Configure an InTouch data source object

Add an InTouch data source object to your Gateway Communication Driver hierarchy

1. Right-click Configuration in the hierarchy, and select Add InTouch Connection from the shortcut menu. The following rules apply:

   • A new object is created in the hierarchy tree and is named New_InTouch_000 by default (in "edit mode"). Rename it, if desired.

     The New_InTouch_000 Parameters configuration view (right pane) is displayed.

2. Configure the new InTouch object according to the following option definitions:

   • Device Group Name: Name of the topic that DDE or SuiteLink clients of Gateway Communication Driver connect to in order to access items at the InTouch data source. Default value is the InTouch data source object’s name (this cannot be edited).

   • Read Only: Check this box to make all items connected through the InTouch data source read only. This qualification is in addition to any read-only condition that InTouch imposes. Unchecking this box only removes Gateway Communication Driver-imposed read-only qualifications. In other words, items inherently read-only in the data source remain so. Default value is unchecked.

   • InTouch Runtime Node: The name of the node (computer) on which the InTouch application runs. If the InTouch data source is local, value is LocalHost. Select the ellipse button to browse nodes.

   • Item Browse Path: The full universal naming convention (UNC) directory path that contains the InTouch Tagname Dictionary file, Tagname.X, for the target InTouch application. The format is: \\Node\directory or Drive:\directory (local or mapped drive)
     The InTouch application directory must be a shared directory. Select the ellipse button to browse to the shared directory.

   • Reconnect Attempts: Number of times Gateway Communication Driver attempts to reconnect to the specified data source if a connection fails. The value (-1) means no limit to the number of attempts. The value Zero (0) means no attempts. Minimum/maximum range is -1 to 1,000,000. Default value is 3.

   • Reconnect Period: Delay (in ms) between reconnect attempts if a connection fails. Minimum/maximum range is 10,000 to 300,000 ms (corresponding to the range of 10 sec to 5 min). Default value is 30000 ms.

   • Connection Protocol: The protocol Gateway Communication Driver should use to connect to InTouch. Default value is SuiteLink.

     Note: If the InTouch Runtime Node option is blank, then the InTouch data source would default to LocalHost.

   • Tag Browser button: Select to open the InTouch Tag Browser, in which you can select InTouch tags for inclusion in the items list on the Device Items tab. For information about how to use the Tag Browser, see InTouch HMI documentation. While using the Tag Browser, note that you can use typical Windows operations such as Ctrl-Click to toggle selections and Shift-Click to multi-select tagnames.

     Note: When a DDE connection fails, the InTouch data source object automatically switches to SuiteLink even though DDE has been configured as its Connection Protocol. This happens in instances such as connecting to a remote InTouch node in which NetDDE is not supported.