control Manager Service collected.
If the Data Valid option in the FactoryTalk Data Point Definition dialog box is
set to zero, data is not requested from the FactoryTalk Live Data server,
because the server automatically provides updated data values when they
change. Hence, the values for the Transaction Control Manager services are
always correct.
Transactions buffer their own values, and only request values from the master
value table of the Transaction Control Manager service when the Data Valid
Buffering In the FactoryTalk The FactoryTalk Transaction Manager service has a local data point cache that
contains the current values for every data point and the time the value was
Transaction Manager collected.
Service If the Data Valid option in the FactoryTalk Data Point Definition dialog box
is set to zero, data is requested from the control connector every time it is
needed. Using this data, the FactoryTalk Transaction Manager service knows
which data points are still fresh (i.e., still in the valid timeout range), and
which data points need to be requested from the control connector. Note that
the data is not read from the controller at this time, but from the control
connector’s buffers. The exception to this rule is device scheduled data points,
which are read from the controller by the data server once it receives the read
request from the control connector. Another exception is that the FactoryTalk
Transaction Manager service never requests the current value of an
unscheduled data point from the control connector.
Buffering In Cached Complete transactions that are not configured for real-time storage are
buffered in cached transaction (*.rsl) files prior to storage in the database.
Transaction Files Therefore, data will not be available from a query until it has been removed
from the cache file and written to the database.
It is possible to control the rate that the cache transaction files are applied at.
In the Transaction Definition dialog box, you can set the number of complete
transactions to a smaller value, or decrease the time between cache
transaction files. This will improve the timeliness of the data in your database,
however, the load on your database will increase.
Increasing Performance The sections that follow discuss recommendations for increasing
performance when running FactoryTalk Transaction Manager
configurations.
• Use the fastest CPU, the most RAM, and the fastest disk controller as
possible, as well as multiple fast disks.
• Run the FactoryTalk Transaction Manager services, especially the
Transaction Control Manager service or FactoryTalk Transaction
Manager service, on a multi-processor computer. The FactoryTalk
Transaction Manager services are multi-threaded and can take
advantage of multiple-processors.
• Optimize the Ethernet traffic. Use a local subnetwork based on
switched Ethernet.
• Use the fastest Ethernet connection possible.
• Turn off the ODBC trace and SQL trace facilities.
• Place the Microsoft Windows operating system and paging files, the
cached transaction files, and the database along with its associated
files on separate physical disks.
Windows Performance Use Windows performance counters to track transaction run-time status in
Counters FactoryTalk Transaction Manager. The following status information are
exposed via the Windows performance counters:
• InstallPerformanceCounters_OnlineEditsOff.bat
• Run this .bat file if you have not enabled online edits in your
configuration.
• InstallPerformanceCounters_OnlineEditsOn.bat
• Run this .bat file if you have enabled online edits in your configuration.
• RemovePerformanceCounters_OnlineEditsOff.bat
• Run this .bat file if you have not enabled online edits in your
configuration.
• RemovePerformanceCounters_OnlineEditsOn.bat
• Run this .bat file if you have enabled online edits in your configuration.
To create Windows performance counters in FactoryTalk Transaction
Manager
Considerations When Using Please keep the following in mind when configuring FactoryTalk Transaction
Manager for use with FactoryTalk Security:
FactoryTalk Transaction
• FactoryTalk Transaction Manager inherits its security settings from
Manager With FactoryTalk Network (also called Distributed) applications and/or the FactoryTalk
Security Network Directory. Any changes that you make via FactoryTalk
Security affect FactoryTalk Transaction Manager and all other
products that are connected to the same FactoryTalk Directory
computer.
Note: If you must change the FactoryTalk Directory computer location, reboot your computer
to synchronize the Configuration Server with the FactoryTalk Directory computer.
Using FactoryTalk The single sign-on (SSO) is a FactoryTalk Security policy setting that allows
you to log on to the first product that you run in the FactoryTalk system, and
Transaction Manager With then to be automatically logged on (without being prompted) to each
Single Sign-on (SSO) subsequent Rockwell Software product that you run, using the same user
account and password.
Note: If you want to use FactoryTalk Transaction Manager and FactoryTalk Security effectively, you
must have a FactoryTalk user account in the FactoryTalk Directory.
When you log off from FactoryTalk Transaction Manager, the machine-wide
SSO user is not affected either.
FactoryTalk Security To perform specific tasks in FactoryTalk Transaction Manager, you need to
have specific FactoryTalk Security permissions. Use the following table to
Permissions To Perform determine the initial action (indicated by "x") that you or your administrator
FactoryTalk Transaction must take in the FactoryTalk Administration Console to ensure that you will
be able to perform the specified FactoryTalk Transaction Manager tasks.
Manager Tasks
To perform this FactoryTalk Select the following item on the Right-click the selected item on the Explorer pane in the FactoryTalk Administration
Transaction Manager task: Explorer pane in the FactoryTalk Console, select Security, and then set the following actions in the Security Settings
Administration Console: dialog box that is displayed:
Factory Talk Common > List Common > Read Common > Write
Transaction Children
Manager > Start,
Stop, and Assemble
Transactions
View a configuration. Computer in the Computers group X
that hosts the FactoryTalk
Transaction Manager Configuration
Server.
FactoryTalk Area (located under X X
Network > App) that you want to
browse for tags.(1)
Change a non-running Computer in the Computers group X X
configuration. that hosts the FactoryTalk
Transaction Manager Configuration
Server.
FactoryTalk Area (located under X X
Network > App) that you want to
browse for tags.(1)
Writing Product-Specific Prior to FactoryTalk Transaction Manager 9.00.00, the software used its own
security mechanism to secure configurations. If you used this product-
Security Privileges From a specific security implementation to secure your configurations in a previous
Previous Release To a File release, you can now use a utility to write your previous FactoryTalk
Transaction Manager security settings to a file.
When using the tool, you can specify the file name and location. The file will
be formatted as follows:
After generating the file, you can review the old product-specific security
privileges and use the content to establish new FactoryTalk Security
permissions in the FactoryTalk Administration Console.
For more information on writing product-specific security privileges to a file,
see FactoryTalk Security Permissions To Perform FactoryTalk Transaction
Manager Tasks on page 106.
Mapping Old Product- The following table provides information on the way the old product-specific
security privileges map to the new FactoryTalk Security permissions.
Specific Security Privileges
To New FactoryTalk
Security Permissions
If you used this old product-specific security It has been replaced by this FactoryTalk Security This security permission allows you to:
privilege: permission or FactoryTalk Transaction Manager
custom action:
RSSQL_ADMIN FactoryTalk Transaction Manager > Start, Stop, and Start, stop, or assemble (on-line editing) a running
Assemble Configurations on page 106 configuration.
Note: This attribute also requires you to have the
Common > Read and Common > Write permissions.
RSSQL_MODIFY Common > Write on page 106 Make offline changes to a configuration.
Note: This attribute also requires you to have the
Common > Read permission.
RSSQL_VIEW Common > Read on page 106 View a configuration.
Glossary
A-D -A-
Audit Trail
A record of changes made to a FactoryTalk Transaction Manager service in the
FactoryTalk Transaction Manager configuration, including the information
by whom and when the changes were made, as compiled by the Configuration
Server log file. The changes are displayed in FactoryTalk Diagnostics.
-B-
Binding
The relationship between a single data object element (a table column or a
stored procedure parameter) and its corresponding data point or expression
in a transaction.
Bound Value
The data to be written to or read from a table column or a stored procedure
parameter.
-C-
Configuration
A FactoryTalk Transaction Manager configuration consists of a set of
transactions, as well as the connectors, data points, and data objects required
to implement the transactions. All configuration information is stored in
configuration files. You can create an unlimited number of configurations,
but the FactoryTalk Transaction Manager can run only one configuration at a
time.
Configuration Server
The Configuration Server is a service that runs continuously to provide a
single interface to the configuration files (with the .dat file extension) which
make up the FactoryTalk Transaction Manager configuration. The
Configuration Server simplifies access to the configuration files by filtering all
changes to the files and by communicating with other FactoryTalk
Transaction Manager services. A collection of all changes that affect a
configuration is recorded in an audit trail (via either FactoryTalk Diagnostics
or the Configuration Server *.log file).
Control Connector
A service that moves data between a data server in the control system and the
FactoryTalk Transaction Manager service.
Control System
Typically includes a network of controllers and/or HMI servers that collect
data from machines in a manufacturing plant and control their operation.
-D-
Data Object
A subset of columns in a database table, a database view, or a set of stored
procedure parameters, along with the database connection information to
access the database. A FactoryTalk Transaction Manager transaction acts on a
single data object, so all of the necessary database information for a
transaction must be contained in a single data object. Data objects are defined
in enterprise connectors.
Data Point
Data locations in the control system. Data points are associated with control
connectors and also contain collection parameters and other attributes. Data
points can serve as transaction triggers, supply input data for transactions,
and receive data as an output from a transaction.
Database View
A filter on selected fields in database table(s) outside the FactoryTalk
Transaction Manager software.
DSN
An acronym for Data Source Name (i.e., the name of the database being used).
A system DSN is available to all users and Microsoft Windows services, while a
user DSN is available only to the user who configured it. The ODBC enterprise
database connector requires a system DSN to connect to an ODBC data
source.
E-O
-E-
Enterprise Connector
A service that moves data between the FactoryTalk Transaction Manager
service and database(s) or an enterprise system.
Expression Editor
A FactoryTalk Transaction Manager utility used to create expressions prior to
binding them in a transaction.
-F-
FactoryTalk Security
FactoryTalk Security is intended to improve the security of your automation
system by limiting access to the users with a legitimate need. FactoryTalk
Security authenticates user identities and authorizes user requests to access a
FactoryTalk-enabled system. These security services are fully integrated with
the FactoryTalk Directory and are included as part of the FactoryTalk Services
Platform that is installed with many Rockwell Software products.
-G-
-L-
-M-
-O-
OCI
An acronym for Oracle Call Interface. OCI is an Application Programming
Interface (API) used for developing software that can interface natively to
Oracle databases.
ODBC
An acronym for Open Database Connectivity. ODBC is a widely accepted API
for database access that is based on the Call-Level Interface (CLI)
specifications from X/Open and ISO/IEC APIs, and uses Structured Query
Language (SQL) as its database access language.
OLE DB
A Component Object Model (COM)–based database architecture that provides
universal data integration over an enterprise network (from mainframe to
desktop), regardless of the data type.
P-U
-P-
Pending Edits
Changes made to data points or transactions in a configuration that uses
online edits. Pending edits must be saved before they can be assembled.
Pending edits do not affect the running configuration until they have been
assembled.
-R-
-S-
SQL
An acronym for Structured Query Language. SQL is an ANSI/ISO standard
language for querying, updating, inserting, deleting, controlling access to,
and defining storage containers for data.
-T-
Table
In relational database terms, a unit of storage containing columns and rows
with specific names and data types.
Tag
A collection of information for a single data point.
Transaction
An exchange of data between data points and a data object. Transactions also
include triggering information and other attributes that govern its behavior.
Transactions can be unidirectional or bidirectional.
-U-
UNC
An acronym for Universal Naming Convention.
Unidirectional Transactions
Unidirectional transactions are transactions that use information from the
control system to add records to a database table, or to update the contents of
existing records. They do not return data to the control system.
You can view a full list of all open source software used in this product and
their corresponding licenses by opening the chm file located your product's
Help folder on your hard drive.
The default location of this file is:
You may obtain Corresponding Source code for open source packages
included in this product from their respective project web site(s).
Alternatively, you may obtain complete Corresponding Source code by
contacting Rockwell Automation via the Contact form on the Rockwell
Automation website: http://www.rockwellautomation.com/global/about-
us/contact/contact.page. Please include "Open Source" as part of the request
text.
T
Time Functions 74
Title Bar 34
Toolbar 35
Transaction Completion 72
Transaction Control Manager Service 10
Transaction States 37
Transaction Timeout 71
Transaction Trigger and Storage Options
75
Transaction Types 68
Transactions 12
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