Wonderware Intouch Access Name Configuration

Hello there,

I am looking for some information on configuration of Access, Node, Application and Topic name configuration. I went through the Intouch help manuals but those are not that informative.

I can easily configure it for Intouch to RSlinx but what about other third party vendors like Siemens S7 300, DeltaV or Yokogawa Centum ? Do we need to find DDEserver, creat DDEshare for them?

How to connect Intouch with an OPC servers?

Lastly as we load specific drivers in iFix, is there any similar analogy for winderware?

I will appreciate if anyone has further insight in the matter regarding Suitlink, DDE and OPC protocols?


Regards.

I replied last week to someone about the Access Name configuration, that post can be found Right Here

To connect to an OPC Server, use the Wonderware OPC Client as the I/O Server, and run your individual OPC Servers as needed. Some servers support full browsing of the topics/points, some do not.

As for specific drivers, well, you need one for every different device you want to talk to, though some drivers, such as RSLinx, can talk to multiple devices, and TopServer (mentioned in my other post) is like a 'Shell' that can incorporate many different device drivers under one application.

As for the protocols, DDE is still functional, but old, and not the choice for new applications. It is not very smart, and more importantly (nowadays) doesn't provide for any kind of data-quality information, or timestamping. It is however, the simplest protocol to use if you are writing your own driver. (I still use DDE for quick and dirty driver development).

OPC, which is actually "OLE for Process Controls" is a much more flexible and robust communications method, and depending on the driver and hardware, can be split across platforms. I don't know of any yet, but technically, a device could have an embedded OPC server built in. OLE is much easier to use across networks as well.

SuiteLink, while I know the term, and have selected it in WonderWare applications, seems to be not so much of a protocol, as a way of having SuiteLink capable servers package data and schedule I/O reads/writes between Wonderware applications. If the servers support it, and you are using WonderWare, then definately choose SuiteLink in the access names box. It is not the same as WonderWares older 'FastDDE', but seems to perform the same function.

I hope that helps some.