HMI Connectivity Software offers EFM plug-in.
Press Release Summary:
Powered by Kepware, TOP Server v5.13 provides OPC and native HMI device connectivity, with more than 130 different device drivers and plug-ins. Electronic Flow Measurement (EFM) plug-in supports export of data to generic ODBC-compliant database. Product also features ODVA-conformant Allen-Bradley ControlLogix Slave Ethernet driver with support for connected messaging, expanded user-defined point address support for Fisher ROC/ROC+ drivers, and flexible polling capabilities.
Original Press Release:
Software Toolbox Expands EFM Features for Connectivity Application
EFM plug-in for TOP Server updated with generic ODBC database exporter; new enhancements released for Allen-Bradley ControlLogix Slave Ethernet, Fisher ROC drivers and support for demand-only polling
CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Software Toolbox® today announced the release of TOP Server Version 5.13 with new features such as an updated Electronic Flow Measurement (EFM) plug-in with support for exporting EFM data to a generic ODBC-compliant database. The product release also features an improved ODVA-conformant Allen-Bradley ControlLogix Slave Ethernet driver with support for connected messaging, expanded user-defined point (UDP) address support for Fisher ROC/ROC+ drivers and more flexible polling capabilities, as well as enhancements and fixes for many other existing communications drivers.
Powered by Kepware, TOP Server is Software Toolbox’s OPC and native HMI device connectivity software application, offering more than 130 different device drivers and plug-ins. The enhanced EFM Suite expands the already existing options for exporting EFM data to include ODBC databases. The EFM plug-in now supports export formats for Flow-Cal, Quorum PGAS, generic CSV and generic ODBC for the greatest flexibility in utilizing EFM data.
“Many of our oil and gas industry clients rely on EFM data analysis for custody transfer and production optimization purposes,” said Kevin Rutherford, brand manager at Software Toolbox. “Expanding the range of format options for exporting EFM data gives our clients more options for how and where they can analyze that EFM data to glean the most useful information. Adding the optional ability to directly control when any TOP Server driver polls the device − on a demand driven basis − gives users in any industry additional flexibility and control over their entire data collection system, particularly in applications where polling of a device may only need to happen based on certain conditions that occur in the client software application.”
For connectivity with Allen-Bradley Logix controllers acting as masters, TOP Server expands support for the ControlLogix Slave Ethernet driver to support ODVA conformance, which includes support for connected messages, in addition to the previously supported unconnected messaging support. This enables greater flexibility in how a Logix controller is configured as a master, providing the greatest level of driver interoperability with such controllers, including older ControlLogix controllers that only supported connected messaging.
TOP Server Version 5.13 also brings improvements to the Fisher ROC/ROC+ drivers. The drivers have been updated to support UDPs for a wider range of compatibility with devices using user-defined points. Support for user-defined points also works in conjunction with dynamic point addressing and online/offline automatic tag generation functionalities.
All TOP Server drivers have been enhanced to support a new scan mode called Device Demand Poll. This allows the polling behavior for a device to be restricted to demand-only polls of all device items by writing to a special system tag for the device. This overrides the default behavior of polling items based on a specified scan rate from the client application, giving the user full control of how frequently a device is polled.
Additional improvements in TOP Server Version 5.13 include:
SquareD Serial Configurable Block Size – The driver now supports specifying the block size of registers to be read in a single request by the driver, increasing communications performance and flexibility.
SNMP Agent Plug-In Trap Description Support – The plug-in supports passing trap descriptions so network management applications can now decipher traps with human-readable descriptions instead of just OID references, which enables TOP Server to deliver information in a way that is immediately useful to the operator viewing it in the network management software application.
Other Driver Updates – Drivers with expanded functionality and improvements include ABB Totalflow, ControlLogix Ethernet, BACnet, Beckhoff TwinCAT, Custom Interface, DNP3 Suite, GE Ethernet, Lufkin Modbus, and more. Interfaces with improvements include Wonderware® SuiteLink, GE iFix PDB/NIO, and OPC DA. For full details of updates and enhancements in TOP Server Version 5.13, please see the release notes.
TOP Server Version 5.13 is available for download or as an upgrade for users with active support and maintenance contracts at http://www.toolboxopc.com.
ABOUT SOFTWARE TOOLBOX
Since 1996, Software Toolbox has been an industry source for industrial automation software, from project conception to completion. The company has served more than 10,000 clients in 110 countries helping them find, evaluate, purchase and support automation software solutions. These solutions include OPC servers, clients, development toolkits, HMI/SCADA add-ins/enhancements, and ActiveX and .NET development tools for Visual Studio C#/VB/C++. Software Toolbox works with its clients in all phases of projects to help them find and determine the right tools to use and to support overall project objectives and maximize their industrial software results. Visit http://www.softwaretoolbox.com
Media/Analyst Contacts:
John Weber
Software Toolbox, Inc.
pr@softwaretoolbox.com
(704) 849-2773, ext. 1122
The Software Toolbox name is a registered trademark of Software Toolbox, Inc. All Rights Reserved Worldwide.
