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XMLInterface to the PI System

Version 1.2.0.0Rev C

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Table of Contents

Introduction....................................................................................................................1Reference Manuals......................................................................................................1

Supported Features......................................................................................................2

Diagram of Hardware Connection................................................................................4

Principles of Operation.................................................................................................7

Installation Checklist.....................................................................................................9

Interface Installation....................................................................................................11Naming Conventions and Requirements....................................................................11

Interface Directories...................................................................................................11

The PIHOME Directory Tree...................................................................................11

Interface Installation Directory................................................................................12

Interface Installation Procedure..................................................................................12

Installing the Interface as an NT Service....................................................................12

Installing the Interface Service with PI-Interface Configuration Utility....................13

Installing the Interface Service Manually................................................................14

PI-XMLTool...................................................................................................................17

Digital States................................................................................................................19

PointSource..................................................................................................................21

PI Point Configuration.................................................................................................23Point Attributes...........................................................................................................23

Tag.........................................................................................................................23

PointSource............................................................................................................23

PointType...............................................................................................................23

Location1................................................................................................................23

Location2................................................................................................................23

Location3................................................................................................................23

Location4................................................................................................................24

Location5................................................................................................................24

XML Interface to the PI System iii

InstrumentTag........................................................................................................24

ExDesc...................................................................................................................24

Scan.......................................................................................................................24

Exception Processing.................................................................................................25

Shutdown................................................................................................................25

Output Points..............................................................................................................26

Trigger Method 1 (Recommended).........................................................................26

Trigger Method 2....................................................................................................26

Performance Point Configuration...............................................................................27Configuring Performance Points with PI-ICU (NT-Intel).............................................27

Configuring Performance Points Manually.................................................................28

I/O Rate Tag Configuration..........................................................................................29Monitoring I/O Rates on the Interface Node...............................................................29

Configuring I/O Rate Tags with PI-ICU (NT-Intel).......................................................29

Configuring I/O Rate Tags Manually..........................................................................30

Configuring the PI Point on the PI Server...............................................................30

Configuration on the Interface Node.......................................................................31

Startup Command File.................................................................................................33Configuring the Interface with PI-ICU.........................................................................33

XML Interface Tab..................................................................................................35

Command-line Parameters.........................................................................................39

Sample PIXML.bat File...............................................................................................44

Interface Node Clock...................................................................................................49

Security.........................................................................................................................51

Starting / Stopping the Interface.................................................................................53Starting Interface as a Service...................................................................................53

Stopping Interface Running as a Service...................................................................53

Buffering.......................................................................................................................55Configuring Buffering with PI-ICU (NT-Intel)...............................................................55

Configuring Buffering Manually..................................................................................58

Example piclient.ini File..............................................................................................59

Appendix A: Error and Informational Messages.......................................................61Message Logs............................................................................................................61

XML Interface to the PI System iv

Messages...................................................................................................................61

System Errors and PI Errors.......................................................................................63

Appendix B: Debugging..............................................................................................65

Appendix C: Current Plug-ins.....................................................................................67FileReader..................................................................................................................67

HTTP..........................................................................................................................67

OPC............................................................................................................................67

WITSML.....................................................................................................................67

Revision History.............................................................................................................69

XML Interface to the PI System v

IntroductionThe PI-XML Interface is an XML custom interface to OSIsoft’s PI system. Extensible Markup Language (XML) is a text-based markup language, derived from SGML that provides a mechanism for describing and exchanging structured information. Unlike HTML, it does not have a fixed format, but rather is an extensible language for designing customized markup languages. XML has the flexibility that allows for the development of user-defined document types, while providing a robust, non-proprietary, and verifiable file format for the storage and communication of data on or off the web.

Since data can be described by a large variety of customized XML documents, a standard specification needs to be used in order to facilitate communication to OSIsoft’s Plant Information (PI) system. The OPC (OLE for Process Control) Foundation has defined an OPC XML-DA standard that adopts XML to facilitate the exchange of plant data across the internet into the enterprise domain. Previous standards defined by the OPC Foundation, such as interfaces to Data Access Servers, Event Servers, etc., have communicated via Microsoft COM interfaces or through OLE Automation. The rapid adoption of previous OPC standards makes the OPC-XML-DA specification a suitable XML standard to use. However, the design of the PI-XML interface allows for the development of custom plug-in DLLs that can be used to process and transform XML documents that do not conform to the OPC XML-DA specification using various methods of transport. See Appendix C: Current Plug-ins for a list of the available plug-ins.

Due to the variety of data sources that can be used with this interface through the use of plug-in DLLs, this document will define the data source as an “XML server” to which the interface will establish a connection.

The interface is supported on Windows NT Service Pack 6 or higher, Windows 2000, or Windows XP. It requires both the PI-API and the PI-SDK.

Reference Manuals

OSIsoft PI Server manuals

PI-API manual

UniInt End User Document

Vendor Extensible Markup Language (XML) 1.0 (Second Edition)

OPC XML-DA specification (version 1.0)

XML Interface to the PI System 1

Supported FeaturesFeature Support

Part Number PI-IN-OS-XML

Platforms NTI (4 SP 6, 2000, XP)

APS Connector No

Point Builder Utility No

ICU Control Yes

PI Point Types Float16 / Float32 / Float64 / Int16 / Int32 / Digital / String

Sub-second Timestamps Yes

Sub-second Scan Classes Yes

Automatically Incorporates PI Point Attribute Changes

Yes

* Exception Reporting* Yes

Outputs from PI Yes

Inputs to PI: Scan-based / Unsolicited / Event Tags

Scan-based

Maximum Point Count 2000 per scan class

Uses PI-SDK Yes

PINet to PI 3 String Support N/A

* Source of Timestamps XML server / PI Server

History Recovery Yes; XML Server dependent

Failover No

* UniInt-based Yes

Vendor Software Required on PI-API / PINet Node

No

* Vendor Software Required on Foreign Device

Yes

Vendor Hardware Required No

* Additional PI Software Included with Interface

Yes

Device Point Types No

* See paragraphs below for further explanation.

Exception ReportingFor the default PIXML_OPC plug-in, the PI-XML Interface handles exception reporting if the /sn command-line option is NOT specified. If it is specified, the interface will request that the XML server does the exception reporting by using the


ExcDev attribute for each tag. If the ExcDev attribute is set to 0, then neither the interface nor the XML server will do any exception reporting. Additionally, /returnallitems can be used to force the XML server to return data after each scan. Other plug-ins may exhibit different behavior and the corresponding manual should be consulted.

Source of TimestampsThe interface uses timestamps from the XML server, but if the /TS option is specified, local timestamps are used. For timestamps supplied by the XML server, the interface calculates the offset between the PI server and XML server and then applies that correction to timestamps received from the XML server.

UniInt-basedUniInt stands for Universal Interface. UniInt is not a separate product or file; it is an OSIsoft-developed template used by our developers, and is integrated into many interfaces, such as the PI-XML interface. The purpose of UniInt is to keep a consistent feature set and behavior across as many of our interfaces as possible. It also allows for the very rapid development of new interfaces. In any UniInt-based interface, the interface uses some of the UniInt-supplied configuration parameters and some interface-specific parameters. UniInt is constantly being upgraded with new options and features.

The UniInt End User Document is a supplement to this manual.

Vendor Software RequiredThe XML Server may run on the same system as the interface, or it may run on another system.

Additional PI SoftwareThe PI-XMLTool is an OSIsoft product that ships with the interface and assists in configuring and troubleshooting the interface.


Introduction

Diagram of Hardware Connection

Configuration 1: Preferred ConfigurationThis configuration allows for data buffering on the interface node.

PI ServerWindows NT

TCP/IP

XML Server

PI-API-NTIWindows NT

PI-SDK-NTIWindows NT

PI-IN-OS-XMLWindows NT

Machine # 1

Machine # 2

4

Configuration 2: Common ConfigurationThis configuration allows for data buffering on the interface node.

PI ServerWindows NT

TCP/IP




Machine # 1

Machine # 2

Machine # 3

XML Server


Introduction

Configuration 3: Alternate ConfigurationThis configuration is possible, but not the preferred configuration. It does not allow data buffering on interface node.

PI ServerWindows NT

TCP/IP




Machine # 1

Machine # 2

XML Server

6

Principles of OperationThe PI-XML interface is a client that allows data to be passed between an XML server and a PI server. The interface will connect to one XML server; multiple instances of the interface need to be run simultaneously in order to connect to multiple XML servers. More than one interface may be configured to connect to the same XML server.

The interface uses plug-in DLLs which transform the data sources to the OPC XML-DA specification (version 1.0). In addition, the plug-in DLLs can define the method of connectivity and transport of the XML data. The name and location of the plug-in DLL is specified on the command line using the /dll parameter. If this parameter is not specified, the interface will load the default plug-in DLL, XML\Plug-ins\OPC\PIXML_OPC.dll, to establish communication between the interface and an OPC XML-DA compliant server via SOAP messages that conform to the OPC XML-DA specification (version 1.0).

Once the plug-in DLL is loaded, the PI-XML interface tries to establish a connection to the PI server and check the status of the XML server. If a successful response is received, the interface will then initiate requests to get data from the XML server. If the connection is not successful, the interface will try to establish a connection periodically.

Note: The connection with the XML server is not persistent. However, if a connection is lost, data can be buffered by the XML server if supported by that server. Upon successful reconnection to the XML server, all historical values can be retrieved if the tag is configured to do so. The amount of data buffered is dependent on the XML server.

While running, the interface will identify its tags based on PointSource and Location1 point attributes. Tag configurations can be edited while the interface is running and these changes will be picked up by the interface automatically. In general, the interface will check for tag edits every 2 minutes. However, if it finds that at least 25 tags have been edited, it will check again in 30 seconds, otherwise it will wait another 2 minutes before checking again. All tag edits are performed in the following way: old versions of edited tags are deleted from the interface; new versions are added in. With some servers, this operation can require more time and more system resources. Therefore, it is more efficient to stop and restart the interface if a large number of tags are edited.

The PI-XML Interface is designed to constantly send messages about its operation to the pipc.log file. This file will contain the following information about the PI-XML Interface:

Informational messages on interface startup and shutdown;

The scan rate for each scan class and the actual update rate provided by the XML Server.

Error messages for points rejected by the PI server, or error messages sent from the XML server;


Notification for all connections and disconnections from the server (e.g. when the connection with the XML server is lost and the interface attempts to reconnect)

The interface obtains timestamps from the XML server if the /ts option is not specified. By default, the XML server will do its own exception-based processing using the ExcDev attribute for each tag if supported by the XML server. This can be turned off by using /returnallitems command-line parameter, in which case the XML server will return all values at the specified scan rate. For XML servers that do not support exception processing, the /returnallitems command-line parameter does nothing. Further information regarding XML server exception processing can be found in the plug-in DLLs manuals. In addition to specifying the ExcDev attribute to the XML server, the interface can support multiple values being sent per scan through the use of Location3., which can be useful if the XML server supports buffering. In this case, the XML server will buffer data if communication to the interface fails. Each buffered value will have a timestamp provided by the XML server. More detailed documentation regarding how the XML server supports buffering can be found in the corresponding plug-in DLL manual.

Plug-In DLLsThe PI-XML interface uses plug-in DLLs, which are libraries of routines that tell the interface how to get the XML data. The default plug-in is for XML servers that use SOAP over HTTP/S as outlined in the OPC XML-DA specification (version 1.0) given by the OPC Foundation. With this architecture, the interface can use additional plug-ins to access and transform XML data that doesn’t conform to the OPC XML-DA specification and define different methods of connectivity and transport of the XML data from the server to the interface. This gives the interface the ability to read generic XML documents and communicate with other web services provided a custom DLL is written. Since many configuration settings only apply when connecting to an OPC XML-DA server, it is necessary to consult the plug-in documentation. Each of the plug-ins has its own documentation including the PIXML_OPC.dll plug-in, which is the default plug-in.

Communication to an XML ServerCommunication to an XML server is highly dependent on the plug-in being used. Typically, the PI-XML interface will check whether the server is available on startup, and if not, it will periodically recheck until the server responds. If the interface loses the connection to the PI Server after initial connection, it will continue to gather data from the XML Server. To avoid losing data in this situation, the use of the PI-API buffering program, bufserv, that buffers data on the interface node, is strongly recommended. Further information about communication to the XML server can be found in the plug-in documentation.


Installation ChecklistFor those users who are familiar with running PI data collection interface programs, this checklist helps you get the PI-XML interface running. If you are not familiar with PI interfaces, you should return to this section after reading the rest of the manual in detail.

1. Install the PI-Interface Configuration Utility (which installs PI-SDK and PI-API)

2. Verify that PI-API and PI-SDK have been installed.

3. Install the interface.

4. Test the connection between the interface node and the foreign device using the PI-XMLTool.

5. Define digital states.

6. Choose a point source.

7. Configure PI points. Location1 is the interface instance.Location2 specifies point is either input (0) or output (1).Location3 is the buffering flag, which is plug-in-specific.Location4 is the scan class.Location5 is not used.ExDesc is not used.InstrumentTag is the item name.

8. Configure performance points.

9. Configure I/O Rate tag.

10. Edit startup command file using the PI-ICU. The only interface-specific required parameter is:/server=URL defines the connection.See the plug-in manual for other required parameters.

11. Set interface node clock.

12. Set up security.

13. Start the interface without buffering.

14. Verify data.

15. Stop interface, start buffering, start interface.


Interface InstallationOSIsoft recommends that interfaces be installed on PI Interface Nodes instead of directly on the PI Server node. A PI Interface Node is any node other than the PI Server node where the PI Application Programming Interface (PI-API) has been installed (see the PI-API manual). With this approach, the PI Server need not compete with interfaces for the machine’s resources. The primary function of the PI Server is to archive data and to service clients that request data.

After the interface has been installed and tested, Bufserv should be enabled on the PI Interface Node (once again, see the PI-API manual). Bufserv is distributed with the PI-API. It is a utility program that provides the capability to store and forward events to a PI Server, allowing continuous data collection when communication to the PI Server is lost. Communication will be lost when there are network problems or when the PI Server is shut down for maintenance, upgrades, backups, or unexpected failures.

In most cases, interfaces on PI Interface Nodes should be installed as automatic services. Services keep running after the user logs off. Automatic services automatically restart when the computer is restarted, which is useful in the event of a power failure.

The guidelines are different if an interface is installed on the PI Server node. In this case, the typical procedure is to install the PI Server as an automatic service and interfaces as manual services that are launched by site-specific command files when the PI Server is started. Interfaces that are started as manual services are also stopped in conjunction with the PI Server by site-specific command files. Bufserv can be enabled on the PI Server node so that interfaces on the PI Server node do not need to be started and stopped in conjunction with PI, but it is not standard practice to enable buffering on the PI Server node. See the UniInt End User Document for special procedural information.

Naming Conventions and RequirementsIn the installation procedure below, it is assumed that the name of the interface executable is PIXML.exe and that the startup command file is called PIXML.bat.

When not using the PI-ICU, which is not recommended, it is customary to rename the executable and the startup command file when multiple copies of the interface are run. For example, one would typically use PIXML1.exe and PIXML1.bat for interface number 1, PIXML2.exe and PIXML2.bat for interface number 2, and so on. When an interface is run as a service, the executable and the command file must have the same root name because the service looks for its command-line arguments in a file that has the same root name.

Interface Directories

The PIHOME Directory TreeThe PIHOME directory tree is defined by the PIHOME entry in the pipc.ini configuration file. This pipc.ini file is an ASCII text file, which is located in the WinNT directory. A typical pipc.ini file contains the following lines:[PIPC]PIHOME=c:\pipcThe above lines define the \pipc directory as the root of the PIHOME directory tree on


the C: drive. OSIsoft recommends using \pipc as the root directory name. The PIHOME directory does not need to be on the C: drive.

Interface Installation DirectoryThe PI-XML Interface is installed typically under the PIHOME directory in a subdirectory named \interfaces\XML. For example,C:\pipc\interfaces\XMLAfter interface installation there will be created two subdirectories: Plug-ins and Tools.

Plug-ins DirectoryThere are plug-in dlls which can specify how to get and process XML data that does not conform to the OPC XML-DA specification (version 1.0). These contain application logic which is not suitable for inclusion in the interface itself, as it is specific to a given XML standard. The dlls, supporting files, and the documentation for their usage are all installed into a subdirectory below the interface directory called Plug-ins. The default plug-in, which is for the OPC XML-DA specification (version 1.0), PIXML_OPC.dll, along with its manual and release notes are installed in the installation sub-directory \Plug-ins\OPC. From the example above, this means the DLL would be in: C:\pipc\interfaces\XML\Plug-ins\OPCThe other plug-in DLLs are installed in their own separate sub-directories.

Interface Installation ProcedureThe PI-XML interface setup program uses the services of the Microsoft Windows Installer. Windows Installer is a standard part of Windows 2000. When running on Windows NT 4.0 systems, the PI-XML setup program will install the Windows Installer itself if necessary. To install, run the XML_x.x.x.x.exe installation kit.

Installing the Interface as an NT ServiceThe PI-XML interface service can be created, preferably, with the PI-Interface Configuration Utility, or can be created manually.


Installing the Interface Service with PI-Interface Configuration UtilityThe PI-Interface Configuration Utility provides a user interface for creating, editing, and deleting the interface service:

Service Configuration

Service NameThe Service to Add box shows the name of the current interface service. This service name is obtained from the interface executable.

Display NameThe Display Name text box shows the current Display Name of the interface service. If there is currently no service for the selected interface, the default Display Name is the service name with a “PI-” prefix. Users may specify a different Display Name. OSIsoft suggests that the prefix “PI-” be appended to the beginning of the interface to indicate that the service is part of the OSI suite of products.

Service TypeThe Service Type indicates whether the interface service will start automatically or need to be started manually on reboot.

If the Auto option is selected, the service will be installed to start automatically when the machine reboots.

If the Manual option is selected, the interface service will not start on reboot, but will require someone to manually start the service.

If the Disabled option is selected, the service will not start at all.

Generally, interface services are set to start automatically.

DependenciesThe Installed services list is a list of the services currently installed on this machine. Services upon which this Interface is dependant should be moved into the Dependencies

list using the button. For example, if API Buffering is running, then “bufserv” should be selected from the list at the right and added to the list on the left.


Interface Installation

When the PI Interface is started as a service, the services listed in the dependency list will be verified as running or an attempt will be made to start them. If the dependent service(s) cannot be started for any reason, then the PI Interface service will not run.

Note: Please see the PI Log and Operating System Event Logger for messages that may indicate the cause for any server not running as expected.

- Add ButtonTo add a dependency from the list of Installed services, select the dependency name, and click the Add button.

- Remove ButtonTo remove a selected dependency, highlight the service name in the Dependencies list, and click the Remove button.

The full name of the service selected in the Installed services list is displayed below the Installed services list box.

CreateThe Create button adds the displayed service with the specified Dependencies and with the specified Startup Type.

Remove The Remove button removes the displayed service. If the service is not currently installed, or if the service is currently running, this button will be grayed out.

Start or Stop ServiceTo Start or Stop an interface service, use the Start button and a Stop button on the ICU toolbar. If this interface service is not currently installed, these buttons will remain grayed out until the service is added. If this interface service is running, the Stop button is available. If this service is not running, the Start button is available.

The status of the Interface service is indicated in the lower portion of the PI-ICU dialog.

Installing the Interface Service ManuallyOne can get help for installing the interface as a service at any time with the command:PIXML.exe –help

Change to the directory where the PIXML.exe executable is located. Then, consult the following table to determine the appropriate service installation command.

NT Service Installation Commands on a PI Interface Node or a PI Server node

with Bufserv implemented

14

Status of the ICU Status of the

Interface Service

Service installed or uninstalled

Manual service pixml.exe –install –depend “tcpip bufserv”

Automatic service pixml.exe –install –auto –depend “tcpip bufserv”

NT Service Installation Commands on a PI Interface Node or a PI Server node

without Bufserv implemented

Manual service pixml.exe –install –depend tcpip

Automatic service pixml.exe –install –auto –depend tcpip

When the interface is installed as a service on the PI Server node and when Bufserv is not implemented, a dependency on the PI network manager is not necessary because the interface will repeatedly attempt to connect to the PI Server until it is successful.

Note: Interfaces are typically not installed as automatic services when the interface is installed on the PI Server node.

Check the Microsoft Windows NT services control panel to verify that the service was added successfully. One can use the services control panel at any time to change the interface from an automatic service to a manual service or vice versa.


PI-XMLToolA simple XML client, PI-XMLTool, is provided with the interface. The general purpose of this tool is to connect to an XML server and test communication with the server by reading and writing data. If the user cannot establish connection to the XML server, then the PI-XML interface will also fail to connect to that XML server.

The PI-XML connection consists of an executable file PIXMLTool.exe, which can be run by double-clicking on the filename in Windows/NT Explorer or My Computer, or a shortcut can be created for it. It is installed in the interface directory.

To test the connection to the XML server, follow the steps below:

1. Click on the Plug-in DLL listbox and select the plug-in that is desired.

2. Click on the Server URL listbox and type the URL of the XML server.

3. If necessary, enter proxy server and authorization information. Once finished, click on Connect.

4. This should populate the Browse treeview box. If the XML server supports browsing, then clicking on an item in the browse box will populate sub-items if they exist.

5. An item can be copied to the text field by double-clicking the item in the Browse treeview control.

6. Once a valid item has been copied, the Read, Subscribe, and Write button operations can be used. A timestamp should also be provided for all operations. When using Subscribe, it is necessary to specify a sampling rate by using the Refresh Interval option (units are in seconds).

7. To stop the polling, click on End Subscribe.

Note: It is important to be able to connect to the XML Server and test all data exchange procedures with the PI-XMLTool. If you succeed in this, you can proceed to the next section.


Digital StatesFor more information regarding Digital States, refer to the Data Archive Manuals.

Digital State SetsPI digital states are discrete values represented by strings. These strings are organized in PI as digital state sets. Each digital state set is a user-defined list of strings, enumerated from 0 to n to represent different values of discrete data. For more information about PI digital tags and editing digital state sets, see the PI Server manuals.

An interface point that contains discrete data can be stored in PI as a digital tag. A Digital tag associates discrete data with a digital state set, as specified by the user.

System Digital State SetSimilar to digital state sets is the system digital state set. This set is used for all tags, regardless of type to indicate the state of a tag at a particular time. For example, if the interface receives bad data from an interface point, it writes the system digital state bad input to PI instead of a value. The system digital state set has many unused states that can be used by the interface and other PI clients.


PointSourceThe PointSource is a single, unique character that is used to identify the PI point as a point that belongs to a particular interface. For example, one may choose the letter X to identify points that belong to the PI-XML interface. To implement this, one would set the PointSource attribute to X for every PI Point that is configured for the PI-XML interface. Then, if one uses /ps=X on the startup-command line of the PI-XML interface, the interface will search the PI Point Database upon startup for every PI point that is configured with a PointSource of X. Before an interface loads a point, the interface usually performs further checks by examining additional PI point attributes to determine whether a particular point is valid for the interface. For additional information, see the /ps argument.

Case-sensitivity for PointSource AttributesIn all cases, the point source character that is supplied with the /ps command-line argument is not case sensitive. That is, /ps=X and /ps=x are equivalent. One only needs to be careful with the case of the PointSource during point definition, and only if the interface will be running on a PINet node communicating to a PI 3 Server.

No point source table exists on a PI 3 Server, which means that points can be immediately created on PI 3 with any point source character. Several subsystems and applications that ship with PI 3 are associated with default point source characters. The Totalizer Subsystem uses the point source character T, the Alarm Subsystem uses G and @, Random uses R, RampSoak uses 9, and the Performance Equations Subsystem uses C. Either do not use these point source characters or change the default point source characters for these applications. Also, if one does not specify a point source character when creating a PI point, the point is assigned a default point source character of L. Therefore, it would be confusing to use L as the point source character for an interface.


PI Point ConfigurationThe PI point is the basic building block for controlling data flow to and from the PI Data Archive. A single point is configured for each measurement value that needs to be archived. Use the point attributes below to define what data to transfer.

Point Attributes

TagA tag is a label or name for a point. Any tag name can be used in accordance to the normal PI point naming conventions.

PointSourceThe PointSource is a single, unique character that is used to identify the PI point as a point that belongs to a particular interface. For additional information, see the /ps command-line argument and the “PointSource” section.

PointTypeTypically, device point types do not need to correspond to PI point types. For example, integer values from a device can be sent to floating point or digital PI tags. Similarly, a floating-point value from the device can be sent to integer or digital PI tags, although the values will be truncated.

Float16, float32, float 64, int16, int32, digital, and string point types are supported on PI 3 Servers. For more information on the individual point types, see the PI Server manuals.

Location1Location1 indicates to which copy of the interface the point belongs.

Location2Location2 specifies whether this is an input or an output point.

0 – Input

1 -- Output

Location3This location code is used to support multiple values being sent per scan. This can be useful if buffering is supported by the XML server.

For the default PIXML_OPC_Plug-in DLL, if the value is set to 0, then buffering is enabled and the XML server will maintain a buffer of values for this tag. This can result in multiple values being returned in one scan, in which case the interface will send them all to the PI server with timestamps from the XML server. If the value is set to 1, then buffering is disabled and the server will deliver at most one value per scan.


If not using the default plug-in DLL, check the plug-in DLL manual for more information.

Location4

Scan-based InputsLocation4 defines the scan class for the PI point. The scan class determines the frequency at which input points are scanned for new values. For more information, see the description of the /f flag in the section called “The Startup Command File.”

Output PointsLocation 4 should be set to zero for these points.

Location5This attribute is not used for the PI-XML interface.

InstrumentTagThe InstrumentTag attribute is used to specify the item name on the XML server for the tag. Refer to the plug-in documentation for your XML server to determine the proper format.

Note: This field must exactly match the point defined on the XML Server. That means punctuation, spaces, uppercase vs. lowercase, etc.

ExDescThis is the extended descriptor attribute, which is limited to 1024 characters.

Performance PointsThe extended descriptor is checked for the string “PERFORMANCE_POINT.” If this character string is found, UniInt treats this point as a performance point. See the section called “Performance Points.”

Trigger-based InputsTrigger based inputs are not supported by this interface.

ScanBy default, the Scan attribute has a value of 1, which means that scanning is turned on for the point. Setting the scan attribute to 0 turns scanning off. If the scan attribute is 0 when the interface starts, SCAN OFF will be written to the PI point. If the scan attribute is changed from 1 to 0 while the interface is running, SCAN OFF will also be written to the PI point after the point edit is detected by the interface.

There is one other situation, which is independent of the Scan attribute, where UniInt will write SCAN OFF to a PI point. If a point that is currently loaded by the interface is edited so that the point is no longer valid for the interface, the point will be removed from the interface, and SCAN OFF will be written to the point. For example, if the PointSource of a PI point that is currently loaded by the interface is changed, the point will be removed from the interface and SCAN OFF will be written to the point.


Exception ProcessingThe PI-XML Interface uses exception reporting if the /sn command-line option is not specified. If it is specified, the interface will request that the server perform exception reporting by using the ExcDev attribute for each tag if exception processing is supported by the XML server. See the PI Server manuals for more information on exception processing. More information regarding how the XML server handles exception reporting can be found in the corresponding plug-in DLL manual.

ExcMaxThe longest time period between values sent to the PI Server.

ExcMinThe minimum time between values sent to the PI Server.

ExcDevThe minimum change, from the last value sent to the PI Server, which will cause a new value to be seen as an event and sent to the PI Server.

Note: If the /sn command-line option is specified, then the interface will request that the XML server use the ExcDev attribute to do its own exception reporting before sending data to the interface (if supported by the XML server). To force the XML server to send data after each scan, the /returnallitems option can be used.

ShutdownThe shutdown attribute is used only if the server node is a PI 3 system.

The Shutdown attribute is 1 (true) by default. The default behavior of the PI Shutdown subsystem is to write the SHUTDOWN digital state to all PI points when PI is started. The timestamp that is used for the SHUTDOWN events is retrieved from a file that is updated by the Snapshot Subsystem. The timestamp is usually updated every 15 minutes, which means that the timestamp for the SHUTDOWN events will be accurate to within 15 minutes in the event of a power failure. For additional information on shutdown events, refer to PI Server manuals.

Note: The SHUTDOWN events that are written by the PI Shutdown subsystem are independent of the SHUTDOWN events that are written by the interface when the /stopstat=Shutdown command-line argument is specified.

One can disable SHUTDOWN events from being written to PI when PI is restarted by setting the Shutdown attribute to 0 for each point. Alternatively, one can change the default behavior of the PI Shutdown Subsystem to write SHUTDOWN events only for PI points that have their Shutdown attribute set to 0. To change the default behavior, edit the \PI\dat\Shutdown.dat file, as discussed in PI Server manuals.

BufservIt is undesirable to write shutdown events when Bufserv is being used. Bufserv is a utility program that provides the capability to store and forward events to a PI Server, allowing continuous data collection when the Server is down for maintenance, upgrades, backups, and unexpected failures. That is, when PI is shut down, Bufserv will continue to collect data for the interface, making it undesirable to write SHUTDOWN events to the PI points for this interface.


PI Point Configuration

Output PointsWhen using output points with the PI-XML interface, the specific plug-in documentation should be consulted to determine point configuration and output point behavior. The default plug-in will send output data to an OPC XML DA server using the Write method as defined in the OPC XML DA specification.

Outputs are triggered for UniInt-based interfaces. That is, outputs are typically not scheduled to occur on a periodic basis. There are two mechanisms for triggering an output.

Trigger Method 1 (Recommended)For trigger method 1, a separate trigger point must be configured. The output point must have the same point source as the interface. The trigger point can be associated with any point source, including the point source of the interface. Also, the point type of the trigger point does not need to be the same as the point type of the output point.

The output point is associated with the trigger point by setting the SourceTag attribute of the output point equal to the tag name of the trigger point. An output is triggered when a new value is sent to the Snapshot of the trigger point. The new value does not need to be different than the previous value that was sent to the Snapshot to trigger an output, but the timestamp of the new value must be more recent than the previous value. If no error is indicated, then the value that was sent to the trigger point is also written to the output point. If the output is unsuccessful, then an appropriate digital state that is indicative of the failure is usually written to the output point. If an error is not indicated, the output still may not have succeeded because the interface may not be able to tell with certainty that an output has failed.

Trigger Method 2For trigger method 2, a separate trigger point is not configured. To trigger an output, write a new value to the Snapshot of the output point itself. The new value does not need to be different than the previous value to trigger an output, but the timestamp of the new value must be more recent than the previous value.

Trigger method 2 may be easier to configure than trigger method 1, but trigger method 2 has a significant disadvantage. If the output is unsuccessful, there is no tag to receive a digital state that is indicative of the failure, which is very important for troubleshooting.

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Performance Point ConfigurationPerformance points can be configured to monitor the amount of time in seconds that an interface takes to complete a scan for a particular scan class. The closer the scan completion time is to 0 seconds, the better the performance. The scan completion time is recorded to millisecond resolution

Configuring Performance Points with PI-ICU (NT-Intel)The PI-Interface Configuration & Management Utility (PI-ICU) provides a user interface for creating and managing Performance Points.

CreateTo create a Performance Point, right mouse click the line belonging to the tag to be created, and select Create.

DeleteTo delete a Performance Point, right mouse click the line belonging to the tag to be deleted, and select Delete.

CorrectIf the “Status” of a point is marked “Incorrect”, the point configuration can be automatically corrected by ICU by right mouse clicking on the line belonging to the tag to be corrected, and selecting Correct. The Performance Points are created with the following PI attribute values. If ICU detects that a Performance Point is not defined with the following, it will be marked Incorrect:

Attribute Details

Tag Tag name that appears in the list box

PointSource Point Source for tags for this interface, as specified on the first tab

Compressing Off

ExcMax 0

Descriptor Interface name + “ Scan Class # Performance Point”

RenameTo rename a Performance Point, right mouse click the line belonging to the tag to be renamed, and select “Rename”.


StatusThe Status column in the Performance Points table indicates whether the Performance Point exists for the scan class in column 2.

Created – Indicates that the Performance Point does exist

Not Created – Indicates that the Performance Point does not exist

Deleted – Indicates that a Performance Point existed, but was just deleted by the user

Scan ClassThe Scan Class column indicates which scan class the Performance Point in the Tagname column belongs to. There will be one scan class in the Scan Class column for each scan class listed in the Scan Classes combo box on the Uniint Parameters tab.

TagnameThe Tagname column holds the Performance Point tag name.

SnapshotThe Snapshot column holds the snapshot value of each Performance Point that exists in PI. The Snapshot column is updated when the Performance Points/Counters tab is clicked, and when the interface is first loaded.

Configuring Performance Points ManuallyPerformance point configuration is the same on all operating system platforms. Performance points are configured as follows.

1. Set the extended descriptor to:PERFORMANCE_POINTor to:PERFORMANCE_POINT=interface_idwhere interface_id corresponds to the identifier that is specified with the /id flag on the startup command line of the interface. The character string PERFORMANCE_POINT is case insenstive. The interface_id does not need to be specified if there is only one copy of an interface that is associated with a particular point source.

2. Set Location4 to correspond to the scan class whose performance is to be monitored. For example, to monitor scan class 2, set Location4 to 2. See the /f flag for a description of scan classes.

3. Set the PointSource attribute to correspond to the /ps flag on the startup command line of the interface.

4. Set the PointType attribute to float32.


I/O Rate Tag ConfigurationAn I/O Rate point can be configured to receive 10-minute averages of the total number of exceptions per minute that are sent to PI by the interface. An exception is a value that has passed the exception specifications for a given PI point. Since 10-minute averages are taken, the first average is not written to PI until 10 minutes after the interface has started. One I/O Rate tag can be configured for each copy of the interface that is in use.

Monitoring I/O Rates on the Interface NodeThe 10-minute rate averages (in events/minute) can be monitored with a client application such as ProcessBook.

Configuring I/O Rate Tags with PI-ICU (NT-Intel)The PI-Interface Configuration Utility (PI-ICU) provides a user interface for creating and managing IORates Tags.

PI-ICU currently allows for one I/O Rate tag to be configured for each copy of the interface that is in use. Some interfaces allow for multiple I/O Rates tags.

Enable IORates for this InterfaceThe Enable IORates for this interface check box enables or disables IORates for the current interface. To disable IORates for the selected interface, uncheck this box. To enable IORates for the selected interface, check this box.

Tag StatusThe Tag Status column indicates whether the IORates tag exists in PI. The possible states are:

Created – This status indicates that the tag exist in PI

Not Created – This status indicates that the tag does not yet exist in PI

Deleted – This status indicates that the tag has just been deleted

Unknown – This status indicates that the ICU is not able to access the PI Server

In FileThe In File column indicates whether the IORates tag listed in the tag name and the event counter is in the IORates.dat file. The possible states are:

Yes – This status indicates that the tag name and event counter are in the IORates.dat file


No – This status indicates that the tag name and event counter are not in the IORates.dat file

Event CounterThe Event Counter correlates a tag specified in the iorates.dat file with this copy of the interface. The command line equivalent is /ec=x, where x is the same number that is assigned to a tag name in the iorates.dat file.

TagnameThe tag name listed under the Tagname column is the name of the IORates tag.

SnapshotThe Snapshot column holds the snapshot value of the IORates tag, if the IORates tag exists in PI. The Snapshot column is updated when the IORates/Status Tags tab is clicked, and when the interface is first loaded.

Right Mouse Button Menu OptionsCreateCreate the suggested IORates tag with the tag name indicated in the Tagname column.

DeleteDelete the IORates tag listed in the Tagname column.

RenameAllows the user to specify a new name for the IORates tag listed in the Tagname column.

Add to FileAdds the tag to the IORates.dat file with the event counter listed in the Event Counter Column.

SearchAllows the user to search the PI Server for a previously defined IORates tag.

Configuring I/O Rate Tags ManuallyThere are two configuration steps.

Configuring the PI Point on the PI ServerCreate an I/O Rate Tag with the following point attribute values.

Attribute Value

PointSource L

PointType float32

Compressing 0

ExcDev 0


Configuration on the Interface NodeFor the following examples, assume that the name of the PI tag is PIXML001, and that the name of the I/O Rate on the home node is PIXML001.

1. Edit/Create a file called iorates.dat in the PIHOME\dat directory. The PIHOME directory is defined either by the PIPCSHARE entry or the PIHOME entry in the pipc.ini file, which is located in the \WinNT directory. If both are specified, the PIPCSHARE entry takes precedence.

Since the PIHOME directory is typically C:\PIPC, the full name of the iorates.dat file will typically be C:\PIPC\dat\iorates.dat.

Add a line in the iorates.dat file of the form:PIXML001, x

where PIXML001 is the name of the I/O Rate Tag and x corresponds to the first instance of the /ec=x flag in the startup command file. X can be any number between 2 and 34 or between 51 and 200, inclusive. To specify additional rate counters for additional copies of the interface, create additional I/O Rate tags and additional entries in the iorates.dat file. The event counter, /ec=x, should be unique for each copy of the interface.

2. Set the /ec=x flag on the startup command file of the interface to match the event counter in the iorates.dat file.

The interface must be stopped and restarted in order for the I/O Rate tag to take effect. I/O Rates will not be written to the tag until 10 minutes after the interface is started.


Startup Command File

Configuring the Interface with PI-ICU

Note: PI-ICU requires PI 3.3 or greater.

The PI-Interface Configuration Utility provides a graphical user interface for configuring PI interfaces. By configuring the interface with PI-ICU, the user makes it possible to recognize the interface, edit configurations, run and stop the interface. If the interface is configured by the PI-ICU, the batch file of the interface (pixml.bat) will be maintained by the PI-ICU and all configuration changes will be kept in that file. The procedure below describes the necessary steps for using PI-ICU to configure the PI-XML Interface.

From the PI-ICU menu, select Interface, New, and then Browse to the pixml.exe executable file. Then, enter values for Point Source and Interface ID#. A window such as the following results:

“Interface name as displayed in the ICU (optional)” will have PI- pre-pended to this name and it will be the display name in the services menu.

Click on Add.

You should then see a display such as the following

Note that in this example the Host PI System is localhost, which means that the interface will be configured to communicate with local PI Server. However, if you want the interface to communicate with a remote PI Server, you need to make the remote PI Server node as your Default server before going to the above step. This can be done by selecting ‘Connections…’ item from PI-ICU menu. If you do not see the remote node in


the list of servers, you can add that in and then make it Default by pressing the ‘Set as Default’ button.

Once you add the interface to PI-ICU, near the top of the main PI-ICU screen, the Interface Type should be xml. If not, use the drop-down box to change the Interface Type to be xml.

Then add an entry for the Scan Classes. The values of these entries specify the frequency at which the interface reads values from the OPC Server.

Click on Apply to enable the PI-ICU to manage this copy of the PI-XML Interface.

The next step is to make selections in the interface-specific tab (i.e. “xml”) that allows you to enter values for the startup parameters that are particular to the PI-OPC Interface.


Since the PI-XML Interface is a UniInt-based interface, in some cases the user will need to make appropriate selections in the UniInt tab. This tab allows the user to access UniInt features through the PI-ICU and to make changes to the behavior of the interface.

If you want to set up the interface as a Windows Service, you can do that by using the Service tab. This tab allows you to configure the interface to run as a service as well as to start and stop the interface. You can also run the interface interactively from the PI-ICU. To do that go to menu, select the Interface item and then Start Interactive.

For more detailed information on how to use the above-mentioned and other PI-ICU tabs and selections, please refer to the PI-Interface Configuration Utility User Manual. In the next section we will describe the selections that are available from the xml tab. After you have made your selections on the PI-ICU GUI, you will need to press the Apply button in order for PI-ICU to make these changes to the interface’s startup file.

XML Interface TabSince the startup file of the PI-XML Interface is maintained automatically by the PI-ICU, you should use the xml tab to configure the startup parameters and not make changes in the file manually. The following is the description of interface configuration parameters used in the PI-ICU Control and corresponding manual parameters.



Configuration Tab

XML ServerThis is the name or IP address of the XML Server Node (/server). For some plug-in DLLs, this option could be used differently and the corresponding plug-in manual should be consulted.

Pre-Processing DLLThis is the path to the location of the XML plug-in that will be used with the XML interface (/dll). The default plug-in is the PIXML_OPC.dll. If another plug-in is chosen, then a new dialog tab will appear next to General Settings. Please consult the plug-in documentation for further details on the configuration of each.

Timestamp Time OffsetThis is an offset of x seconds which is applied to all timestamps regardless of whether they are read locally (/TS) or from the server. (/TIME_OFFSET=x)

Use Local timestampsIf this option is checked, local timestamps will be used (/TS).

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Force synchronous readsForce the interface to use synchronous reads instead of asynchronous reads. All exception processing on the XML server is effectively turned off and performance could be poorer. This option should only be used if recommended by the plug-in DLL documentation. (/sync_read).

Replace Archive ValuesThis parameter will force values to be sent to the archive directly, bypassing the Snapshot. If a value already exists at the given timestamp, it will be overwritten. (/ARCREPLACE)

Ignore Time OffsetThis option will force the interface to ignore any offsets between the PI home node and the interface node.

Debug Settings – Internal Testing OnlyThis is used for OSIsoft Internal Testing Only and is therefore useful for customers only when instructed to do so by an OSIsoft engineer. (/DB=1)

Debug Settings – Log of StartupLog startup information for each tag, including the InstrumentTag. In addition, the XML data type and access rights for the item in question are logged. (/DB=2)

Debug Settings – Log Subscribe OperationsThis setting causes a number of messages to be written to the pipc.log file when subscribe operations are performed. Since the interface creates one subscription per scan class, messages detailing the handles returned for each subscription will be written to the log file on each scan. (/DB=4)

Debug Settings – Log Values and Timestamps ReceivedThis setting is used to monitor values and timestamps received for each tag and should not be left on during normal interface operation. (/DB=8)

Debug Settings – Log OutputsThis setting is used to monitor outputs. Upon successful completion of a write operation, information will be written to the log file indicating the value, tag, and item involved in the output. (/DB=16)

Additional ParametersThis space is provided so the user can supply additional arguments that are not yet available through the PI-ICU control selections.

Connection Settings Tab

Note: These settings are only applicable for the PIXML_OPC and PIXML_WITSML plug-ins.

This selection applies to setting up connection options of the interface. The PI-XML interface is designed to provide authentication options, as well as the ability to connect through a proxy server. Below is a list of available selections from the PI-ICU.



Use SSL SecuritySpecify the use of SSL to encrypt communication between the server and the interface. Note that the XML server must support the use of SSL. (/USESSL).

Connection Timeout (msec)Limit the time in milliseconds it takes to make an initial connection with the XML server. After a connection to the server has been established the timeout property applies (/CONNECTTIMEOUT).

Runtime Timeout (msec)Specify the timeout in milliseconds after a connection to the XML server has been established. Communication taking longer than this value will be dropped. The default value is 30,000 milliseconds. Not all plug-in DLLs support this command-line parameter (/TIMEOUT).

Authentication Settings -- Use AuthenticationA check in the click-box enables the possibility to choose an acceptable authentication mechanism supported by the XML server. (/AUTHSCHEME=BITMASK).

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Authentication Settings -- Auth SchemeThe value of the authentication scheme bitmask is displayed in the text field.

The various authentication schemes that are supported by the server can be selected by the group of check boxes: Basic Auth, ntlm Auth, Digest Auth, and Negotiate Auth. Many servers support one or more authentication schemes and the correct scheme should be chosen in order to insure successful communication with the XML server.

Negotiate Auth and ntlm Auth are selected by default.

Authentication Settings -- UserSupply a username for authentication. (/AUTHUSER).

Authentication Settings -- PasswordSupply a password associated with the user for authentication. (/AUTHPASSWORD).

Proxy Server -- Use Proxy ServerUse this click-box to enable options for connecting to a proxy server through which the interface will connect to the XML server. (/PROXYSERVER).

Proxy Server -- Proxy ServerSpecify the proxy server through which the interface will connect to the XML server. (/PROXYSERVER).

Proxy Server -- Proxy UserSpecify a username for the proxy server. (/PROXYUSER).

Proxy Server -- Proxy PasswordSupply a password associated with the user for the proxy server. (/PROXYPASSWORD).

Additional ParametersEnter any additional parameters not currently supported by the XML Interface PI-ICU Control.

OPC Plug-in TabSee the PI_XML_OPC_Plug-in manual found in PIHOME\Interfaces\XML\Plug-ins\OPC\

for information about its configuration.

Command-line Parameters

Note: If the interface startup file has been modified by the PI-ICU, do NOT change it manually. Use the PI-ICU to make any changes.

Command-line arguments can begin with a / or with a -. For example, the /ps=X and the –ps=X command-line arguments are equivalent.

For NT, command file names have a .bat extension. The NT continuation character (^) allows one to use multiple lines for the startup command. The maximum length of each line is 1024 characters (1 kilobyte). The number of flags is unlimited, and the maximum length of each flag is 1024 characters.



Note: The UniInt End User Document includes details about other command line parameters, which may be useful.

Parameter Description

/arcreplace

Optional

Default: Use the Snapshot

This command-line option will force values to be sent to the archive directly. If a value already exists at the given timestamp, it will be overwritten.

/db=x

Optional

Default: No debugging

Debugging flag used to print interface-level debug messages. See Error: Reference source not found for more information.

/dll=path\name

Optional

Default:/DLL=<interface directory>\Plug-ins\OPC\PIXML_OPC.dll

This specifies the path for the plug-in DLL. The default is:<interface directory>\Plug-ins\OPC\PIXML_OPC.dll

Other possibilities are:<interface directory>\Plug-ins\FileReader\PIXML_FileReader.dll<interface directory>\Plug-ins\HTTP\PIXML_HTTP.dll<interface directory>\Plug-ins\WITSML\PIXML_WITSML.dll

/ec=x

Optional, but highly recommended

Default:/ec=1

The first instance of the /ec flag on the command line is used to specify a counter number, x, for an I/O Rate point. If x is not specified, then the default event counter is 1. Also, if the /ec flag is not specified at all, there is still a default event counter of 1 associated with the interface. If there is an I/O Rate point that is associated with an event counter of 1, each copy of the interface that is running without /ec=x explicitly defined will write to the same I/O Rate point. This means that one should either explicitly define an event counter other than 1 for each copy of the interface or one should not associate any I/O Rate points with event counter 1. Configuration of I/O Rate points is discussed in the section called “I/O Rate Tag Configuration.”

For interfaces that run on NT nodes, subsequent instances of the /ec flag may be used by specific interfaces to keep track of various input or output operations. One must consult the interface-specific documentation to see whether subsequent instances of the /ec flag have any effect. Subsequent instances of the /ec flag can be of the form /ec*, where * is any ASCII character sequence. For example, /ecinput=10, /ecoutput=11, and /ec=12 are legitimate choices for the second, third, and fourth event counter strings.

/f=SSor/f=SS,SSor /f=HH:MM:SSor/f=HH:MM:SS,hh:mm:ss

Required

The /f flag defines the time period between scans in terms of hours (HH), minutes (MM), and seconds (SS). The scans can be scheduled to occur at discrete moments in time with an optional time offset specified in terms of hours (hh), minutes (mm), and seconds (ss). If HH and MM are omitted, then the time period that is specified is assumed to be in seconds.

Each instance of the /f flag on the command line defines a scan class for the interface. There is no limit to the number of

40


scan classes that can be defined. The first occurrence of the /f flag on the command line defines the first scan class of the interface; the second occurrence defines the second scan class, and so on. PI Points are associated with a particular scan class via the Location4 PI Point attribute. For example, all PI Points that have Location4 set to 1 will receive input values at the frequency defined by the first scan class. Similarly, all points that have Location4 set to 2 will receive input values at the frequency specified by the second scan class, and so on.

Two scan classes are defined in the following example:/f=00:01:00,00:00:05 /f=00:00:07or, equivalently:/f=60,5 /f=7The first scan class has a scanning frequency of 1 minute with an offset of 5 seconds, and the second scan class has a scanning frequency of 7 seconds. When an offset is specified, the scans occur at discrete moments in time according to the formula:

scan times = (reference time) + n(frequency) + offset

where n is an integer and the reference time is midnight on the day that the interface was started. In the above example, frequency is 60 seconds and offset is 5 seconds for the first scan class. This means that if the interface was started at 05:06:06, the first scan would be at 05:06:10, the second scan would be at 05:07:10, and so on. Since no offset is specified for the second scan class, the absolute scan times are undefined.

The definition of a scan class does not guarantee that the associated points will be scanned at the given frequency. If the interface is under a large load, then some scans may occur late or be skipped entirely. See the section called “Performance Point Configuration” for more information on skipped or missed scans.

Sub-second Scan Classes

One can also specify sub-second scan classes on the command line such as

/f=0.5 /f=0.1

where the scanning frequency associated with the first scan class is 0.5 seconds and the scanning frequency associated with the second scan class is 0.1 seconds.

Similarly, sub-second scan classes with sub-second offsets can be defined, such as

/f=0.5,0.2 /f=1,0Wall Clock Scheduling

Scan classes that strictly adhere to wall clock scheduling are now possible. This feature is available for interfaces that run on NT and/or UNIX. Previously, wall clock scheduling was possible, but not across daylight savings time. For example, /f=24:00:00,08:00:00 corresponds to 1 scan a day starting at 8 AM. However, after a Daylight Savings



Parameter DescriptionTime change, the scan would occur either at 7 AM or 9 AM, depending upon the direction of the time shift. To schedule a scan once a day at 8 AM (even across daylight savings time), one should use /f=24:00:00,00:08:00,L. The ,L at the end of the scan class tells UniInt to use the new wall clock scheduling algorithm.

/host=host:port

Required

The /host flag is used to specify the PI Home node. Host is the IP address of the PI Sever node or the domain name of the PI Server node. Port is the port number for TCP/IP communication. The port is always 5450 for a PI 3 Server and 545 for a PI 2 Server. It is recommended to explicitly define the host and port on the command line with the /host flag. Nevertheless, if either the host or port is not specified, the interface will attempt to use defaults.

Defaults:

The default port name and server name is specified in the pilogin.ini or piclient.ini file. The piclient.ini file is ignored if a pilogin.ini file is found. Refer to the PI-API manual for more information on the piclient.ini and pilogin.ini files.

Examples:The interface is running on a PI Interface Node, the domain name of the PI 3 home node is Marvin, and the IP address of Marvin is 206.79.198.30. Valid /host flags would be:/host=marvin /host=marvin:5450 /host=206.79.198.30/host=206.79.198.30:5450

/id=x

Required

The /id flag is used to specify the interface identifier.

The interface identifier is a string that is no longer than 9 characters in length. UniInt concatenates this string to the header that is used to identify error messages as belonging to a particular interface. See the section called “Error and Informational Messages” for more information.

UniInt always uses the /id flag in the fashion described above. This interface also uses the /id flag to identify a particular interface copy number that corresponds to an integer value that is assigned to Location1. For this interface, use only numeric characters in the identifier. For example,

/id=1

/ignore_offset

Optional

Default: Use time offsets

This option will force the interface to ignore any offsets between the PI home node and the interface node.

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/ps=x

Required

The /ps flag specifies the point source for the interface. X is not case sensitive and can be any single character. For example, /ps=P and /ps=p are equivalent.

The point source that is assigned with the /ps flag corresponds to the PointSource attribute of individual PI Points. The interface will attempt to load only those PI points with the appropriate point source.

/q

Optional

When the /q flag is present, Snapshots and exceptions are queued before they are sent to the PI Server node.

Extended API mode behavior:

The maximum queue size is close to 4000 bytes. The queue is flushed between scans if it is not filled.

Non-Extended API mode behavior:

The maximum queue size is 255 bytes for a PI 3 Server and 36 bytes for a PI 2 Server. The queue is flushed between scans if it is not filled.

When the /q flag is specified in non-extended API mode, the PI-API sends integer values as 16-bit integers instead of 32-bit integers. Therefore, integer points will be limited to values between 0 and 32767. Values higher than 32767 need to be sent to floating-point PI tags.

/server=URL

Required

The flag tells the interface the URL of the XML server. For example, the URL could be specified as:

http://localhost:8080/XmlDaSampleServer/Da30Service.asmx

For some plug-in DLLs, this option could be used differently and the corresponding plug-in manual should be consulted. Note if this parameter has spaces, the value should be enclosed in quotes.

/sio

Optional

Default: Send initial outputs at interface startup.

The /sio flag stands for “suppress initial outputs.” The flag applies only for interfaces that support outputs. If the /sio flag is not specified, the interface will behave in the following manner.

When the interface is started, the interface determines the current Snapshot value of each output tag. Next, the interface writes this value to each output tag. In addition, whenever an individual output tag is edited while the interface is running, the interface will write the current Snapshot value to the edited output tag.

This behavior is suppressed if the /sio flag is specified on the command line. That is, outputs will not be written when the interface starts or when an output tag is edited. In other words, when the /sio flag is specified, outputs will only be written when they are explicitly triggered.




/sn

Optional

Default: Use exception reporting

When this flag is specified on the command-line, all exception reporting by the interface is disabled, and the XML server will do the exception reporting using the excdev point attribute. If the excdev is set to 0, and this flag is specified, then all values will be returned from the XML server and neither the interface nor the server will do any exception reporting.

/stopstator/stopatat=digstateDefault:/stopstat=”Intf shut”when only /stopstat is specified

Optional

If the /stopstat flag is present on the startup command line, then the digital state Intf shut will be written to each PI Point when the interface is stopped.

If /stopstat=digstate is present on the command line, then the digital state, digstate, will be written to each PI Point when the interface is stopped. For a PI 3 Server, digstate must be in the system digital state table. For a PI 2 Server, where there is only one digital state table available, digstate must simply be somewhere in the table. UniInt uses the first occurrence in the table.

If neither /stopstat nor /stopstat=digstate is specified on the command line, then no digital state will be written when the interface is shut down.

Examples:/stopstat=”Intf shut”

The entire argument (digstate) is enclosed within double quotes when there is a space in digstate.

/sync_read

Optional

Default: Asynchronous reads

Forces the interface to use synchronous reads instead of asynchronous reads. All exception processing on the XML server is effectively turned off and performance could be poorer. This option should only be used if recommended by the plug in DLL documentation.

/time_offset=x

Optional

Default: Do not apply an offset to timestamps

An offset of x seconds is applied to all timestamps regardless of whether they are read locally (/ts) or from the server.

/ts

Optional

Default: Use server time for timestamps

If the command-line option is specified, the interface will use local timestamps instead of server timestamps.

Sample PIXML.bat FileThe following is an example file. If a DLL plug-in is being used with the XML interface, comment out the PIXML_OPC.dll startup section and un-comment the section which applies to the plug-in being used.REM ============================================================================REM Sample startup command file for the PI-XML Interface to the PI SystemREM ============================================================================REMREM pixml.bat.newREM Use this file as a template for pixml.bat

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REMREM Required command-line parametersREM ----------------------------------------------------------------------------REMREM /ps=x Point source; must match PointSource pt attributeREM /id=x Interface ID; must match Location1 pt attributeREM /server=x XML server; must match URL of XML serverREMREM Optional command-line parametersREM ----------------------------------------------------------------------------REMREM /dll==x Path for plug-in DLL, default uses PIXML_OPC.dllREM located in the interface Plug-ins OPC subdirectoryREMREM /sync_read Forces the interface to do synchronous reads.REM Required for the WITSML Plug-in.REMREM /ts Use local timestamps instead of server timestamps.REMREM /arcreplace Force values into archive. Replace if they alreadyREM exist.REMREM /time_offset=x An offset of x seconds is applied to all timestampsREMREM /ignore_offset Ingore time difference between PI and interface nodeREMREM /db=x Print interface-level debug messagesREMREM /sn Do not perform exception reporting, and force XMLREM server to do exception reportingREMREM Common optional command-line parameters used by the OPC and WITSML Plug-insREM ----------------------------------------------------------------------------REMREM /connecttimeout=x Limits the time (in milliseconds) it takes to makeREM an initial connection with the XML server. After aREM connection to the server has been established theREM timeout property appliesREMREM /timeout=x The timeout in milliseconds after a connection toREM the XML server has been established. CommunicationREM taking longer than this value will be dropped. TheREM default value is 30,000 milliseconds.REMREM /authsceme=x Enables you to choose acceptable an authenticationREM mechanism that is supported by the XML server. TheREM value of x corresponds to the following values.REM 1 - basic authenticationREM 2 - ntlm authenticationREM 8 - digest authenticationREM 16 - negotiate authenticationREM Note that x is a bitmask so you can combineREM these values (bitwise OR) to enable multipleREM types of authentication. For example, toREM enable both basic and digest auth, x would beREM set to 9 (1+8=9). The default value for thisREM property is 18 (ntlm and negotiate).REM /authuser=x User for authenticationREMREM /authpassword=x Password for authorizing userREMREM /proxyserver=x Identifies the proxy server (x) through whichREM messages are sent and received.REMREM /proxyuser=x The user name used for proxy authentication.REMREM /proxypass=x The password used for proxy authentication.REMREM /usessl Use ssl to encrypt communication, XML serverREM must support the use of SSL certificatesREMREM OPC Plug-in specific optional command-line parametersREM ----------------------------------------------------------------------------REM



REM /locale=x Specifies the LocaleID to be requested by theREM interface in communicating with the XML serverREMREM /keep_alive_mult=x The keep alive multiplier tells the XML server howREM long to keep a subscription alive. Subscription areREM kept alive at a rate that is equal to x times theREM scan frequency.REMREM /ssr=x Specifies the Subscription rate ratio. The value ofREM x represents the number of values to obtain betweenREM each scan and can be used to increase dataREM throughput by buffering values on the XML-DA server.REM The XML-DA server may revise this value downwardsREM automatically if they cannot support the data rate.REMREM /holdtime=x Instructs the XML server to hold off returning anyREM value until the specified absolute XML server timeREM (x) in milliseconds is reached. REMREM /waittime=x Instructs the XML server to wait for the specifiedREM duration, x, after the holdtime is reached beforeREM returning if there are no changes to report.REM Changes that occur during this time will beREM immediately reported to the interface.REMREM /returnallitems XML server will return all values for each scanREMREM FileReader specific optional plug-in command-line parametersREM ----------------------------------------------------------------------------REMREM /purge=#c Time to wait before purging old *.old filesREM already scanned. The format of the time stringREM should be a number followed by a one-digit letter,REM which can be either h for hours, m for minutes,REM s for seconds, or d for daysREMREM /mask=file.ext Wildcard mask use to specify a subset ofREM of files that exist in the XML directoryREMREM /xsl=x Location of XSLT file;REM Matches location of XSLT file used to transform rawREM XML into XML that conforms to the ReadResponseREM extract of the OPC XML-DA schema (version 1.0)REMREM /xslout=path/file Location of output XSLT file;REM Matches location of XSLT file used to transform XMLREM that conforms to the WriteResponse extract of theREM OPC XML-DA schema (v1.0) into any kind of XMLREMREM /output=path Path;REM Must match path where XML file are to written toREM for output pointsREMREM /xsd=path\filename Location of schema file for input XML validationREM Matched location of schema file used to validateREM XML files that are read before transforming them.REMREM /dbll=x Print interface-level debug messagesREMREMREM Http plug-in specific optional parametersREM ----------------------------------------------------------------------------REMREM /xsl=x Location of XSLT file;REM Matches location of XSLT file used to transform rawREM XML into XML that conforms to the ReadResponseREM extract of the OPC XML-DA schema (version 1.0)REMREM /xsd=path\filename Location of schema file for input XML validationREM Matched location of schema file used to validateREM XML files that are read before transforming them.REMREM /user=x Username for authenticationREM

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REM /password=x Password for authenticationREMREMREM WITSML plug-in command-line parametersREM ----------------------------------------------------------------------------REMREM NONE except the common ones between OPC and WITSML listed above.REMREM ****************************************************************************REM * Uncomment the appropriate command lines for the Plug-in you wish to use; *REM * by default the OPC Plug-in is already uncommented *REM ****************************************************************************REMREM ----------------------------------------------------------------------------REM Sample startup command line using FileReader Plug-inREM ----------------------------------------------------------------------------REMREM .\pixml.exe /ps=X /f=00:00:30 ^REM /server="c:\XMLFiles\testfiles" ^REM /dll=".\Plug-Ins\File Reader\PIXML_FileReader.dll" ^REM /xsl="c:\XSLT\process.xsl"^REM /xslout="c:\outputs\test.xsl" ^REM /output="c:\output files" ^REM /stopstat="Intf Shut"REMREM ----------------------------------------------------------------------------REM Sample startup command line using WITSML Plug-inREM ----------------------------------------------------------------------------REM .\pixml.exe /ps=x /f=00:00:05 /f=00:00:10 /f=00:00:30 ^REM /server="http://opcfoundation.org/XmlDaSampleServer/Service.asmx" ^REM /dll=".\Plug-Ins\WITSML\PIXML_WITSML.dll" /stopstat="Intf Shut"REMREM ----------------------------------------------------------------------------REM Sample startup command line using http Plug-inREM ----------------------------------------------------------------------------REMREM.\pixml.exe /ps=X /id=1 /f=00:00:30 ^REM /server="http://www.testserver.com" ^REM /dll=".\Plug-Ins\http\PIXML_http.dll" ^REM /xsl="c:\XSLT\process.xsl"^REMREM ----------------------------------------------------------------------------REM Sample startup command line using OPC Plug-inREM ----------------------------------------------------------------------------REM.\pixml.exe /ps=X /id=1 /f=00:00:05 /f=00:00:10 /f=00:00:30 ^ /server="http://opcfoundation.org/XmlDaSampleServer/Service.asmx" ^ /dll=".\Plug-Ins\OPC\PIXML_OPC.dll" /stopstat=”Intf Shut”

The above command line tells the Interface to

service PI points whose PointSource is X and Location1 is 1,

define three scan classes with periods of 5, 10 and 30 seconds

connect to an XML server whose URL is http://opcfoundation.org/XmlDaSampleServer/Service.asmx

use the post-processing dll for the OPC XML-DA specification (version 1.0),

write Intf Shut to its list of points upon exit, and

The installation program installs a sample command file named pixml.bat.new. If you are not using the PI-ICU, you should use this file as a template for your own pixml.bat.


Interface Node ClockThe correct settings for the time and time zone should be set in the Date/Time control panel. If local time participates in Daylight Savings, from the control panel, configure the time to be automatically adjusted for Daylight Savings Time. The correct local settings should be used even if the interface node runs in a different time zone than the PI Server node.

Make sure that the TZ environment variable is not defined. The currently defined environment variables can be listed by going to Start | Settings | Control Panel, double clicking on the system icon, and selecting the environment tab on the resulting dialog box. Also, make sure that the TZ variable is not defined in an autoexec.bat file. When the TZ variable is defined in an autoexec.bat file, the TZ variable may not appear as being defined in the System control panel even though the variable is defined. Admittedly, autoexec.bat files are not typically used on NT, but this does not prevent a rogue user from creating such a file and defining the TZ variable unbeknownst to the System Administrator.


SecurityIf the home node is a PI 3 Server, the PI Firewall Database and the PI Proxy Database must be configured so that the interface is allowed to write data to the PI Data Archive. See “Modifying the Firewall Database” and “Modifying the Proxy Database” in the PI Server manuals.

Note that the Trust Database, which is maintained by the Base Subsystem, replaces the Proxy Database used prior to PI version 3.3. The Trust Database maintains all the functionality of the proxy mechanism while being more secure.See “Trust Login Security” in the chapter “PI System Management” of the PI Universal Data Server System Management Guide.

If the interface cannot write data to a PI 3 Server because it has insufficient privileges, a –10401 error will be reported in the pipc.log file. If the interface cannot send data to a PI2 Serve, it writes a –999 error. See the section “Appendix A: Error and Informational Messages” for additional information on error messaging, p.5.

In addition to PI server security, end-users are responsible for enabling and properly configuring the security features for their XML server. This can include:

The use of SSL to encrypt communications between the interface and XML server.

The use of various authentication mechanisms to restrict access to authorized users. Basic, Integrated, Digest, and Anonymous are the supported forms of authentication and can be controlled through the use of the /authscheme command line option.

The use of a proxy server.

In order to use SSL encryption, an SSL certificate is needed and the XML server needs to be configured appropriately. If the server is configured to use SSL then the usessl command line option is necessary to ensure successful connections to the XML server.

The use of various authentication schemes is dependent on the platform of the XML server. For Microsoft’s Internet Information Server, anonymous, basic, digest, and integrated authentication are supported.

Proxy server settings can be specified with the use of the /proxyserver, /proxyuser, and /proxypass the command-line options.

Please note that both the XML server and the DLL plug-in that is being used with XML interface must support the security options described above.


Starting / Stopping the Interface This section describes starting and stopping the interface once it has been installed as a service. See the UniInt End User Document to run the interface interactively.

Starting Interface as a ServiceIf the interface was installed a service, it can be started from PI-ICU, the services control panel or with the command:PIXML.exe –start

To start the interface service with PI-ICU, use the button on the PI-ICU toolbar.

A message will be echoed to the screen informing the user whether or not the interface has been successfully started as a service. Even if the message indicates that the service started successfully, make sure that the service is still running by checking in the services control panel. There are several reasons that a service may immediately terminate after startup. One is that the service may not be able to find the command-line arguments in the associated .bat file. For this to succeed, the root name of the .bat file and the .exe file must be the same, and the .bat file and the .exe file must be in the same directory. If the service terminates prematurely for whatever reason, no error messages will be echoed to the screen. The user must consult the pipc.log file for error messages. See the section “Appendix A: Error and Informational Messages,” for additional information.

Stopping Interface Running as a ServiceIf the interface was installed a service, it can be stopped at any time from PI-ICU, the services control panel or with the command:PIXML.exe –stopThe service can be removed by:PIXML.exe –remove

To stop the interface service with PI-ICU, use the button on the PI-ICU toolbar.


BufferingFor complete information on buffering, please refer to the PI-API Installation InstructionPI XML Interface.

PI Interface Node buffering consists of a buffering process which runs continuously on the local node, a PI-API library whose calls can send data to this buffering process, and a utility program for examining the state of buffering and controlling the buffering process.

Note: Change the Local Security Policy on Windows XP. 1. Open "Administrative Tools" from the control panel. 2. Open "Local Security Policy" from administrative tools. 3. Browse to "Security Options" under "Local Policies." 4. Double click on "System Objects: Default owner for objects created by members of the Administrators group." 5. Change the dropdown from "Object Creator" to "Administrators group."

The behavior of Bufserv should now be the same on XP as it was for NT4 and 2000.

Configuring Buffering with PI-ICU (NT-Intel)Buffering is enabled through the PI-Interface Configuration Utility’s Tools>API Buffering… menu. Unless buffering is explicitly enabled, the PI-API will not buffer data, sending data directly to the home node.

The API Buffering… dialog allows the user to view and configure the parameters associated with the API Buffering (bufserv) process. The user can start and stop the API Buffering process from the Service tab:

Service TabThe Service tab allows for some API Buffering service configuration. For further configuration changes, use the Services applet.


Service NameThe Service name displays the name of the API Buffering Service.

Display NameThe Display name displays the full name associated with the API Buffering service.

Log On AsLog on as indicates the Windows user account under which the API Buffering service is setup to start automatically on reboot, or manually.

PasswordPassword is the name of the password for the Windows user account entered in the Log on as: above.

Confirm passwordYou must reenter the password again to verify you have typed it correctly both times.

DependenciesThe Dependencies lists the Windows services on which the API Buffering service is dependent.

Dependent ServicesThe Dependent services area lists the Windows services that depend on bufserv to function correctly.

Start / Stop ServiceThe Start / Stop buttons allow for the API Buffering service to be started and stopped. If the service is not created, this box will show Not Installed.

After a change is made to any of the settings on the Settings tab, the OK button must be clicked to save these settings, and then the service must be stopped and restarted for the changes to be picked up by bufserv.

Service Startup TypeThe Startup Type indicates whether the API Buffering service is setup to start automatically on reboot or manually on reboot, or is disabled.

If the Auto option is selected, the service will be installed to start automatically when the machine reboots.

If the Manual option is selected, the interface service will not start on reboot, but will require someone to manually start the service.

If the Disabled option is selected, the service will not start at all.

Generally, the API Buffering service is set to start automatically.


Create/Remove ServiceThe Create / Remove buttons allow for the creation or removal of the API Buffering service. Clicking the Create button will cause the service to be created using the Log on as and passwords given. Once the service is created the Start / Stop buttons will be activated.

Settings TabThe Settings tab allows for configuration of the 7 configurable settings used by API Buffering. Default values are used if no other value is provided.

Enable API BufferingEnables the API Buffering feature.

Maximum File SizeMaximum buffer file size in kilobytes before buffering fails and discards events. Default value is 100,000. Range is 1 to 2,000,000.

The Use Default button places the default value into the text box. To keep this value, click the Apply button.

Send RateSend rate is the time to wait between sending up to MAXTRANSFEROBJS to the server (milliseconds). Default value is 100. Range is 0 to 2,000,000.


Primary Memory Buffer SizePrimary memory buffer size is the size in bytes of the Primary memory buffer. Default value is 32768. Range is 64 to 2,000,000.


Buffering


Secondary Memory Buffer SizeSecondary memory buffer size is the size in bytes of the Secondary memory buffer. Default value is 32768. Range is 64 to 2,000,000.


Max Transfer ObjectsMax transfer objects is the maximum number of events to send between each SENDRATE pause. Default value is 500. Range is 1 to 2,000,000.


Pause RateWhen buffers are empty the buffering process will wait for this number of seconds before attempting to send more data to the home node. Default value is 2. Range is 0 to 2,000,000.


Retry RateWhen the buffering process discovers the home node is unavailable it will wait this number of seconds before attempting to reconnect. Default value is 120. Range is 0 to 2,000,000.


Max Theoretical Send RateThis is the theoretical max send rate which is calculated like this:max = MAXTRANSFEROBJS / SENDRATE * 1000Default value is 5000. This value is automatically calculated for the user and can not be changed.

There are no additional steps needed to install buffering after installing the PI-API. The delivered PI-API library supports both buffered and un-buffered calls.

Configuring Buffering ManuallyBuffering is enabled through the use of a configuration file, piclient.ini. Unless this file is modified to explicitly enable buffering, the PI-API will not buffer data, sending data directly to the home node.

There are no additional steps needed to install buffering after installing the PI-API. The delivered PI-API library supports both buffered and un-buffered calls.

Note: When buffering is configured to be on, the bufserv process must be started before other programs using the PI-API, so that these programs can access the shared

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buffering resources. Any program that makes a connection to a PI Server has this requirement even if it does not write to PI.

Configuration of buffering is achieved through entries in the piclient.ini file. The file is found in the dat subdirectory of the PIHOME directory (typically c:\pipc\dat) under Windows NT. This file follows the conventions of Microsoft Windows initialization files with sections, keywords within sections, and values for keywords. All buffering settings are entered in a section called [APIBUFFER]. To modify settings, simply edit the piclient.ini file in a text editor (Notepad on Windows) to the desired values.

The following settings are available for buffering configuration:

Keywords Values Default Description

BUFFERING 0,1 0 Turn off/on buffering. OFF = 0, ON = 1,

PAUSERATE 0 – 2,000,000 2 When buffers are empty the buffering process will wait for this long before attempting to send more data to the home node (seconds)

RETRYRATE 0 – 2,000,000 120 When the buffering process discovers the home node is unavailable it will wait this long before attempting to reconnect (seconds)

MAXFILESIZE 1 – 2,000,000 100,000 Maximum buffer file size before buffering fails and discards events. (Kbytes)

MAXTRANSFEROBJS

1 – 2,000,000 500 Maximum number of events to send between each SENDRATE pause.

BUF1SIZE 64 – 2,000,000

32768 Primary memory buffer size. (bytes)

BUF2SIZE 64 – 2,000,000

32768 Secondary memory buffer size. (bytes)

SENDRATE 0 – 2,000,000 100 The time to wait between sending up to MAXTRANSFEROBJS to the server (milliseconds)

In addition to the [APIBUFFER] section, the [PISERVER] section may be used to define the default PI server and an optional time offset change that may occur between the client and server.

Keywords Values Default Description

PIHOMENODE string none Windows default server is in pilogin.ini

DSTMISMATCH 0 – 2,000,000 0 The time that the server and client local time offset is allowed to jump. Typically, 3600 if the nodes are in time zones whose DST rules differ (seconds)


Buffering

Example piclient.ini FileOn Windows NT the default server information is stored in the pilogin.ini file so the piclient.ini would only have the [APIBUFFER] section. The BUFFERING=1 indicates that buffering is on. The MAXFILESIZE entry in Kbytes of 100000 allows up to 100 Megabytes of data storage. Do not use commas or other separators in the numeric entries. The retry rate is set to 600 seconds meaning wait 10 minutes after losing a connection before retrying.

On NT a piclient.ini file might look like:[APIBUFFER]BUFFERING=1MAXFILESIZE=100000; The PI-API connection routines have a 1 minute default timeout.RETRYRATE=600

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Appendix A:Error and Informational Messages

A string NameID is pre-pended to error messages written to the message log. Name is a non-configurable identifier that is no longer than 9 characters. ID is a configurable identifier that is no longer than 9 characters and is specified using the /id flag on the startup command line.

Message LogsThe location of the message log depends upon the platform on which the interface is running. See the UniInt End User Document for more information.

Messages are written to PIHOME\dat\pipc.log at the following times.

When the interface starts many informational messages are written to the log. These include the version of the interface, the version of UniInt, the command-line parameters used, and the number of points.

As the interface retrieves points, messages are sent to the log if there are any problems with the configuration of the points.

If the /db is used on the command line, then various informational messages are written to the log file.

MessagesThe following is an example of a successful startup of the Interface:21-Jun-04 11:45:26PIXML1> c:\Documents and Settings\asingh\My Documents\SourceSafe\PI Source 2\Pi\

clients\interfaces\xml\Debug\PIXML.exe /ps=X /f=00:00:05 /f=00:00:10 /f=00:00:30 /server=http://opcfoundation.org/XmlDaSampleServer/Service.asmx /dll=..\OPCXMLDLL\Debug\PIXML_OPC.dll

21-Jun-04 11:45:26PIXML1> Starting interface interactively, Point source: X

21-Jun-04 11:45:26PIXML1> Local node singhace (192.168.8.85), WinSock Supported Network

21-Jun-04 11:45:26PIXML1> Uniint version>@(#)uniint.cxx 4.0.0

21-Jun-04 11:45:26PIXML1> API version> 1.3.9.4

21-Jun-04 11:45:26PIXML1> The PI-SDK is enabled

21-Jun-04 11:45:26PIXML1> PI-SDK Version 1.3.1, Build 272

21-Jun-04 11:45:26


PIXML1> Setting PISDK Connection Timeout to 15 seconds for server localhost

21-Jun-04 11:45:26PIXML1> Setting PISDK General Timeout to 60 seconds for server localhost

21-Jun-04 11:45:26PIXML1.exe>PI-API> Initial connection to [localhost:5450][1]

21-Jun-04 11:45:26PIXML1> PIAPI successfully connected to default piserver

21-Jun-04 11:45:26PIXML1> Server Version: PI 3.4, Build 363.68

21-Jun-04 11:45:26PIXML1> PIAPI explicit login succeeded

21-Jun-04 11:45:27PIXML1> PISDK successfully connected to piserver localhost via port 5450

21-Jun-04 11:45:27PIXML1> Server = http://opcfoundation.org/xmldasampleserver/service.asmx

21-Jun-04 11:45:27PIXML1> The DLL being used is ..\opcxmldll\debug\pixml_opc.dll

21-Jun-04 11:45:27PIXML1> Debug flag is set to 0.

21-Jun-04 11:45:27PIXML1> XML server timestamps will be used.

21-Jun-04 11:45:27PIXML1> No exception reporting will be done by the XML server.

21-Jun-04 11:45:27PIXML_OPC_plugin.dll> Loading PIXML_OPC_plugin.dll version 1.1.0.0

21-Jun-04 11:45:27PIXML_OPC_plugin.dll> Server URL is

http://opcfoundation.org/xmldasampleserver/service.asmx

21-Jun-04 11:45:27PIXML_OPC_plugin.dll> Locale has been set to en (/locale).

21-Jun-04 11:45:27PIXML1> Connected to XML server. Vendor is OPC XML Data Access 1.00 Sample Server

21-Jun-04 11:45:28PIXML1> Uniint is running in Extended API Mode with options 0x1089

21-Jun-04 11:45:28PIXML1> 3 Scan classes have been defined

21-Jun-04 11:45:28PIXML1> Scan class 1, update period = 5.000000 seconds, unspecified phase offset




21-Jun-04 11:45:28PIXML1> 1 UNSOLICITED Scan class has been defined

21-Jun-04 11:45:29PIXML1> Loading PERFORMANCE_POINT for tag sy.st.pixml.sc1



21-Jun-04 11:45:30PIXML1> (UTC time on server node - UTC time on interface node) = 0 seconds

21-Jun-04 11:45:30PIXML1> (Local time on server node - local time on interface node) = 0 seconds

21-Jun-04 11:45:31PIXML1> 7 points found for point source X

21-Jun-04 11:45:31PIXML1> 0 unique event classes have been established

21-Jun-04 11:45:31PIXML1> 1 output points have been established

21-Jun-04 11:45:32PIXML1> Offset between XML server and PI server (XMLServer_time - PI_time) is 7381

seconds.

21-Jun-04 11:45:32PIXML1> New point(s) added, edited, or deleted to scanclass 0. Interface will

(re)create group.

21-Jun-04 11:45:32PIXML1> Creating new subscription for scanclass 0.

System Errors and PI ErrorsSystem errors are associated with positive error numbers. Errors related to PI are associated with negative error numbers.

Error Descriptions Descriptions of system and PI errors can be obtained with the pidiag utility:\PI\adm\pidiag –e error_number


Appendix B:Debugging

The debug flag is included to assist in understanding problematic or unexplained behavior, such as duplicate values or invalid timestamps. Use of the debug flag should be limited to short periods of time, as the flag can cause the creation of large files. The flag itself is actually a bit mask, which means you can set more than one option at the same time. A value of /DB=5 is the same as /DB=1 and /DB=4. Here are all of the possible settings and what they do:

/DB=1This is for OSIsoft Internal testing only and should only be used by a customer when instructed to do so by an OSIsoft engineer.

/DB=2Log startup information for each tag, including InstrumentTag. In addition the XML data type and access rights for the item in question are logged.

/DB=4This setting causes a number of messages to be written to the pipc.log file when subscribe operations are performed. Since the interface creates one subscription per scan class, messages detailing the handles returned for each subscription will be written to the log file on each scan.

/DB=8This setting is used to monitor values and timestamps received for each tag and should not be left on during normal interface operation.

/DB=16This setting is used to monitor outputs. Upon successful completion of a write operation, information will be written to the log file indicating the value, tag, and item involved in the output.


Appendix C:Current Plug-ins

Each of the plug-ins has its own user manual and release notes, which are found in the specified directories. The manuals include the details on how to use the plug-ins with the PI-XML Interface.

FileReaderThe File Reader plug-in DLL can process XML documents that exist locally on the hard drive and can perform XSL transformations after reading the XML documents. Therefore, it is possible to use XML documents that do not conform to the OPC XML-DA schema, provided an XSLT document is written that transforms the source XML into an XML document that is compliant to the OPC XML-DA schema. The File Reader plug-in DLL is located in the PIHOME\interfaces\XML\Plug-ins\FileReader\ directory.

HTTPThe http plug-in DLL can process XML documents that exist on a web server and can perform XSL transformations after retrieving the XML documents via http. Therefore, it is possible to use XML that does not conform to the OPC XML-DA schema provided an XSLT document is written that transforms the source XML into XML that is compliant to the OPC XML-DA schema. The http plug-in DLL is located in the PIHOME\interfaces\XML\Plug-ins\HTTP\ directory.

OPCThe default plug-in to the PI-XML interface is the OPC plug-in which conforms to the OPC XML-DA schema. This plug-in can be used with the PI-XML interface to communicate with OPC XML-DA servers. The OPC plug-in is located in the PIHOME\interfaces\XML\Plug-ins\OPC\ directory.

WITSMLThe WITSML plug-in DLL can interface with a WITSML compliant server in order to import data into PI through the XML interface. The WITSML plug-in is located in the PIHOME\interfaces\XML\Plug-ins\WITSML\ directory.


Revision HistoryDate Author Comments

01-Sep-04 ASingh Version 1.0.0.1 Rev A: Initial release; added description for /authscheme switch and /sync_read switch

07-Sep-04 Chrys Version 1.0.0.1 Rev B: minor formatting; accepted all changes and made final

15-Nov-04 ASingh Added some description about output points.

24-Nov-04 MPKelly Added 3 new features supported into table (APS, Point Builder, and ICU). Fixed sample PIXML.Bat file. Fixed header and footers. Fixed table of contents. Made final.

1-Dec-04 MPKelly Put in new screen shots for the PI-ICU configuration. Also fixed the TOC to add that section into it.

12-Jan-05 ASingh Added /arcreplace command line description.

24-Feb-05 ASingh Added /time_offset command line option description.

24-Mar-05 ASingh Added /srr and /keep_alive_mult command line options

11-Apr-05 MPKelly Added new screenshot for the ICU Control because 4 new command-line parameter were added.

18-Apr-05 ASingh Added new screenshots for ICU. Separated OPC-specific information into new plug-in.

19-Apr-05 MPKelly Modified the ICU configuration section. Fixed the TOC.

11-Jul-05 ASingh Added /ignore_offset

17-Aug-05 MPK Updated the screenshot for the ICU Control section. Fixed references to other section. Updated TOC. Replaced sample batch file with new version which includes command lines for all DLL plug-ins.

22-Aug-05 ASingh Added sentence in security section explaining DLL and XML server must support security options.

30-Aug-05 MPKelly Changed Part Number to agree with Clientele’s number. Made final.

12-Dec-05 ASingh Version 1.2.0.0 Rev B

14-Dec-05 Chrys Version 1.2.0.0 Rev C: explain command-line options more clearly; made list alphabetical; added Appendix C with list of plug-ins currently available; formatting; grammar.
