FactoryTalk View 8.0 and MySQL

[lbrockma]

Gents (and Ladies)

working on a FTView 8.0 system upgrade from an old RSView SE machine (3.2?, might have been 4.0).

The old project was using XLReporter and RSLinx Classic OEM to gather data from the PLC for reporting.

It appears that XLReporter will no longer look "Classic" data log files (as in, it won't look at data from the proprietary files FTView will create if you log to a file set -- it will only grab historical data from an ODBC). Not typically an issue, but if the work book is open or something along those lines, you lose your data for the day. And since you're looking at PLC registers and not archived data, when you miss it, you miss it.

Ergo, I want to migrate the data logging to a database. I've done this before, and quite easily, to MS SQL Server. But you have to have the paid for version (not SQL Server Express instance) or you're limited to a DB size of 10 GB. My budget doesn't allow another $900 purchase. Enter, MySQL.

I currently have the data logs logging data to the database tables as I desire; however you cannot use the create tables function from the data log setup. It won't automate this process, so you have to build the tables and columns manually (based, off course, off the manuals recommendations for variable data type and length). -- I know this seem likes a random out of place thought, but bear with me.

The real issue I'm running into is on my trends. When I play a trend, the pens won't populate with data from the database. they will only populate with real time data. I don't get any errors in the docking station.

I'm certain that somewhere in VBA the trend executes a call / function that must run an automated SQL Query script. I just can' tseem to find it. i'm wondering if the syntax in that is off because i've jumped to a mysql database? But I can't seem to navigate behind the scenes to see where this happening (somewhere the trend must be pulling in its span as a variable, and then running a select query against the database for column tagname when date and time is between the span beginning and end???).

Has anyone successfully trended data from mysql into a FTView trend before? Am I missing something easy? Scratching my head for the better part of the day on this.

Thanks for any help community.

 

[dmargineau]

I am really taking a shot in the dark here, but I am afraid MySQL will not be able to do within your setup.
I have used said database in Ignition SCADA applications and it worked like a charm; much better than the mainstream Microsoft SQL/SQLExpress, however, let's first look to what's given in your system.
FTVSE is a Microsoft SQLServer since Rev.6.1; it is locked up (you cannot script query out of it), however, I am pretty sure all the FTV features are Rockwell proprietary and "invisible" queries after all.
Next, VB also is a Microsoft product and most likely its functional (not user) code seamlessly relates to the FTV SQLServer related one.
The FTV SQLServer structure was created by FTVSE application thus the FTV Trend ("built-in" query) has no problem accessing the data while the VB shell could redefine the Trend Tool query at any time.
Now, at least in my experience, relational databases structures could be automatically accessed and/or redefined only by the application which created them; your intended database (MySQL) will be a "manual" Import/Restore hence FTV native features will probably not be able to be deployed as you would within a MS SQL environment.

My two cents...