CyBro OPC

Data Access Server

User Manual
rev. 23
(applies to CyBro OPC v2.4.0 and later)

© 2007 Cybrotech Ltd

Cybrotech Ltd
14 Brinell Way, Harfreys Industrial Estate
Great Yarmouth, Norfolk, Nr31 0LU - UK
tel: +44 1414 161884
www.cybrotech.co.uk
[email protected]
 Index

Index
Index ..........................................................................................................................................................1
General ......................................................................................................................................................2
Installation ..................................................................................................................................................2
Configuration ..............................................................................................................................................3
Activation code ...........................................................................................................................................3
Toolbar .......................................................................................................................................................4
Network monitor .........................................................................................................................................5
PLC status ......................................................................................................................................5
Tag status .......................................................................................................................................5
Communication ...............................................................................................................................5
Socket .............................................................................................................................................6
Communication ..........................................................................................................................................7
Master/slave....................................................................................................................................7
Process priority ...............................................................................................................................7
Port status.......................................................................................................................................8
Port sharing.....................................................................................................................................8
Tag quality..................................................................................................................................................9
System tags.............................................................................................................................................. 10
OPC system tags .......................................................................................................................... 10
CyBro system tags ........................................................................................................................ 11
Keyboard shortcuts .................................................................................................................................. 13
Technical Specifications ........................................................................................................................... 14

1
 General

General
OPC stands for "OLE for Process Control". It is a specification standardized by OPC foundation
(www.opcfoundation.org) which enables OPC client applications to access hardware specific data via OPC
servers in a common, well defined way.

CyBro OPC Data Access Server enables OPC clients (SCADA/HMI or other) to connect to CyBro PLCs, using
A-bus protocol. OPC client may read or write any location from the complete memory space.

Installation
To install CyBro OPC Server, start the installation archive and follow the instructions. Recommended install
directory is C:\Program Files\CyBro OPC Server.

Installation does the following:

• unpacks CyBro OPC files into specified directory

• creates start menu group and icons
• registers OPC server

Note: Installation and setup should be performed with administrator privileges, otherwise OPC server will not
function properly.

CyBro OPC Server may be installed on MS Windows 2000 or MS Windows XP. Recommended is MS
Windows 2000 with the latest available service pack.

Installation occupies approximately 3Mb of disk space. RAM usage depends on number of connected PLCs,
number of clients, and number of monitored variables, and in case of large network may be significant.

To upgrade CyBro OPC, install new release into the same directory, without uninstalling previous version.
User settings will be preserved. Before upgrading, close related SCADA and shut down OPC server.

To uninstall CyBro OPC, start Control Panel,

Panel Add/Remove Programs,
Programs select CyBro OPC and press
Add/Remove button.

2
 Configuration

Configuration
CyBro OPC is configured using the allocation file (.alc), generated by CyPro.

If project file (.cyp) with the same name exists in same directory, CyBro OPC will use it to read socket
configuration and master/slave configuration. Project file is optional, CyBro OPC is functional without it, but in
that case network monitor is not fully functional (no socket data is available), and master/slave configuration
can not be automatically determined.

If allocation file is changed, CyBro OPC will automatically update configuration.

Configuration is saved automatically.

Activation code
To use CyBro OPC Server, proper activation code should be entered. Activation code may be obtained from
your local distributor.

According to application size, activation code may be:

• small up to 100 tags

• medium up to 1000 tags
• large unlimited number of tags

Depending on distributor, only a "large" licence may be available.

Without the activation code, or when the number of used tags is greater than allowed number of tags, CyBro
OPC server will work two hours, and then the warning message will pop up and server will stop. Period of two
hours begins when the number of used tags becomes greater than allowed. Restarting the OPC server will
provide another two hours. The number of cycles is not limited.

Using the OPC server with 10 or less tags is free, no activation code is needed.

Without the activation code, CyBro OPC server may be used for development/testing purpose only.

3
 Toolbar

Toolbar

Connect Open communication port and connect to A-bus network.

Add project Add CyPro project (cyp) to project tree. Although a single project file may enclose
all PLC's in network, it is possible to open more than one project. If project contains PLC's that are not
currently available, network update time will be considerably increased.

New monitor Create and open a new monitor list. List may contain any number of PLC or
system tags. Monitor is an OPC client. When selected, read request is sent to OPC server periodically every
300ms. When monitor is not selected, no requests are sent, so network performances are not affected.

Add to monitor Add selected (one or more) tags to a current monitor. Current monitor is the last
opened one. Current monitor is indicated by a star symbol (i.e. Monitor3*).

Refresh tag Refresh (one or more) selected tags. Tags will be refreshed in first available
communication cycle. Refresh is performed by setting a read request ( ) to selected tag(s), so the actual
response time depends on a number of connected clients and a number of pending requests.

Refresh PLC Refresh all tags of selected PLC.

Set value Set value of selected (one or more) tags. Value will be written in next available
communication cycle. Refresh is performed by setting a write request ( ) to selected tag(s), so the actual
response time depends on a number of connected clients and a number of pending requests.

Tag color Change a color of selected (one or more) tags. Tag has the same color in PLC
and monitor view.

Move tag up Move tag up.

Move tag down Move tag down.

4
 Network monitor

Network monitor
Project tree on the leftmost pane may be used as a very effective monitor of network traffic. Network activity is
showed in real time, using animated icons, so the network state is visible at a glance.

PLC status

Active CyBro is active and there are no communication errors.

Inactive CyBro is inactive, there is no communication. For more details, check PLC system
tag Sys.ComStatus.

SCADA request Indicates that OPC client (SCADA) put a request to read/write one or more PLC
tags.

Tag status

Reading Read request is pending. Tag will be updated in next available communication
cycle.

Writing Write request is pending. Tag will be written in next available communication
cycle. Tag quality becomes LOCAL_OVERRIDE until next read cycle is performed.

Idle No requests are pending, tag will be refreshed in next background refresh cycle. If
communication is busy because of SCADA requests, background refresh is not
available, and idle tags are not updated (tag quality drops to LAST_KNOWN).

Communication

Reading Indicates a data read cycle. Two devices are always activated at (almost) the
same time, first one sending the read request, and second one responding with requested data. If only one
indicator appears, no response is detected.

Writing Indicates a data write cycle. Two devices are always activated at (almost) the
same time, first one sending write request and data, and second one sending the acknowledge. If only one
indicator appears, no response is detected.

Master Indicates network master activity. Indicator appears when master actually send
permission-to-send command (SEND_PERM). No indicator shown means no master is active, network is
dead. Two or more indicators means more than one master is trying to communicate, so the network is not
properly configured.

Token Indicates PLC which received permission-to-send command. It is a pair with

Master, and appears at the same time.

5
 Network monitor

Socket

Transmit/receive Indicate socket activity. At the moment when socket is sent, both output and input
sockets flicker at the same time.

Inactive Indicates inactive socket. In case of output socket, CyBro does not have
permission (Token) to send the socket. In case of input socket error is somewhere else: no matching output
socket or the socket is not sending.

Error Indicates that socket sent on the network does not match. Testing is performed
only for size; data type and order are not checked.

6
 Communication

Communication
Master/slave
CyBro OPC server may be either network slave or network master.

By default, master/slave configuration is determined automatically - OPC is master when all CyBro's are
slaves. Auto mode works only if project (cyp) file is available. Otherwise auto mode should be turned off, and
configuration should be selected manually.

Note: CyBro OPC master is usable only when data is exchanged exclusively between OPC and CyBro, and
there is no communication between CyBro's (there are no declared sockets). If project contains at least one
socket, network master should be CyBro.

Process priority
Weather OPC is master or slave, it performs three different communication processes:

• write process (request to write data to PLC)

• read process (request to read data from PLC)
• background refresh (when no request is pending, refresh all tags)

Write process has top priority, read process is below, and background refresh has lowest priority.

Read and write processes are initiated by OPC client requests (SCADA). If there are no read/write requests,
only a background refresh is active. If read/write requests from SCADA are very frequent, background refresh
will be stopped.

CyBro OPC data monitor is in essentially an OPC client.

7
 Communication

Port status
Cable indicator icon on the status bar displays the status of the communication port:

Can't open communication port. The reason may be a wrong port number, or the port may already
be used by another application.

Communication port is open, but the cable is not detected. The reason may be a wrong port
number, or bad communication cable. Connect cable to another DB-9 connector, or use another
cable.

Communication port open successfully and CyBro cable is connected to the port. If communication
is not working, check network master settings.

Port sharing
CyBro network is connected to PC using serial port. Unlike USB or Ethernet, serial port can not be shared
among applications, only one application at the time can open the port.

To overcoming the problem, CyBro OPC and CyPro employ a special protocol to take over the communication
port. When performs any communication command in CyPro, it will take over the port. Port will not be returned
automatically - user needs to return back to CyBro OPC and manually connect to network.

Both applications have the same keyboard shortcut (Ctrl-D) to connect/disconnect the network.

8
 Tag quality

Tag quality
According to OPC specification, each tag has value and quality.
quality

Value is an actual tag value, quantity.

Range of possible values depends on tag type (bit, integer, long, real).

Quality is a property independent of value, and specifies how reliable the actual value is. Quality depends on
how and when the value is obtained. When communication is uninterrupted, quality is always "Good". If
communication channel is broken, quality first become "Uncertain", then "Bad".

A range of possible qualities is defined by OPC specification. There are three main categories, "Good",
"Uncertain" and "Bad. Each category can contain additional info field, which may give a more detailed
explanation about the problem cause.

CyBro OPC server implements the following qualities:

Good .............................................. Value is updated regularly.

Good, local override ....................... Value is locally overridden, using function "Set Value". Tag status is red
(pending to write). After the write command is completed, status becomes
green (reading) or gray (idle). When tag value is updated next time, quality
changes back to "Good".

Uncertain, last usable..................... First timeout, last updated value is 5 to 10 seconds old. Possible reason
may be a slower network update time, or some communication errors. This
is just a warning, not an error.

Bad................................................. Value is unusable, no successful read was performed since OPC server
started.
Bad, last known .............................. Second timeout, last updated value is more that 10 seconds old.
Communication is broken, so the value is not reliable any more.
Bad, out of service.......................... Activation code expired. More tags than allowed by license is used,
development timeout (2 hours) expired.

To adjust "Uncertain" and "Bad" timeouts, open Settings,

Settings tab Advanced.
Advanced

9
 System tags

System tags
System tags are virtual tags created and handled by OPC server. Their purpose is to show information about
OPC server/client and the network.

Two kinds of system tags are available - those belonging to OPC itself, and those belonging to each PLC.

Value of a system tag can not be changed by user, but there is a command, "Reset sys counters", which
resets values of all system tags. It is not possible to reset a single tag.

OPC system tags

ServerStartedAt.............................. Time and date when OPC server is started.
ServerUptime ................................. Time elapsed since OPC server is started.
LicenseType ................................... License type: "not licensed" (<10 tags), "small" (<100 tags), "medium"
(<1000 tags) and "large" (unlimited number of tags).
LicenseStatus................................. License status: "ok", "30 min left", "expired".
TagLimit ......................................... Total number of monitored tags allowed by given license.
ClientsConnected ........................... Number of connected OPC clients.
MonitoredTags ............................... Total number of tags monitored by all connected OPC clients.
ProjectCount................................... Number of loaded CyPro projects.
PlcCount......................................... Total number of PLC's in all loaded projects.
ComStatus ..................................... Communication status: "disconnected", "ok", "idle (no tags)", "error: can't
open COM port", "error: no communication", "error: master running, but no
requests to OPC", "error: some PLCs are ok, some are not responding",
"error: no PLC is responding".
ComReceiveCount ......................... Total number of good communication messages received.
ComTransmitCount ........................ Total number of communication messages sent.
ComErrorCount .............................. Total number of communication errors (including timeouts, bad messages
and negative acknowledges).
LastReceivedAt .............................. Timestamp of last good communication message received.
LastReceivedNad ........................... Device from which last good communication message is received.
LastResponseTime ........................ Response time of last good communication cycle.
MaximumResponseTime................ Maximum response time encountered.
MaximumResponseTimeAt ............ Timestamp when maximum response time is encountered.
MaximumResponseTimeNad ......... Device for which maximum response time is encountered.
ComTimeoutCount ......................... Total number of communication timeouts.
LastTimeoutAt ................................ Timestamp of last detected OPC communication timeout.
LastTimeoutNad ............................. Last device that caused communication timeout.
BadMessageCount......................... Total number of bad communication messages received.
LastBadMessageAt ........................ Timestamp of last detected bad communication message.
LastBadMessageNad ..................... Last device from which bad communication message is received.
NegativeAckCount.......................... Total number of negative acknowledges received.
LastNegativeAckAt ......................... Timestamp of last detected negative acknowledge.
LastNegativeAckNad...................... Last device from which negative acknowledge is received.
TagsToRead .................................. Total number of tags waiting to be read (excluding background refresh).
TagsToWrite................................... Total number of tags waiting to be written.

10
 System tags

ReadCount ..................................... Number of OPC read cycles (excluding background refresh).

LastReadAt..................................... Timestamp of last succesfull OPC read (excluding background refresh).
LastReadNad ................................. PLC accessed in last successfull OPC read (excluding background
refresh).
ReadErrorCount ............................. Number of OPC read errors (excluding background refresh).
WriteCount ..................................... Number of OPC write cycles.
LastWriteAt..................................... Timestamp of last succesfull OPC write.
LastWriteNad.................................. PLC accessed in last successfull OPC write.
WriteErrorCount ............................. Number of OPC write errors.
BackgroundRefreshCount .............. Number of OPC background refresh cycles.
LastBackgroundRefreshAt.............. Timestamp of last succesfull OPC background refresh.
LastBackgroundRefreshNad .......... PLC accessed in last succesfull OPC background refresh.
BackgroundRefreshErrorCount ...... Number of OPC background refresh errors.
LastBackgroundRefreshCycle ........ Cycle time to background refresh all tags of all PLC's.
MasterNad...................................... Master NAD.
MasterRequestCount ..................... Number of requests sent from master to any device in the network.
MasterToOpcRequestCount........... Number of requests sent from network master to OPC.
LastMasterCycle............................. Time between last two requests sent from network master to any PLC.
LastMasterToOpcCycle .................. Time between last two requests sent from network master to OPC server.
LastNetworkSlaveNad .................... Last device accessed by network master.
NetworkResponseCount................. Total number of responses sent to network master.
LastNetworkResponseAt ................ Timestamp of last response to network master.
LastNetworkResponseNad............. Last device responsed to network master.
NetworkSocketCount...................... Total number of sockets sent in the network.
LastNetworkSocketAt ..................... Timestamp of last socket sent.
LastNetworkSocketNad .................. Last device which sent a socket.
TimeSinceLastMasterRequest ....... Time since last request from master received.
TimeSinceLastMasterActivity ......... Time since last communication activity detected.

CyBro system tags

NAD................................................ Actual CyBro network address (may be NAD or NAD alias).
TimedOut ....................................... True if CyBro is not responding to communication requests.
Master ............................................ True if CyBro is network master, false otherwise.
ComStatus ..................................... Communication status: "ok", "disconected", "idle (no tags)", "error: can't
open COM port", "error: no communication", "error: master running, but no
requests to OPC", "error: PLC is not responding".
IPAddress....................................... Current IP address of connected CyBro (Ethernet only).
ComReceiveCount ......................... Total number of good communication messages received from this PLC.
ComTransmitCount ........................ Total number of communication messages sent to this PLC.
ComErrorCount .............................. Total number of communication errors from this PLC (including timeouts,
bad messages and negative acknowledges).
LastReceivedAt .............................. Timestamp of last good communication message received.
LastResponseTime ........................ Response time of last good communication cycle.

11
 System tags

MaximumResponseTime................ Maximum response time encountered.

MaximumResponseTimeAt ............ Timestamp when maximum response time is encountered.
ComTimeoutCount ......................... Total number of communication timeouts.
LastTimeoutAt ................................ Timestamp of last detected OPC communication timeout.
BadMessageCount......................... Total number of invalid communication messages received.
LastBadMessageAt ........................ Timestamp of last detected invalid communication message.
NegativeAckCount.......................... Total number of negative acknowledges received.
LastNegativeAckAt ......................... Timestamp of last detected negative acknowledge.
TagsToRead .................................. Number of tags waiting to be read (excluding background refresh).
TagsToWrite................................... Number of tags waiting to be written.
ReadCount ..................................... Number of read cycles (excluding background refresh).
ReadErrorCount ............................. Number of read errors (excluding background refresh).
WriteCount ..................................... Number of write cycles.
WriteErrorCount ............................. Number of write errors.
BackgroundRefreshCount .............. Number of background refresh cycles.
BackgroundRefreshErrorCount ...... Number of background refresh errors.
MonitoredTags ............................... Total number of tags monitored by all connected OPC clients.
SystemStatus ................................. System status: "loader", "kernel".
PLCStatus ...................................... PLC status: "stop", "pause", "run", "error".

12
 Keyboard shortcuts

Keyboard shortcuts

Ctrl-O................................... Add project

Ctrl-N................................... New monitor
Ctrl-F4 ................................. Close monitor

Ctrl-A ................................... Select all tags

Ctrl-M .................................. Add selected tag(s) to monitor
Delete.................................. Remove selected tag(s) from monitor

Ctrl-D................................... Connect/disconnect

Tab ...................................... Select active window (project tree or tag list)

Up/Down.............................. Move selection up/down

Enter.................................... Set tag(s) value

Space .................................. Toggle tag(s) value (bit only)
Ctrl-Up/Down....................... Move selected tag(s) up/down

F9 ........................................ Refresh selected tag(s)

F10 ...................................... Refresh all PLC tags
F11 ...................................... Refresh all currently visible tags

F5 ........................................ Settings

Alt-F4................................... Close OPC window

Ctrl-Alt-F4............................ Shutdown OPC server

13
 Technical Specifications

Technical Specifications
OPC Server ID: .............................. CyProOPC.DA2
Supported OPC versions:............... 1.0, 1.0a and 2.0
Supported PLCs: ............................ CyBro-1: CyPro v1.9.0
CyBro-2: CyPro v2.4.0 and above
Communication: ............................. Serial (RS232/485, 19200, N, 8, 1), Ethernet/LAN, Ethernet/WAN
Communication protocol:................ A-bus
Used A-bus commands: ................. RD_DATA, WR_DATA, RD_RANDOM, WR_RANDOM, RD_STATUS

14