How to Transfer Data from Database to Siemens

Open Automation Software can be used to transfer the latest database field value to a Siemens device locally or over a network. This guide walks you through downloading and installing OAS, configuring a Database connector, a Tag to query a database field, a Siemens connector and one tag to write to.

This guide uses the Data Route feature of OAS to transfer a Tag's value to another Tag's value using the Tag-to-Tag method.

For this guide on how to transfer data between a Database field and a Siemens device you will need:

An SQLite database with some example data
A Siemens device connected to your workstation

ℹ️ This guide uses an existing SQLite database with temperature data logged by OAS. You can configure a similar Data Logging configuration or you can provide your own database.

1 - Download and Install OAS

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 the Open Automation Software platform. For a default installation, Agree to the End User License Agreement and then click the Next button on each of the installation steps until it has completed.

If you'd like to customize your installation or learn more, use the following instructions:

The OAS Service Control application will appear when the installation finishes on Windows.

OAS Service Control

Click on each START SERVICE button to start each of the three OAS services.

2 - Configure OAS

Configure OAS is the main application used to configure local and remote OAS instances.

OAS Logo

From your operating system start menu, open the Configure OAS application.
Select the Configure > Tags screen.
Important
If this is the first time you have installed OAS, the AdminCreate utility will run when you select a screen in the Configure menu. This will ask you to create a username and password for the admin user. This user will have full permissions in the OAS platform.
For further information see Getting Started - Security.
If this is the first time you are logging in, you will see the AdminCreate utility. Follow the prompts to set up your admin account. Otherwise, select the Log In menu button and provide the Network Node, username and password.

Info

In this guide you will use the Configure OAS application to configure the local Network Node which by default is localhost.

If you have installed OAS on a remote instance you can also connect to the remote instance by setting the relevant IP address or host name in the Network Node field.

3 - Configure Database Data Source

In the following steps you will create and configure a Database Connector to connect to a local SQLite database file that contains example temperature data.

ℹ️ If you want to use your own database server you can select the relevant Provider and configure it according to your database server settings and credentials.

Select Configure > Drivers from the top menu.
Enter a meaningful Driver Interface Name to give this driver interface instance a unique name.
Ensure the following parameters are configured:
- Driver: Database
- Provider: SQLite
- Database: Absolute path to your sqlite database file
Click on the ADD DRIVER button on the left hand side to add this driver configuration. Once added, the driver interface name should appear in the list of drivers.

4 - Add Data Source Tag

In this section you will create a Tag to represent your data point in the field (for example a temperature sensor). This can then be transferred your desired destination.

Select Configure > Tags from the top menu.
If you want to add a Tag to the root Tags group make sure the Tags node is selected in the tag list and click on the ADD TAG button.
If you want to add a Tag to a Tag Group, select the Tag Group first and then click on the ADD TAG button.
You can also add Tag Groups by using the ADD GROUP button.
Provide a Tag Name such as TemperatureSensor and click the OK button.

5 - Assign Database as Tag Data Source

You will now set the Tag's data source to the Database driver interface that you created previously.

Tips

When configuring the Database data source it is important to remember that this connector is designed to return a single field from the first row that is returned based on the following criteria:

Table or View name (required)
Field Name (required)
Where clause (optional)
Order By clause (optional)

You can use the WHERE and ORDER BY clauses to control which rows are returned. This can be any standard syntax supported by your database provider. Even if more than one row is returned by the query, OAS will only look at the first row.

The following shows an example SQLite database table:

Database Tag configuration

Select the Tag that will source data from a Database data source.
Set the Data Source to Database.
Set the Select Driver Interface drop-down to the Database Connector interface created previously.
Set the Table or View field to the name of the table or view in the database that contains your data value.
Set the Field Name field to the name of the column in the table that contains your data value.
To ensure you only get the latest value, set the Order By String to DateAndTime DESC. Note that DateAndTime in this case is the standard column name that OAS logs when using the data logging feature. If your data has a different column name you can use yours instead.
Click on the Apply Changes button to apply the changes.
Check that the quality status is Good Quality and the data in the Value field is as expected.

6 - Configure Siemens Data Destination

In the following steps you will create and configure an Siemens Connector to act as a data destination. This guide assumes that you have an S7-1200 or similar series controller connected to the same network as the OAS instance.

Select Configure > Drivers from the top menu.
Enter a meaningful Driver Interface Name to give this driver interface instance a unique name.
Ensure the following parameters are configured:
- Driver: Siemens
- IP Address: Your controller IP address
- Processor Type: S7 1200 (or your own controller type)
- Link Type: PC
Click on the ADD DRIVER button on the left hand side to add this driver configuration. Once added, the driver interface name should appear in the list of drivers.

7 - Add Data Destination Tag

In this section you will create a Tag to represent a data point that you want to write to.

Select Configure > Tags from the top menu.
If you want to add a Tag to the root Tags group make sure the Tags node is selected in the tag list and click on the ADD TAG button.
If you want to add a Tag to a Tag Group, select the Tag Group first and then click on the ADD TAG button.
You can also add Tag Groups by using the ADD GROUP button.
Provide a Tag Name such as TemperatureOutput and click the OK button.

8 - Assign Siemens as Tag Data Destination

You will now set the Tag's data source to the Siemens driver interface that you created previously to act as a data destination.

Select the Tag that will be associated with the Siemens destination.
Set the Data Source to Siemens.
Set the Select Driver Interface drop-down to the S7-1200-Destination interface created previously.
In the Address field enter the address of an analog input (for example MD0). Adjust the Siemens Data Type if required.
Info
For more information about Siemens addressing see the article Siemens Address Syntax
Set the polling rate in seconds by setting the Polling Rate property [default: 1 second].
Click on the Apply Changes button to apply the changes.
Check that the quality status is Good Quality and the data in the Value field is as expected. If the PLC does not hold any value in the given register then the value will remain zero.

9 - Configure Tag-To-Tag Data Route

In this section you will configure the Target of the source Tag to be the destination Tag value. This means whenever the source Tag value is updated, the destination Tag value will also be updated. This will cause a write operation on any associated driver if it is supported.

Select the source data Tag.
Select the Target tab.
Enable the Enable Write to Target option.
Click on the BROWSE button to select the destination tag.
Optionally, configure the Deadband property or enable Write Continuously to configure a continuous writing frequency.
Click on the Apply Changes button to apply the configuration.
To verify that your data transfer is working correctly, select the destination Tag and check that the Tag value matches the Tag value of the source Tag.
You should also verify that the Tag value has been written to your destination device. Depending on your configuration in step 5 above, this destination value should be updated whenever the source value changes or at the given frequency.

10 - Save Changes

Once you have successfully configured your OAS instances, make sure you save your configuration.

On each configuration page, click on the Save button.

If this is the first time you are saving the configuration, or if you are changing the name of the configuration file, OAS will ask you if you want to change the default configuration file.

If you select Yes then OAS will make this configuration file the default and if the OAS service is restarted then this file will be loaded on start-up.

If you select No then OAS will still save your configuration file, but it will not be the default file that is loaded on start-up.

Change Default Configuration Files dialog

Important

Each configuration screen has an independent configuration file except for the Tags and Drivers configurations, which share the same configuration file. It is still important to click on the Save button whenever you make any changes.

For more information see: Save and Load Configuration

Info

On Windows the configuration files are stored in C:\ProgramData\OpenAutomationSoftware\ConfigFiles.
On Linux the configuration files are stored in the ConfigFiles subfolder of the OAS installation path.