Strange Problems when connect to HMI though OPC with PCo

[Former Member]

Hello

We install PCO on many workstation in our plant ,most are WinCC , one is Hollysys MACSV , most of PCO work fine with WinCC, but we found PCO could not get Tag Data from WinCC on 2 of WinCC workstations ,error message is "Tag not found " , we double check the tag name and be sure the name is correct ,and when we try to browse the tag using Alias of PCO , PCo will return a message box with "the browse request returned with error" ,we could not browse any tag/group in alias configuration .

if we use other OPC Client (http://downloadnew.org/company/s-chepurin/) , everything works fine ,we could add a Tag and get the correct value , that 's really confusing , is any config for PCO or WinCC for our scenario? and we also found same problem in MACSV DCS workstation , so we thought that maybe something with PCO self.

any comments is appreciated .

version PCO : 2.1.6 MII 12.2 , WinCC 6.1 with SQL Server on XP SP2

Larry Zhu

Edited by: larryzhu on Nov 24, 2011 3:59 AM

[Former Member]

Any Comments ? Thanks

[former_member196557]

For the PC's that cannot browse tags or retrieve a tag value:

1. OS Version and bit size

2. PCo Version

3. .Net Framework version

4. Did you install OPC Core Componenents Redistributuable V 105.1 prior to installing PCo?

5 Error number returned from Browe attempt (also look in Event Viewer as well)

6. Which OPC Specification is selected for the OPC Source Agent configuration?

7. is the user account which launches Management Console, is it an Admin account?

8. Confirm that all OPC connections are in-process, no DCOM connections attempted/

- Steve

[Former Member]

Hi Steve :

1. OS Version and bit size

WinXP SP2 32bit

2. PCo Version

We tried PCO 2.1 SP06 and PCO 2.1 SP01 with SP1 , no difference

3. .Net Framework version

3.5 SP1 as mentioned in notes 1575358

4. Did you install OPC Core Componenents Redistributuable V 105.1 prior to installing PCo?

Yes , OPC Core Components Redistributable (x86) 3. 105.1 installed .

5 Error number returned from Browe attempt (also look in Event Viewer as well)

No any log in event viewer.

6. Which OPC Specification is selected for the OPC Source Agent configuration?

We tried OPCserver.WinCC DA 2.05A and DA 3.0 , no difference .

7. is the user account which launches Management Console, is it an Admin account?

Yes , we use administrator

8. Confirm that all OPC connections are in-process, no DCOM connections attempted/

I am not sure what you mean ? we install PCo with WinCC on same machine , so I thought that PCO will not use DCOM .

From my point , really strange thing is if we use other OPC Client , for example Free Client form Chepurin , or MatrikonOPCExplorer , everything works fine, we could read tag value using tag name .

Thank you

[former_member196557]

1. What are the Configuration settings for the OPC Source Agent you are using?

2. What is the Tagname(s) you are trying to browse/read in PCo?

3. When trying to browse for tags from the Agent Instance Subscription Items tab-->Browse button, how far do you get before you get the error: can you send a screen shot of the error and/or the last windows that appeared without the error, and the exact text of the error message?

If other WinCC workstations and PCo workr correctly but others don't, there has to be a difference in versioning, setup of product, OS patch level, configuration, etc., between tese workstations and the other working stations. I have had browsing issues with other OPC Servers that don't fully implement the OPC Specification for browsing, but these always behave the same on any installation, not in the manner you are describing.

- Steve

[Former Member]

1. What are the Configuration settings for the OPC Source Agent you are using?

We only change the source system and Query Port(for MII), other config are default . 2. What is the Tagname(s) you are trying to browse/read in PCo?

Like : FPC_FGD_ABS1_AT8121.ACTUAL , FPC_FGD_CEMS_XT8375.ACTUAL, Using this name in other OPC Client works fine .

3. When trying to browse for tags from the Agent Instance Subscription Items tab-->Browse button, how far do you get before you get the error: can you send a screen shot of the error and/or the last windows that appeared without the error, and the exact text of the error message?

In Fact we try to browse tags in Alias configuration of Source System definition , we have not create agent yet , of course we also try to browse from Subscription after agent created , we get same error . I got the screenshot but I did not konw how to upload it . Error Message is "The Browse request returned with an error " , and it occur when I try expand the root node of WinCC Tags in tag browsing . we could not find any error log in event viewer and PCO . If we try to read tag by name in PCO Query of MII, we will get the following log in PCO Agent

COM error occurred. HResult 0xc0040007

at SAP.Manufacturing.Connectivity.Agents.Opc.Da3Browser.InternalQuery(Int32 maxElements, String filter, tagOPCBROWSEFILTER type, Boolean includeMetaData)

at SAP.Manufacturing.Connectivity.Agents.Opc.Da3Browser.Query(Int32 maxElements, String filter, Boolean includeMetaData)

at SAP.Manufacturing.Connectivity.Agents.Opc.Da.OpcDaAgent.RecursiveBrowse(List`1 nodes, DaBrowser browser, String currentLocation, String filter, Boolean firstOnly, String ParentPath, Int64 maxRows)

It's just same as wrong tag name inputing , but I am sure the tag name in PCO query is correct .

About other workstation , that's what I mean "strange" , we have more than 20 workstations running WinCC, only 2 of them got the error , but if I use other OPC client software in these 2 workstaion , everything works fine ,although we could not browse the tag , but reading tag is OK.

Thank you

[former_member196557]

1. Please check the PCo OPC Source Agent configuration on a working station and confirm that the settings (on the Settings tab) of that station and a failing station are identical.

2. The HResult 0xc0040007 error is because browsing is not working for the Source. Until browsing works you will not be able to use MII Tag Queries.

3. On an working PCo station, create a new OPC source agent instance and browse for tags from Agent Instance Subscription Items tab: Note the full path of the browse list and provide it in the format shown below. Select a tag, add it, and provide the value stored in the Source column for the selected tag.

Browse list format example (example is for KepServerEx OPC Server):

AddressRoot>ANDON>CLX--><LIST OF TAGS>.

Note: For the Kepware OPC Server tagname in PCo, the fully qualified tag name is ANDON.PLC.<TAGNAME>, where ANDON is the channel name, CLX is the device name. There should be at least one node below AddressRoot in the browse list for any browsable tags.

- Steve

[Former Member]

HI Steve:

Config for Agent are all same , we have checked many times. and I thought browing error happen with WinCC, not PCO, because when we use other OPC CLient like MatrikonOPCExplorer , tag browsing also return error . BUT reading tag value works fine , That confuse me , using same tag name in PCO , we will get "Tag Not Found" (HResult 0xc0040007 ), but in other OPCClient , it works! . we also try the full name of Tag ( I thought that's what you mean), no difference , but we use "/" as separator for path , we will try "." as you mentioned and give yo feedback later .

Thank you

[former_member196557]

Larry,

the '/' separator is only used in PCo and/or MII tag names for browsable tags. Try this:

In the Subscription Items tab of the Agent Instance, try this:

Click on Manual entry

Enter the Name you want to reference in PCo for the tag in the Name field

Enter the fully qualified tag name from the OPC Server list (get this from another workstation that has browsing working)

Click on OK.

Now reference the tag in the PCo Notification and see if it will work. This will still not allow MII to access the tag but will confirm that PCo can read the tag from the OPC Server.

Also, please post the fully qualified tag name including path so I can see it.

- Steve

[former_member196557]

So you are saying that you cannot browse tags with the other OPC Clients you have tried? This definitely points to an issue with WinCC and not PCo.

- Steve

[Former Member]

Hi Steve :

I am not sure about the full tag name you mentioned , on normal workstation , we use tag name just as same as the variable name in WinCC, as you know , Variable Name is unique in WinCC, so we just use that name in PCO Query ,and it works with PCo and other OPC client , We alse have 1 workstation running FIX32, so I know what you mean ,but in WinCC tag nams is just the variable name , we did not need the full path . and you said problem points to WinCC not PCO ,but if I use other OPC Client with same tag name , reading value works fine , so I thought that's sth wrong with PCO , at last we just want read value from WinCC , and who care the browsing function is OK or not .

You mean if browsing functoin is NG , then PCo could not read value from OPC Server?

Thank you

Edited by: larryzhu on Dec 1, 2011 2:22 AM

[former_member196557]

Hi Larry,

If you manually add tags to the Subscription Items for an Agent Instance it does not attempt to browse, it attempt to read that tag using the specified tag name. When you start the Agent Instance there should be a (Verbose) log entry in the Log that indicates that the tag was successfully added to the subscription group. If you get this message, PCo was able to connect to the OPC server and get the tag information to be notified when the tag's value changes. It there is an error when trying to subscribe to the tag, it means that either the tag name is incorrect or there is some issue between PCo and the OPC Server.

Here are the settings I use for the OPC Source Agents I have configured:

Acquisition Mode: Synchronous

Read Source: OPC Server

Force Flat Namespace: False

Synchronous Read Source: Device

Acceptable Data Quality: Good

Activate Items: Both

Update Rate: as required for the process (typically 0.5 to 1 second)

<rest of the settings are defaults>

One other thing to check for browsing: Make sure the OPCEnum service is running and is set up to start automatically on the workstation.

- Steve

[Former Member]

HI Steve :

we have solved the problem , we use the tagname like SIMATIC S7 PROTOCOL SUITE/TCP/IP/FGD/SO2ZHESUAN , it works , but it's not the full path of TAGNAME , only part of it .. still wonder why simple tagname works in other OPC Client.

Thank you for your kindly help

Best regards

Larry