In my OPC Browser in FactoryPMI Designer, I have one OPC server, KEPware.DEPServerEx.V4. Is it possible to add other OPC servers into this OPC Browser window? I have a separate server with RSLinx OPC server running. I’d like that to show up in the OPC Browser so I can create SQLTags with it to my remote RSLinx OPC server.
Fwiw, I have four OPC Servers running on my PC, and they all show up in FactorySQL, and I can browse them in FactoryPMI.
Yeah, mine show up but only the local OPC servers. I was wondering about remote OPC servers and if it’s possible to use them too somehow.
See the entry in that tree called “Remote Servers”? This is the feature that you want. Right click on that and add the host that RSLinx is running on. If your DCOM settings are correct, RSLinx will then show up under there.
I added the remote server to FactorySQL and the topics all show up there as they should. But in the FactoryPMI OPC Browser they don’t show up as they do in FactorySQL. They’re just not there at all. Only the local OPC servers show up in the FactoryPMI OPC Browser window. Is there an additional step I’ve missed, or is this some arcane DCOM setting that I need to adjust?
Ah, now I understand what you’re saying - the remote OPC servers don’t show up in FactoryPMI’s OPC browsing. Sorry I missed that.
I’m not sure why this is - hang tight, we’re looking into it.
It was pointed out that this thread didn’t have a resolution, so here it goes…
Remote servers are not visible from SQLTags. This was a (regrettable) design decision, and will be rectified a some point in the future.
In the mean time, you can work around it in the following ways:
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Use an OPC Tunneler or Aggregator. Usually a good idea anyhow because it gets around the headaches of DCOM security and communication. However, there is some cost involved.
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FactorySQL work around: you can expose remote servers to sqltags, but you have to define a custom server to do it. It’s a little FSQL trick usually only used to connect to OPC servers running on machines that don’t have OPCEnum, such as Windows CE devices. However, it has the side effect of making the remote server appear side-by-side with the servers in the local list, thus making it look local to sqltags. To define a new server, go to the FactorySQL frontend, right click on the server list, and select “Servers->Add Server”.
Next, enter the machine name or ip, a useful name for the server (I’d recommend not using something already represented in the tree), and the CLSID. What’s the CLSID? Good question…
The CSLID is a unique 32-byte string that identifies the server. When FactorySQL connects to an opc server, the first thing it does is use OPCEnum on that machine to translate from the friendlier “progid” (ie, “KEPware.KEPServerEx.V4”) to the clsid (For kepware, “{6e6170f0-ff2d-11d2-8087-00105aa8f840}”).
How do you find it? If you’re using kepware, you can use the value in my example above, without the quotes. Otherwise, go to the remote machine, open regedit, and browse to HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT{opc server name}\CLSID
With the remote server defined in this manner, you should be able to now browse and use it from SQLTags like any other local opc server. There might be subtle differences in the DCOM security settings required, like allowing anonymous access, but generally if it worked before through “remote servers”, it should work this way.
Good luck,