Alphabetical list of parameters
- Last UpdatedMay 22, 2025
- 18 minute read
The following table contains an alphabetical list of the .bat parameters for the OPC DA interface.
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Parameter and syntax |
Description |
|---|---|
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/af=Option |
Optional. Configures data handing for advise points. Enable if advise points do not receive a current value on startup. Do not enable this setting if you are using Windows cluster failover, because it causes OPC groups to be advised as soon as they are created. Default: N Options: Y or N Note: Enabling the /af flag when pointing to a Conforming OPC-DA server will result in data loss for Advise tags. This flag specifically targets NON-Conforming OPC-DA servers, which don't give initial values when a group is advised. |
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/ag=group_name |
Optional. Used to configure custom advise group names. To name a particular group, use /ag#=name. For example, /ag1=MyAdvise and /ag2=NextAdvise will instruct the interface to use the name “MyAdvise” for the first advise group and the name “NextAdvise” for the second advise group. To set a base name for advise groups, use /ag=name. If a name is not specified for a particular group using /ag#=name, then that group’s name will be the base name with the group number appended to it. For example, if /ag=AdviseGroup and there is no /ag3 specified, the third advise group will be called “AdviseGroup3”. The default base name for advise groups is “Advise”. If advise group names are not configured, the advise groups will be named “Advise1”, “Advise2”, “Advise3”, and so on. Default: /ag=Advise |
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/am=# |
Optional. Specifies the number of points in each OPC advise group created for scan class 1. Intended for managing OPC server workload. Default: 800 |
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/ar=Option |
Optional. Enable/disable use of access rights property on items added to a group. If the interface logs the error “Invalid read/write mode requested”, try disabling access rights by setting /AR=N Default: Y Options: Y or N |
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/as=system_digital |
Optional. Assign alternate digital states for questionable and bad qualities. To use this option, it is necessary to create a digital state in the system digital state set that corresponds to the system_digital option of the command line option. Then, any digital states that follow the system_digital argument are used to map digital states to PI points when data with questionable or bad qualities are received from the OPC server, overriding the default digital states. For more information, see Data quality information. |
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/at=# |
How long to wait for write acknowledgement from OPC server (milliseconds). When this time has elapsed, the interface cancels the write and resends it. Minimum: 2000 milliseconds. To disable monitoring for stale writes and attempting to cancel and resend the data then set /at=0. Default: 2000 msec (two seconds) |
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/backup=hostname::OPCservername |
For server-level failover, specifies the name of the backup OPC server. If the OPC server is on the local machine, omit hostname. If your server name has embedded spaces, enclose the name in double quotes. |
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/cachemode |
Enable disconnected startup. |
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/cachepath=filepath |
(Optional) Specifies the directory where point caching files are created for disconnected startup. The directory must already exist on the target machine. By default, the files are created in the same location as the interface executable. If the path contains any spaces, enclose the path in quotes. Examples:
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/cachesync=# |
(Optional) Specifies the time slice period in milliseconds (ms) allocated for synchronizing the interface point cache file with Data Archive. By default, the interface synchronizes the point cache if running in the disconnected startup mode. To disable synchronization of the point cache file, specify /cachesync=0. The minimum is 50 milliseconds and the maximum 3000 milliseconds (3s). Values less than the minimum or greater than the maximum are adjusted accordingly. This value must be less than the smallest scan class period. If the value is greater than the smallest scan class value, input scans are missed while the point cache file is being synchronized. Default: 250 milliseconds |
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/cm=Option |
(Optional) Configure cluster-related behavior for interface-level failover running on a cluster. Mode 0 (/cm=0) is preferred-primary mode. Mode 1 (/cm=1) is a non-preferential mode, where whichever interface instance is active stays active until the cluster resource fails over. Default: 0 Options: 0 or 1 |
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/cn=tag_name |
(Optional) For interface-level failover running on a cluster, this parameter specifies a string PI point that receives the node name of the interface instance that is currently gathering data. This feature enables you to track the cluster node that is the active interface node. Ensure that the point source of the specified point is not in use by any interface. |
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/credfilepath=path\to\cred\file.cred |
(Optional) Path to credential file for OPC Private Security. Set by the ICU Control, it is recommended that the path not be modified manually. The ICU provides an OPC Security Credentials file with a .cred extension. This file must be populated manually with the OPCUser and OPCPassword. |
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/cs=tag_name |
(Optional) PI point that tracks the currently-active OPC server for failover. Ensure that the point source of the specified point is not in use by any interface. |
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/ct=# |
(Optional) Specifies the time in seconds to wait for a response from the OPC server before concluding that the connection to the server has failed and needs to be reset. In such a case, the interface attempts to reconnect every /CT second until it connects successfully, at which time it recreates all groups and re-subscribes for updates to advise points. The interface ignores this parameter when server-level failover is configured. Instead, it uses the /FT parameter to determine how long to wait before timing out and failing over to the alternate server. |
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/da=option |
(Optional) Configures default authentication level, part of DCOM security settings for the interface. This parameter sets the interface-specific authentication level required to verify the identity of the OPC server during calls. Valid option values are as follows:
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/db=# |
(Optional) Set level of debugging output to be logged. By default, debug logging is disabled. For valid settings, see Debug settings. |
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/dc |
(Optional) Disable callbacks for polled groups, to reduce OPC server workload. No effect on advise groups. By default, callbacks are enabled. |
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/df=tag_name |
(Optional) Configure a PI point that contains the debug level, which allows you to change debug level while the interface is running. Configure an Int32 output point for the interface, and set its value to 0, then configure the point using the df parameter. After starting the interface, you can change debug level by setting the point to the desired level. For valid settings, see Debug settings. For instrumenttag, you are required to enter a value, but the value is ignored and need not be a valid OPC ItemID. |
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/di=level |
(Optional) Sets the interface-specific impersonation level to be granted to an OPC server to perform processing tasks on behalf of the interface. Default Impersonation level is one of the DCOM security settings for the interface. Valid authority levels are:
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/dll=drive:\path\filename.dll |
(Optional) Configure a post-processing DLL. The default path is the PlugIns sub-directory of the interface installation directory. You cannot configure more than one plug-in. |
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/dllconfig=config_file_name or /dll_ini=config_file_name |
(Optional) Specifies the directory path and file name of the configuration file for a post-processing DLL. (Some post-processing DLLs do not require a configuration file.) |
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/dt=tag_name |
(Optional) Specify the point for which detailed information is to be logged when using the verbose debug level. (/DB=64). If you omit this setting, the interface uses the first point for which it receives a value. |
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/ec=# |
(Optional) Specify a counter number for an I/O rate point. If you require multiple interface instances with event counters, specify a different counter number for each instance. Must correspond to a PI point in the iorates.dat file. If you specify /ec and omit the argument, the default counter is 1. Default: /ec=1 |
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/eg=group_name |
Optional. Used to configure custom event group names. To name a particular group, use /eg#=name. For example, /eg1=MyEvent and /eg2=NextEvent will instruct the interface to use the name “MyEvent” for the first event group and the name “NextEvent” for the second event group. To set a base name for event groups, use /eg=name. If a name is not specified for a particular group using /eg#=name, then that group’s name will be the base name with the group number appended to it. For example, if /eg=EventGroup and there is no /eg3 specified, the third event group will be called “EventGroup3”. The default base name for event groups is “Event”. If event group names are not configured, the event groups will be named “Event1”, “Event2”, “Event3”, and so on. Default: /eg=Event |
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/er=hh:mm:ss |
(Optional) Specifies the requested update rate for the event scan class group. (All event-based points belong to the same group.) The default update rate for the group is one second. If the OPC server data cache for event-based tags does not need to be updated that frequently, reduce workload by specifying a lower rate. For v2.0 OPC servers, all event reads are done from the device, so set this rate high (/er=24:00:00) unless you require more frequent updates to the cache for other reasons. Default: 00:00:01 |
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/es=option |
(Optional) For V1.0a OPC server, specifies whether event tag reads come from the cache (CACHE) or the device (DEVICE). Device reads can adversely affect the performance of the OPC server. For details, refer to Event points. Default: CACHE |
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/f=frequency[,offset] |
Define a scan class, specify how often the data in the class is scanned. Specify scan frequency and optional offset using the following format: HH:MM:SS.##,HH:MM:SS.##. For details, see Scan class attribute (location4). |
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/fm=# |
(Optional) Configure type of interface-level failover. Valid options are:
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/ft=# |
(Optional) Specifies (in seconds) how long the interface tries to connect to the current server before failing over to the server specified by the backup parameter. If the specified value is less than 30, also sets how often the interface checks server state. By default (and, at a minimum), the interface checks server state every 60 seconds. Default: 60 |
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/ga |
(Optional) Staggers group activation to reduce OPC server workload. Use in conjunction with scan class offsets. |
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/gi |
(Optional) To reduce load on the OPC server during startup, inactivates groups until they are built. |
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/gl=Option |
(Optional) Fix for some early v1.0a servers. If the log contains the error message OnDataChange: Invalid group ID, try setting /gl=N. Default: Y Options: Y or N |
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/gs=Option |
(Optional) Fix for older, non-compliant OPC servers that do not provide a valid GroupStatus on asynchronous reads. If the log file contains the error message OnDataChange: Header status, try setting /gs=N to tell the interface to ignore the group status parameters. Options: Y or N |
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/host=host:5450 |
(Required) Specifies the host and port of the Data Archive node to which the interface sends data. Host is the node name of the host node. |
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/hs=Option |
(Obsolete) Request a cache update rate of one half of the scan rate for the scan class. Use ur instead. Options: Y or N |
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/hwps |
(Optional) Check for Plantscape-specific Item error codes 0xE00483FD or 0xE00483FC and, if found, failover to alternate OPC server. |
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/id=# |
(Optional) Specifies the ID of the interface instance. The interface uses this setting together with /ps to determine which points to load. If /id >0 the interface will load only tags with Location1 matching /id. If /id=0, the interface will load all points with PointSource matching /ps. Maximum nine digits. Optional, but highly recommended. |
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/if=Option |
(Optional) Ignore the first value sent for each point. For use with OPC servers that send a response when the interface connects to a point, regardless of whether they have a valid value. Default: N Options: Y or N |
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/is=Option |
(Optional) Ignore the state returned by the OPC server. Some OPC servers do not return OPC_STATUS_RUNNING when ready. If the interface hangs on startup and PI OPC Client tool displays an OPC server state other than RUNNING, set /is=Y and report the issue to your OPC server vendor. Default: N Options: Y or N |
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/isds =x |
(Optional) Hide device status messages that are specific to the OPC DA Interface set x equal to the values below: 1: Suppress "One or more groups not getting data" 2: Suppress "One or more groups missing scan(s)" 4: Suppress "One or more groups hit output count warning" 8: Suppress "Error on Refresh calls(s)" 16: Suppress "Error on activate group(s)" 32: Suppress "Too many invalid ItemIDs" 64: Suppress "One or more output groups dropping data" |
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/it=Option |
(Optional) To truncate the sub-second portion of the time stamps being passed to PI Data Archive and only send whole integer seconds, set to Y. Reduces CPU and disk consumption. Default: N Options: Y or N |
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/ma=Option |
(Optional) By default, the OPC interface adds items to groups one at a time, because some OPC servers reject an entire group if one item is invalid. To add all the items in a class at the same time, set to Y. Recommended for efficiency if supported by your OPC server. Default: N Options: Y or N |
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/maxstoptime=# |
(Optional) Specifies how many seconds are allocated for the interface to close its connections and exit cleanly. Default: 120 seconds |
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/ni=# |
(Optional) Specifies the number of instances of the interface running on the node. Used in conjunction with the ft parameter to determine how long to wait before initiating server-level failover. |
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/nt=Option |
(Optional) Write/do not write I/O Timeout to PI points when the connection to the OPC server is lost. Set to Y to disable writing. Default: N Options: Y or N |
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/oc=# |
Maximum number of outstanding outputs per group. After issuing the specified number of writes, the interface waits for one or more to be acknowledged before issuing any additional writes. |
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/od=# |
(Optional) Level at which to start dropping outputs. When the output queue for a group contains the specified number of outputs, the interface will start dropping queued data:
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/og=# |
Number of output groups. Each group has its own queue. Default: 1 |
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/opcstopstat=system_digital_state |
(Optional) To indicate that data collection was stopped when the interface is shut down, writes digital state to each input tag. If digital state is omitted, “I/O Timeout” is written. If digital state is specified, it must be a valid state from the system digital state set. Caution: Do not use the UniInt stopstat parameter with the OPC interface. The stopstat can cause invalid values to be stored in PI points. Default: "I/O Timeout" |
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/ot=# |
Maximum number of point values to write at one time. Default: 36 |
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/ou=group_name |
Optional. Used to configure custom output group names. To name a particular group, use /ou#=name. For example, /ou1=MyOutput and /ou2=NextOutput will instruct the interface to use the name “MyOutput” for the first output group and the name “NextOutput” for the second output group. To set a base name for output groups, use /ou=name. If a name is not specified for a particular group using /ou#=name, then that group’s name will be the base name with the group number appended to it. For example, if /ou=OutputGroup and there is no /ou3 specified, the third output group will be called “OutputGroup3”. The default base name for output groups is “Write”. If output group names are not configured, the output groups will be named “Write1”, “Write2”, “Write3”, and so on. Default: /ou=Write |
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/outputsnaptime |
(Optional). For output tags, use the timestamp from the original event that triggered the output. By default, the interface uses the time it receives a new value as the timestamp for storing the output after it has completed. |
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/outputacktime |
(Optional) For output tag timestamps, use "acknowledge" time rather than the timestamp from the event that triggered the output. Uses the timestamp from the OPC server's acknowledgement of the write. Overrides outputsnaptime, if enabled. |
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/ow=# |
(Optional) Number of pending outputs at which to set Device Status to warn that outputs are arriving faster than the OPC server can process them. If ow and od are both specified, ow must be less than od. |
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/pg=group_name |
Optional. Used to configure custom polled group names. To name a particular group, use /pg#=name. For example, /pg1=MyPolled and /pg2=NextPolled will instruct the interface to use the name “MyPolled” for the first polled group and the name “NextPolled” for the second polled group. To set a base name for polled groups, use /pg=name. If a name is not specified for a particular group using /pg#=name, then that group’s name will be the base name with the group number appended to it. For example, if /pg=PolledGroup and there is no /pg3 specified, the third polled group will be called “PolledGroup3”. The default base name for polled groups is “Poll”. If polled group names are not configured, the polled groups will be named “Poll1”, “Poll2”, “Poll3”, and so on. Default: /pg=Poll |
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/pisdk=# |
(Optional) Enable (1) or disable (0) the AF SDK. If required by a PI System interface, the AF SDK is enabled and cannot be disabled using this setting. |
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/pisdkcontimeout=# |
(Optional) Set the number of seconds to wait before timing out on AF SDK calls. Default: 15 |
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/pr=# |
Configure cluster failover for the interface instance:
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/ps=point_source |
(Required) Specifies the point source for the interface instance. Not case sensitive. The interface instance uses this setting to determine which PI points to load and update. |
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/pw=password(DEPRECATED) |
You must use the ICU to configure a password for private OPC security. The ICU provides an OPC Security Credentials file with a .cred extension. This file must be populated manually with the OPCUser and OPCPassword. |
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/rd=# |
(Optional) Number of seconds to wait before trying to reconnect to the OPC server. |
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/rn=# |
(Optional) Specifies the resource number of the APIonline service that the interface depends on. For example, /rn=1 configures the interface to depend on apionline1. Required if there are multiple instances of PI Interface for OPC DA running with different service names on the same machine. For configuring Windows Cluster failover. |
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/rp=# |
Specifies the minimum percentage of points required to be accepted by the OPC server as valid. If less than the specified percentage is accepted, the interface sets its device status to Connected/No Data, which triggers UniInt failover if configured. Default: 80 |
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/rt=# |
Polled scan classes only: The maximum number of scans that can return no data before the group is assumed to be non-responsive and the interface sets the Device Status of the interface to warn of the problem. Minimum is 2 scan periods. Default: 10 |
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/sd=# |
(Optional) Specifies how many seconds to wait after connecting before reading OPC points. By default, there is no delay after connecting. Default: 0 |
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/sec or /sec=interfacename + interfaceid |
(Optional) To enable the NT security option of the OPC standard, specify /sec (omit interfacename + interfaceid). If you are using the OPC private security option, this parameter is set by the ICU based on the interfacename and interfaceID. The ICU provides an OPC Security Credentials file with a .cred extension. This file must be populated manually with the OPCUser and OPCPassword. |
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/server=host::name |
(Required) Configures the target OPC server. If the OPC server runs on the same machine as the interface, omit host name and colons. If your server name has embedded spaces, enclose the name in double quotes. |
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/sg=[S] |
(Optional) Send only GOOD quality data. Questionable quality data and BAD quality data are ignored. To ignore substatus for values that have GOOD status, specify /sg=s. To treat OPC_QUALITY_LOCAL_OVERRIDE as SUBSTITUTED, specify /sg. To treat OPC_QUALITY_LOCAL_OVERRIDE as GOOD, specify /sg=s. If the /sq=I or /sq=y parameter is also set, questionable quality data is sent to Data Archive. BAD quality data is ignored. Quality information continues to be sent to points that are configured to store quality instead of values. |
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/sin=node |
(Obsolete) Specifies the name of the secondary interface node for cluster failover. |
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/sq=Option |
(Optional) By default, the interface stores and flags uncertain-quality values. To store quality data instead of value for data that is not GOOD, specify /sq=Y. To store questionable data, specify /sq=I. For BAD quality data, the interface sends a digital state code to the PI point. Default: N Options: Y or I |
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/startup_delay=# |
(Optional) Configures a post-startup delay. The interface waits for the specified period before beginning operation. Intended for use if you have configured the interface for auto start and the network layer needs time to complete startup before it becomes available. If you specify /startup_delay and omit the delay, a thirty-second delay is configured. Default: 30 |
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/sw=# |
(Optional) Specifies how long (in seconds) the interface waits for the OPC server to enter the OPC_STATUS_RUNNING state. If the specified period elapses and the OPC server is not running, the interface fails over to the alternate OPC server. |
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/ta=#.# |
(Optional) For advise PI points, send the value from the preceding scan if the new value's time stamp is greater than the specified number of scan periods. Enabling this setting causes advise tags to behave as if the Step attribute is enabled. |
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/tf=format |
Specifies the format of time stamp strings. (Required) if PI points are configured with:
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/to=HH:MM:SS |
(Optional) Applies an offset to all time stamps coming from the server. Provided to deal with servers and installations that do not follow the OPC specifications (for example, where the time zone must be UTC regardless of the location of the server). The format is the same as the scan period (f) parameter. For negative offsets, precede the offset with a minus sign. Note: PI Interface for OPC DA checks the system time of a machine with running Data Archive every 10 minutes and updates the current offset. |
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/ts=Option |
(Optional) Specifies whether time stamps come from the OPC server or are applied by the interface when the data arrives. By default, the interface provides time stamps (/ts=N). If the OPC server can provide valid time stamps, specify /ts=Y. If the OPC server can provide valid time stamps only for advised points, specify /ts=A. To only use time stamps provided by the OPC server and apply no time offset, specify/ts=U. Default: N Options: Y or N or A or U |
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/ufo_id=# |
(Required for UniInt interface failover phase 1 or 2) Specifies failover ID. Must be a unique, positive integer. |
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/ufo_interval=# |
(Optional) Specifies in milliseconds how often the failover heartbeat points are updated and interface status is checked. Must be the same on both interface nodes. Minimum: 50 Maximum: 600000 milliseconds (10 minutes) Default for Phase 1 failover: 1000 Default for Phase 2 failover: 5000 |
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/ufo_otherid=# |
Failover ID of the other interface instance. Required for phase 1 or 2 interface-level failover. |
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/ufo_sync=path/[file_name] |
(Required for phase 2 interface level failover) Path and, optionally, name of the shared file containing the failover state. The path can be a fully qualified node name and directory, a mapped drive letter, or a local path if the shared file is on an interface node. The path must be terminated by a slash or backslash character. The default filename is: executablename_pointsource_interfaceID.dat. If there are any spaces in the path or filename, the entire path and filename must be enclosed in quotes. If you enclose the path in double quotes, the final backslash must be a double backslash \\. |
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/ufo_type=type |
(Required for phase 2 interface level failover) Specifies the type of failover configuration: HOT, WARM, or COLD. Note: "WARM" is not set in the /ufo_type switch through the command line, but rather is the failover mode employed when /ufo_type=HOT and the /FM switch are configured. The /FM switch instructs the interface to use "WARM", identifying the type of "WARM" failover mode to be used. |
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/uht_id=# |
(Optional) Specifies a unique ID for interface instances that are run in a redundant mode without using the UniInt failover mechanism. If the ID is specified, only health points with the specified value in location3 are loaded. |
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/ur=HH:MM:SS.000 |
(Optional) Specifies the requested update rate for the group. By default, the update rate requested for a scan class is the same as the rate. The update rate is applied to the scan period that it follows. For example:
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/us |
(Optional) If the current snapshot is a system digital state and the new value is older than the snapshot, the interface sends the new value to Data Archive one second after the snapshot time stamp of the system digital state. This check is not done if the current snapshot is a good value. |
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/uwq=# |
Specifies the maximum number of watchdog PI points that can have an error or BAD quality before failover is triggered. |
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/vn=Option |
(Optional) Specifies the OPC server version (v1.0a or V2.0). Default: 2 Options: 1 or 2 |
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/wd=# |
(Optional) For configuring failover using multiple watchdog points, trigger failover if the sum of the values of the points drops below the specified value. |
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/wd1=wd1tagname and /wd2=wd2tagname |
(Optional) Configure watchdog points for failover. For more information, see Server status and OPC watchdog points. |
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/whitelist=path\filename |
Enables allowlist file for output points. Specifies the path to the allowlist file. The allowlist file specifies a list of permitted output points and their attributes, which the interface uses to write output data to the data source. |
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/wq=# |
(Optional) For configuring failover using multiple watchdog points. Directs the interface to fail over if the number of watchdog points with quality other than GOOD exceeds the specified value (and, for v2.0 servers, if there is an error reading the item). |
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/ws=Option |
(Optional) For failover, set to 1 to configure the interface instance to disconnect from the server if the server leaves the OPC_STATUS_RUNNING state. By default, the interface stays connected. Default: 0 Options: 0 or 1 |