Communication Settings
- Last UpdatedJul 07, 2025
- 3 minute read
To establish communication with a device, configure the associated Boards, Ports and I/O Devices in Plant SCADA Studio's Topology activity. The following tables show the recommended settings for communication with an OPC device.
If you use the Express Communications Wizard to connect to a device, these settings will be automatically configured for you. However, if you need to manually configure these settings use the information outlined below.
Boards
The Boards view in Plant SCADA Studio's Topology activity lists all boards used in the Plant SCADA project. Each board record defines a separate board within the project.
|
Field |
Value |
|
Board Name |
A unique name (up to 16 alphanumeric character) per server for the computer board being used to connect with the device. This is used by Plant SCADA in the Ports view. |
|
Board Type |
The type of board. Enter OPC. |
|
Address |
Plant SCADA doesn’t need an address for the OPC client. Instead you use the Address box to set the device scan rate on the OPC Server in milliseconds. The value read from the OPC server is typically taken from the OPC server cache. The scan rate value is often used to indicate how often the OPC server polls the device and updates its cache. Enter 0 (zero) to use the default of 250ms. Enter any other value to use that value. Valid values range from eight character decimal 0 to 99999999. Up to six character hex values can be used; however, these must be preceded with 0x. Note: As Plant SCADA supports unsolicited OPC requests, if you set the OPC server to notify Plant SCADA of changes to the value or quality of an OPC device item, make sure the OPC server scan rate is short enough to provide Plant SCADA within an adequate timeframe. |
|
I/O Port |
Leave this field blank. |
|
Interrupt |
Leave this field blank. |
|
Special Options |
OPC server machine name. (Do not enter this name using the traditional dash delimited style. Enter the machine name, for example Cit_Primary. Note: The name entered here is the Windows machine name. For Windows NT and Windows 95 or 98 based OPC servers, you can obtain this from the Identification tab of the OPC server machine's network properties. For other OPC server configurations, refer to the server's documentation. If this field is left blank, the server name is sought in the following manner: a) The in-process (DLL) server on the IO Server machine; b) The local (EXE) server on the I/O server machine; c) The remote server as entered in the I/O server machine's DCOM settings. |
|
Comment |
Any useful comment. |
Ports
The Ports view in Plant SCADA Studio's Topology activity lists all ports used in the Plant SCADA project. Each port record defines a separate port within the project.
|
Field |
Value |
|
Port Name |
A unique name (up to 16 alphanumeric character) for the computer port being used to connect with the device. This is used by Plant SCADA in the Devices dialog box. |
|
Port Number |
An integer value, unique to the board as defined in the Board Name field. The Ethernet port needs no identification; however, the Plant SCADA communication database requires a value in this field. |
|
Board Name |
The name of the board this port is attached to as defined on the Boards view. |
|
Baud Rate |
Leave this field blank. |
|
Data Bits |
Leave this field blank. |
|
Stop Bits |
Leave this field blank. |
|
Parity |
Leave this field blank. |
|
Special Options |
Leave this field blank. |
|
Comment |
Any useful comment. |
I/O Devices
The I/O Devices view in Plant SCADA Studio's Topology activity lists all I/O devices used in the Plant SCADA project. Each record defines a separate I/O device within the project.
|
Field |
Value |
|
Name |
A unique name (up to 16 alphanumeric characters) for the I/O device being identified. Each I/O device must have a unique name in the Plant SCADA system. |
|
Number |
A unique number for the I/O device (0–16383). Each I/O device must have a unique number in the Plant SCADA system (unless I/O device redundancy is being used). |
|
Address |
ProgID for the desired server. These usually take the form Vendor.Application (for example, Plant SCADA.OPC) and should be found in the documents accompanying the OPC Server. |
|
Protocol |
Enter "OPC" or "OPC1". See Arrays Support. |
|
Port Name |
This field must contain one of the names previously defined in the Port Names field of the Ports view. There must be only one I/O device per port. |
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Comment |
Any useful comment. |