How to Connect WinCC V6 to the InGear OPC Server
The purpose of this paper is to demonstrate how to connect Siemens WinCC V6 to the
INGEAR OPC Server. This example uses the INGEAR AB OPC Server connecting to a
ControlLogix, but the same steps are used to connect to other PLCs supported by the INGEAR
AB OPC Server or to any of the other INGEAR OPC Servers.
The information provided here is not a substitute for your WinCC V6 documentation. We are
covering how to do this in order to show a complete connection, not to provide comprehensive
training on how to build WinCC V6 screens.
1) Configuring the INGEAR OPC Server
Open the OPC Server from the Windows Start menu as shown below.
When the INGEAR AB OPC Server opens you will see the Quick Start dialog below. Details
on configuring the other INGEAR OPC Servers can be found in their respective help files.
Tags don’t have to be entered into the OPC Server as done in this example. Dynamic tags can
be added from within WinCC as long as a Driver, (under EditÆComm Settings on the
INGEAR AB OPC Server Menu) and Device are configured first in the INGEAR OPC Server.
The use of dynamic tags is covered at the end of this document.
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How to Connect WinCC V6 to the InGear OPC Server
Click on the OK button on the Quick Start Configuration screen.
When configuring a ControlLogix you can import the tags from the AB RSLogix 5000 PLC
programming software if you have saved this file as an .L5K file. The L5K file can be created
in RSLogix 5000 by choosing File, Save As and choosing to save your project as a L5K
extension. If you’re connecting to something other than a ControlLogix then click on the Quick
Start button as shown below.
Once you click on Open L5K you can browse to the L5K file as seen below.
Click Open and the OPC Server will begin importing the tags. The L5K Import Status will
pop-up as shown below while the tags are imported.
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How to Connect WinCC V6 to the InGear OPC Server
When the OPC Server is done importing the tags, the name of the device as pulled from the
L5K file can be seen in the tree window to the left as seen below. In this case the device is
called SWTBtestCPU. You can click on the “+” sign to expand the tree and see all the tags and
groups imported from the L5K file. Tag groups and tags that won’t be used can be deleted.
The first thing to do is to check to make sure the right IP address was imported. This is done by
going to the Edit menu and choosing Comm Settings as shown below.
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How to Connect WinCC V6 to the InGear OPC Server
When entering Dynamic tags only without the L5K import, selecting EditÆComm Settings
would be the first step to configure a Driver so that the OPC server knows how it will
communicate to your PLC.
The Driver Selection dialog will open showing the configured drivers. If your IP address is
shown correctly simply click Cancel. If it’s wrong or you are not sure click on Configure. You
can change your IP address to the correct one and close the dialog.
When manually configuring the Driver because you are using Dynamic Tags or manually
setting up the OPC server for some other reason, you will click on the drop-down under
Supported Drivers, choose the driver for the type of connection you are using and click on the
Add button. Once a Driver is installed you can go to Add and choose NewDevice to manually
add a device as shown below or Click on the Quick Start Configuration to guide you through.
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How to Connect WinCC V6 to the InGear OPC Server
Next we will check the device configuration by right clicking on the device name as shown
below (“SWTBtestCPU” in our case) and choosing Properties.
When manually configuring the OPC Server or doing Dynamic tags we suggest that you add at
least one tag to check communications. This would be done by choosing New Tag from this
same menu above. The Tag Properties window will open as shown below. See the INGEAR
OPC Server help file or press on the Help button shown in the InGear OPC Server for details
about these settings.
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How to Connect WinCC V6 to the InGear OPC Server
The Device Properties window will open as shown below. Check to make sure the Driver that
we configured above is selected. Verify that the PLC Node is the same as the Slot number that
your ControlLogix CPU is located in. Check the INGEAR AB OPC Server help file if your
ControlLogix is on a different rack from the Ethernet module you are using. In this case a route
path will have to be entered and specifics on creating a route path for various types of
configurations, including ControlLogix Gateway, are included in the INGEAR AB OPC Server
help file. The help file is accessible from the Help button on the Device Properties dialog as
shown below.
Once these items have been verified click OK.
When Manually configuring or doing Dynamic tag this screen will need to be configured as
discussed above. The Driver in the drop down will need to be selected (the available selections
will depend on what you have configured for Installed Drivers under the EditÆComm Settings
options) as well as the PLC type by selecting the appropriate radio button. See the help file for
more information about the PLC Node address or ControlLogix route address.
The final part of configuring the OPC Server is to test the Connection. This can be done now or
at a later time when you are connected to the PLC. This next step can be done as long as at
least one tag is configured in the OPC Server. As previously stated, we suggest having a single
tag configured just for basic success/fail testing, even if all the other tags are added
Dynamically from WinCC.
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How to Connect WinCC V6 to the InGear OPC Server
Select a group under the device as shown below. In this case a group named “Dint” was
selected. The tags configured under this group are shown in the right pane.
Click on the Debug icon to the far right as shown below. This can also be done by clicking
View|Monitor on the OPC Server menu. This starts the connection to the PLC. Under the
Status heading in the Event pane on the bottom of the Server. If there are errors these will be
shown here along with the Last error. The INGEAR OPC Server Help file lists the errors under
the Troubleshooting section.
Once the connection to the PLC has been made the Value for the tags will show under the
Value column as shown above.
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How to Connect WinCC V6 to the InGear OPC Server
2) Configuring WinCC V6
Open WinCC V6 and Create a New project (or
open an existing one) and click OK.
Name your project and
click Create or select a
previous project.
The screen will then return to WinCCExplorer. Right
click on Tag Management and choose, Add New
Driver as shown below.
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How to Connect WinCC V6 to the InGear OPC Server
Choose OPC.chn from the Add new Driver bin list and click Open.
Expand the Tag Management tree as seen below and right click on OPC Groups.
The Channel unit properties dialog
will open. Click on the New button
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How to Connect WinCC V6 to the InGear OPC Server
Name your Connection under the Connection properties dialog and choose Properties
Under the OPC Server Name enter:
CimQuestInc.IGOPCAB.1 for the INGEAR
AB OPC Server and click OK. This is
called the ProgID and can be found in the
help file for any INGEAR OPC Server as
well as below.
ProgID’s
INGEAR AB-CimQuestInc.IGOPCAB.1
INGEAR Modbus-CimQuest.IGMBOPC.1
INGEAR GE–CimQuest.IGGEOPC.1
INGEAR Omron–CimQuest.IGOMOPC.1
Click OK
Click OK on the Connection properties
dialog.
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How to Connect WinCC V6 to the InGear OPC Server
Click OK on the Channel unit properties
dialog.
Expand the OPC Groups Icon in WinCCExplorer and Right
click on the Connection you created following the steps
above. Choose New Group from the drop down as shown
below.
The properties of the tag group will open as shown below.
Name your group and click OK.
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How to Connect WinCC V6 to the InGear OPC Server
The group name is something
meaningful to your project.
We can now begin adding Tags
to the project.
OPC Tag Browsing
Expand the Connection Icon from in the
WinCCExplorer tree and right click on the
ICON Called OPC Groups then choose
System Parameter as shown here.
The OPC Item Manager will open.
If you are connecting to an OPC
Server on a different PC you will
need to configure DCOM on both
PC’s. Please see
http://www.opcactivex.com/dcom
for details on DCOM
configuration. This website will
direct you to DCOM
configuration information for all
Windows Operating Systems
including free tutorial videos.
You will need Administration
rights on both PC’s to make these
changes.
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How to Connect WinCC V6 to the InGear OPC Server
Expand and browse for the INGEAR Server’s ProgID as shown below. Highlight the ProgID
and click on the Browse Server button.
ProgIDs
INGEAR AB
CimQuestInc.IGOPCAB.1
INGEAR Modbus CimQuest.IGMBOPC.1
INGEAR GE –
CimQuest.IGGEOPC.1
INGEAR Omron –
CimQuest.IGOMOPC.1
The Filter Criteria dialog will open after you click on the Browse server button above. See your
WinCC V6 for information on the Filter Criteria.
You must click on the check boxes if you want to
filter based on the tag’s Read and Write access
under Access Authorization before you click on
the Next button.
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How to Connect WinCC V6 to the InGear OPC Server
The Browse Window above will open after clicking Next on the Filter Criteria dialog which
will allow you to browse for the tags you want added to your project. In this example we will
browse for tags under the ControllerTags group
Under the ControllerTags Group in our PLC there is a group called DInt that we highlight. All
the tags in the DInt Group will be listed in the panel on the right as shown above. To highlight
more than one tag at a time simply hold down on the Shift key and scroll to the end of the items
you would like to add. In this example we will add all tags in the DInt array by highlighting
them all and clicking on the Add Items button.
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How to Connect WinCC V6 to the InGear OPC Server
The Add Tags dialog will open once you
click on the Add Items button on the
browse window. The Add Tags dialog
lets you modify the tag name as read from
the server when imported into WinCC
V6. You can add any Prefix or Suffix
that will help distinguish the tags in your
project. See the WinCC V6 help for
more information if needed.
In this example we will add SWTB to the
Prefix. Now click Finish.
Before click the Finish button it is important you highlight the
group you want to add the tags to as shown to the right. You can
have more than one group, but you have to pick one to add the
chosen tags to. A warning that you need to choose a group will
appear if this is not highlighted first. Once you highlight your group click the Finish button
The dialog showing Please wait… will show the progress
of adding all the tags that have been selected.
Once the tags are added, the ”Please wait” dialog will close and you can close the browse
window by clicking on the X as shown below or add more tags to the same or different groups
following the same method just shown.
Once the browse window is closed you can close the OPC Item
Manager as show to the right or click on the Exit button.
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How to Connect WinCC V6 to the InGear OPC Server
We can now return to the WinCCExplorer and see the tags that have been added by highlighting
our group as shown below.
We can now start work in Graphic Designer
Connecting with Graphic Designer
We can now open Graphics Designer and test our tag connection as seen below.
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How to Connect WinCC V6 to the InGear OPC Server
In this example we will choose an I/O Field on the Object Palette and place it on the form
The I/O Field configuration will open. Click on the
button to select a tag.
See your WinCC V6 documentation for the other
configuration items in the I/O-Field Configuration
dialog not covered directly in this document.
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How to Connect WinCC V6 to the InGear OPC Server
Expand the tree to the tag group configure and choose the tag we created above.
The update rate that the tag should be scanned at
can be selected here. The Update rate is the rate
the OPC Server will scan the PLC/device. This
rate is controlled by WinCC V6 and not the OPC
Server. For more information on Update rate
configuration see your WinCC V6 documentation.
The Update rate does not guarantee that the
updates will return in this time, only that the OPC
Server will attempt to read them at this rate. There
are many factors involved in the rate tags can be
read and is outside the scope of this paper.
Click OK once finished.
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How to Connect WinCC V6 to the InGear OPC Server
Click on the Run button to start WinCC runtime as shown below.
The WinCC Runtime Screen will open and the value in the PLC can now be seen in the I/O
Field as seen below.
You are now done with the example in this document. Please see your WinCC V6
documentation or any additional features or functions beyond the I/O field connection shown in
this document. The Dynamic Tag Configuration that follows is only needed if you are not
browsing for tags as shown in this example.
Dynamic Tag Configuration:
If tags are not added into the OPC Server or you prefer not to browse for tags for some reason
you can configure Dynamic tags in WinCC V6 using PLC/Device addresses. If using Dynamic
Tags, a Driver must still first be configured under EditÆComm Settings and a new device must
be configured in the OPC Server at a minimum.
Start by right clicking on the Group as we created
above in WinCCExplorer. Choose New tag from
the options as shown to the right.
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How to Connect WinCC V6 to the InGear OPC Server
Enter a name for this Tag that will be
used in WinCC V6 then click on Select.
See your WinCC V6 about any of the
other options on this dialog.
This Item Name,
SWTBtestCPU.Tag2@DInt[0]|VT_I4,
would be used to connect to a tag DInt[0]
in the PLC. Click OK when finished
At this point this tag can now be accessed
inside Graphics Designer as shown earlier
in this document above when connecting
to browsed tags.
Meaning of the parts of the Dynamic Tag/Item Name Entered above:
SWTBtestCPU is the device name in the OPC Server
Tag2 is a name given to the tag and can be any name your choosing.
@Dint[0] is the actual PLC address being read
|VT_I4 is the data type for this address (a full listing of these data types are in the INGEAR
OPC Server help file)
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How to Connect WinCC V6 to the InGear OPC Server
This matrix below will help you to match the data type suffix used in Dynamic Tags to the
WinCC V6 data type
OPC Native Type
WinCC V6 Data Type
Range
VT_BOOL
Boolean (bit value)
True / False
VT_BOOL | VT_ARRAY
Array of Booleans
VT_I1
Signed Byte (8 bit value)
128 to 127
VT_I1 | VT_ARRAY
Array of Signed Bytes
VT_UI1
Unsigned Byte (8 bit value)
0-255
VT_UI1 | VT_ARRAY
Array of Unsigned Bytes
VT_I2
Signed Short (16 bit value)
-32786 to 32767
VT_I2 | VT_ARRAY
Array of Signed Shorts
VT_UI2
Unsigned Short (16 bit value) 0 – 65535
VT_UI2 | VT_ARRAY
Array of Unsigned Shorts
VT_I4
Signed Long (32 bit value)
-2147483648 to 2147483647
VT_I4 | VT_ARRAY
Array of Signed Longs
VT_UI4
Unsigned Long (32 bit value) 0 to 4294967295
VT_I4 | VT_ARRAY
Array of Unsigned Longs
VT_R4
Float (IEEE Single Precision 1.40239846E-45 to
Real)
3.40282347E+38
VT_R4 | VT_ARRAY
Array of Floats
VT_BSTR
ASCII String
Length Option required
More detailed information on the syntax of Dynamic tags is show below.
Dynamic Tags Fully Qualified Path Syntax
The client specifies the Dynamic Tag in its OPC Item Address field in WinCC flexible
Syntax: <device>.<subgroup>.<name>@<address>|DATA_TYPE,<length>
<device>.
<subgroup>.
<name>
@<address>
|DATA_TYPE
,<length>
This is the name of the Device to receive the dynamic tag. The device
must exist in the OPC Server Project Workspace
(optional) – A device subgroup may be specified as part of the dynamic
tag. The device subgroup must exist in the OPC Server Project
Workspace
This is the name of the tag the client will dynamically create. If the name
already exists in the OPC Server Workspace, the existing tag is used,
otherwise a new tag is created.
This is the data source of the tag. If the Device is a ControlLogix, this is
the atomic name of the tag. If the Device is a PLC / SLC / Micrologix,
this is the data table file address
This is the data type of the tag. Valid types are VT_I1, VT_UI1, VT_I2,
VT_UI2, VT_I4, VT_UI4, VT_R4, VT_BSTR
(optional) – This is the length of the tag, and is used to specify the
number of ASCII characters of the tag is a VT_BSTR type or the number
of elements if the tag is a VT_ARRAY.
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