Browse & Extract Tag List from ABB 800xA OPC Servers
Hi,
I am trying to browse the OPC-DA server (ProgID: ABB.AfwOpcDaSurrogate.1) of an ABB 800xA system (specifically, the Aspect Server) using Matrikon OPC Explorer. When doing so, I am able to do a hierarchical browse of the OPC server, but not a flat browse. Is this due to the OPC server not supporting flat browsing, or is there perhaps another way to accomplish this?
The larger objective for me is to extract a list of all of the OPC tags on the server. Matrikon supports exporting tags in a CSV file, but browsing the OPC server in a hierarchical fashion does not readily permit tags to be added to the OPC group, making the process very cumbersome.
Appreciate any insights you could share!
Thanks!
Answers
1. Open excel
2. Enable BDM
3. Drag a Function Block aspect to the firs cell
4. Choose Check All
5. Drag an object for a specific signal or a control program (for all the objects below that one)
From there, the Object Identification column is the same path as the one in the OPC, just replace (Ctrl+H) dots for slashes and delete [Direct] [Control Structure]. Also append the property you would like to use.
Is not an ideal way, but it works.
I would let you know if I can replicate what you are asking in Matrikon since I have two signal with the whole path. See attached image.
Hi,
Yes, the flat browsing is not supporting by ABB.AfwOpcDaSurrogate.1. But when i try to add a OPC item like as.. Drag down to the Control Structure --> Root and selected the corresponding Control Network right click and "Add All Items".. Then Matrikon OPC Explorer browse the complete tag list and subscribe for the live value update. It has no hierarchical path. Please see screen capture attached.
Then Export to .csv file.
I hope this workaround serve your purpose.
BR
\Prasanna
Thanks for the suggestions everyone. I eventually extracted all of the tags using the BDM.
I am now trying to process the extracted tags into a data historian (PI). Instead of specifying the absolute path to the tags, I am just using the following syntax for their item id: [tag name]:[attribute] (e.g., 112V10AI06X1:MEASURE). For the most part, this worked fine, but there are some OPC tags where it doesn't seem to work, and I get the error shown below.
Any idea what might be causing this issue with some of these tags?
So I tried opc-expert. Much faster and did not choke like matrikon with a folder with lots of sub folders and items.
Once have the opc server (ABB.AfwOpcDaSurrogate.1) tree, you can deep browse and then drag a folder to the realtime tab and then under the file menu choose export.
Just set the update time to a large value, like 600 seconds so the tags don't get read.
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