Manual

Content

• Minimum System Requirements
• Features
• Installation
• Getting Started
• OPC items and CCM
• Distribution
• Advanced Usage
• Registration
• Frequently Asked Questions
• Additional Information

Minimum System Requirements

• Microsoft Windows 2000 or 2003 Server or XP (all editions) or Vista (all editions) or 7 (all editions)
• 2MB of free disk space
• 128MB of RAM
• Miscrosoft Visual Studio (either 6.0 or .Net or 2005 or 2008 or Express Edition).

Features

• Allows to make OPC DA, AE and HDA OPC servers
• CCM can be implemented either as a DLL or as an EXE. DLL is more efficient. EXE is more reliable.
• Complies with the OPC DA 3.0, 2.05A and 1.0A specifications
• Complies with the OPC AE 1.10 specification
• Complies with the OPC HDA 1.10 specification
• Passed the OPC DA 2.05A compliance test
• Supports IOPCBrowseServerAddressSpace interface and subscriptions via IOPCDataCallback and IDataObject
• Arrays are supported in OPC item values
• Unlimited number of OPC items

Installation

uForte OPC Server Development Kit setup package consists of an executable file uforteopcsvrcust.exe. Just download this file into any folder on your computer, run it and follow standard installation instructions. uForte OPC Server Development Kit is started automatically after installation.

Getting Started

To create your own OPC server using the tool you will need to do 3 major tasks:

• 1. Specify OPC items
• 2. Implement your Client Control Module and test it
• 3. Create a distributable package for your OPC server

Note: If OPC items are not static and get defined at run time then you can skip the task 1 and proceed to the next.

OPC items and CCM

For the tasks 1 and 2 you should run the Configuration Wizard from the program folder under the Start menu. On the first page you should specify OPC items in your OPC server.

Every OPC item has the following properties:

• Item ID - CCM and OPC clients will refer to this item by this id. Duplicate ids aren't allowed.
• Item name - short item name. Constitutes the last portion of the item id.
• Data type - item values type. You can pass from CCM any value type convertible to this.
• Initial value - current item value. Can be changed later by CCM.
• Readable, Writable - tells OPC clients what can be done with the item.
• Server scan rate - tells OPC clients how often the item gets usually updated.
• Save history - archives all the item values into an internal database. Built in OPC HDA server provides those data to OPC HDA clients.

Click Next when you are done with OPC items. On this step the wizard will generate a CCM template for the OPC items specified. It is recommended to select EXE as CCM type. Just click "Generate and open the project" after you specify all the parameters.

The template generated by "Configuration Wizard" contains CufCCM class (regardless of the programming language) which you should modify to provide IO operations with your hardware (it shouldn't necessarily be a real hardware, it can be anything as mentioned above). The Run method of CufCCM is the main procedure of the CCM (like main() in c++ applications). The following functions are available from within the class:

• SetItemValue - changes value of an OPC item;
• GetItemValue - reads current value of an OPC item;
• SendAEEvent - sends A&E event;
• AddItem, RemoveItem, RemoveAllItems - modify the OPC server's address space structure. For the case when OPC items are not static.

To process write requests from OPC clients you should modify OnWriteRequest method of CufCCM. This method is called whenever OPC clients write into OPC items. To accept new value a positive result should be returned or negative to reject. This value will be sent back to OPC clients as a result of the operation. Also, you can modify the value itself (e.g. because your device accepts only discrete values) which will be passed back to OPC clients as well.

CufCCM class generated examples: VB6, VB.Net, C# or C++.

All the templates generated being built create an executable CCM.exe in the installation folder by default.

When you are finished with CCM (you can modify or implement it later) click Next and you get to the final step where you can specify some more parameters:

• Historian database - internal database for storing archived item values. Select "Use internal:" unless you have reasons no to use it.
• Title - popup text over the OPC server icon in the task bar.
• Start CCM - this exe will be started by the server.
• Remove about command - removes About from the popup menu of the OPC server icon in the task bar.
• Start OPC server - to start the OPC server by clicking Finish.

Distribution

When you are finished with your CCM and have tested it you probably want to distribute your OPC server onto other computers. Here "Deployment Wizard" comes into play where you can specify your contact details to customize your OPC server. The wizard takes the current configuration and creates a self installing "setup.exe". The "setup.exe" will contain everything including "uForte OPC Server" engine, address space structure and your CCM. After installing that on another computer the current configuration will be installed. Here is a snapshot of the wizard:

Advanced Usage

Above we recommended to implement CCM as EXE because it is more reliable and requires less efforts but it is less efficient. uForte OPC Server Development Kit allows to implement CCM as DLL what is much more efficient since there are no interprocess communications. For that reason you should select DLL on the corresponding screen of the Configuration Wizard.

Registration

Every installation of uForte OPC Development Kit or uForte OPC Server Engine must be registered unless you have the unlimited version. Please follow the link to buy the product. To register it right click on the icon in the system tray and select Activate... from the popup menu. Then enter user name and password you received after purchasing the product and click Register.

To register it your computer must be connected to the internet. If it's not the case then click "Enter Code", copy "Installation ID" (use any removable media or write it down on a paper), get to any computer connected to the internet, go to our web site, login there using your user name and password you received after purchasing the product and use one of your free licenses to register the product.

As an option you can send your contact details together with the Installation Id to us and we will register it. As a result of the registration you get Registration Id which you should enter in the corresponding field and click Register. After that this installation becomes registered.

If you need to move the product onto another computer or you need to reinstall the operating system you should deregister it and register again later.

If your computer with the registered product gets crashed or the operating system gets reinstalled you should provide us with the details and we will release your license. This can be done no more than 4 times on one license.

Frequently Asked Questions

Answer: You should setup DCOM security settings. How to do that:

1. Start "dcomcnfg.exe" from command line and select "Component Services->Computers->My Computer->DCOM Config" node. For each uForte object:
2. right click on it and select "Properties" command.
3. on the opened dialog select "Security" page.
4. setup "Launch Permissions" and "Access Permissions": select "Customize" check box and click on "Edit" button to setup permissions, e.g. like on picture:
   
5. if you have XP SP2 then you have to click properties of the "Component Services->Computers->My Computer" node click "Edit Deafult" button in "Access Permissions" and add Everyone user (details can be found here)
   
6. If you have a peer to peer network (without domain) then you should do the following:
   • Open "Local Security Policy->User Rights Assignment" on the OPC server computer. Add "Guest" to "Access this computer from the network" and remove it from "Deny access to this computer from the network".
   • Open "Local Security Policy->Security Options" on the OPC server computer. Grant Everyone all permissions in both "DCOM: Machine Access Restrictions:" and "DCOM: Machine Launch Restrictions:".
7. shut down UForte OPC Server and your application.
8. start your application.

Answer: Describe the problem and send sources of your CCM to us.

Additional Information