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How to Insert Modbus Data into a JSON Structure

How to Insert Modbus Data into a JSON Structure


Open Automation Software Tags can be defined to connect directly to Modbus slave devices or host data to Modbus masters with the built in Modbus Driver Interface which supports communications over ethernet and serial interfaces for Modbus TCP, Modbus RTU, and Modbus ASCII protocols. This tutorial walks you though downloading and installing OAS, configuring a Modbus driver, configuring tags and storing them as JSON packets. You may want to start by reading our What is JSON article.

Step 1. Download and Install the Open Automation Software and Start the OAS Service

If you have not already done so, you will need to download and install the OAS platform.  Fully functional trial versions of the software are available for Windows, Windows IoT Core, Linux, Raspberry Pi and Docker on our downloads page.

On Windows run the downloaded Setup.exe file to install one or more of the Open Automation Software features. Select the default Typical installation if you are not sure what features to use or the Custom installation if you want to save disk space on the target system.  When prompted agree to the End User License Agreement to continue the installation.

For more detailed instructions and video tutorials, visit the installation guide for your system:
Windows Installation | Linux Installation | Raspberry Pi Installation | Dockers Installation

The OAS Service Control application will appear when the installation finishes on Windows.  Use this application to start the 3 Services. Run the Configure OAS application on Windows and select Configure-Tags; if the first time running, the AdminCreate utility will run to create an Administrator login as shown in Step 1 of Getting Started – Security.

Step 2. Configure Your Modbus Data Source

  1. First, you will need to open the Configure OAS application from the program group Open Automation Software.

  2. Select Configure >> License from the top menu and verify that Modbus is one of the available Drivers in the lower left of the form. The demo license will have this by default. If you do not see Modbus available, contact support@openautomationsoftware.com to update your license.

  3. Select Configure >> Drivers from the top menu.


  4. Select localhost or the remote service you wish to modify with the Select button to the right of the Network Node list.


  5. The Configure Drivers Screen will appear. Select Modbus from the Driver dropdown box.


  6. Enter a meaningful Driver Interface Name that you will refer to this physical connection when defining Tags with a Modbus Data Source.

  7. Specify the Connection as Ethernet or Serial.

  8. Specify the Modbus Type as Master or Slave. Master will be used when communicating to a Modbus device. Slave will be used when other Modbus masters will be communicating to OAS.

  9. When setting up a Slave interface over Ethernet set the IP Address to the computer IPv4 IP address or network node name if the master is on a remote PC. You can also use 127.0.0.1 or localhost if the Modbus master will be on the same computer.

For more detailed instructions on configuring your Modbus data source, click here to see our Getting Started Modbus tutorial or watch the video tutorial below:

Step 3. Configure Your Tags

OAS provides multiple ways to add and define tags:

To add a Tag manually:

  1. In the OAS Configure Application, select Configure >> Tags from the top menu.


  2. Select localhost or the remote service you wish to modify with the Select button to the right of the Network Node list.


  3. Click on the Add Tag button located at the top of the Tag browser on the left portion of the screen.


  4. A dialog box will appear. Enter a name for your new tag and click ok.

  5. A configuration screen will appear for your new tag. Select your data source type in in the Data Source dropdown box.


  6. Specify the correct data type in the Data Type dropdown box.

  7. Click Apply Changes at the bottom right of the window.

For more detailed instructions on configuring your tags, click here to see our Getting Started Tags tutorial.

Step 4. Insert Tag Data into a JSON Structure

Create a new tag and set it’s Data Type and Data Source to JSON. Click Ok.

json data source

Click the Edit Value button next to the Structure input field.

json structure

Enter in your JSON structure. 

{
"pump": false,
"tanks": [
{
"room": 1,
"level": null,
"flowrate": null,
},
{
"room": 2,
"level": null,
"flowrate": null,
}
]
}

Click the Add button.

json add

The tag browser will open. Select your Network Node. Select the tag and it’s property that you want to fill your key/value pair with. In the Key field enter the key you want to reference. Do this for each key/value pair that you want to fill.

json browse

After you are done adding your tags, your results will look like:

json keys

Click Apply Changes.

For more detailed instructions, see the JSON Data Source article in our knowledge base.

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JSON Data Source

In addition to setting the Data Type to JSON for automatic data validation, you can also set the Data Source as JSON for highly customizable generation of JSON data packets. This is especially useful for storing structured data or for crafting JSON data packets to be sent to external systems such as MQTT clients, or other 3rd party cloud applications. Using the JSON Data Source gives you the ability to define a base JSON structure, then use JSONPath syntax to locate nodes in the structure for replacement with OAS Tag data.

Setting the Data Source as JSON reveals additional properties

A Tag with a JSON Data Source can have a base Structure set directly as a valid JSON string, or it can be set using another Tag. This will allow you to dynamically modify the base structure, or use the same base structure for multiple tags. Below is an example of editing the JSON structure directly.

The JSON structure can be edited directly on the Tag

Assigning key/tag pairs are done in the by selecting Add in the table below the Structure property. This will open a Tag browser which allows you to pick a Tag from the local OAS instance or any reachable remote OAS instance. The key is a search parameter defining where to find the JSON node to fill with the Tag value. This key uses JSONPath syntax and can be either a direct path to the node or a dynamic query to find one or more nodes matching the criteria. For more information on JSONPath syntax, see this article.

This example illustrates injecting 3 Tag values using different JSONPath keys

Advanced Usage

Set Structure with Tag

Selecting this option allows you to set the base JSON structure from another Tag. Doing this will separate the structure from the logic that fills the individual JSON nodes, and gives you the ability to reuse common JSON structures for multiple JSON Data Source Tags. Changing the structure in the referenced Tag will update every JSON Data Source Tag using it.

Arrays

When filling JSON nodes using the key/tag pairs, if the Tag Data Type is an array (string, integer, etc.), the value injected into the JSON structure will be represented by a JSON array. This makes filling array values of indeterminate length a simple operation.

JSON Object Values

If the referenced Tag uses the String or JSON Data Type, and that string is valid JSON, the value injected into the JSON structure will be a true JSON object, retaining its structure as well. Use this method when you wish to conditionally more complex nodes to the structure.

Export/Import CSV

If you are managing many key/tag mappings and would prefer to do this in Excel or any other CSV editor, you can export the mapping as a CSV, edit the contents, then import settings back in. This is extremely convenient for storing backups and versions of data mappings in external files, or for quickly configuring several similar tags.

MQTT and JSON

The OAS Server operates as an MQTT broker. So you can subscribe to any JSON Data Source Tag as a topic and receive the resulting JSON structure when any value is updated. See this article for information on the OAS MQTT Broker.

Examples

Advanced Keys for Dynamic Assignment

The key/tag mapping uses the JSONPath syntax for locating a node in the JSON structure and filling it with the value supplied by the Tag. The simplest usage of a key is selecting a specific node using dot-notation to reflect hierarchy. For example, take the following JSON structure:

{
  "value1" : null,
  "obj1" : {
    "subval1" : null,
    "subval2" : [
      {
        "name" : "sub01",
        "priority" : 0,
        "type" : "temp",
        "val" : null
      },
      {
        "name" : "sub02",
        "priority" : 1,
        "type" : "pressure",
        "val" : null
      },
      {
        "name" : "sub03",
        "priority" : 2,
        "type" : "pressure",
        "val" : null
      }
    ]
  }
}

key result
value1 This will set the value1 node to the mapped Tag value. Since this is at the root of the structure, it is the simplest form of mapping.
obj1.subval1 This will set the subval1 node within obj1 to the mapped Tag value. The dot notation indicates structure and hierarchy. If the tag is mapped to the key of just obj1, the entire obj1 node will be replaced by the Tag value and the original structure will be overwritten. If the Tag is a String or JSON Data Type containing a new structure, this will be attached in full as the value of obj1.
obj1.subval2[1].val This example shows how to explicitly reference an array element. In this case, the 2nd object within the obj1.subval2 will be located, and the val node will receive the value of the mapped Tag.
obj1.subval2[*].val Using a wildcard asterisk in the array portion of the key will locate all elements within the array, and set all val nodes to the value of the mapped Tag.
obj1.subval2[0,2].val Specifying 0,2 in the array portion of the key will locate the first and third entries, and then the val will be set on each.
obj1.subval2[:2].val Specifying :2 in the array portion of the key will locate the first two entries, and then the val will be set on each. You can als use 2: to locate the last two entries in the array.
obj1.subval2[?(@.type==’pressure’)].val Specifying a search string in the array portion of the key will locate any entry with a type field set to “pressure”.
obj1.subval2[?(@.priority<2)].val The search string can also do other logical comparisons. This examples shows how you can locate any element in the array with a priority value less than 2.

To access any individual element of an OAS tag with a Data Source of JSON use .JSON-<key name> as the tag variable in any OAS client application including Calculations, Data Logging, and visualization. An example OAS_Tag.JSON-motors[0].current would provide read and write access of the current value of the first motor element of the array of motors.

For more information on JSONPath and other possible use cases, see this article.

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How to Visualize OPC Server Data from a WPF .NET Application

How to Visualize OPC Server Data from a WPF .NET Application

Open Automation Software Tags can be defined to connect to Classic OPC Data Access 2.xx and 3.0 Servers with the built in OPC Interface. This tutorial walks you though downloading and installing OAS, configuring an OPC Server, configuring tags and visualizing tag data in .NET WPF with either C# or VB. Programming is not required if you use the designer interface.

Step 1. Download and Install the Open Automation Software and Start the OAS Service

If you have not already done so, you will need to download and install the OAS platform.  Fully functional trial versions of the software are available for Windows, Windows IoT Core, Linux, Raspberry Pi and Docker on our downloads page.

On Windows run the downloaded Setup.exe file to install one or more of the Open Automation Software features. Select the default Typical installation if you are not sure what features to use or the Custom installation if you want to save disk space on the target system.  When prompted agree to the End User License Agreement to continue the installation.

For more detailed instructions and video tutorials, visit the installation guide for your system:
Windows Installation | Linux Installation | Raspberry Pi Installation | Dockers Installation

The OAS Service Control application will appear when the installation finishes on Windows.  Use this application to start the 3 Services. Run the Configure OAS application on Windows and select Configure-Tags; if the first time running, the AdminCreate utility will run to create an Administrator login as shown in Step 1 of Getting Started – Security.

Step 2. Configure OPC Server Tags

OAS provides multiple ways to add and define tags:

To add a Tag manually:

  1. In the OAS Configure Application, select Configure >> Tags from the top menu.

  2. Select localhost or the remote service you wish to modify with the Select button to the right of the Network Node list.

  3. Click on the Add Tag button located at the top of the Tag browser on the left portion of the screen.

  4. A dialog box will appear. Enter a name for your new tag and click ok.

  5. A configuration screen will appear for your new tag. Select OPC in the Data Source dropdown box.

  6. Use the Browse button to the right of the OPC Item to browse OPC Servers for the desired OPC Item.

  7. Select Local, the desired OPC Server, branch within the OPC Server, and OPC Item and click OK.

  8. Specify the desired OPC Update Rate for the Tag.

  9. Click Apply Changes at the bottom right of the window.

To add Tags with One Click OPC:

  1. In the OAS Configure Application, select Configure >> Tags from the top menu.

  2. Select localhost or the remote service you wish to modify with the Select button to the right of the Network Node list.

  3. To begin the One Click OPC process select the Group you would like to import to in the Tag configuration. If you want to import to the Root Level, select the Tags Group at the top of the tree.
    Then select the One Click Import button on the top menu bar.

  4. Click on the Import OPC DA 2.XX or 3.0 Items Button in the pop up window.

  5. Use the One Click OPC Wizard to browse for a branch as a starting position within an OPC Server or just select the OPC Server name itself to add all items from the selected OPC Server. For the best networking design select OPC Servers from Local even if you are configuring a remote OAS Service.

  6. Select to enable the options to Get Data Type from OPC Server and optionally the Descriptions.
    Additionally if you want to specify to Trend all of the points select Trend Points.

  7. Click Add Tags and it will automatically add all of the OPC Items from the OPC Server Branch you have selected and all of the sub Branches beneath it.

  8. Select the Save button on the toolbar at the top.

For more detailed instructions on Configuring OPC Server Tags, visit our Getting Started OPC tutorial or the One Click OPC tutorial or watch the video tutorial below:

Step 3. Visualize Your Data with .NET

Project Setup
HMI applications can be developed using Microsoft Visual Studio 2010 (or later). Programming is not required if you use the visual editor.

Open your existing Visual Studio application or start a new one, either VB or C#. Specify WPF App (.NET Framework) as the project type.

Verify that the Target Framework is Version 4.61 or greater.

If you have installed Open Automation Software after installing Visual Studio you should see the Open Automation Software group in your toolbox.  If it is not there you can add a reference in your project to the OPCWPFDashboard.dll.  It will be in your installation folder, most likely: C:\Program Files\Open Automation Software\OAS. Add the tools by right clicking on the toolbox and selecting Choose Items.  In the Choose Toolbox Items dialog box under the WPF tab, select all of the items that start with OPCWPF and say OK.

Add a Viewbox
If you are unfamiliar with the Viewbox control in WPF it is very useful. By setting it’s Stretch property to Uniform, it will automatically transform it’s contents to fit the user’s screen.  It is easier to develop with the Stretch Property set to “None” and then set it back to “Uniform” at the end. You will want your Grid inside of your Viewbox. Your XAML should look like this:

Add a Label Control
Add an OPCWPFLabel control to the window by double clicking on it in the toolbox. Set the Content_Tag property of the label to the Tag property that you want the label to display. Do this by either typing it in the box if you know the name (they are case-sensitive) or use the ellipse next to the property box. If you are using the demo tag configuration that installs with Open Automation Software use Ramp.Value.

Referencing Tags
In the tag browser, you will need to select your network node and then the tag and the property you want to display. Your network node will be the location you have Open Automation Software installed on. If it is your local machine, it will be localhost, otherwise, it could be a registered domain name or an IP address. Here are some examples of referencing tags based on their location:

Local Tag:
myTag.Value

Local Tag in a Group:
myGroup. myTag.Value

Basic Networking:
\\192.168.0.1\myGroup.myTag.Value

Live Data Cloud Networking from Local OAS Engine:
RemoteSCADAHosting.myLiveDataCloudNode.myGroup.myTag.Value

Live Data Cloud Networking from Remote OAS Engine
\\192.168.0.1\RemoteSCADAHosting.myLiveDataCloudNode.myGroup.myTag.Value

Add a Button Control
Next, add a button to the window by double clicking on OPCWPFButton on the toolbox.  Use the Pump tag for the button, it is a Boolean data type. Set Content_Tag in the properties window to Pump.Value. In the ContentFormatBooleanFalse property enter The Pump is On and the in the ContentFormatBooleanTrue property enter The Pump is Off.  That way the button text will be something more meaningful than simply True or False.

To change the color of the button when it’s value changes, use the Background01_Tag property.  Set it to Pump.Value.  The BackgroundFalse and BackgroundQualityBad properties control the background color for when the value is false and bad quality.

Next, SetValue_Tag property to Pump.Value.  This specifies what value to change when the button is clicked.

Add a Radial Gauge
Drag an OPCWPFRadialGauge onto the screen. Click the ellipse next to the Needles property. This will open the Needles Collection dialog box. Click the Add button.  This adds a Needle to the Radial Gauge. Set the Value_Tag property to Ramp.Value, the Ramp Tag again.  It is a Float Data Type, enter 0 for the ValueFormatFloat property. 

Click F5 to compile and run your project. Your screen should look similar to this.

For more detailed instructions on using OAS with WPF, visit .NET WPF HMI in our knowledge base or watch the video below:

Also, see Getting Started – .NET Trend and Getting Started – .NET Alarm.

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How to Visualize OPC UA Data from a WPF .NET Application

How to Visualize OPC UA Data from a WPF .NET Application

Open Automation Software Tags can be defined to connect to OPC UA Servers with the built in OPC UA Driver Interface. This tutorial walks you though downloading and installing OAS, configuring an OPC UA driver, configuring tags and visualizing tag data in .NET WPF with either C# or VB. Programming is not required if you use the designer interface.

Step 1. Download and Install the Open Automation Software and Start the OAS Service

If you have not already done so, you will need to download and install the OAS platform.  Fully functional trial versions of the software are available for Windows, Windows IoT Core, Linux, Raspberry Pi and Docker on our downloads page.

On Windows run the downloaded Setup.exe file to install one or more of the Open Automation Software features. Select the default Typical installation if you are not sure what features to use or the Custom installation if you want to save disk space on the target system.  When prompted agree to the End User License Agreement to continue the installation.

For more detailed instructions and video tutorials, visit the installation guide for your system:
Windows Installation | Linux Installation | Raspberry Pi Installation | Dockers Installation

The OAS Service Control application will appear when the installation finishes on Windows.  Use this application to start the 3 Services. Run the Configure OAS application on Windows and select Configure-Tags; if the first time running, the AdminCreate utility will run to create an Administrator login as shown in Step 1 of Getting Started – Security.

Step 2. Configure Your OPC UA Data Source

  1. First, you will need to open the Configure OAS application from the program group Open Automation Software.

  2. Select Configure >> License from the top menu and verify that OPC UA is one of the available Drivers in the lower left of the form. The demo license will have this by default. If you do not see OPC UA available, contact support@openautomationsoftware.com to update your license.

  3. Select Configure >> Drivers from the top menu.

  4. Select localhost or the remote service you wish to modify with the Select button to the right of the Network Node list.

  5. The Configure Drivers Screen will appear. Select OPC UA from the Driver dropdown box.

  6. Enter a meaningful Driver Interface Name that you will refer to this physical connection when defining Tags with a OPC UA Data Source.

  7. Define the properties for the desired physical connection.

  8. Click the Add Driver button above the Driver list in the left pane to add the Driver Interface as an available selection when defining Tags in the next step.

For more detailed instructions on configuring your OPC DA data source, click here to see our Getting Started OPC UA tutorial.

Step 3. Configure Your Tags

OAS provides multiple ways to add and define tags:

To add a Tag manually:

  1. In the OAS Configure Application, select Configure >> Tags from the top menu.

  2. Select localhost or the remote service you wish to modify with the Select button to the right of the Network Node list.

  3. Click on the Add Tag button located at the top of the Tag browser on the left portion of the screen.

  4. A dialog box will appear. Enter a name for your new tag and click ok.

  5. A configuration screen will appear for your new tag. Select your data source type in in the Data Source dropdown box.

  6. Specify the correct data type in the Data Type dropdown box.

  7. Click Apply Changes at the bottom right of the window.

For more detailed instructions on configuring your tags, click here to see our Getting Started Tags tutorial.

Step 4. Visualize Your Data with .NET

Project Setup
HMI applications can be developed using Microsoft Visual Studio 2010 (or later). Programming is not required if you use the visual editor.

Open your existing Visual Studio application or start a new one, either VB or C#. Specify WPF App (.NET Framework) as the project type.

Verify that the Target Framework is Version 4.61 or greater.

If you have installed Open Automation Software after installing Visual Studio you should see the Open Automation Software group in your toolbox.  If it is not there you can add a reference in your project to the OPCWPFDashboard.dll.  It will be in your installation folder, most likely: C:\Program Files\Open Automation Software\OAS. Add the tools by right clicking on the toolbox and selecting Choose Items.  In the Choose Toolbox Items dialog box under the WPF tab, select all of the items that start with OPCWPF and say OK.

Add a Viewbox
If you are unfamiliar with the Viewbox control in WPF it is very useful. By setting it’s Stretch property to Uniform, it will automatically transform it’s contents to fit the user’s screen.  It is easier to develop with the Stretch Property set to “None” and then set it back to “Uniform” at the end. You will want your Grid inside of your Viewbox. Your XAML should look like this:

Add a Label Control
Add an OPCWPFLabel control to the window by double clicking on it in the toolbox. Set the Content_Tag property of the label to the Tag property that you want the label to display. Do this by either typing it in the box if you know the name (they are case-sensitive) or use the ellipse next to the property box. If you are using the demo tag configuration that installs with Open Automation Software use Ramp.Value.

Referencing Tags
In the tag browser, you will need to select your network node and then the tag and the property you want to display. Your network node will be the location you have Open Automation Software installed on. If it is your local machine, it will be localhost, otherwise, it could be a registered domain name or an IP address. Here are some examples of referencing tags based on their location:

Local Tag:
myTag.Value

Local Tag in a Group:
myGroup. myTag.Value

Basic Networking:
\\192.168.0.1\myGroup.myTag.Value

Live Data Cloud Networking from Local OAS Engine:
RemoteSCADAHosting.myLiveDataCloudNode.myGroup.myTag.Value

Live Data Cloud Networking from Remote OAS Engine
\\192.168.0.1\RemoteSCADAHosting.myLiveDataCloudNode.myGroup.myTag.Value

Add a Button Control
Next, add a button to the window by double clicking on OPCWPFButton on the toolbox.  Use the Pump tag for the button, it is a Boolean data type. Set Content_Tag in the properties window to Pump.Value. In the ContentFormatBooleanFalse property enter The Pump is On and the in the ContentFormatBooleanTrue property enter The Pump is Off.  That way the button text will be something more meaningful than simply True or False.

To change the color of the button when it’s value changes, use the Background01_Tag property.  Set it to Pump.Value.  The BackgroundFalse and BackgroundQualityBad properties control the background color for when the value is false and bad quality.

Next, SetValue_Tag property to Pump.Value.  This specifies what value to change when the button is clicked.

Add a Radial Gauge
Drag an OPCWPFRadialGauge onto the screen. Click the ellipse next to the Needles property. This will open the Needles Collection dialog box. Click the Add button.  This adds a Needle to the Radial Gauge. Set the Value_Tag property to Ramp.Value, the Ramp Tag again.  It is a Float Data Type, enter 0 for the ValueFormatFloat property. 

Click F5 to compile and run your project. Your screen should look similar to this.

For more detailed instructions on using OAS with WPF, visit .NET WPF HMI in our knowledge base or watch the video below:

Also, see Getting Started – .NET Trend and Getting Started – .NET Alarm.

Posted on

How to Visualize MTConnect Data from a WPF .NET Application

How to Visualize MTConnect Data from a WPF .NET Application

Open Automation Software Tags can be defined to connect to MTConnect Servers with the built in MTConnect Driver Interface. This tutorial walks you though downloading and installing OAS, configuring an MTConnect driver, configuring tags and visualizing tag data in .NET WPF with either C# or VB. Programming is not required if you use the designer interface.

Step 1. Download and Install the Open Automation Software and Start the OAS Service

If you have not already done so, you will need to download and install the OAS platform.  Fully functional trial versions of the software are available for Windows, Windows IoT Core, Linux, Raspberry Pi and Docker on our downloads page.

On Windows run the downloaded Setup.exe file to install one or more of the Open Automation Software features. Select the default Typical installation if you are not sure what features to use or the Custom installation if you want to save disk space on the target system.  When prompted agree to the End User License Agreement to continue the installation.

For more detailed instructions and video tutorials, visit the installation guide for your system:
Windows Installation | Linux Installation | Raspberry Pi Installation | Dockers Installation

The OAS Service Control application will appear when the installation finishes on Windows.  Use this application to start the 3 Services. Run the Configure OAS application on Windows and select Configure-Tags; if the first time running, the AdminCreate utility will run to create an Administrator login as shown in Step 1 of Getting Started – Security.

Step 2. Configure Your MTConnect Data Source

  1. First, you will need to open the Configure OAS application from the program group Open Automation Software.

  2. Select Configure >> License from the top menu and verify that MTConnect is one of the available Drivers in the lower left of the form. The demo license will have this by default. If you do not see MTConnect available, contact support@openautomationsoftware.com to update your license.

  3. Select Configure >> Drivers from the top menu.

  4. Select localhost or the remote service you wish to modify with the Select button to the right of the Network Node list.

  5. The Configure Drivers Screen will appear. Select MTConnect from the Driver dropdown box.

  6. Enter a meaningful Driver Interface Name that you will refer to this physical connection when defining Tags with a MTConnect Data Source.

  7. Leave Enable and Add Tags Automatically enabled.

  8. Specify the Live Data Url for the MTConnect stream.

  9. Click the Add Driver button above the Driver list in the left pane to add the Driver Interface as an available selection when defining Tags in the next step.

For more detailed instructions on configuring your MTConnect data source, click here to see our Getting Started MTConnect tutorial or watch the video tutorial below:

Step 3. Configure Your Tags

OAS provides multiple ways to add and define tags:

To add a Tag manually:

  1. In the OAS Configure Application, select Configure >> Tags from the top menu.

  2. Select localhost or the remote service you wish to modify with the Select button to the right of the Network Node list.

  3. Click on the Add Tag button located at the top of the Tag browser on the left portion of the screen.

  4. A dialog box will appear. Enter a name for your new tag and click ok.

  5. A configuration screen will appear for your new tag. Select your data source type in in the Data Source dropdown box.

  6. Specify the correct data type in the Data Type dropdown box.

  7. Click Apply Changes at the bottom right of the window.

For more detailed instructions on configuring your tags, click here to see our Getting Started Tags tutorial.

Step 4. Visualize Your Data with .NET

Project Setup
HMI applications can be developed using Microsoft Visual Studio 2010 (or later). Programming is not required if you use the visual editor.

Open your existing Visual Studio application or start a new one, either VB or C#. Specify WPF App (.NET Framework) as the project type.

Verify that the Target Framework is Version 4.61 or greater.

If you have installed Open Automation Software after installing Visual Studio you should see the Open Automation Software group in your toolbox.  If it is not there you can add a reference in your project to the OPCWPFDashboard.dll.  It will be in your installation folder, most likely: C:\Program Files\Open Automation Software\OAS. Add the tools by right clicking on the toolbox and selecting Choose Items.  In the Choose Toolbox Items dialog box under the WPF tab, select all of the items that start with OPCWPF and say OK.

Add a Viewbox
If you are unfamiliar with the Viewbox control in WPF it is very useful. By setting it’s Stretch property to Uniform, it will automatically transform it’s contents to fit the user’s screen.  It is easier to develop with the Stretch Property set to “None” and then set it back to “Uniform” at the end. You will want your Grid inside of your Viewbox. Your XAML should look like this:

Add a Label Control
Add an OPCWPFLabel control to the window by double clicking on it in the toolbox. Set the Content_Tag property of the label to the Tag property that you want the label to display. Do this by either typing it in the box if you know the name (they are case-sensitive) or use the ellipse next to the property box. If you are using the demo tag configuration that installs with Open Automation Software use Ramp.Value.

Referencing Tags
In the tag browser, you will need to select your network node and then the tag and the property you want to display. Your network node will be the location you have Open Automation Software installed on. If it is your local machine, it will be localhost, otherwise, it could be a registered domain name or an IP address. Here are some examples of referencing tags based on their location:

Local Tag:
myTag.Value

Local Tag in a Group:
myGroup. myTag.Value

Basic Networking:
\\192.168.0.1\myGroup.myTag.Value

Live Data Cloud Networking from Local OAS Engine:
RemoteSCADAHosting.myLiveDataCloudNode.myGroup.myTag.Value

Live Data Cloud Networking from Remote OAS Engine
\\192.168.0.1\RemoteSCADAHosting.myLiveDataCloudNode.myGroup.myTag.Value

Add a Button Control
Next, add a button to the window by double clicking on OPCWPFButton on the toolbox.  Use the Pump tag for the button, it is a Boolean data type. Set Content_Tag in the properties window to Pump.Value. In the ContentFormatBooleanFalse property enter The Pump is On and the in the ContentFormatBooleanTrue property enter The Pump is Off.  That way the button text will be something more meaningful than simply True or False.

To change the color of the button when it’s value changes, use the Background01_Tag property.  Set it to Pump.Value.  The BackgroundFalse and BackgroundQualityBad properties control the background color for when the value is false and bad quality.

Next, SetValue_Tag property to Pump.Value.  This specifies what value to change when the button is clicked.

Add a Radial Gauge
Drag an OPCWPFRadialGauge onto the screen. Click the ellipse next to the Needles property. This will open the Needles Collection dialog box. Click the Add button.  This adds a Needle to the Radial Gauge. Set the Value_Tag property to Ramp.Value, the Ramp Tag again.  It is a Float Data Type, enter 0 for the ValueFormatFloat property. 

Click F5 to compile and run your project. Your screen should look similar to this.

For more detailed instructions on using OAS with WPF, visit .NET WPF HMI in our knowledge base or watch the video below:

Also, see Getting Started – .NET Trend and Getting Started – .NET Alarm.

Posted on

How to Visualize MQTT Data from a WPF .NET Application

How to Visualize MQTT Data from a WPF .NET Application

Open Automation Software Tags can be defined to connect to MQTT devices and software brokers with the built in MQTT Driver Interface. If you want to interface OAS with another MQTT Client please see the Getting Started MQTT Broker guide. This tutorial walks you though downloading and installing OAS, configuring an MQTT driver, configuring tags and visualizing tag data in .NET WPF with either C# or VB. Programming is not required if you use the designer interface.

Step 1. Download and Install the Open Automation Software and Start the OAS Service

If you have not already done so, you will need to download and install the OAS platform.  Fully functional trial versions of the software are available for Windows, Windows IoT Core, Linux, Raspberry Pi and Docker on our downloads page.

On Windows run the downloaded Setup.exe file to install one or more of the Open Automation Software features. Select the default Typical installation if you are not sure what features to use or the Custom installation if you want to save disk space on the target system.  When prompted agree to the End User License Agreement to continue the installation.

For more detailed instructions and video tutorials, visit the installation guide for your system:
Windows Installation | Linux Installation | Raspberry Pi Installation | Dockers Installation

The OAS Service Control application will appear when the installation finishes on Windows.  Use this application to start the 3 Services. Run the Configure OAS application on Windows and select Configure-Tags; if the first time running, the AdminCreate utility will run to create an Administrator login as shown in Step 1 of Getting Started – Security.

Step 2. Configure Your MQTT Data Source

  1. First, you will need to open the Configure OAS application from the program group Open Automation Software.

  2. Select Configure >> License from the top menu and verify that MQTT is one of the available Drivers in the lower left of the form. The demo license will have this by default. If you do not see MQTT available, contact support@openautomationsoftware.com to update your license.

  3. Select Configure >> Drivers from the top menu.

  4. Select localhost or the remote service you wish to modify with the Select button to the right of the Network Node list.

  5. The Configure Drivers Screen will appear. Select MQTT from the Driver dropdown box.

  6. Enter a meaningful Driver Interface Name that you will refer to this physical connection when defining Tags with a MQTT Data Source.

  7. Enter the IP Address of the broker. The default port is 1883.

  8. Enter the User Name and Password if required.

  9. Set the Keep Alive Time. The default is 60 Seconds.

  10. Set the Reconnect Time. The default 10 Seconds. If the connection to the broker is lost the Reconnect Time determines how long to wait before attempting to reconnect.

For more detailed instructions on configuring your MQTT data source, click here to see our Getting Started MQTT tutorial or watch the video tutorial below:

Step 3. Configure Your Tags

OAS provides multiple ways to add and define tags:

To add a Tag manually:

  1. In the OAS Configure Application, select Configure >> Tags from the top menu.

  2. Select localhost or the remote service you wish to modify with the Select button to the right of the Network Node list.

  3. Click on the Add Tag button located at the top of the Tag browser on the left portion of the screen.

  4. A dialog box will appear. Enter a name for your new tag and click ok.

  5. A configuration screen will appear for your new tag. Select your data source type in in the Data Source dropdown box.

  6. Specify the correct data type in the Data Type dropdown box.

  7. Click Apply Changes at the bottom right of the window.

For more detailed instructions on configuring your tags, click here to see our Getting Started Tags tutorial.

Step 4. Visualize Your Data with .NET

Project Setup
HMI applications can be developed using Microsoft Visual Studio 2010 (or later). Programming is not required if you use the visual editor.

Open your existing Visual Studio application or start a new one, either VB or C#. Specify WPF App (.NET Framework) as the project type.

Verify that the Target Framework is Version 4.61 or greater.

If you have installed Open Automation Software after installing Visual Studio you should see the Open Automation Software group in your toolbox.  If it is not there you can add a reference in your project to the OPCWPFDashboard.dll.  It will be in your installation folder, most likely: C:\Program Files\Open Automation Software\OAS. Add the tools by right clicking on the toolbox and selecting Choose Items.  In the Choose Toolbox Items dialog box under the WPF tab, select all of the items that start with OPCWPF and say OK.

Add a Viewbox
If you are unfamiliar with the Viewbox control in WPF it is very useful. By setting it’s Stretch property to Uniform, it will automatically transform it’s contents to fit the user’s screen.  It is easier to develop with the Stretch Property set to “None” and then set it back to “Uniform” at the end. You will want your Grid inside of your Viewbox. Your XAML should look like this:

Add a Label Control
Add an OPCWPFLabel control to the window by double clicking on it in the toolbox. Set the Content_Tag property of the label to the Tag property that you want the label to display. Do this by either typing it in the box if you know the name (they are case-sensitive) or use the ellipse next to the property box. If you are using the demo tag configuration that installs with Open Automation Software use Ramp.Value.

Referencing Tags
In the tag browser, you will need to select your network node and then the tag and the property you want to display. Your network node will be the location you have Open Automation Software installed on. If it is your local machine, it will be localhost, otherwise, it could be a registered domain name or an IP address. Here are some examples of referencing tags based on their location:

Local Tag:
myTag.Value

Local Tag in a Group:
myGroup. myTag.Value

Basic Networking:
\\192.168.0.1\myGroup.myTag.Value

Live Data Cloud Networking from Local OAS Engine:
RemoteSCADAHosting.myLiveDataCloudNode.myGroup.myTag.Value

Live Data Cloud Networking from Remote OAS Engine
\\192.168.0.1\RemoteSCADAHosting.myLiveDataCloudNode.myGroup.myTag.Value

Add a Button Control
Next, add a button to the window by double clicking on OPCWPFButton on the toolbox.  Use the Pump tag for the button, it is a Boolean data type. Set Content_Tag in the properties window to Pump.Value. In the ContentFormatBooleanFalse property enter The Pump is On and the in the ContentFormatBooleanTrue property enter The Pump is Off.  That way the button text will be something more meaningful than simply True or False.

To change the color of the button when it’s value changes, use the Background01_Tag property.  Set it to Pump.Value.  The BackgroundFalse and BackgroundQualityBad properties control the background color for when the value is false and bad quality.

Next, SetValue_Tag property to Pump.Value.  This specifies what value to change when the button is clicked.

Add a Radial Gauge
Drag an OPCWPFRadialGauge onto the screen. Click the ellipse next to the Needles property. This will open the Needles Collection dialog box. Click the Add button.  This adds a Needle to the Radial Gauge. Set the Value_Tag property to Ramp.Value, the Ramp Tag again.  It is a Float Data Type, enter 0 for the ValueFormatFloat property. 

Click F5 to compile and run your project. Your screen should look similar to this.

For more detailed instructions on using OAS with WPF, visit .NET WPF HMI in our knowledge base or watch the video below:

Also, see Getting Started – .NET Trend and Getting Started – .NET Alarm.

Posted on

How to Visualize Siemens Data from a WPF .NET Application

How to Visualize Siemens Data from a WPF .NET Application

Open Automation Software can connect directly to Siemens controllers with the built in Siemens Driver Interfaces which support communications over Ethernet to S7-200, S7-300, S7-400, S7-1200, and S7-1500. This tutorial walks you though downloading and installing OAS, configuring a Siemens driver, configuring tags and visualizing tag data in .NET WPF with either C# or VB. Programming is not required if you use the designer interface.

Step 1. Download and Install the Open Automation Software and Start the OAS Service

If you have not already done so, you will need to download and install the OAS platform.  Fully functional trial versions of the software are available for Windows, Windows IoT Core, Linux, Raspberry Pi and Docker on our downloads page.

On Windows run the downloaded Setup.exe file to install one or more of the Open Automation Software features. Select the default Typical installation if you are not sure what features to use or the Custom installation if you want to save disk space on the target system.  When prompted agree to the End User License Agreement to continue the installation.

For more detailed instructions and video tutorials, visit the installation guide for your system:
Windows Installation | Linux Installation | Raspberry Pi Installation | Dockers Installation

The OAS Service Control application will appear when the installation finishes on Windows.  Use this application to start the 3 Services. Run the Configure OAS application on Windows and select Configure-Tags; if the first time running, the AdminCreate utility will run to create an Administrator login as shown in Step 1 of Getting Started – Security.

Step 2. Configure Your Siemens Data Source

  1. First, you will need to open the Configure OAS application from the program group Open Automation Software.

  2. Select Configure >> License from the top menu and verify that Siemens is one of the available Drivers in the lower left of the form. The demo license will have this by default. If you do not see Siemens available, contact support@openautomationsoftware.com to update your license.

  3. Select Configure >> Drivers from the top menu.

  4. Select localhost or the remote service you wish to modify with the Select button to the right of the Network Node list.

  5. The Configure Drivers Screen will appear. Select Siemens from the Driver dropdown box.

  6. Enter a meaningful Driver Interface Name that you will refer to this physical connection when defining Tags with a Siemens Data Source.

  7. Define the properties for the desired physical connection.

  8. Click the Add Driver button above the Driver list in the left pane to add the Driver Interface as an available selection when defining Tags in the next step.

For more detailed instructions on configuring your Siemens data source, click here to see our Getting Started Siemens tutorial.

Step 3. Configure Your Tags

OAS provides multiple ways to add and define tags:

To add a Tag manually:

  1. In the OAS Configure Application, select Configure >> Tags from the top menu.

  2. Select localhost or the remote service you wish to modify with the Select button to the right of the Network Node list.

  3. Click on the Add Tag button located at the top of the Tag browser on the left portion of the screen.

  4. A dialog box will appear. Enter a name for your new tag and click ok.

  5. A configuration screen will appear for your new tag. Select your data source type in in the Data Source dropdown box.

  6. Specify the correct data type in the Data Type dropdown box.

  7. Click Apply Changes at the bottom right of the window.

For more detailed instructions on configuring your tags, click here to see our Getting Started Tags tutorial.

Step 4. Visualize Your Data with .NET

Project Setup
HMI applications can be developed using Microsoft Visual Studio 2010 (or later). Programming is not required if you use the visual editor.

Open your existing Visual Studio application or start a new one, either VB or C#. Specify WPF App (.NET Framework) as the project type.

Verify that the Target Framework is Version 4.61 or greater.

If you have installed Open Automation Software after installing Visual Studio you should see the Open Automation Software group in your toolbox.  If it is not there you can add a reference in your project to the OPCWPFDashboard.dll.  It will be in your installation folder, most likely: C:\Program Files\Open Automation Software\OAS. Add the tools by right clicking on the toolbox and selecting Choose Items.  In the Choose Toolbox Items dialog box under the WPF tab, select all of the items that start with OPCWPF and say OK.

Add a Viewbox
If you are unfamiliar with the Viewbox control in WPF it is very useful. By setting it’s Stretch property to Uniform, it will automatically transform it’s contents to fit the user’s screen.  It is easier to develop with the Stretch Property set to “None” and then set it back to “Uniform” at the end. You will want your Grid inside of your Viewbox. Your XAML should look like this:

Add a Label Control
Add an OPCWPFLabel control to the window by double clicking on it in the toolbox. Set the Content_Tag property of the label to the Tag property that you want the label to display. Do this by either typing it in the box if you know the name (they are case-sensitive) or use the ellipse next to the property box. If you are using the demo tag configuration that installs with Open Automation Software use Ramp.Value.

Referencing Tags
In the tag browser, you will need to select your network node and then the tag and the property you want to display. Your network node will be the location you have Open Automation Software installed on. If it is your local machine, it will be localhost, otherwise, it could be a registered domain name or an IP address. Here are some examples of referencing tags based on their location:

Local Tag:
myTag.Value

Local Tag in a Group:
myGroup. myTag.Value

Basic Networking:
\\192.168.0.1\myGroup.myTag.Value

Live Data Cloud Networking from Local OAS Engine:
RemoteSCADAHosting.myLiveDataCloudNode.myGroup.myTag.Value

Live Data Cloud Networking from Remote OAS Engine
\\192.168.0.1\RemoteSCADAHosting.myLiveDataCloudNode.myGroup.myTag.Value

Add a Button Control
Next, add a button to the window by double clicking on OPCWPFButton on the toolbox.  Use the Pump tag for the button, it is a Boolean data type. Set Content_Tag in the properties window to Pump.Value. In the ContentFormatBooleanFalse property enter The Pump is On and the in the ContentFormatBooleanTrue property enter The Pump is Off.  That way the button text will be something more meaningful than simply True or False.

To change the color of the button when it’s value changes, use the Background01_Tag property.  Set it to Pump.Value.  The BackgroundFalse and BackgroundQualityBad properties control the background color for when the value is false and bad quality.

Next, SetValue_Tag property to Pump.Value.  This specifies what value to change when the button is clicked.

Add a Radial Gauge
Drag an OPCWPFRadialGauge onto the screen. Click the ellipse next to the Needles property. This will open the Needles Collection dialog box. Click the Add button.  This adds a Needle to the Radial Gauge. Set the Value_Tag property to Ramp.Value, the Ramp Tag again.  It is a Float Data Type, enter 0 for the ValueFormatFloat property. 

Click F5 to compile and run your project. Your screen should look similar to this.

For more detailed instructions on using OAS with WPF, visit .NET WPF HMI in our knowledge base or watch the video below:

Also, see Getting Started – .NET Trend and Getting Started – .NET Alarm.

Posted on

How to Visualize Allen Bradley Data from a WPF .NET Application

How to Visualize Allen Bradley Data from a WPF .NET Application

Open Automation Software Tags can be defined to connect directly to Allen Bradley controllers with the built in ABLogix and ABClassic Driver Interfaces which support communications over Ethernet to ControlLogix, CompactLogix, GuardLogix, and Micro800 with the ABLogix driver, and MicroLogix, SLC 500, and PLC-5 with the ABClassic driver. This tutorial walks you though downloading and installing OAS, configuring an Allen Bradley driver, configuring tags and visualizing tag data in .NET WPF with either C# or VB. Programming is not required if you use the designer interface.

Step 1. Download and Install the Open Automation Software and Start the OAS Service

If you have not already done so, you will need to download and install the OAS platform.  Fully functional trial versions of the software are available for Windows, Windows IoT Core, Linux, Raspberry Pi and Docker on our downloads page.

On Windows run the downloaded Setup.exe file to install one or more of the Open Automation Software features. Select the default Typical installation if you are not sure what features to use or the Custom installation if you want to save disk space on the target system.  When prompted agree to the End User License Agreement to continue the installation.

For more detailed instructions and video tutorials, visit the installation guide for your system:
Windows Installation | Linux Installation | Raspberry Pi Installation | Dockers Installation

The OAS Service Control application will appear when the installation finishes on Windows.  Use this application to start the 3 Services. Run the Configure OAS application on Windows and select Configure-Tags; if the first time running, the AdminCreate utility will run to create an Administrator login as shown in Step 1 of Getting Started – Security.

Step 2. Configure Your Allen Bradley Data Source

  1. First, you will need to open the Configure OAS application from the program group Open Automation Software.

  2. Select Configure >> License from the top menu and verify that Allen Bradley is one of the available Drivers in the lower left of the form. The demo license will have this by default. If you do not see Allen Bradley available, contact support@openautomationsoftware.com to update your license.

  3. Select Configure >> Drivers from the top menu.

  4. Select localhost or the remote service you wish to modify with the Select button to the right of the Network Node list.

  5. The Configure Drivers Screen will appear. Select either AB Classic for MicroLogix, SLC 500, and PLC-5 or AB Logic for ControlLogix, CompactLogix, GuardLogix, and Micro800 from the Driver dropdown box.

  6. Enter a meaningful Driver Interface Name that you will refer to this physical connection when defining Tags with an Allen Bradley Data Source.

  7. Define the properties for the desired physical connection.

  8. Click the Add Driver button above the Driver list in the left pane to add the Driver Interface as an available selection when defining Tags in the next step.

For more detailed instructions on configuring your Allen Bradley data source, click here to see our Getting Started Allen Bradley tutorial.

Step 3. Configure Your Tags

OAS provides multiple ways to add and define tags:

To add a Tag manually:

  1. In the OAS Configure Application, select Configure >> Tags from the top menu.

  2. Select localhost or the remote service you wish to modify with the Select button to the right of the Network Node list.

  3. Click on the Add Tag button located at the top of the Tag browser on the left portion of the screen.

  4. A dialog box will appear. Enter a name for your new tag and click ok.

  5. A configuration screen will appear for your new tag. Select your data source type in in the Data Source dropdown box.

  6. Specify the correct data type in the Data Type dropdown box.

  7. Click Apply Changes at the bottom right of the window.

For more detailed instructions on configuring your tags, click here to see our Getting Started Tags tutorial.

Step 4. Visualize Your Data with .NET

Project Setup
HMI applications can be developed using Microsoft Visual Studio 2010 (or later). Programming is not required if you use the visual editor.

Open your existing Visual Studio application or start a new one, either VB or C#. Specify WPF App (.NET Framework) as the project type.

Verify that the Target Framework is Version 4.61 or greater.

If you have installed Open Automation Software after installing Visual Studio you should see the Open Automation Software group in your toolbox.  If it is not there you can add a reference in your project to the OPCWPFDashboard.dll.  It will be in your installation folder, most likely: C:\Program Files\Open Automation Software\OAS. Add the tools by right clicking on the toolbox and selecting Choose Items.  In the Choose Toolbox Items dialog box under the WPF tab, select all of the items that start with OPCWPF and say OK.

Add a Viewbox
If you are unfamiliar with the Viewbox control in WPF it is very useful. By setting it’s Stretch property to Uniform, it will automatically transform it’s contents to fit the user’s screen.  It is easier to develop with the Stretch Property set to “None” and then set it back to “Uniform” at the end. You will want your Grid inside of your Viewbox. Your XAML should look like this:

Add a Label Control
Add an OPCWPFLabel control to the window by double clicking on it in the toolbox. Set the Content_Tag property of the label to the Tag property that you want the label to display. Do this by either typing it in the box if you know the name (they are case-sensitive) or use the ellipse next to the property box. If you are using the demo tag configuration that installs with Open Automation Software use Ramp.Value.

Referencing Tags
In the tag browser, you will need to select your network node and then the tag and the property you want to display. Your network node will be the location you have Open Automation Software installed on. If it is your local machine, it will be localhost, otherwise, it could be a registered domain name or an IP address. Here are some examples of referencing tags based on their location:

Local Tag:
myTag.Value

Local Tag in a Group:
myGroup. myTag.Value

Basic Networking:
\\192.168.0.1\myGroup.myTag.Value

Live Data Cloud Networking from Local OAS Engine:
RemoteSCADAHosting.myLiveDataCloudNode.myGroup.myTag.Value

Live Data Cloud Networking from Remote OAS Engine
\\192.168.0.1\RemoteSCADAHosting.myLiveDataCloudNode.myGroup.myTag.Value

Add a Button Control
Next, add a button to the window by double clicking on OPCWPFButton on the toolbox.  Use the Pump tag for the button, it is a Boolean data type. Set Content_Tag in the properties window to Pump.Value. In the ContentFormatBooleanFalse property enter The Pump is On and the in the ContentFormatBooleanTrue property enter The Pump is Off.  That way the button text will be something more meaningful than simply True or False.

To change the color of the button when it’s value changes, use the Background01_Tag property.  Set it to Pump.Value.  The BackgroundFalse and BackgroundQualityBad properties control the background color for when the value is false and bad quality.

Next, SetValue_Tag property to Pump.Value.  This specifies what value to change when the button is clicked.

Add a Radial Gauge
Drag an OPCWPFRadialGauge onto the screen. Click the ellipse next to the Needles property. This will open the Needles Collection dialog box. Click the Add button.  This adds a Needle to the Radial Gauge. Set the Value_Tag property to Ramp.Value, the Ramp Tag again.  It is a Float Data Type, enter 0 for the ValueFormatFloat property. 

Click F5 to compile and run your project. Your screen should look similar to this.

For more detailed instructions on using OAS with WPF, visit .NET WPF HMI in our knowledge base or watch the video below:

Also, see Getting Started – .NET Trend and Getting Started – .NET Alarm.

Posted on

How to Visualize Modbus Data from a WPF .NET Application

How to Visualize Modbus Data from a WPF .NET Application

Open Automation Software Tags can be defined to connect directly to Modbus slave devices or host data to Modbus masters with the built in Modbus Driver Interface which supports communications over ethernet and serial interfaces for Modbus TCP, Modbus RTU, and Modbus ASCII protocols. This tutorial walks you though downloading and installing OAS, configuring a Modbus driver, configuring tags and visualizing tag data in .NET WPF with either C# or VB. Programming is not required if you use the designer interface.

Step 1. Download and Install the Open Automation Software and Start the OAS Service

If you have not already done so, you will need to download and install the OAS platform.  Fully functional trial versions of the software are available for Windows, Windows IoT Core, Linux, Raspberry Pi and Docker on our downloads page.

On Windows run the downloaded Setup.exe file to install one or more of the Open Automation Software features. Select the default Typical installation if you are not sure what features to use or the Custom installation if you want to save disk space on the target system.  When prompted agree to the End User License Agreement to continue the installation.

For more detailed instructions and video tutorials, visit the installation guide for your system:
Windows Installation | Linux Installation | Raspberry Pi Installation | Dockers Installation

The OAS Service Control application will appear when the installation finishes on Windows.  Use this application to start the 3 Services. Run the Configure OAS application on Windows and select Configure-Tags; if the first time running, the AdminCreate utility will run to create an Administrator login as shown in Step 1 of Getting Started – Security.

Step 2. Configure Your Modbus Data Source

  1. First, you will need to open the Configure OAS application from the program group Open Automation Software.

  2. Select Configure >> License from the top menu and verify that Modbus is one of the available Drivers in the lower left of the form. The demo license will have this by default. If you do not see Modbus available, contact support@openautomationsoftware.com to update your license.

  3. Select Configure >> Drivers from the top menu.

  4. Select localhost or the remote service you wish to modify with the Select button to the right of the Network Node list.

  5. The Configure Drivers Screen will appear. Select Modbus from the Driver dropdown box.

  6. Enter a meaningful Driver Interface Name that you will refer to this physical connection when defining Tags with a Modbus Data Source.

  7. Specify the Connection as Ethernet or Serial.

  8. Specify the Modbus Type as Master or Slave. Master will be used when communicating to a Modbus device. Slave will be used when other Modbus masters will be communicating to OAS.

  9. When setting up a Slave interface over Ethernet set the IP Address to the computer IPv4 IP address or network node name if the master is on a remote PC. You can also use 127.0.0.1 or localhost if the Modbus master will be on the same computer.

For more detailed instructions on configuring your Modbus data source, click here to see our Getting Started Modbus tutorial or watch the video tutorial below:

Step 3. Configure Your Tags

OAS provides multiple ways to add and define tags:

To add a Tag manually:

  1. In the OAS Configure Application, select Configure >> Tags from the top menu.

  2. Select localhost or the remote service you wish to modify with the Select button to the right of the Network Node list.

  3. Click on the Add Tag button located at the top of the Tag browser on the left portion of the screen.

  4. A dialog box will appear. Enter a name for your new tag and click ok.

  5. A configuration screen will appear for your new tag. Select your data source type in in the Data Source dropdown box.

  6. Specify the correct data type in the Data Type dropdown box.

  7. Click Apply Changes at the bottom right of the window.

For more detailed instructions on configuring your tags, click here to see our Getting Started Tags tutorial.

Step 4. Visualize Your Data with .NET

Project Setup
HMI applications can be developed using Microsoft Visual Studio 2010 (or later). Programming is not required if you use the visual editor.

Open your existing Visual Studio application or start a new one, either VB or C#. Specify WPF App (.NET Framework) as the project type.

Verify that the Target Framework is Version 4.61 or greater.

If you have installed Open Automation Software after installing Visual Studio you should see the Open Automation Software group in your toolbox.  If it is not there you can add a reference in your project to the OPCWPFDashboard.dll.  It will be in your installation folder, most likely: C:\Program Files\Open Automation Software\OAS. Add the tools by right clicking on the toolbox and selecting Choose Items.  In the Choose Toolbox Items dialog box under the WPF tab, select all of the items that start with OPCWPF and say OK.

Add a Viewbox
If you are unfamiliar with the Viewbox control in WPF it is very useful. By setting it’s Stretch property to Uniform, it will automatically transform it’s contents to fit the user’s screen.  It is easier to develop with the Stretch Property set to “None” and then set it back to “Uniform” at the end. You will want your Grid inside of your Viewbox. Your XAML should look like this:

Add a Label Control
Add an OPCWPFLabel control to the window by double clicking on it in the toolbox. Set the Content_Tag property of the label to the Tag property that you want the label to display. Do this by either typing it in the box if you know the name (they are case-sensitive) or use the ellipse next to the property box. If you are using the demo tag configuration that installs with Open Automation Software use Ramp.Value.

Referencing Tags
In the tag browser, you will need to select your network node and then the tag and the property you want to display. Your network node will be the location you have Open Automation Software installed on. If it is your local machine, it will be localhost, otherwise, it could be a registered domain name or an IP address. Here are some examples of referencing tags based on their location:

Local Tag:
myTag.Value

Local Tag in a Group:
myGroup. myTag.Value

Basic Networking:
\\192.168.0.1\myGroup.myTag.Value

Live Data Cloud Networking from Local OAS Engine:
RemoteSCADAHosting.myLiveDataCloudNode.myGroup.myTag.Value

Live Data Cloud Networking from Remote OAS Engine
\\192.168.0.1\RemoteSCADAHosting.myLiveDataCloudNode.myGroup.myTag.Value

Add a Button Control
Next, add a button to the window by double clicking on OPCWPFButton on the toolbox.  Use the Pump tag for the button, it is a Boolean data type. Set Content_Tag in the properties window to Pump.Value. In the ContentFormatBooleanFalse property enter The Pump is On and the in the ContentFormatBooleanTrue property enter The Pump is Off.  That way the button text will be something more meaningful than simply True or False.

To change the color of the button when it’s value changes, use the Background01_Tag property.  Set it to Pump.Value.  The BackgroundFalse and BackgroundQualityBad properties control the background color for when the value is false and bad quality.

Next, SetValue_Tag property to Pump.Value.  This specifies what value to change when the button is clicked.

Add a Radial Gauge
Drag an OPCWPFRadialGauge onto the screen. Click the ellipse next to the Needles property. This will open the Needles Collection dialog box. Click the Add button.  This adds a Needle to the Radial Gauge. Set the Value_Tag property to Ramp.Value, the Ramp Tag again.  It is a Float Data Type, enter 0 for the ValueFormatFloat property. 

Click F5 to compile and run your project. Your screen should look similar to this.

For more detailed instructions on using OAS with WPF, visit .NET WPF HMI in our knowledge base or watch the video below:

Also, see Getting Started – .NET Trend and Getting Started – .NET Alarm.

Posted on

How to Access MTConnect Data from a C# or VB .NET Application

How to Access MTConnect Data from a C# or VB .NET Application

Open Automation Software Tags can be defined to connect to MTConnect Servers with the built in MTConnect Driver Interface. The OASData component is used for real time and historical data access against a local or remote OAS instance and can be used with .NET 5, .NET Core 2.0 or greater, .NET Framework 4.61 or greater, Xamarin.iOS 10.14, Xamarin.Android 8.0, and UWP 1.0.0.16299. This tutorial walks you though downloading and installing OAS, configuring an MTConnect driver, configuring tags and reading and writing to them with the .Net Data Connector. This page shows code examples in C# but VB works as well.

Step 1. Download and Install the Open Automation Software and Start the OAS Service

If you have not already done so, you will need to download and install the OAS platform.  Fully functional trial versions of the software are available for Windows, Windows IoT Core, Linux, Raspberry Pi and Docker on our downloads page.

On Windows run the downloaded Setup.exe file to install one or more of the Open Automation Software features. Select the default Typical installation if you are not sure what features to use or the Custom installation if you want to save disk space on the target system.  When prompted agree to the End User License Agreement to continue the installation.

For more detailed instructions and video tutorials, visit the installation guide for your system:
Windows Installation | Linux Installation | Raspberry Pi Installation | Dockers Installation

The OAS Service Control application will appear when the installation finishes on Windows.  Use this application to start the 3 Services. Run the Configure OAS application on Windows and select Configure-Tags; if the first time running, the AdminCreate utility will run to create an Administrator login as shown in Step 1 of Getting Started – Security.

Step 2. Configure Your MTConnect Data Source

  1. First, you will need to open the Configure OAS application from the program group Open Automation Software.

  2. Select Configure >> License from the top menu and verify that MTConnect is one of the available Drivers in the lower left of the form. The demo license will have this by default. If you do not see MTConnect available, contact support@openautomationsoftware.com to update your license.

  3. Select Configure >> Drivers from the top menu.

  4. Select localhost or the remote service you wish to modify with the Select button to the right of the Network Node list.

  5. The Configure Drivers Screen will appear. Select MTConnect from the Driver dropdown box.

  6. Enter a meaningful Driver Interface Name that you will refer to this physical connection when defining Tags with a MTConnect Data Source.

  7. Leave Enable and Add Tags Automatically enabled.

  8. Specify the Live Data Url for the MTConnect stream.

  9. Click the Add Driver button above the Driver list in the left pane to add the Driver Interface as an available selection when defining Tags in the next step.

For more detailed instructions on configuring your MTConnect data source, click here to see our Getting Started MTConnect tutorial or watch the video tutorial below:

Step 3. Configure Your Tags

OAS provides multiple ways to add and define tags:

To add a Tag manually:

  1. In the OAS Configure Application, select Configure >> Tags from the top menu.

  2. Select localhost or the remote service you wish to modify with the Select button to the right of the Network Node list.

  3. Click on the Add Tag button located at the top of the Tag browser on the left portion of the screen.

  4. A dialog box will appear. Enter a name for your new tag and click ok.

  5. A configuration screen will appear for your new tag. Select your data source type in in the Data Source dropdown box.

  6. Specify the correct data type in the Data Type dropdown box.

  7. Click Apply Changes at the bottom right of the window.

For more detailed instructions on configuring your tags, click here to see our Getting Started Tags tutorial.

Step 4. Access Your Data from a C# or VB .NET Application

The .NET Standard 2.0 OASData assembly is used to provide read and write access to OAS tag variables and can target .NET 5, .NET 6, .NET 7, .NET Core 2.o or greater, .NET Framework 4.61 or greater, Xamarin.iOS 10.14, Xamarin.Android 8.0, and UWP 1.0.0.16299.

Start a new Visual Studio Project or Open Your Existing One

Microsoft Visual Studio 2015+ is recommended. For developing cross-platform .NET Standard or .NET Core solutions, Visual Studio 2019+ is recommended. For developing Android and/or iOS solutions, be sure to include Xamarin extensions to Visual Studio. After creating a new Visual Studio project, add a reference to the OASData assembly and all its dependencies, found in the OAS installation directory. This is typically:

C:\Program Files\Open Automation Software\OAS\Controls\NetStanard\OASData\OASData.dll

Create an instance of the OASData.Data class

static OASData.Data oasd = new OASData.Data();

Your application typically does not need more than one instance of the OASData.Data class. So, this can be created when your application starts.

Read Tags Asynchronously

oasd.ValuesChangedAll += OASDValuesChangedAll; 
private void OASDValuesChangedAll(string[] Tags, object[] Values, bool[] Qualities, DateTime[] TimeStamps);

oasd.AddTags(new string[] {
"Sine.Value",
"Random.Value",
"Ramp.Value"
});

Values are returned in the ValuesChangedAll event anytime values change in a tag variable. AddTags adds tags for subscription.

Read Tags Synchronously

Values = oasd.SyncReadTags(Tags, ref Errors, 10000);
  • This call returns an object array with the values for each tag variable.
  • Tags is a string array of tag names and variables to read.
  • Errors is an integer array returning: 0 if the tag variable quality is good 1 if the quality is bad 2 if the value could not be returned within the timeout specified.
  • Timeout is specified in milliseconds to wait for the call to return.

Write Tags Asynchronously

oasd.WriteTags(OASTags, OASValues);

With this call, if the tags data source is defined to a device, for example: Modbus; Siemens; Allen Bradley MQTT; OPC UA, or application writes to .Value will be written to the source defined.

Examples: Modbus, Siemens, AB, OPC UA, MQTT

  • Tags is a string array of tag names and variables.
  • Values is an object array containing the values to write to each tag.
  • TimeStamps array can optionally be provided to set the time of the value if the Data Source of the Tag is Value.

Write Tags Synchronously

Errors = oasd.SyncWriteTags(Tags, Values);
  • Tags is a string array of tag names and variables.
  • Values is an object array containing the values to write to each tag.
  • Errors is an Integer array that returns: 0 when successful; 1 when OAS Engine is not reachable; 2 when the Tags array size is not equal to the Values array.

Networking

Tag names can include an IP Address, network node name, or registered domain name if the application is deployed remote from the OAS Engine.

Basic Networking Example: 

\\192.168.0.1\TagName.Value

Live Data Cloud Networking Example:

\\www.opcweb.com\RemoteSCADAHosting.MyLDCNode.TagName.Value

For more information, see Getting Started with OASData and IIoT Example Service Code or watch the video below: