PI Interface for OPC DA

Learn about features and operating systems supported by PI Interface for OPC DA

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PI Interface for OPC DA is supported on the following operating systems:

This section lists the supported features for this interface:

Feature	Support
OPC Data Access Standard	1.0a / 2.0 / 2.05
Auto creates PI points	APS Connector
Point Builder utility	Yes
ICU control	Yes
PI point types	Int16 Int32 Float16 Float32 Float64 Digital String Timestamp
Sub-second time stamps	Yes
Sub-second scan classes	Yes
Automatically incorporates PI point attribute changes	Yes
Exception reporting	Interface: PI exceptions OPC server: Deadband
Outputs from Data Archive	Yes
Inputs to Data Archive	Scan-based unsolicited event tags
Outputs to data source Read-only interface available*	Yes Yes
Supports questionable bit	Yes
Supports multi-character pointsource PI point attribute	Yes
Maximum point count	Unlimited
Uses PI SDK*	Yes
PINet string support	N/A
Source of time stamps	Interface or OPC server (configurable)
History recovery	No
UniInt-based*	Yes
Disconnected start-up*	Yes
SetDeviceStatus	Yes
Failover options	OPC server-level failover and UniInt Phase 2 Interface-level failover
Vendor software required on PI interface node	No
Vendor software required on data source	Yes
Vendor hardware required	No
Additional PI software included with interface	Yes
Device point types	VT_I2 VT_I4 VT_R4 VT_R8 VT_BSTR VT_DATE
Serial-based interface	No
OMF Health Messaging**	Yes

* - Additional documentation in the section below.

** - For more information, see the "OMF Health Messaging" topic in the PI Universal Interface (UniInt) User Guide.

Read-only Interface available

A read-only version of this interface is available. Read-only versions cannot update the data source (that is, control system). If outputs to the data source are not needed, use the read-only version of the interface.

Note: A read-only interface provides the best defense against accidental or malicious changes to the control system.
Uses AF SDK

The AF SDK and the PI API are bundled together and must be installed on each interface node. This interface does not specifically make AF SDK calls.
UniInt-based

UniInt stands for Universal Interface. UniInt is not a separate product or file; it is an AVEVA‑developed template used by developers and is integrated into many interfaces, including this interface. The purpose of UniInt is to keep a consistent feature set and behavior across as many of AVEVA's interfaces as possible. It also allows for the very rapid development of new interfaces. In any UniInt-based interface, the interface uses some of the UniInt-supplied configuration parameters and some interface-specific parameters. UniInt is constantly being upgraded with new options and features.
Disconnected Start-Up

The PI OPC DA interface is built with a version of UniInt that supports disconnected start-up. Disconnected start-up is the ability to start the interface without a connection to the PI Data Archive. This functionality is enabled by adding /cachemode to the list of start-up parameters or by enabling disconnected startup using the ICU.