FactoryTalk A&E API or SDK

[sburns]

I have been looking around for an SDK or API for FactoryTalk.

I would like to be able to connect to FT and receive state changes about Device based alarms (ie. not tag based legacy alarms). My goal is to be as close to real-time as possible so I don't really want to monitor say a historian database.

Is there an API/SDK available for FT that can achieve this?

Thanks
Scott...

 

[danatomega]

You haven't said what you're going to connect with - a supervisory PC sounds like where you're headed, but you could also be wanting to use Raspberry PI, tablet, or ?? Programming language would also be of prime importance unless you are well versed in all languages / platforms ...

Factory Talk is also very vague - maybe supply us with CompactLogix, Contollogix, (some other CPU).

And I'm not sure that you're not trapped into using Tags (but I stand to be corrected) since those Logix platforms are tag based.

AdvancedHMI is potentially close to what you want:
http://www.advancedhmi.com/index.php?main_page=index
and it's FREE.

You could also get InGear drivers:
http://www.ingeardrivers.com/
That can connect you with VB6, C+, .NET - I think you can get a single use license for ~$300.

 

[sburns]

I guess I did leave out a few details. Development in C/C++/.Net (VB/C# etc.) (Visual Studio)
Windows (2K8/2K12) platform.

Goal is to sit on top of FT View SE and get notified when alarms are on/off/updated.

For example in GE CIMPLICITY we use the AlarmViewer API to monitor alarms for their tag (Point) style alarms. Each time a tag (Point) changes, matches the configured alarm rules, we are notified of say TANKLEVEL (HI) being generated. Once the tag falls back within the normal range we would be notified of TANKLEVEL alarm deleting and returning to normal state.

We currently do this in RSView32 as well monitoring via I think an OCX via a VB6 app that is launched on the project startup.

Our understanding is FT has two modes of alarms: tag alarms - traditional collected tags via OPC and business rules defined in FT as to what constitutes an alarm condition. Then there are Device alarms where the alarm definition in configured in the processor and FT is basically a conduit for viewing/reporting/logging these alarms.

We would like to run on top of FT and be able to subscribe or somehow be made aware of Device style alarms changing state.

 

[danatomega]

So, your goal is to 'get notified when alarms are on/off/updated' via what mechanism? Is the going to be a PC based app that does something? I assume that your FT View app is already notifying someone of the alarm?

If I was approaching this from scratch, and I was proposing to use a PC based app, I would use VB6 or .NET and the InGear OCX to connect to the PLC and monitor the tags of interest. I don't know of a way to mirror the alarm tags configured in FT View to avoid duplicating setting up alarms in FT View AND in the PC app.

 

[sburns]

That is exactly the goal.

Rather than have to interact with each PLC individually we would like this program to sit on top of the FT project and get notifications directly from FT. If someone has already gone to the effort of mapping all of those PLCs and device alarms into a FT project we would like to interact by sitting on top of that existing centralized "database" of alarms.

Ultimately browsing of the FT project for known device alarms would be desirable as well, again the goal is not having to interact with say 25 PLCs so that we can piggyback on the configuration effort already put into the FT project.

Reduction of parallel configuration is desirable so that if things change only the FT project needs updated.

As to the mechanism that is what we are looking for. Every other HMI/Scada we work with has an SDK or API that allows for alarm subscription or monitoring from an external application. Potentially browsing APIs also exist although we can usually work through browsing of known alarms on our own.

Thanks for your assistance.