How To Articles > How to Log Allen Bradley Data to a CSV or Excel File

How to Log Allen Bradley Data to a CSV or Excel File

How to Log Allen Bradley Data to a CSV or Excel File


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 logging them to a CSV or Excel file.

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. Configure Data Logging for CSV

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


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


  3. A Logging Group screen will appear.


  4. Give your Logging Group a name that is meaningful to you.

  5. In the Common tab, you will determine your table format and type of logging you wish to implement.

  6. In the Tags tab, you will select the tags you wish to log.

  7. If you want to log to a database such as SQL Server, use the Database tab.

  8. To log to CSV, use the CVS Logging tab.


  9. Specify the Path where you would like your file to be created.

  10. Enter a file name in the File Name field.

  11. Once you have all of the tabs configured, click Add Group in the left panel to add your logging group to the service.

For more detailed instructions on Configuring Data Logging, visit our Getting Started Data Logging tutorial or watch the video tutorial below:

  • 00:00 – Introduction
  • 01:30 – Getting Started
  • 03:00 – Continuous Logging
  • 04:15 – SQL Server
  • 06:25 – Save Changes
  • 07:00 – Continuous Narrow Logging
  • 09:30 – Event Driven
  • 11:20 – Handshake Confirmation
  • 12:45 – High Speed Logging
  • 15:00 – Log to Stored Procedure
  • 15:25 – Triggers
  • 16:30 – Event Narrow Logging
  • 18:00 – Timestamps
  • 20:30 – Snapshot Logging
  • 21:45 – Specific Time of Day Logging
  • 22:50 – Data Change Row Logging
  • 25:15 – Data Change Narrow Logging
  • 26:45 – Networking
  • 31:55 – Store and Forward
  • 37:30 – Disable Store and Forward
  • 40:15 – Update Records
  • 40:50 – Dynamic Server, Database, and Table
  • 41:10 – Automatic Deletion
  • 41:40 – CSV File Logging
  • 45:30 – Programmatic Interface
  • 46:45 – CSV Export / Import
  • 48:20 – One Click Automation
  • 52:20 – Transaction Logging
  • 54:25 – System Errors
  • 56:00 – Contact Us
  • 56:50 – Read Database Data