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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.

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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.

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How to Use OAS .NET WPF

Open Automation Software has HMI tools for both the web and desktop.  The articles below are helpful guides to using the OAS .NET WPF product.

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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.

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How To Configure Alarm Logging

With the OAS Alarm Logging product you log alarms to SQL Server, Oracle, MS Access, MySQL, Azure SQL, PostgreSQL, Cassandra, MongoDB, MariaDB, SQLite, InfluxDB, Amazon Aurora, Amazon RDS, Amazon Redshift, Google Firebase, and CSV files based on event.  Below you will find articles describing how to use certain features of the product.

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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:

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How To Set Up Alarm Notifications

The OAS Alarm Notification features lets you send text, voice and email notifications based on the criteria you set.  Below you will find short guides to get you started.

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How To Set Up Data Route

The OAS Data Route product allows an OAS Service to transfer values from any Tag to any Tag, OPC Server, or IoT Driver. Below are instructional guides to using Data Route.

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Getting Started – AWS IoT Gateway

View the following video for a complete demonstration of how to publish data to AWS IoT Gateway, Azure IoT, and MQTT Brokers.

The following steps can be used to setup direct driver communications with AWS.

Step 1

OASStart the Configure OAS application from the program group Open Automation Software.

 

Step 2

Select Configure-License from the top menu and verify that AWS IoT is listed under Enabled Products.  If not, contact support@oasiot.com to update your license.

Enabled Products

Note: You will need to be running Open Automation Software Version 10.0.0.22 or greater to support AWS communications.  You can download the latest version at www.openautomationsoftware.com/downloads/open-automation-software/

Step 3

Select Configure-Drivers.

Configure Drivers

Step 4

Select localhost or the remote service you wish to modify with the Select button to the right of the Network Node list.  Optionally select the Live Data Cloud node if you are hosting AWS data over the Internet with a standard Internet connection.

Step 5

Enter a meaningful Driver Interface Name that you use to to refer to this physical connection when defining Tags with an AWS Source.

Note: You may need to Set Default Network Adapter for Driver Interfaces of the operating system.

Set the Driver dropdown to AWS IoT Gateway. The default Broker Port is 8883.

Use the Browse buttons to select you Certificate File Path and the Private Key File Path. These are created in your AWS Management Console.

Enter the IoT End Point. This is also found in your AWS Management Console.

AWS IoT Driver Configuration

If you would like to define a secondary AWS end point if the primary server fails, check Enable Failover checkbox and enter it’s physical properties. If both the primary and secondary servers are offline the Return to Online settings determines the retry frequency.

View Driver Interface Failover for more information and and video demonstrating communications failover.

Note: Data that is to be published to the AWS IoT Gateway can be buffered during network failures by setting the Enable Store and Forward property to true. Define the path for the buffer files under Configure-Options-Store and Forward.

Step 6

Select the Add button in the lower part of the form to add the Driver Interface as an available selection when defining Tags in the next step.

Add Driver

Note: If you need to define several Driver Interfaces you can use the CSV Export and CSV Import on the toolbar in the upper right together with Microsoft Excel.

To publish data to AWS IoT Gateway see Getting Started – Publish Data to AWS IoT Gateway.

Follow the steps below to read data from AWS IoT Gateway.

Step 7

Select Configure-Tags.

Configure Tags

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

Save

Note: Optionally select the Live Data Cloud node if you are hosting AWS data over the Internet with a standard Internet connection.

Step 8

Select to Add a Tag.

Note: You can also add organizational Groups as many levels deep as you prefer and add tags to groups.  To do this first add a Group to the Tags Group at the root level, then right click on the Group in the right window to add additional Groups or Tags.

Add Group

Step 9

Set the appropriate Data Type.
Note: if you will be receiving data from your Thing set the Data Type to String otherwise set the Data Type to the desired data type.

Step 10

Change the Data Source Tag property to AWSIoTGateway.

AWS Data Source

Step 11

Select the correct Driver Interface from the Driver Interface pull down list.

ASW Driver

Step 12

Enter the Topic.

Getting Started MQTT 5

Topic

Step 13

Set the Topic Timeout – 0 = Topic will never timeout. Any number greater than 0 will cause the data to be Bad Data Quality if the broker does not publish within the time frame specified.

AWS Topic Timeout

Step 14

Select to include Timestamp and or Data Quality to the topic.

This will publish to the specified topic above OAS/Items Sent/Timestamp  and or OAS/ItemsSent/Quality.

AWS Settings

Step 15

To define multiple tags use the CSV Export and CSV Import on the toolbar in the upper right together with Microsoft Excel.

Note: You can also programmatically define Tags using the free to use OPC Systems component as demonstrated in the Form FormConfigureCSV in the WinForm Example Code application that installs with Open Automation Software in the Program Group Open Automation Software.  This component can be used in any .NET application includes Web Services, Windows Services, WPF Applications, and ASP.NET or .NET MVC Web Applications.

Step 16

Select the Save button on the toolbar at the top.

Save

Step 17

Create a directory on the local C: drive with the name OASDemo.

Save the file DemoTags.tags in the directory C:\OASDemo\.

Save Tags

Step 18

Under Configure – Options set the Default Tag Configuration File so when the computer restarts the tag file will automatically be loaded.

Review the Data Route product feature to move data from another tag to AWS

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

How to Access OPC Server Data from a C# or VB .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. 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 OPC Server 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 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. 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: