TOP Server Project Configuration Files (.opf or .json) contain all of your TOP Server project level settings. This makes transferring a TOP Server configuration to another machine much easier, requiring only that the TOP Server .opf or .json project configuration file be transferred and opened in the other TOP Server.
The project level settings are accessible in TOP Server by right-clicking on the Project entry in the left-hand tree view. There are a number of different sections possible here, depending on which Native Client Interfaces (SuiteLink and iFIX PDB) were selected for install for use with TOP Server.
The General section of the Project Properties provides the ability to give a particular TOP Server configuration a meaningful title (which is also available in your client application via the _ProjectTitle system tag) and description including any comments needed about the project. Additionally, the Tags Defined field lists a tally of the total number of user-defined static tags currently configured in the project.
Some of the common ways these settings can prove useful are:
The OPC DA (Data Access) section provides the flexibility to access and alter TOP Server’s behavior and functionality for OPC DA client connections pertaining to the particular OPC Specifications and functions supported.
This can be particularly useful for:
TOP Server has been designed to provide the highest level of compatibility with the OPC Foundation’s specifications. The OPC Compliance Section provides access to settings specific to TOP Server support for the OPC DA specifications.
These settings are exposed to allow for maximum compatibility with virtually any OPC DA client applications available including any that may have implemented different interpretations of the OPC DA specifications.
Starting with Version 6.11, the following two settings have also been added to assist users in controlling how many concurrent OPC DA client connections TOP Server will support and how many groups can be created - these settings provide more granular controller over threading and resource consumption as they relate to OPC DA client connections on systems with potentially large client counts.
TOP Server supports the OPC UA Standard (Data Access profile). The settings found in the OPC UA section in the Project Properties cover actually enabling the interface for use, enabling diagnostics, and other server level settings. Full details of these settings are provided in the TOP Server help file under Configuration | Project Properties | Project Properties - OPC UA.
For configuration of UA server endpoints, security, certificate management and more low-level details, click here to learn more about how to configure the TOP Server’s UA Server interface using the OPC UA Configuration Manager.
While TOP Server is first and foremost an OPC server, there are still a number of client applications that require Dynamic Data Exchange (DDE) to share data. The DDE section allows users to determine how the server provides DDE data to DDE client applications.
Options available include:
TOP Server's support of Wonderware's FastDDE and SuiteLink client interfaces simplifies the task of connecting the server with AVEVA, formerly Wonderware software.
The native SuiteLink interface allows quick access to device data without the use of intermediary bridging software (such as OI Gateway or FSGateway), allowing the fastest, most reliable connection.
These settings allows you to enable the SuiteLink interface (disabled by default) and modify the SuiteLink application name (server_runtime by default) if desired or necessary.
NOTE: In order for both proper FastDDE/SuiteLink operation and for the FastDDE/Suitelink section to be displayed, the SuiteLink common components must be installed on the TOP Server PC. It is also required that the “Wonderware SuiteLink and FastDDE” option be selected during TOP Server installation from the Native Client Interfaces section.
TOP Server’s support of native iFIX connections shows up in the FIX SCU as the “IDS Industrial Data Server”. The iFIX PDB Settings section contains parameters that allow users to adjust the behavior between the processing of the iFIX process database (PDB) tags and the TOP Server tags.
It is recommended to keep all settings at the defaults for the best performance unless specifically recommended by technical support.
NOTE: The GE iFIX PDB Settings section will only be displayed in Project Properties if Proficy iFIX is installed on the computer and the “GE iFIX Native Interface” must be selected during TOP Server installation from the Native Client Interfaces section.
TOP Server supports the OPC .NET interface. This interface is enabled under the OPC .NET selection in the Project Properties.
OPC .NET is a family of APIs provided by the OPC Foundation that leverage Microsoft's .NET technology and allow .NET clients to connect to the server. This server supports OPC .NET 3.0 WCF, formally known as OPC Xi. Unlike other OPC .NET APIs, OPC .NET 3.0 uses Windows Communication Foundation (WCF) for connectivity, avoiding DCOM issues
The operational settings for OPC .NET such as security, encryption and authentication are configured in the OPC .NET Configuration Manager - click here to learn more.
TOP Server offers OPC AE (Alarms & Events) connectivity as well. The settings in the OPC AE section of the Project Properties affect both the standard Event Log AE events and the OPC AE plug-in.
Enable Simple Events to share TOP Server events displayed in the Event Log (such as information, warning, error, and security events) with your OPC AE client.
Alarms and Events based on data from device drivers being used in TOP Server require the use of the OPC AE plug-in.
TOP Server supports the OPC HDA (Historical Data Access) interface for access to data historized using the Local Historian plug-in. The interface is enabled under the OPC HDA section in the Project Properties.
Additionally, if you need to troubleshooting OPC HDA client connections to TOP Server using the OPC diagnostics, OPC HDA diagnostics support needs to be enabled here.
The demo is the full product once licensed. Once a client application connects to the TOP Server, the TOP Server runtime will operate for 2 hours at a time. At the end of the 2 hour demo period, the demo timer must be reset by restarting the TOP Server runtime service.
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