General interface operation parameters

/db=#

Optional

INI File Setting: DebugFlags

/db=1 : Max debug

/db=2 : Startup processing

/db=3 : Data Archive connections

/db=4 : Data Archive 2.x security validation (obsolete)

/db=5 : PI point additions, edits, deletions

/db=6 : Data reads & writes

/db=7 : Failover

Example: /db=2,4,5

/delayr=#

Optional

Default: /delayr=0

Millisecond time delay between reconnection attempts to the target Data Archive. Units are in milliseconds.

Valid values are between 0 and 28800000ms (8 hours).

/delays=#

Optional

Default: /delays=0

Millisecond time delay between re-connection attempts to the source Data Archive.

Valid values are between 0 and 28800000ms (8 hours).

/f=SS.##

or

/f=SS.##,ss.##

or

/f=HH:MM:SS.##

or

/f=HH:MM:SS.##,

hh:mm:ss.##

Required

The /f parameter defines the time period between scans in terms of hours (HH), minutes (MM), seconds (SS) and sub-seconds (##). The scans can be scheduled to occur at discrete moments in time with an optional time offset specified in terms of hours (hh), minutes (mm), seconds (ss), and sub-seconds (##). If HH and MM are omitted, then the time period that is specified is assumed to be in seconds.

Each instance of the /f parameter on the command-line defines a scan class for the interface. There is no limit to the number of scan classes that can be defined. The first occurrence of the /f parameter on the command-line defines the first scan class of the interface; the second occurrence defines the second scan class, and so on. PI Points are associated with a particular scan class via the Location4 PI Point attribute. For example, all PI Points that have Location4 set to 1 will receive input values at the frequency defined by the first scan class. Similarly, all points that have Location4 set to 2 will receive input values at the frequency specified by the second scan class, and so on.

Two scan classes are defined in the following example:

/f=00:01:00,00:00:05 /f=00:00:07

or, equivalently:

/f=60,5 /f=7

The first scan class has a scanning frequency of 1 minute with an offset of 5 seconds, and the second scan class has a scanning frequency of 7 seconds. When an offset is specified, the scans occur at discrete moments in time according to the formula:

scan times = (reference time) + n(frequency) + offset

where n is an integer and the reference time is midnight on the day that the interface was started. In the above example, frequency is 60 seconds and offset is 5 seconds for the first scan class.

This means that if the interface was started at 05:06:06, the first scan would be at 05:07:05, the second scan would be at 05:08:05, and so on. Since no offset is specified for the second scan class, the absolute scan times are undefined.

The definition of a scan class does not guarantee that the associated points will be scanned at the given frequency. If the interface is under a large load, then some scans may occur late or be skipped entirely. See the PI Universal Interface (UniInt) User Guide for more information on skipped or missed scans.

Sub-second Scan Classes

Sub-second scan classes can be defined on the command-line, such as

/f=0.5 /f=00:00:00.1

where the scanning frequency associated with the first scan class is 0.5 seconds and the scanning frequency associated with the second scan class is 0.1 of a second.

Similarly, sub-second scan classes with sub-second offsets can be defined, such as:

/f=0.5,0.2 /f=1,0

Wall Clock Scheduling

Scan classes that strictly adhere to wall clock scheduling are now possible. This feature is available for interfaces that run on Windows and/or UNIX.

Previously, wall clock scheduling was possible, but not across daylight saving time. For example, /f=24:00:00,08:00:00 corresponds to one scan a day starting at 8 AM. However, after a Daylight Saving Time change, the scan would occur either at 7 AM or 9 AM, depending upon the direction of the time shift.

To schedule a scan once a day at 8 AM (even across daylight saving time), use /f=24:00:00,00:08:00,L.

The ,L at the end of the scan class tells UniInt to use the new wall clock scheduling algorithm.

/id=x

Required

The /id parameter is used to specify the interface identifier. The interface identifier is a string that is no longer than 9 characters in length.

UniInt concatenates this string to the header that is used to identify error messages as belonging to a particular interface. See Error and informational messages from the PI to PI Interface for more information.

The /id parameter corresponds to the Location1 point attribute to determine tags loaded for an interface instance.

/ist=tagname

Optional

Name of interface status point.

/ist=<tagname>

tagname is a digital point on the target PI Data Archive.

/oc=#

Optional

Default: /oc=30

Number of seconds between calculating time offset between the interface and Data Archive nodes.

/omf_clear

Clears the entries in the Windows Credential Manager for the corresponding service name and the Run-As account. To activate it, perform the following actions:

• Stop the interface.

• Add the /omf_clear command line option through the Additional Parameters input in ICU.

• Start the interface.

• Update the service-name.config file that is in the same directory as the interface executable, providing the desired username/password, or clientid/clientsecret, and restart the interface.

  Note: This parameter is only recognized when the interface is started as a service. After it finishes clearing the entries in the Windows Credential Manager, the interface service stops.

/ps=x

Required

The /ps parameter specifies the point source for the interface. X is not case sensitive and can be any single or multiple character string.

For example, /ps=P and ps=p are equivalent.

/src_host=name:5450

Required

INI File Setting: SourceHost

Name or IP address of source Data Archive.

/src_host=node_name:tcpip_port

The port number is always 5450.

/stopstat= digstate

or

/stopstat

Optional

Default: no digital state written at shutdown.

If /stopstat=digstate is present on the command line, then the digital state, digstate, will be written to each PI point when the interface is stopped. For a Data Archive 3.x server, digstate must be in the system digital state table. UniInt will use the first occurrence of digstate found in the table.

If the /stopstat parameter is present on the startup command line without a digital state, then the digital state Intf Shut will be written to each PI point when the interface is stopped.

If neither /stopstat nor /stopstat=digstate is specified on the command line, then no digital state will be written when the interface is shut down.

The /stopstat parameter is disabled if the interface is running in a UniInt failover configuration. The digital state, digstate, is not written to each PI point when the interface is stopped, to prevent the digital state being written to PI points while a redundant system is also writing data to the same PI points. The /stopstat parameter is disabled even if there is only one interface active in the failover configuration.

Examples:

/stopstat=shutdown

/stopstat="Intf Shut"

The entire digstate value must be enclosed within double quotes when there is a space in digstate.

/ts

Optional

Suppress IO Timeout events when reconnecting to source Data Archive. These events are configured through the Location3 attribute.

If this switch is not set, the event written at reconnection will prevent history from being recovered for the period of the disconnection.