Save OPC Quick Client Subscriptions

Ignition
1

Is there no way to save the tabs that are created when a Subscription Name is Set in the OPC Quick Client?

2

No, for what purpose?

3

I suppose to match and/or extend whatever purpose there is in naming/setting the Subscription in the first place.

4

Honestly I'm not sure there really is a purpose to that. Not sure what it ever was. The OPC QuickClient is a very old and crusty component that's going to have to be refreshed/rewritten in 8.3. I'm not sure if there's a lot of interest or value in trying to make it anything more than it is now - just a place to have a quick look around at the Nodes in an OPC server.

5

I definitely get the desire to have functionality like this, but I think I'd rather see something like watch windows in the designer instead. Some place I can have a list of tags/properties (both OPC and memory tags) where I can save the list and view it easily. There's times where I need to view some data between several different tags at the same time (yes, I could drop them on a window), but something like the tag browser, but with the ability to add a mix of tags in a nice organized list.

If anyone has used the Object Browser in Wonderware System Platform, you'll know exactly what I'm talking about. You can drag/drop tags or right click them to select "Add to Watch", and once in the watch you can also modify tag values if needed. (See screenshots from WWSP)

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1 Like
6

I think there is a use case for a browser based watch window that doesn't depend on a designer. There are situations where plant floor connectivity can happen in isolation from some greater application development. I think the requirements list is short:

  1. Named watch windows (ww's)
  2. Configured/subscribed tags/ww
  3. ww config saved to client in some way
  4. Tag connectivity controlled per ww
  5. Tag connections are closed when page is closed
7

The OPC Foundation's OPC Quick Client that ships with Kepware OPC servers does what you want and you can save configuration files. I'm not sure what the licencing arrangement is on this or whether it's available separately from the foundation.

https://matrikon.com might be worth checking out too. They publish some free tools such as, I think, OPC Explorer.