zenon manual

OPC Server

v.7.60
©2017 Ing. Punzenberger COPA-DATA GmbH

All rights reserved.

Distribution and/or reproduction of this document or parts thereof in any form are permitted solely
with the written permission of the company COPA-DATA. Technical data is only used for product
description and are not guaranteed qualities in the legal sense. Subject to change, technical or
otherwise.
Contents

1. Welcome to COPA-DATA help ...................................................................................................... 4

2. OPC server................................................................................................................................... 4

3. Compare OPC Server and OPC UA Server ...................................................................................... 5

4. Technical background .................................................................................................................. 7

4.1 General OPC Server Information ................................................................................................................. 8
4.2 Item Addressing: ......................................................................................................................................... 8
4.3 Group information ...................................................................................................................................... 9
4.4 Supported OPC Specifications: .................................................................................................................... 9

5. Installation and registration of the OPC Server ........................................................................... 10

6. Licensing the OPC Server............................................................................................................ 11

7. Settings in zenon ....................................................................................................................... 11

8. Browsing of the OPC Server ....................................................................................................... 12

9. Starting/stopping the OPC Server ............................................................................................... 12

10. Logging...................................................................................................................................... 13

11. Asynchronous read request ....................................................................................................... 13

12. Remote access ........................................................................................................................... 13

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 Welcome to COPA-DATA help

1. Welcome to COPA-DATA help

ZENON VIDEO TUTORIAL S

You can find practical examples for project configuration with zenon in our YouTube channel
(https://www.copadata.com/tutorial_menu). The tutorials are grouped according to topics and give an
initial insight into working with different zenon modules. All tutorials are available in English.

GENERAL HELP

If you cannot find any information you require in this help chapter or can think of anything that you
would like added, please send an email to [email protected]
(mailto:[email protected]).

PROJECT SUPPORT

You can receive support for any real project you may have from our Support Team, who you can contact
via email at [email protected] (mailto:[email protected]).

LICENSES AND MODULES

If you find that you need other modules or licenses, our staff will be happy to help you. Email
[email protected] (mailto:[email protected]).

2. OPC server
The OPC server makes the variables of the project available for standard OPC client tools.
The use of the OPC UA Server is recommended for several operations. It is part of the COPA-DATA Process
Gateway

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 Compare OPC Server and OPC UA Server

License information
Must be licensed in Editor and Runtime.

3. Compare OPC Server and OPC UA Server

The OPC UA server system has superseded the OPC server. Use of an OPC UA server is recommended for
most applications.

OPC SERVER

 OPC Task Force since 1995

 Uniform interface for automation systems
 Based on Microsoft's COM/DCOM technology
 OPC foundation since 1996
 several specifications for different applications

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 Compare OPC Server and OPC UA Server

OPC UA SERVER

COMPARISON OF OPC SERVER TO OPC UA SERVER

Parameters OPC Server OPC UA Server

Data model Limited for all applications
Implementation Manufacturer-dependent Manufacturer-independent
Interoperability -- X

Configuration laborious simple

Several instances -- X

Network use -- X

Network technology -- OPC UA TCP binary protocol

Performance low high
Platforms Windows only independent
Resource requirements high lower
Service-orientated architecture -- X

Security outdated In accordance with current

standards
Connection security -- X

Windows CE -- X

 X: is supported

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 Technical background

 --: not supported

4. Technical background
The concept of OPC ist conceived for the application in the cell and management level. Here the OPC
server offers data from the control level

OPC CLIENTS AND OPC SERVER

OPC SERVER

OPC defines objects that are described by object interfaces. In the OPC server there are two kinds of
object interfaces, which can be addressed by an OPC client:
 The COM custom interface
 The OLE automation interface

OBJECT INTERFACE OF THE OPC S ERVER

The COM interface is used by function-pointer-orientated languages, such as C++. It is possible to

communicate with script languages, such as Visual Basic, using the Automation Interface.

OPC OBJECT HIERARCHY

An OPC server consists of three hierarchically-stepped objects:

 The server
 Groups and

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 Technical background

 Items

An OPC server projects the real objects to items (variables). These items are unique within the OPC
server. The client organizes the items in one or more OPC groups.

4.1 General OPC Server Information

The OPC server:

 is an Out of Prozess server
 runs in a Single Thread Apartment (STA)
 Is registered as a MULTIPLEUSE COM server
That means: The server runs only once as a process instance. Several OPC clients sign into the
same server.
 only works locally

4.2 Item Addressing:

The OPC server has to be able to distinguish, from which projects the variables come, because several
projects can be started in the Runtime.
So the server uses the following nomenclature for the process variables:
Projectname.Variablename

Projekt1.ActualValue

Project1 = name of the project currently running in the Runtime

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 Technical background

. (Point) = Separator
ActualValue = Existing name of variable

Attention
Ensure that the OPC Data Access Client for each project accesses the variables in its own
respective group. Access to variables from different zenon Runtime projects in one single
group can cause error messages.

4.3 Group information

A group name can be freely defined. For example: Test group 1.

The update cycle in the group is not considered by the OPC Server as the OPC Server has an on-change
data connection to the Runtime. Therefore every modification of value will be transmitted to the OPC
Server without cyclically requesting the value.

Information
OPC clients must create an own group for each zenon project.

4.4 Supported OPC Specifications:

OPC Data Access Servers Version 1.0

OPC Data Access Servers Version 2.0

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 Installation and registration of the OPC Server

SUPPORTED OPC INTERFACES:

Interfaces supported
IOPCServer Yes
IOPCBrowseServerAddressSpace Yes
IOPCServerPublicGroups No
IPersistFile Yes
IOPCCommon (from 2.0) Yes
IOPCSyncIO No
IOPCItemProperties (from 2.0) Yes
IConnectionPointContainer (from 2.0) Yes

5. Installation and registration of the OPC Server

The OPC core components from the OPC Foundation must be installed for use of the OPC server. On
computers with a 64-bit operating system, it is necessary to install both the 32-bit version and the 64-bit
version. You can find the setups on the installation medium with the additional programs. The computer
may need to be restarted after installation.

The OPC server is not registered by default for security reasons. After installation, the OPC server can
therefore not be discovered by an OPC client. The OPC Server has to be explicitly registered

Registering the OPC Server

1. Install the OPC-DA Core Components from the OPC Foundation.
The setup is on the installation medium in the AdditionalSoftware folder.
2. Open the command line with administrator rights (Elevated Command Prompt).
3. Enter the registry command with the desired parameters.
Possible entries:
 zenopcsrv.exe /RegSrv:
Registers the OPC server. A message is given if this is not successful.
 zenopcsrv.exe /RegSrvD:
Registers the OPC server and also gives a message if this is successful.
 zenopcsrv.exe /UnregSrv:
Deregisters the OPC server. A message is given if this is not successful
 zenopcsrv.exe /UnregSrvD:
Deregisters the OPC server and also gives a message if this is successful

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 Licensing the OPC Server

In the event of errors, check that you have sufficient authorizations.

: Changes made via the zenon Startup Tool or the installation of a new zenon version do not lead
to any change to the registration of the OPC server.

6. Licensing the OPC Server

The OPC Server only runs, if it is correctly licenced. Otherwise you get the following error message:

Licencing is done with the standard licencing procedure. On ordering the OPC Server you have to state,
on which computer the OPC Server should be installed, and the Runtime serial number you use there.
From the licencing office you then get a new serial number and a new activation number for that
computer. With these the OPC Server is licensed. These numbers have to be entered in the
zenon6.ini with the tool licence order (Start – Programs – COPA-DATA – Licence order).

7. Settings in zenon
VBA has to be activated, so that the control system OPC Server can get data from the Runtime. Please
check, if the following entries in the zenon6.ini are set correctly:
[VBA]

EVENT=1 (Switches on or off the event mechanism for the VBA – COM interface)
Default =0

This setting must be set to EVENT=1.

Attention
If the event mechanism in the Runtime is deactivated, the OPC Server can access the
variables for writing, but the reading access does not work!
The OPC Server then gets no change events from the Runtime. For the connection quality
all OPC Clients will display “disturbed”.

No further settings in zenon are necessary.

The OPC Server reads out the running Runtime and offers all variables of all running projects for the
connection.

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 Browsing of the OPC Server

Information
As soon as the Runtime is started, you can read out all variables from all projects that are
available in the Runtime. This is independent from the fact, if the included projects are
standalone, client or server projects.

8. Browsing of the OPC Server

OPC Clients use two different methods to find and to browse the variable information of the OPC Server.
Finding the OPC Servers installed on the PC can be done in two ways.
 Reading out the Registry
 Browsing with the additional program OPCEnum.exe

The additional program OPCEnum is not distributed. So it can happen that an OPC Client cannot find the
control system OPC Server, because it uses this browsing method. Read the documentation of the OPC
Client to find out whether the browsing method can be changed to reading out the registry. (For the
Matrikon OPC Explorer you find that under Options.) If this is not the case, you must install the program
OPCEnum.

If you install the freely available Matrikon OPC Simulator Server, OPCEnum is also installed.

Information
When browsing the control system OPC Server offers all variables that exist in the
running control system Runtime. So you have to make sure, that the control system
Runtime is running, before you start browsing the variables.

9. Starting/stopping the OPC Server

The OPC Server is automatically started by the first client that connects to it and it is stopped by the last
client that disconnects.

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 Logging

10. Logging
For monitoring and evaluating the activities of the <CD_PRODUCTNAM> OPC Server the Diagnosis
Viewer is used.

11. Asynchronous read request

The OPC interface IAsyncIO and the OPC interface IAsyncIO2 support multiple asynchronous read
requests.

12. Remote access

Remote access by means of DCOM technology is not supported. zenon only supports access to
locally-installed OPC DA servers.

Attention
The OPC server is optimized for local use; use in a network is expressly not
recommended!
OPC uses DCOM technology for communication over the network, which is
considered prone to errors and unstable. Particular disconnections, such as unplugging a
network cable and very long timeout periods are problematic in industrial applications.

Recommended solutions:
 Using an OPC_UA Servers
or
 Local installation:
zenon Runtime is installed and works as a client for the desired projects on the same
computer on which the OPC client is running. zenon OPC Server is started for this client.
In this way, zenon OPC Server can be connected to the OPC client.

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