Overview
This page presents specific configurations fields and user actions available that are specific to the OPC UA Data Explorer Tools. For the general explanation on using the Data Explorer, return to the main DataExplorer Tools page.
This tool allows to test the OPC Server connections in use by the solution, explore data from other OPC UA Servers, and automate the inclusion of those servers into the solution.
On this page:
Connect to an OPC UA Server
The first step to use OPC DataExplorer is to connect with an OPC UA Server.
The User Interface presents the following options to locate the server:
- Solution OPC Server: connects with internal OPC UA Server (Runtime needs to be in execution, with the OPC Server Module enabled).
- OPC UA Simulator: starts the built-in OPC UA simulator.
- Solution Connection: connected with the OPC UA server used by a Device Node, or a TagProvider.
- External OPC Server: setup manually the configuration for a custom OPC UA server.
Connect and Disconnect
Select the option you want with the radio buttons and do the required configuration according to the selected option. You can then use the top buttons to connect with the server.
After connecting, if you want to change to another server, use the Disconnect button first.
Solution OPC Server
Use the built-in OPC Server for your Solution that expose all Tags from your application with public or protected security.
Before connecting with this OPC UA Server, it is necessary to ensure its property configured and in execution. Follow the check-list:
1- Verify if the OPC UA Server is configured to run at your application
At Runtime / Startup, select the profile you intend to run, verify if the OPC UA Server check-box in Modules is set to run.
2 - Verify the OPC UA Server Configuration
The default settings for the OPC UA Server are valid for many scenarios, but it's always necessary to check it against your requirements.
The Configuration Dialog is opened using the Settings icon 
, at the side of the OPC UA Server label. Either you setup that configuration from the page Runtime/Startup, or from DataExplorer/OPC tools, that configuration is unique to the system.
→ Go to OPC UA Server Configuration for details on the that configuration.
3 - Verify if there are Tags configured to show in the OPC UA Server data.
When the Solution OPC UA Server it will show in its tree all tags from the Solution, which are visible to the shown to external system.
In order to verify which tags will show in the OPC UA tree, Go to Unified Namespace / Tags, right click on the titles to make show the column Visibility, only the Tags with Visibility Public or Protect will show on the OPC UA server tree.
VisibilityOption | |
|---|---|
Private | The tag remains visible only to the local project and its redundant pair |
Protected | The tag is visible to external connections for read-only operations |
Public | The tag becomes visible to external connections for both reading and writing. |
4 - Verify the Solution is running, or starts it.
At Runtime/ Startup you can verify if the Solution is running, or press Start button to initiate its execution.
At Runtime / Diagnostics you can verify if the OPC UA Server Module is running.
5 - Connect with the Server to browse its contents
At DataExplorer / OPC Tools, use the Connect button to explorer its contents.
OPC UA Server Simulator
This built-in Simulator enables the execution of an OPC UA server that presents the data defined in its XML configuration file.
→ Go to OPC UA Server Simulator page for details on how to customize the simulator settings.
First, start the execution of Simulator. Then you can click Connect.
Solution Connections
Within the Solution Configuration, there are two location you can link to external OPC Servers:
- Using the Device Module, Channels, use OPC UA Client Protocol, to get data from OPC Servers.
- Using the TagProvider connections, to dynamic use the data from remote OPC Servers
In order the expedite the testing of those connections, the Data Explorer tools allows you easily select those settings, and explorer the connection and data of that remote OPC UA Server.
Just Select the configuration you want to test, and connect to it.
If the Radio Button for Solution Connections is disabled, it means the solution doesn't have any DeviceChannel or TagProvider using OPC UA servers.
External OPC Server
Configure custom connections to any external OPC UA Server for broader data exploring capabilities.
Use the Settings icon to open the Configuration Dialog.
Remote OPC UA Server configuration settings | |
|---|---|
Field | Description |
URL | endpoint URL for the OPC UA server |
Discovery | Click this button to discover available OPC UA servers on the network. |
User Name | Enter the username for server access if the server requires user authentication |
Password | Input the corresponding password for the username |
Certificate | Select 'Custom' to use a specific certificate for the connection, or 'Default' to use the default certificate |
Refresh Rate | Rate in milliseconds at which the server will refresh the data |
Windows Authentication | Uses Windows authentication credentials for server access |
Disable Security | Connect to the server without using the security features |
Enable Read Pooling | Pooling for read operations to improve performance |
Read From Device | Data is read directly from the device rather than from any cache |
All Items Same Group | Group all items together for reading or writing operations |
Use Computer Timestamp | Use the timestamp of the computer instead of the server's timestamp |
Branch Separator | Specify a character or sequence to use as the separator in the item branch |
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