DANW-Xi Express Interface (OPC .NET 3.0) Option for OPCDA.NET Client Component

The DANW-Xi components extends the Advosol >OPCDA.NET Client Component with an Express Interface (Xi, OPC .NET 3.0) wrapper. The application can access OPC DA and Xi servers through the same API.

OPCDA.NET based client applications can access Xi servers without having to be modified. The applications only need to be compiled with a reference to the OPCDA.NET component with the Xi option.

Depending on the name of the connected server, either the OPC DA DCOM server the Xi Web Service is accessed.

For Xi server access DCOM is completely eliminated because the Xi handling is within the OPCDA.NET component. There is no external DCOM to Xi wrapper involved.

Without additional application development effort the application can access DCOM OPC DA server and Xi web services. Xi is specified with a structure and functionality similar to OPC DA, making the DA/Xi wrapping fast and reliable.

DANW-Xi Advantages

• The DANW-XI enhances existing OPCDA.NET based OPC DA client applications with the capability to access OPC Xi servers. No code changes are required in the OPC DA application. Only the OPCDA.NET assembly references need to be changed to the assembly version with Xi support.
• New client applications can be developed to support access to the widely installed classic OPC DA servers as well the new OPC Xi servers. For Xi server access DCOM usage is completely eliminated, unlike solutions with an external Xi wrapper server.

With the client application able to access OPC DA and OPC Xi server there is no need for external converters. This simplifies the installation, the configuration and the maintenance of the application. No converter (wrapper) module needs to be installed, configured and maintained. There is one less component that may fail.

Top performance is achieved. The application communicates directly with the server. For OPC DA server access there is an efficient .NET wrapper that handles the DCOM interface. For Xi server access the .NET code performs the WCF communication without involving native code.

DANW-Xi Limitations

The Xi server access is limited to the Data Access (DA) profile of the Xi server. The Historian (HDA) and Alarm & Event (AE) features of the Xi server cannot be accessed through the OPC DA client interface. For application that require access to all features of the Xi server the PaXi client component needs to be used.

DANW-Xi Feature Summary

• .Net applications can access OPC DA and OPC Xi server through the same API
• All OPCDA.NET classes can access DA and Xi servers
• The server type is determined by the server name (ProgID or URL)
• The automatic Xi configuration fits most applications
• # Specific Xi configuration settings can be defined in the application configuration file or in properties of the Xi classes
• High performance for DA and Xi server access
• Pure .NET code that runs in 32-bit or 64-bit for DA and Xi server access

Requirements

• OPCDA.NET V7.1 or newer
• .NET 3.5 or 4.0
• Visual Studio 2005, 2008 or 2010

To download the product, click here.

See also:
PaXi Component for Express Interface (OPC Xi) Client Applications

Vendor: Advosol

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Advosol Inc. is the leading provider of .NET components for the developer of OPC DA, AE, HDA and XML-DA client and server applications. Advosol’s client components are up-to-date with the latest technology. They work in 32-bit and 64-bit systems and are Authenticode signed to ensure quality and to simplify Windows Vista Certification. The server toolkits reduce the OPC server development to a .NET assembly for the ‘device’ access. The OPC system integrator can use our XML DA Gateways and Bridge to eliminate DCOM issues and achieve secure remote access. All Advosol products include extensive documentation and 90 days support.