PCS 7 mode

The PI AF hierarchy is built by parsing the DisplayName of static variables

The PCS 7 mode was included to enable users to run this connector also with Simatic OpenPCS 7 UA servers, for which they previously needed a separate connector - the PI Connector for Siemens Simatic PCS 7. The main differences compared to the Generic mode are how the PI AF structure is built, and how the static and dynamic variables are recognized.

The OPC UA server for OpenPCS 7 organizes its underlying entities as a flat list of objects called process groups. From within the process group names the connector takes a notion of a hierarchy (delimited strings) and builds the PI AF structure. For example, if a DisplayName of a static variable is FIC_Feed/PID.BatchID the resulting hierarchy will (among others) contain the PI AF elements called FIC_Feed and PID.

The OpenPCS 7 variables are divided into two groups: static (constants) and dynamic (real-time values). Static variables are converted to PI AF attributes and dynamic variables become PI points. The connector decides if an OpenPCS 7 variable is static or dynamic according to the following rule:

Static variables are all variables which have a hash '#' character in their DisplayName. For example: FIC_Feed/PID.BatchID#Op_Level

Variables that do NOT have the '#' character in their DisplayName are treated as dynamic. For example: FIC_Feed/PID.BatchID

Note: An exception to this rule is when the ' #Value' pattern is found within the variable name, such variable is then considered dynamic. For example: Units/Drain/2U303_9/V3.Permit#Value.

The AF templates are taken from the value of the following OpenPCS 7 variable: #blocktype.

See chapter PI structure for OpenPCS 7 data where you can find screenshots showing how the PI AF hierarchy is built.

Note: In this version of the connector the Alarms and Conditions (A&C), which are supported in the PI Connector for Siemens Simatic PCS 7, are NOT implemented!