Add data sources to PI Connector for Siemens SIMATIC PCS 7

Add data sources and configure them for data collection from the PI Connector Administration Site page.

1. From the Overview page, click the Data Source List link, or click Add or modify data sources in the Data source for the PI Connector for Siemens SIMATIC PCS 7 area.

2. To add a new data source, enter the name in the Data source name field, and then click Add and configure.

   Note: All Data source name values for the connector must be unique. Configurations are not case-sensitive. For example, DataSource1 and DATASOURCE1 are considered the same.

   The configuration window opens.

3. Enter and select your data source configurations, and then click Save.

   • Data source description

     Optional: Description of the data source configuration.

   • Discovery or Server Endpoint URL

     Required: Endpoint URL of the OPC UA server for OpenPCS 7. The URL format is opc.tcp://ServerHostOrIP:Port

     Note: The Server Endpoint URL input does not need to be populated manually. By clicking Discover Available EndPoints below, all the available Endpoints will be listed. By selecting the one which meets best the required security needs the address will be copied onto the Discovery or Server Endpoint URL input.

   • Discovered Endpoints

     List of EndPoints available for connection. For example:

     

     Note: OSIsoft strongly recommends using the NONE security mode [None:None:Binary] for testing purposes only.

   • User name

     Optional: User name for accessing OpenPCS 7. Default is empty string.

   • Password

     Optional: Password for accessing OpenPCS 7. Default is empty string.

   • Roots

     Required: Comma separated list of OpenPCS 7 NodeIDs of objects from where the connector will start browsing the OpenPCS 7 server hierarchy. For instance:

     

     With OpenPCS 7 UA servers, under the OpenPCS7 object, a set of configured projects appears. In the previous image, only one project was created - PCS7DEMO_PRJ_OS(1), and for each project a node with a name SIMATIC S7 Protocol Suite can be identified. In the Roots input, the connector expects a comma separated list of NodeIDs of the SIMATIC S7 Protocol Suite objects.

     Note: At least one SIMATIC S7 Protocol Suite NodeID must be listed.When a new Data Source is configured, the following string is pre-populated in the Roots input:
     ns=1;s=f|[ProjectName]::SIMATIC S7 Protocol Suite
     The [ProjectName] shall be replaced with the existing project name.

   • Incoming Timestamps

     Required: Specifies whether the incoming timestamps are taken from the Source, the OPC UA server (Server), or from the connector: Default is Source.

   • Data Access Filter file

     Optional: Allows to upload a .csv file with Block Type definitions template attributes. This option enables to select a subset of OpenPCS 7 entities (based on types) which will be replicated to PI. For the Data Access Filter file, if it was not configured, the connector will not collect any input. In other words, without this file the connector will filter out every static and dynamic OpenPCS 7 variable.

   • Alarm & Condition Filter file

     Optional: For the Alarm & Condition Filter File, if not defined, the connector will ignore all the attribute definitions found within the WinCCAlarmConditionType block type. To limit the amount of alarms and conditions forwarded to PIuse the Minimum Severity setting described below.

     Note: Refer to Applying the filter based on OPC UA Type Definitions in Introduction to PI Connector for Siemens SIMATIC PCS 7 for more information about filters.

   • Minimum Severity

     Optional: Level of severity of OPC UA alarms or conditions since which the A&C will be replicated to PI. Default is -1; that is, no A&C will be recorded. Further valid options are from the interval <0,1000>. For example, 50 means - all A&C which have Severity 50 or higher will end up in PI,0 means – store everything.

   • Startup Mode

     Required: Specifies whether the connector starts in one of the following modes

     • Complete: During start-up, the connector always browses the whole UA Server address space and subsequently establishes the subscriptions (to dynamic and static variables which pass the filter).

     • Cache: The connector does not issue the potentially expensive browse call and uses the cached information from the previous Complete run to establish the subscriptions.

       Note: Browsing the UA Server address space is an expensive operation and might take a long time. The Cache mode allows to start the connector without issuing the browse call function which results in faster start-up times. The very first start is always in Complete mode.