Rockwell Historian SE 4.00.01 and MS SQL Server Express

martinshaw

Member
Join Date
Jan 2013
Location
Rotherham UK
Posts
24
Hi
Really quick question.
Rockwell Historian SE 4.00.01 has MS SQL Server Express behind it. In a previous life, using Wonderware InSQL Historian, I remember being able to access the SQL database behind the application directly (AnalogHistory, DiscreteHistory, etc tables) using different database administration tools, Toad being one of them. Its this possible with Rockwell's Historian and does anybody know what the database configuration is in terms of tables and relationships?
I should point out that the Rockwell Historian is due to arrive on site in a couple of months so I want to get a bit of background information before hand.
Thanks
Martin
 
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The actual data is not stored in SQL w/ FactoryTalk Historian. It is stored in flat files.

If you want to access the historical data using OLEDB/ODBC style connectivity you'll be wanting to purchase and install the Advanced Server option.

The SQL stores the Asset Framework configuration and other things however, I can probably dump the schema of mine if you are curious.
 
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Hi Dravik
Thanks for the reply.
From memory, Wonderware InSQL was also in flat files but if you used a standard query tool (for example Toad for SQL Server), you could get to the data. but only historic, not live. I must say though, its over 10 years since I played with that technology so I could have been mistaken.
I would be interested in your offer of a schema though. I am definitely curious.
Just as thought, if you login to the SQL Server database behind your Rockwell historian, what tables do you see?
Martin.
 
Any of the MS SQLs databases associated with FactoryTalk products (including FTHSE) are locked-up and available exclusively to the Rockwell application install which they are related to; one cannot 'look-up' the SQL files since there are no available 'SQL Manager" type tools.

In fact, the SQL installed by FTHSE does not contain any 'historical' data since any implemented FTHSE databases are PI (Time-Series) containers as opposed to SQL-relational type ones.

FTVantage-Point and/or FTView SE (the Historian 'front-end") use the FTHSE SQL for Historian SE database connectivity.
 
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I know this thread has been dormant for a while but I have a few more questions and observations.

We got FT Historian SE installed in August last year (2017) and its been happily sat there collection data from various PLC's and SCADA's around site. Yesterday was the first time we have tried to use it to view the data and it proved a little disappointing.

I was wanting to simply look at historical data for 10 items over a specific time period of three hours on a specific day and create a graph of the results. I used the PI DataLink excel addin to query the historian data and found that although the wizard looked like it would accept multiple items to select, it would only select one. And then I had to create the graph manually.

I then tried the PI System Management tool to export to CSV (and then to excel and create the graph manually), and although it looked like it had selected multiple items, it grouped them all together and there was no way to separate them.

Is it really the case that in order to display the collected data in some meaningful way, I have to create trend on a scada screen through FTView or use FTVantage-Point? Maybe I'm missing something?
 
Any of the MS SQLs databases associated with FactoryTalk products (including FTHSE) are locked-up and available exclusively to the Rockwell application install which they are related to; one cannot 'look-up' the SQL files since there are no available 'SQL Manager" type tools.

In fact, the SQL installed by FTHSE does not contain any 'historical' data since any implemented FTHSE databases are PI (Time-Series) containers as opposed to SQL-relational type ones.

FTVantage-Point and/or FTView SE (the Historian 'front-end") use the FTHSE SQL for Historian SE database connectivity.

Not totally correct, imho. Or i understood you wrong, then im sorry.
I use the standard Datalog from FTVSE, and log the data into a MS SQL (express). Then i use DreamReport to get the data out of the SQL database for further use, print reports and trends.

here is the screenshot in higher resolution: https://ibb.co/er4qMH

datalog.jpg
 
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Update on the whole historian / excel question

Yesterday, I spoke to Rockwell and they confirmed that to query the historian as a relational database, I need to purchase the Advanced Server Options as Dravik suggested. As money is tight, I looked at a demo of XLReporter.

It does exactly what I want. I connects directly to the historian using ODBC and I can pick multiple tags across a specified time period and display the data, either tabulated or graphically. It looks like its a fraction of the cost of the Advanced Server Options too so it looks like this might be the way to go for my particular requirements.
 
Does Metabase work on windows OS and connect to Rockwell historian? Looking through the user guide, it looks like it will only connect to a regular database and not a historian?
 
Not totally correct, imho. Or i understood you wrong, then im sorry.
I use the standard Datalog from FTVSE, and log the data into a MS SQL (express). Then i use DreamReport to get the data out of the SQL database for further use, print reports and trends.

here is the screenshot in higher resolution: https://ibb.co/er4qMH

This is what we use, it is by far the easiest and less messy way. The less you introduce factorytalk into things, the better and more robust the data collection is IMO.
 

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