Wonderware

SIDirect DAServer
Users Guide

1/24/12

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Contents

Welcome .................................................... 7
SIDirect Version 3.0 Features ......................................................... 8
Documentation Conventions ........................................................... 9
Technical Support ............................................................................ 9

Chapter 1

Getting Started.......................................... 11
Overview .........................................................................................
Before You Begin ............................................................................
Supported Client Protocols ............................................................
OPC ..............................................................................................
SuiteLink .....................................................................................
DDE/FastDDE .............................................................................
Supported Device Protocols ...........................................................

Chapter 2

11
12
13
13
13
14
15

Setting Up Your DAServer ........................... 17

Checklist for Setting up the SIDirect DAServer .......................... 18
Finding Your DAServer in the SMC ............................................. 19

Chapter 3

Configuration............................................. 21
Configuring the SIDirect DAServer .............................................. 21
SIDirect Hierarchy in the DAServer Manager .......................... 24

SIDirect DAServer Users Guide

Contents

Device Redundancy ........................................................................

Run-time Behavior ......................................................................
Configuring Device Redundancy ................................................
Using the S7 Tag Creator ..............................................................

Chapter 4

Device Groups and Device Items .................. 37

Device Group Definitions ............................................................
Device Item Definitions ..............................................................
Scan-Based Message Handling ..................................................
Unsolicited Message Handling ...................................................

Chapter 5

38
43
46
47

Managing Your DAServer............................. 49

Configuring the DAServer as Service ...........................................
Configuring the DAServer as Not a Service .................................
Archiving Configuration Sets ........................................................
Activating/Deactivating the DAServer .........................................
In-Proc/Out-of-Proc ........................................................................
Hot Configuration ..........................................................................
Demo Mode .....................................................................................

Chapter 6

31
31
32
36

50
50
50
53
53
54
54

Accessing the Data in Your DAServer ............ 57

Accessing Items Using the OPC Communications Protocol ........ 57
Accessing Items Using the DDE/SuiteLink Communications
Protocol ........................................................................................ 59

Chapter 7

Item Naming ............................................. 61

Data Blocks and Instance Blocks ..................................................
Flag Bytes .......................................................................................
Input Bytes .....................................................................................
Output Bytes ..................................................................................
Peripheral Input Bytes ..................................................................
Peripheral Output Bytes ................................................................
Counters .........................................................................................
Timers .............................................................................................
Block Items .....................................................................................
Read-Only Block Items ...............................................................
Write-Only Block Items ..............................................................
Alarms and Events .........................................................................
Alarms and Events Terms ..........................................................

SIDirect DAServer Users Guide

61
64
67
71
75
79
83
84
85
85
87
90
96

Contents5

Specific S7-200 Item Syntax .......................................................... 98

V Memory .................................................................................... 98
Analog Input .............................................................................. 101
Analog Output ........................................................................... 102
Stage Memory ............................................................................ 103
Special Memory ......................................................................... 104
High-Speed Counter .................................................................. 107
S7-200 Timers ........................................................................... 107
Specific S7-1200 Item Syntax ...................................................... 109
S7-1200 Data Blocks and Instance Blocks ............................... 109
LREAL Data Type and Syntax ................................................. 112
DTL Data Type and Syntax ...................................................... 113
High-Speed Counters ................................................................ 118
Conversions and Suffixes of Items .............................................. 118
Endian Conversion .................................................................... 118
Suffix BCD ................................................................................. 118
Suffix DT .................................................................................... 119
Suffix KT .................................................................................... 119
Suffix S5T .................................................................................. 120
Suffix TR .................................................................................... 120
Suffix D ...................................................................................... 121
Suffix T ...................................................................................... 121
Suffix TOD ................................................................................. 121
DAServer Standard System Items .............................................. 122
DAServer Global System Item ................................................. 123
DAServer Device-Specific System Items ................................. 124
DAServer Device-Group-Specific System Items ...................... 126
DAServer Redundant Device Specific System Items .............. 130
DAServer Global System Item ................................................. 131
Generic OPC Syntax .................................................................... 133
VT_Array Syntax ......................................................................... 134

Chapter 8

Troubleshooting ....................................... 135

Finding the DAServer Version Number .....................................
Monitoring Connectivity Status with the PLC ...........................
Monitoring the Status of DAS Conversations ............................
Using DDEStatus and IOStatus in Excel ................................
Reading Values from the DAServer into Excel .......................
Writing Values to the DAServer from Excel ............................

135
136
137
137
137
138

SIDirect DAServer Users Guide

Contents

Debugging Communications Between the SIDirect DAServer

and the PLC ..............................................................................
Client Groups ............................................................................
Structure ....................................................................................
Transactions ..............................................................................
Statistics ....................................................................................
Messages ....................................................................................
Device Groups ............................................................................
Diagnostics and Error Tracing ....................................................
Diagnostics Facility ...................................................................
DASTrace Diagnostic Messages ...............................................
Error Tracing with the Wonderware Logger ...........................
Error Messages, Trace Messages, Error Codes, and
Warnings ...............................................................................
Data Conversion ........................................................................
Quality Settings ........................................................................

Chapter 9

139
140
141
142
142
142
144
145
145
147
149
150
174
174

Reference ............................................... 179

DAServer Architecture ................................................................ 179
DAServers .................................................................................. 180
Component Environments ........................................................... 181

Appendix A

Supported DAServer Hardware and

Firmware ............................................... 183
Index..................................................... 187

SIDirect DAServer Users Guide

Welcome

This guide describes using and customizing the SIDirect DAServer

application.
You can view this document online or you can print it, in part or whole,
by using the print feature in Adobe Acrobat Reader.
This guide assumes you know how to use Microsoft Windows,
including navigating menus, moving from application to application,
and moving objects on the screen. If you need help with these tasks,
see the Microsoft online Help.
In some areas of the SIDirect DAServer, you can also right-click to
open a menu. The items listed on this menu change, depending on
where you are in the product. All items listed on this menu are
available as items on the main menus.
The SIDirect DAServer is a Microsoft Windows application
program that acts as a communications protocol server. It provides
other Windows application programs with access to data within the
Siemens S7-200/300/400/1200 family of PLCs. The Industrial
Application Server DAServer provides access to a Siemens PLC
through an off-the-shelf standard Ethernet network interface card in
the computer.
Note: The DAServer can support multiple network interface cards in a
system.

SIDirect DAServer Users Guide

Welcome

The SIDirect DAServer supports the Siemens S7-200/300/400/1200

family of hardware and firmware listed in "Supported DAServer
Hardware and Firmware" on page 183. It does not require the
following items:

Siemens PC adapter cards

Siemens CP (Communications Processor) cards that reside in the
PC

Siemens SIMATIC NET library

While the SIDirect DAServer is primarily intended for use with the
Wonderware InTouch software (Version 7.11 Patch 02, 8.0, 9.0, 9.5,
10.0, or later), it can be used by any Microsoft Windows program
capable of acting as a DDE, FastDDE, SuiteLink, or OPC client.

SIDirect Version 3.0 Features

This release of the SIDirect DAServer 3.0 and its DIObjects includes
the following enhancements:

Support for running under Hyper-V

Support for the ArchestrA License Manager and ArchestrA.lic file.
Support for the S7-1200 PLC, including support of the S7-1200
data types:

SINT (VT_I1), USINT (VT_UI1), UINT (VT_UI2), UDINT

(VT_UI4)

LREAL (VT_R8)
DTL - Date Time Long. This is a 12-byte data structure.
Support for the S7-400H PLC in a stand-alone or redundant
configuration, with the new $SYS$MasterController system item,
which indicates whether a particular S7-400H PLC is a master or
slave.

In a stand-alone S7-400H configuration (no redundant

controllers configured), DASSIDirect supports subscription,
poking, alarm and event communications, block services, and
cyclic services.

When two S7-400H PLCs are configured in redundant mode

through the RDO, subscription and poking are supported.
Alarm and event communications, cyclic services, and block
services are not supported.

SIDirect DAServer Users Guide

Welcome9

Documentation Conventions
This documentation uses the following conventions:
Convention

Used for

Initial Capitals

Paths and file names.

Bold

Menus, commands, dialog box names,

and dialog box options.

Monospace

Code samples and display text.

Technical Support
Wonderware Technical Support offers a variety of support options to
answer any questions on Wonderware products and their
implementation.
Before you contact Technical Support, refer to the relevant section(s)
in this documentation for a possible solution to the problem. If you
need to contact technical support for help, have the following
information ready:

The type and version of the operating system you are using.
Details of how to recreate the problem.
The exact wording of the error messages you saw.
Any relevant output listing from the Log Viewer or any other
diagnostic applications.

Details of what you did to try to solve the problem(s) and your
results.

If known, the Wonderware Technical Support case number

assigned to your problem, if this is an ongoing problem.

SIDirect DAServer Users Guide

10

Welcome

SIDirect DAServer Users Guide

11

Chapter 1
Getting Started

This section is an overview of the Wonderware SIDirect

DAServer (Data Access Server), including the
application-level and bus-level communications protocols,
item naming conventions, and server features.

Overview
The DAServer is one component of a software system that
connects your software application with information on the
factory floor.
This DAServer documentation covers only the information
you need to configure and run the DAServer component. See
the documentation that comes with the related components
for details on their operation. You can find installation
instructions in a help file on the distribution CD.
You use the DAServer Manager to configure, activate, and
troubleshoot the DAServer. The DAServer Manager is
located in the System Management Console (SMC).
This documentation describes some of the features of the
DAServer Manager. See the DAServer Manager Users Guide
to find more information on:

Global parameters
Configuration sets
Time zone features
Icon definitions
Activation/deactivation

SIDirect DAServer Users Guide

12 Chapter 1 Getting Started

Configuring as a service
Importing/exporting device items
Standard diagnostics
You can troubleshoot problems with the DAServer using the
ArchestrA Log Viewer, a snap-in to the SMC. See the Log Viewer help
file to find information on:

Viewing error messages.

Determining which messages are shown.
Bookmarking error messages.
You may also be able to troubleshoot problems using your client
application, such as the Wonderware InTouch HMI software. The
client application can use system device items to determine the status
of nodes and the values of some parameters.

Before You Begin

Before configuring the DAServer, verify the following items:

A PC is set up with the necessary network cards, and is connected

to the necessary networks.

The Windows administration account is created or identified.

The DAServer and any other Wonderware software such as the
DAServer Manager is installed with the proper licenses. For more
information, see the License Utility documentation on the
distribution CD.

The client software is installed.

The device(s) is/are connected (networked) and, if necessary,
programmed.
Before configuring the DAServer, you should know:

The device network configuration and addresses.

Which data items are needed for the client application.
The device name/topic name/group name.
The desired update intervals.

SIDirect DAServer Users Guide

Supported Client Protocols13

Supported Client Protocols

The SIDirect DAServer communicates with clients and PLCs using
following different communications protocols:

OPC
SuiteLink
DDE/FastDDE
For more information about the DAServer architecture, see
"Reference" on page 179.

OPC
OPC (OLE for Process Control) is a non-proprietary set of standard
interfaces based upon the OLE/COM technology developed by
Microsoft. This standard enables interoperability between
automation/control applications, field systems/devices, and
business/office applications. Avoiding the traditional requirement of
software/application developers to write custom drivers to exchange
data with field devices, OPC defines a common, high-performance
interface that permits this writing custom drivers to be done one time,
and then to be easily reused by HMI, SCADA, control, and custom
applications.
Over the network, OPC uses DCOM (Distributed COM) for remote
communications.

SuiteLink
SuiteLink uses a TCP/IP-based protocol to meet industrial needs such
as data integrity, high throughput, and easier diagnostics. This
TCP/IP standard is supported on Windows operating systems.
SuiteLink is not a replacement for DDE orFastDDE. The protocol used
between a client and a server depends on your network connections
and configurations.

SIDirect DAServer Users Guide

14 Chapter 1 Getting Started

SuiteLink provides the following features:

Value Time Quality (VTQ) places a timestamp and quality

indicator on all data values delivered to VTQ-aware clients.

Extensive diagnostics of the data throughput, server loading,

computer resource consumption, and network transport are made
accessible through the operating systems performance monitor.
This feature is critical for the operation and maintenance of
distributed industrial networks.

Consistent high data volumes can be maintained between

applications if the applications are on a single node or distributed
over a large node count.

The network transport protocol is TCP/IP using the Microsoft

standard WinSock interface.

DDE/FastDDE
DDE/FastDDE communication protocols allow communication
between a client and a server. DDE protocol is developed by Microsoft
whereas FastDDE protocol is proprietary to Wonderware.

DDE
DDE is a communications protocol that allows applications in the
Windows environment to send and receive data and instructions to
and from each other. It implements a Client/Server relationship
between two concurrently running applications. The server application
provides the data and accepts requests from any other application
interested in its data. Requesting applications are called clients. Some
applications, such as the InTouch HMI or Microsoft Excel, can
simultaneously be both a client and a server.
Important: On Windows Vista and later operating systems, Local
DDE is supported only when the DAServer is configured as "Not a
Service" and activated from its executable file or started from the
InTouch HMI. Local DDE is not supported when the DAServer is
activated from the System Management Console (SMC).

SIDirect DAServer Users Guide

Supported Device Protocols15

FastDDE
FastDDE packs many proprietary Wonderware Dynamic Data
Exchange messages into a single Microsoft DDE message. This
improves efficiency and performance by reducing the total number of
DDE transactions required between a client and a server. Although
the Wonderware FastDDE extends the usefulness of DDE for our
industry, this extension is being pushed to its performance constraints
in distributed environments.

Supported Device Protocols

The SIDirect DAServer uses only the TCP bus communications
protocols over the Ethernet to communicate with the Siemens
S7-200/300/400/1200 family of controllers. The SIDirect DAServer
does not support MPI, Profibus, and other non-Ethernet protocols.

SIDirect DAServer Users Guide

16 Chapter 1 Getting Started

SIDirect DAServer Users Guide

17

Chapter 2
Setting Up Your DAServer

This section describes the procedures required to set up the SIDirect

DAServer for use with the supported devices and
communication-interfaces.
Many high-level functions and user-interface elements of the
DAServer Manager are universal to all DAServers. These universal
functions are described in detail in the DAServer Manager Users
Guide.
See the DAServer Manager Users Guide to find more information on:

Global parameters
Configuration sets
Time zone features
Icon definitions
Activation/deactivation
Configuring as a service
Importing/exporting device items
Standard diagnostics
The SIDirect DAServer uses the the TCP bus communications
protocols over the Ethernet to communicate with the Siemens
S7-200/300/400/1200 family of controllers.
The SIDirect Hierarchy in the DAServer starts with the PORT_CP_S7
Object, followed by selected supported SIDirect controllers.

SIDirect DAServer Users Guide

18 Chapter 2 Setting Up Your DAServer

Note: Before attempting to configure your DAServer, you should

determine the hierarchical structure of your network/controller
environment.

Checklist for Setting up the SIDirect DAServer

If you are setting up a DAServer for the first time, perform the
following tasks in the order listed:
1

Review the items described in "Before You Begin" on page 12.

Locate the DAServer in the System Management Console (SMC).

See "Finding Your DAServer in the SMC" on page 19.

Configure the global parameters. See the DAServer Manager

Users Guide.

Add a port. See "Configuring the SIDirect DAServer" on page 21.

Add and configure ports and devices. See applicable configuration

set-up in "Configuration" on page 21.

Add one or more device groups. See "Device Group Definitions" on

page 38.

Add device items. See "Device Item Definitions" on page 43.

Activate the DAServer. See "Configuring the SIDirect DAServer"

on page 21.

Access data from the client, see "Accessing Items Using the OPC
Communications Protocol" on page 57.

10 Troubleshoot any problems. See "Troubleshooting" on page 135.

SIDirect DAServer Users Guide

Finding Your DAServer in the SMC19

Finding Your DAServer in the SMC

Each DAServer is identified by a unique program name (ProgID)
under the SMC. The ProgID for this SIDirect DAServer is:
ArchestrA.DASSIDirect.3.
On the computer where the DAServer is installed, it can be found in
the local node of the default group of the DAServer Manager.
You do not need to install the DAServer Manager on the same
computer as the DAServer. When you access the DAServer remotely,
you will not find the DAServer node under the local node. You must
locate and identify the DAServer on a computer in one of the node
groups.
To find the DAServer
1

On the system Start menu, click Programs. Navigate to the

Wonderware folder that contains the System Management Console
and then click System Management Console.

In the System Management Console, expand DAServer Manager.

Locate the group with the node: ArchestrA.DASSIDirect.3

Expand the ArchestrA.DASSIDirect.3 node to display the global

parameters.

Select the configuration node to display the global parameters.

SIDirect DAServer Users Guide

20 Chapter 2 Setting Up Your DAServer

To view global parameter configuration and settings in detail, see the

DAServer Manager Users Guide.

SIDirect DAServer Users Guide

21

Chapter 3
Configuration

After you install the Wonderware SIDirect DAServer, you need to

configure it. Perform this configuration using the DAServer Manager
hosted in the ArchestrA System Management Console.
Before you activate the DAServer, you must first build the device
hierarchy, simulating the physical hardware layout, to establish
communications to each of the controllers. After you build the S7
hierarchy, you can configure the respective devices for
communications.
Finally, you can create the desired Device Groups for each controller
by clicking on the Device Groups tab.

Configuring the SIDirect DAServer

The SIDirect DAServer is hosted by the DAServer Manager, a
Microsoft Management Console (MMC) snap-in environment. Many
high-level functions and user-interface elements of the DAServer
Manager are universal to all DAServers. Only the documentation for
the DAServer Manager contains descriptions of those universal
functions/UI elements.
Reading the documentation for both the MMC and the DAServer
Manager is critical to understanding this users guide. To read the
documentation about the MMC and DAServer Manager, click the Help
topics on the MMC Help menu. Both the MMC and DAServer Manager
Help are opened. An Adobe Acrobat version of the DAServer Manager
documentation (DAServerManager.pdf) is provided.

SIDirect DAServer Users Guide

22 Chapter 3 Configuration

Note: Most items in each shortcut menu are standard Windows

commands. See the Help menu of the MMC for more information about
those commands.

Before you can configure the SIDirect DAServer, you need to perform
the following steps.
1

Install the Wonderware SIDirect DAServer by running the

Setup.exe program and accept all the default settings during
installation. If you need more information, the DAServer
installation instructions are included in a separate Help file
(Install-SIDirect.chm).

Important: Because there are no default values for security settings,

note the User Name and password selected during the install.
2

Run the DAServer Manager on at least one computer.

After you install the SIDirect DAServer, you need to configure it.
Note: All configuration files and Tag Database files will be moved to
"C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Application
Data\Wonderware\DAServer\DASSIDirect" on Windows XP and
Windows Server 2003 operating systems and to
"C:\ProgramData\Wonderware\DAServer\DASSIDirect" on Windows
Vista and above operating systems. The rule file will provide the version
information.
To prepare the SIDirect DAServer
1

Start the System Management Console by clicking the Start

button on the Windows task bar and pointing to Programs. Point
to the Wonderware folder that contains the System Management
Console, click ArchestrA System Management Console, and click
on DAServer Manager.

Click on Default Group, then click on Local.

Under the Local node, the name of the DAServer is
ArchestrA.DASSIDirect.3.

SIDirect DAServer Users Guide

Configuring the SIDirect DAServer23

Note: See the DAServer Manager documentation for general

information about working in this snap-in environment.

Before starting the DAServer, build the device hierarchy to

establish communications to each of the controllers.
For step-by-step procedures on how to build the device hierarchy,
see "SIDirect Hierarchy in the DAServer Manager" on page 24.

Important: Selecting the Configuration object of the hierarchy tree

opens the Global Parameters configuration view for this SIDirect
DAServer. Configure all other global parameters as required for this
SIDirect DAServer.
For more information about the Global Parameters dialog box,
including descriptions of the different Poke Modes, see the DAServer
Manager documentation.
Any Global Parameters that appear dimmed are not available.
4

After you build the SIDirect hierarchy, you can start configuring
the respective devices for communications.

Finally, create the Device Groups for each controller. Navigate to

the object in the DAServer Manager tree view and click on the
Device Groups tab.
For step-by-step procedures on configuring "Device Group
Definitions" on page 38.

Note: If a configuration view is in an open state and you open the

same server the second time, the DAServer locks the second instance
of this same-server access for any update or configuration activities.
Access to this second server resumes after the first one is closed.

SIDirect DAServer Users Guide

24 Chapter 3 Configuration

The DAServer is ready to use after you activate it.

If you use an OPC Client, the DAServer auto-starts.

If you use DDE/SuiteLink, start the DAServer either as a manual
or automatic service.

To activate the DAServer, right-click on ArchestrA.DASSIDirect.3

and select Activate Server.
To run the SIDirect DAServer as a service, right-click on the SIDirect
DAServer name and select Configure As Service. You can configure it

as an auto service or manual service.

For more information about configuring your SIDirect DAServer as a
service, see the Activation/Deactivation/Service Component of the
DAServer Manager documentation.

SIDirect Hierarchy in the DAServer Manager

The SIDirect DAServer uses a two-tier hierarchy for modeling the S7
objects and a custom device group configuration.
Before configuring your SIDirect DAServer, determine the
hierarchical structure of your network/PLC environment.

PortCpS7 Object
The server-specific configuration portion of the SIDirect DAServer
hierarchy tree under the DAServer Manager starts at the PortCpS7
(Communications Processor) object. It represents the network board in
the computer that communicates with the PLC. Usually it is an
ordinary network card identified by the local IP address.

SIDirect DAServer Users Guide

Configuring the SIDirect DAServer25

To add PortCpS7 object to your SIDirect hierarchy

1

Select and right-click on the Configuration branch of the

hierarchy, then select Add PortCpS7 Object. The
New_PortCpS7_000 Parameters object appears.

The hierarchy entry is added in edit mode. You can appropriately

describe components of your specific hardware environment. If you
do not rename the object at this time, a numeric sequencing
system is applied. Any hierarchy entry can be renamed at a later
time

Only 1 (one) PortCpS7 object can be created from the

Configuration branch.

Rename this object as needed.

The New_PortCpS7_000 Parameters configuration view shows one
element already configured:

Port type

The type of the port is TCP/IP.

Important: If you subsequently clear your configuration hierarchy,
you must create this PortCpS7 object by right-clicking on
Configuration and selecting Add PortCpS7 Object. An object called
New_PortCpS7_000 Parameters is created. Rename as appropriate.
From this point, all of the following instructions apply.

SIDirect DAServer Users Guide

26 Chapter 3 Configuration

S7Cp Object
The SIDirect DAServer can connect to different CPs in an S7 PLC.
Each of the S7Cp node models the end-point of the communications
path. The S7Cp object can access only some of the memory type of the
S7-200 PLC because the S7-200 PLC has its own specific syntax.
For the S7Cp object, you must pre-configure the connection
information on the S7 200 PLC. The S7Cp_200 object can connect to
the S7 200 PLC using the default settings.
From the New_PortCpS7_000 branch of the DAServer hierarchy,
create the S7Cp object.
To add S7Cp object to your SIDirect hierarchy
1

Select and right-click on your

Select and right-click your New_PortCpS7_000 object, then select

Add S7Cp Object. The New_S7Cp_000 Parameters configuration
view appears.

A maximum of 1024 S7Cp objects can be created from the

New_PortCpS7 branch.

SIDirect DAServer Users Guide

Rename as needed.

Configuring the SIDirect DAServer27

The S7Cp configuration view has six elements, five of which you can
configure:

Processor Type

The processor type is S7 PLC.

S7 Connection

The S7 Connection has the following three configurable

parameters.

Network Address

The IP address or host name of the remote S7 CP.

Type the network address where the PLC is located (for
example, "10.11.12.13"), or a host name if one is defined in the
local hostlist. The address field cannot be blank and the IP
address or host name cannot be more than 255 characters.

Local TSAP

The local TSAP of the computer. Select the Hex numbers for
the connection resources from the menu. The Local TSAP
consists of two (2) Hex numbers. The first number corresponds
to the connection resource. Each number ranges from 00 to FF.
The default values are 01 and 00, respectively.

Remote TSAP

This Remote TSAP corresponds to what you configured in the

TSAP for the S7 CP. Configure the Remote TSAP by typing in
the decimal numbers for the Remote Rack and Remote Slot,
and by selecting the Hex number for the Connection Resource
from the menu. The values for the Remote Rack No. and
Remote Slot No. range from 0 to 255, with the default values of
0 and 3, respectively. The value for the Connection Resource
ranges from 00 to FF. The default value is 03.
PLC Connectivity

The watchdog scheme for detecting the connectivity status to the

PLC when there are no activities (no items are subscribed to).

Select the Verify connectivity when no item is subscribed

check box to turn on the watchdog.

Specify the watchdog time interval, in seconds, in the

Frequency in seconds to verify the PLC connectivity box.

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28 Chapter 3 Configuration

Reply Timeout

Enter a value, in milliseconds, beyond which messages time out.

Allowable range is 0 to 100,000 milliseconds.

The default value is 15,000 milliseconds.
If you decrease this value, the SIDirect DAServer reacts faster to a
communications failure.

Connection Timeout

Enter a value, in milliseconds, beyond which a pending request to

initiate a connection times out.

Allowable range is 0 to 100,000 milliseconds.

The default value is 30,000 milliseconds.

Alarms and Events

Enable Alarms or Events or disable both for this connection by

selecting:

Disable all
Enable alarms
Enable events
On one connection, either Alarms, Events, or none can be
configured. If you need to access both Alarms and Events, create
two different connections.
Use PLC Alarm Time

The alarm time in the PLC used to timestamp alarm and

event-related data.
You can enable this feature so that data in the alarm and event
blocks will be time stamped using the timestamps provided in the
alarm and event blocks. The DAServer, in this case, will not
generate its timestamp for the received data. This feature is only
available for data in the alarm and event blocks.
Time Difference Between the PLC Time and the UTC

The time difference, in hours, between the PLC time and the UTC
time.

The value range is from +12 hours to -12 hours.

The default value is 0.

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Configuring the SIDirect DAServer29

S7Cp_200 Object
The SIDirect DAServer can connect to different CPs in an S7-200 PLC.
Each of the S7Cp_200 nodes models the end-point of the
communications path.
From the New_PortCpS7_000 branch of the DAServer hierarchy,
create the S7Cp_200 object.
To add S7Cp-200 object to your SIDirect hierarchy
1

Select and right-click your New_PortCpS7_000 object, then select

Add S7Cp_200 Object. The New_S7Cp_200_000 Parameters
configuration view appears.

A maximum of 1024 S7Cp_200 objects can be created from the

New_PortCpS7 branch.

Rename as appropriate.

The S7Cp_200 object configuration view has five elements, four of

which are configurable:

Processor Type

The processor type is S7-200 PLC.

S7 Connection

The S7 Connection has the following three configurable

parameters.

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30 Chapter 3 Configuration

Network Address

The IP address or host name of the remote S7-200 CP.

Type the network address where the PLC is located (for
example, "10.11.12.13"), or a host name if one is defined in the
local hostlist. The address field cannot be blank and the IP
address or host name cannot be more than 255 characters.

Local TSAP

The local TSAP of the computer. The Local TSAP consists of

two (2) Hex numbers. The first number corresponds to the
connection resource. Each number ranges from 00 to FF. The
default values are 4D and 57, respectively.

Remote TSAP

This Remote TSAP corresponds to what you configured in the

TSAP for the S7-200 CP. The Remote TSAP consists of two (2)
Hex numbers. Each number ranges from 00 to FF. The default
values are 4D and 57, respectively.

PLC Connectivity

The watchdog scheme for detecting the connectivity status to the

PLC when there are no activities (no items subscribed to).

Select the Verify PLC connectivity when no item is subscribed

check box to turn on the watchdog.

Specify the watchdog time interval, in seconds, in the

Frequency in seconds to verify the PLC connectivity box. The

default is 15 seconds, with a maximum of 30 seconds.

Reply Timeout

Enter a value, in milliseconds, beyond which messages time out.

Allowable range is 0 to 100,000 milliseconds.

The default value is 15,000 milliseconds.
If you decrease this value, the SIDirect DAServer reacts faster to a
communications failure.

Connection Timeout

Enter a value, in milliseconds, beyond which a pending request to

initiate a connection times out.

Allowable range is 0 to 100,000 milliseconds.

The default value is 30,000 milliseconds.

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Device Redundancy31

The logical endpoint for each branch of the SIDirect hierarchy tree is a
hardware device (PLC).
Note: When adding a hierarchy object, the default name is in the
format of New_ObjectName_###. ObjectName is the name of the
object type and ### is a numeric value starting from "000"
sequentially per hierarchy object. The link name for the OPC items is
constructed by assembling the respective object names of the nodes
along the hierarchy tree in the logical order, starting from the PortCpS7
root of this DAServer down to the leaf.
This creates a link name that is always unique for the DAServer.

To use the DAServer, you have to activate it. For more information,
see the DAServer Manager documentation.

Device Redundancy
The DAServer Manager provides the ability to assign a redundant
device for fail-over protection in the event of a device failure. Two
identical devices are expected to be configured in the DAServer
Manager having identical item syntax, connected to the same
DAServer.
Note: Items can not be added for updates through the Redundant
Device Object if the items do not exist in both controllers.

Run-time Behavior
The DAServer will start with the active device. The DAS Engine will
switch to the standby device when the active device fails to
communicate. The value of the $SYS$Status will determine the
communication failure.
Note: The value of the $SYS$Status of the standby device must be
TRUE in order to switch over to the standby device. Otherwise, there
will not be any failover.

When $SYS$Status shows a FALSE value at both active and standby

devices, the DAS Engine will consider a complete communication
failure and mark all the items subscribed to the redundancy device
hierarchy with the current time and the appropriate OPC quality. The
DAS Engine will activate the slow-poll mechanism to retry the
communication to both devices until either one of the Ping Items
returns to a good quality and update its $SYS$Status item to TRUE.
When the DAS Engine switches to the standby device, the standby
device becomes active and the originally active device becomes the
standby.

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32 Chapter 3 Configuration

When the active device becomes the standby device the Ping Item will
not be deleted from that the standby device. This will ensure the
standby will be able to recover the communication again.
Note: The Ping Item must be a valid item from the controller that has
not been rejected by the server for the failover to function properly.

The DAServer will log any failover activities. All other functionality
such as diagnostics, enable/disable, and reset will be performed exactly
same as it is performed for any other hierarchy node.
Note: Unsolicited message configuration is not supported in the
Redundant Device Object itself. You can still receive unsolicited
messages directly from device groups defined in the regular server
hierarchy.

This feature allows the DAServer to provide fail over support by

providing one node which switches between two other nodes. The
Redundant device is configured with a redundancy node which directs
itself to one of the two nodes and switches to the other based on lack of
communications to a common user-configured controller item. In this
manner the Redundant Device Object can be used to direct client
requests to the redundant node, which switches between device or
communication pathway failure without intervention.
You can use the S7-400H PLC in a stand-alone or redundant
configuration.

In a stand-alone S7-400H configuration (no redundant controllers

configured), DASSIDirect supports subscription, poking, alarm
and event communications, block services, and cyclic services.

When two S7-400H PLCs are configured in redundant mode

through the RDO, subscription and poking are supported. Alarm
and event communications, cyclic services, and block services are
not supported.
The $SYS$MasterController item indicates whether a particular
S7-400H PLC is a master or slave. This information also is used
internally to trigger a failover in the DAS redundant pair. You do not
need to subscribe to the $SYS$MasterController item for failovers to
take place.

Configuring Device Redundancy

The DAServer Manager provides the ability to assign redundant
device for fail-over protection in the event of device failure. Two
devices must be configured in the same DAServer having identical
item syntax.
Primary and secondary devices will be setup in the
REDUNDANT_DEVICE object in the SMC, along with a common item
name (ping item) shared by each device to determine device status.
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Device Redundancy33

To setup up a REDUNDANT_DEVICE from the configuration

branch
1

Set-up a primary device and hierarchy in the DAServer Manager

in the SMC.

Create at least one device item that can be shared between the
primary and secondary devices to determine device status.

Set up an secondary device on the same DAServer. Once again,

create an identical device item within the secondary device so that
device status can be determined.

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34 Chapter 3 Configuration

Select and right-click on the configuration node under the TCP/IP

Network Device object.

Select Add REDUNDANT_DEVICE Object. An object called

New_REDUNDANT_DEVICE_000 is created.

Rename the newly created object as appropriate. The

New_REDUNDANT_DEVICE_000 configuration view is
displayed in the Configuration branch of the hierarchy.

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Device Redundancy35

Enter or use the device browser to select the primary and

secondary devices. Save the hierarchy node configuration by
clicking on the save icon.

Note: Unsolicited message configuration is not supported from the

device redundant hierarchy.
Important: A Ping item must be specified and be a valid tag in both
the primary and secondary controllers to determine the connection
status for $SYS$Status. The Ping item can be a static item in the device
such as a firmware version or processor type. If the Ping item is invalid
or does not exist in the controller, the failover operation may not work
correctly as the value of $SYS$Status may continue to stay as FALSE in
the standby device.

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36 Chapter 3 Configuration

Using the S7 Tag Creator

The SIDirect DAServer supports the S7 Tag Creator to create the tags.
You can also use the S7 Tag Creator editor for categorizing tags into
different views, importing tags into different sections and areas, and
generating tags automatically.
The SIDirect S7 Tag Creator is similar to the current S7 I/O Server S7
Tag Creator, except that the infrastructure for the S7 Tag Creator
allows you to create S7 tags for the SIDirect DIObjects, while the I/O
Server S7 Tag Creator works only with the S7 I/O Server.
Additionally, the SIDirect S7 Tag Creator has numerous other
features that you do not find in the I/O Server S7 Tag Creator.
Note: The S7 Tag Creator does not read the current memory/register
layout from the S7 PLC online.

Using the SIDirect DIObject S7 Tag Creator, you can:

Generate alias names and tag names from the Siemens Step 7
.awl, .asc, .dif, .sdf, and .seq output files.

Categorize tags into three different views for your selection: S7 tag
hierarchy, alias name, and tag data type.

Continuously apply user-defined filter criteria for alias names.

Automatically generate tags.
Import tags into the Scan Group, Block Read, and Block Write DA
Groups on the S7C_S7 DIObject editor.
The S7 Tag Creator module generates tags for ArchestrA and SIDirect
DIObjects. You can either directly specify the tags or import tag files
generated by the Siemens S7 Step 7 programming software.

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37

Chapter 4
Device Groups and Device
Items

Select the Device Groups tab or the Device Items tab in the DAServer
Manager user interface to create new, modify, or delete device-group
and device-item definitions for an object.

For DDE/SuiteLink communications, one or more device-group

definitions must exist for each PLC that the SIDirect DAServer
communicates with.

Each device-group (topic) definition must contain a unique name

for the PLC associated with it.
Each configuration view associated with objects in the SIDirect
DAServer hierarchy tree has a Save button. When you modify the
Parameters, Device Groups dialog box, or the Device Items dialog
box, click Save to implement the new modifications. If you try to open
another configuration dialog box you are prompted to save the new
data to the configuration set.

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38 Chapter 4 Device Groups and Device Items

Device Group Definitions

The Device Groups dialog box, which appears by clicking the Device
Groups tab in the New_S7Cp_000 Parameters or the
New_S7Cp_200_000 Parameters configuration view, is the place
where you create, add, delete, and define device groups. You can also
configure default update intervals for the objects and edit update
intervals in this dialog box.

Note: When you select another part of the DAServer tree hierarchy,
you are prompted to save the modifications to the configuration set.

The device group for the S7CP_200 object is not editable.

To create or add device groups
1

Right-click in the Device Groups box and click Add.

Enter a unique name for the device group. Device group names are
case-insensitive.

To delete device groups

SIDirect DAServer Users Guide

Right-click on the device group to be deleted from the list and

select Delete.

39

To make edits on device groups

1

Make edits on a device group by right-clicking on the device group

to be edited. Select Edit from the menu to open the Device Group
Parameters dialog box.

Make the necessary edits.

The Edit dialog box contains five configurable elements:

Poke Mode

Select one of three settings to tune the poking behavior to the PLC.

Control mode

This mode preserves the poke order and does not fold write
values. Select this mode when using this device group with
control clients such as the InBatch and InControl applications.
If selected, the server processes all poked values in the order
they are received from a client and does not discard any poke
values even when several values are poked to the same item.

Transition mode

This mode preserves the poke order but allows folding of poke
values in the following way: if the server receives more than
one value per item it can discard poke values except for the
first, second, and last value for this item.
Transition mode prevents InTouch sliders from stuttering.

Full optimization

This mode allows changing the poke order and folding of poke
values by poking the last value of a series of pokes to one item
only. This minimizes bus traffic and poke duration. Use this
mode for high volume pokes such as recipe downloads where
the sequence of poke does not matter.
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40 Chapter 4 Device Groups and Device Items

Note: The highest performance can be achieved with the Full

optimization mode. Consider your data consistency requirements with
respect to poke order and folding.

The default Poke Mode settings for the SIDirect DAServer is

Transition mode.

Peripheral Access
Select the Read contiguous IO check box to force the SIDirect

DAServer to read input and output blocks (also peripherals) if

their address spaces are not contiguous.
Select this check box if you have some holes in the input-address or
output-address space in your PLC.

Cyclic Services

If you use Cyclic Services (the Disable S7 cyclic service option is

not selected), configure two additional settings:

Maximum available
Limit cyclic services to
If you know how many services the remote PLC can handle, you
can limit the use of cyclic services in this device group and
distribute the available cyclic services among the device groups
associated with this connection. Otherwise, you can use the
maximum available services.

Allowable range for Limit cyclic services to is 1 to 150.

The default is 1.
Click on Disable S7 cyclic service to disable the S7 cyclic services
for the device group.

Cyclic services have a reliable update frequency and need less

bus access. They are a limited resource in the PLC and/or
Communications Processor.
If you select the Disable S7 cyclic service option, the SIDirect
DAServer polls all items in this device group. If you do not select
this option, the SIDirect DAServer tries to register as many items
in the cyclic services as possible.

If there are insufficient credits for cyclic services left, the

SIDirect DAServer creates poll messages instead of cyclic
messages for the remaining items.
Reasons for disabling Cyclic Services include the following:

There is a device group with a long update interval. It should

not occupy the cyclic services resource.

You need to force the SIDirect DAServer to attempt to collect

data faster than 100 milliseconds.

You activate and deactivate items very often.

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41

Note: The S7-1200 does not support cyclic services.

Optimization

Select one of the following settings to configure the optimization

mode the SIDirect DAServer needs to use to acquire data from the
PLC:

S7 SAPI
Block read
Auto
The default is Auto. For more detailed information, see
"Optimization Considerations" on page 42.
Note: The S7-1200 does not support SAPI.

Block Services

If the Block Services function is required, you have to configure

two settings in the Block Services box:

Initial Values Timeout

Allowable range for Initial Values Timeout is 0 to 65,535

milliseconds; the default value is 5,000.

Update Timeout

Allowable range for Update Timeout is 0 to 65,535

milliseconds. The default value is 5,000.
The Block Services function needs time-outs to supervise reading
initial values and updating the block items to this connection. A
time-out value of 0 (zero) disables the time supervision of block
messages.
Block services are unconfirmed services. If the remote station does
not send data within this time range, the Block Services is
reinitialized and an error message appears in the Logger.
To configure default update intervals

To configure a default update interval for the object, right-click in

the Device Groups box and click Config Default Update Interval
on the menu.

To edit update intervals

To edit the update interval for an object, double-click its value in

the Update Interval column and make the edits.

Update Interval is the frequency in milliseconds that the

SIDirect DAServer acquires data from the topics associated
with that device group.

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42 Chapter 4 Device Groups and Device Items

Different topics can be polled at different rates in a PLC by

defining multiple device-group names for the same PLC and
setting a different Update Interval for each device group.
Note: When you select another part of the SIDirect DAServer tree
hierarchy, you are prompted to save the modifications to the
configuration set.

Optimization Considerations
The SIDirect DAServer uses the following same optimization
considerations as the S7 I/O Server:

Use different Poke modes.

Use different reading optimization modes.
Use cyclic services to minimize traffic.
Use block services to minimize traffic.
The DAServer can also optimize its performance in getting data from
the PLC by using the optimization mode. The following options are
available:

S7 SAPI
The S7 SAPI mode is the same optimization mode used in the
pre-release of the former Wonderware Siemens SIMATIC NET S7
I/O Server. This mode is implemented to keep the server
compatible to the former server. This mode is the less-preferred
optimization mode.

Block Read
The Block Read mode always registers a whole byte array
containing some items. If you frequently switch items (activating
and deactivating) that have similar addresses, this mode is the
best selection. In this mode, there are less activations and
deactivations on the protocol.

Auto
By default, the Auto mode is best to use when exploiting the whole
PDU (Protocol Data Unit). The Auto mode has the best
performance in cases where you do not make many activations and
deactivations. The S7-300 family of controllers can process PDU
lengths of 480 to 960 bytes, depending on the controller. An S7-400
controller can process PDU lengths of 960 bytes.
Note: The S7-1200 does not support cyclic services or SAPI.

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43

Device Item Definitions

The predefined item syntax/name for the S7 PLC cannot be changed.
However, to make it easier to remember item names, you can create
aliases for these item names.
For example, it may be easier for you to remember the item syntax
"mb80" as "Temperature."
Select the Device Items tab in the DAServer Manager user interface
to create new, modify, delete, export, or import device-item definitions
for an object. The configuration is performed in the Device Items
dialog box, which appears when you click the Device Items tab in the
New_S7Cp_000 Parameters configuration view.

After you configure item names, the DAServer can perform OPC Item
browsing. When the DAServer is running and an OPC client requests
item information, the configured items appear under the PLC
hierarchy node. User-defined data types appears at the lowest level in
the hierarchy when browsed via the OPC client.
To create or add device items
1

Right-click in the Device Items box and click Add.

Type the item name in the Name column.

For example, "Temperature."

When you add a new device item, enter a unique name.

Double-click the line in the Item Reference column and enter the
correlated item reference for the name you selected.
For example, "mb80."

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44 Chapter 4 Device Groups and Device Items

Note: If the name and the item reference are the same, it is only
necessary to enter a name. The DAServer assumes that the item
reference is the same. This is necessary if you want to add some items
for browsing via the OPC, even if they do not have a symbolic name.
To rename device items

Right-click on the device item to be renamed and click Rename.

Make the changes.

To delete device items

Right-click on the device item to be deleted from the list and click
Delete.

To clear all device items

Right-click in the Device Items box and click Clear All. All the
device items listed are cleared after you confirm their deletion.

Exporting and Importing DAServer Item Data

You can export and import the DAServer item data to and from a CSV
file after you configure the Device Items. This lets you perform an
off-line, large-scale edit on the item data configured for a PLC and
import that data back into the PLC configuration.
To export DAServer item data to a CSV file
1

SIDirect DAServer Users Guide

Right-click in the Device Items box and click Export. The Save As
dialog box appears and the file name defaults to "PLC
Hierarchyname.csv," within the current-system-configured default
directory.

45

Accept the defaults to save the file. The file is saved as

New_S7Cp_000.csv. Now you can edit it in Microsoft Excel.

The file contains one row for each item configured with two
columns: Name and Item Reference.

After you are done editing, you are ready to import the edited file into
the DAServer Manager.
To import DAServer item data from a CSV file
1

Right-click in the Device Items box.

Click Clear All to clear all the item data you want to replace with
the edited .csv file. The data is cleared after you click Yes to
confirm the deletion.

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46 Chapter 4 Device Groups and Device Items

Click Import on the menu. The Open dialog box appears.

Browse for the .csv file you want to import, select it, then click OK.
The DAServer Manager imports the file. You see the data in the
Device Items box.
When the file is imported, new item references are added based on
unique names. If there are duplicate names, you can replace the
existing entry with a new entry or ignore the new entry.

When the DAServer is running and an OPC Client requests item

information, the imported configured items appear under the PLC
hierarchy node.
Note: The SIDirect DAServer does not support importing
preconfigured items (alias names of items that work with OPC) in an
output file generated by the Siemens Step7 software.

Scan-Based Message Handling

Wonderware DAServers poll hardware devices for information. This
polling is requested by one or more clients.
After a client requests a particular piece of information, the SIDirect
DAServer creates its own request and sends that request to the
hardware device. The SIDirect DAServer then waits for a response to
its request. After the SIDirect DAServer receives the information, it
passes that information back to the client and repeats the process
until all clients stop requesting information.

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47

You define the rate at which the SIDirect DAServer polls a particular
device for a specific piece of information in the device group (topic
definition) inside the SIDirect DAServer. You use a parameter called
the Update Interval. When setting this parameter, there is always a
trade-off between the update speed of the device group and the
resulting decrease in system responsiveness.
Because you more than likely want very fast response, the temptation
is to set the Update Interval to a value close to 0 (zero) seconds.
However, if every item is polled at this rate, the entire system suffers
due to slow response time. Therefore, compromise and set the Update
Interval to a more reasonable value.
You can also create multiple device groups for each device, setting the
Update Interval to different values, then assigning different items to
different device groups, depending on how quickly the values change
and how quickly you want to see an update of those changes.

Unsolicited Message Handling

The SIDirect DAServer processes the following three types of
unsolicited messages sent by the S7 PLCs:

Alarms
Events
Block Services

Alarms and Events

In the world of PLCs and DAServers, it is obvious that a PLC knows
when a critical event occurs before the DAServer polls for that data.
Therefore, it seems natural that if a critical event occurs, the PLC can
inform the DAServer immediately, without waiting for the DAServer
to poll it.
This is the role of an unsolicited message. After a PLC determines that
a critical condition exists, it can generate a message immediately sent
to the DAServer without a previous request from the DAServer. The
unsolicited message implementation requires both the messaging
instructions properly programmed in the PLC logic and the device
group appropriately configured in the DAServer.

Block Services
In addition to unsolicited messages based on critical conditions or
events, S7 PLCs can also handle another type of unsolicited messages
called Block Services.
You can use Block Services to send blocks of data up to 64KBytes
within one send job and trigger it by using a timer, an event, an I/O
activity, or initiate it via a program code.

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48 Chapter 4 Device Groups and Device Items

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49

Chapter 5
Managing Your DAServer

After you configure the DAServer, there are two steps to take before
you can access data with your client application.
The first step is to determine what kind of client applications are to be
used with this DAServer. If any of your client applications use
DDE/SuiteLink, you must configure the DAServer as a service. If only
OPC client applications will be used, you can configure the DAServer
as a service or as not a service.
The last step is to activate the DAServer. Some client applications can
programatically activate the DAServer. If you configure the DAServer
as an automatic service, the DAServer is started and activated when
the computer on which the DAServer is installed starts up. If you
configure the DAServer as a manual service, the DAServer is not
started when the computer starts up. Instead, it is started upon the
first connection from an OPC client or when activated from the
DAServer Manager.
After a DAServer is running as an auto or manual service, it stays
running until explicitly stopped in the DAServer Manager or the
computer shuts down.

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50 Chapter 5 Managing Your DAServer

Configuring the DAServer as Service

To support DDE/SuiteLink clients, the DAServer must be configured
as a service.
To configure the DAServer as a service
1

In the DAServer Manager, navigate to the DAServer.

Expand DAServer Manager, expand the node group, and then

expand Local or the remote computer name.
2

Right-click ArchestrA.DASSIDirect.3 and then click Configure

As Service.

Click either Auto Service or Manual Service.

Read the warning message and click Yes.

Configuring the DAServer as Not a Service

The DAServer can only be set to run as not a service when the
DAServer is in the deactivated state.
To configure the DAServer as not a service
1

In the DAServer Manager, navigate to the DAServer.

Expand DAServer Manager, expand the node group, and then

expand Local or the remote computer name.
2

Right-click ArchestrA.DASSIDirect.3 and then click Configure

As Service.

Click Not a Service.

Read the warning message and click Yes.

Archiving Configuration Sets

A configuration set includes the DAServers global parameters; each
channel and its parameters; and each device and its parameters,
device groups, and device items. It lets you manage the settings of
different DAServer configurations.
The DAServer contains a default configuration set named
DASSIDirect. You cannot delete the default configuration set.
Caution: Care should also be taken not to accidently delete the
configuration set file outside of the DAServer Manager using Windows
Explorer.

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Archiving Configuration Sets51

You can create multiple configuration sets and switch between them.
Archiving, clearing, and switching configuration sets can only be done
when the DAServer is deactivated.
Before you create a configuration set, verify that you have saved any
changes you made to the global parameters. If you change a parameter
and then immediately create a configuration set, the original
parameter value is saved as part of the configuration set, not the
changed value.
To save a global parameter, click the Save icon.
To archive a configuration set
1

In the DAServer Manager, navigate to the configuration node.

a

Expand DAServer Manager, expand the node group, and then

expand Local or the remote computer name.

Expand the DAServer.

Click Configuration.

Right-click and click Archive Configuration Set.

In the dialog box, type the configuration set name, and click
Archive. All the current configuration values are saved to the set.

After you archive at least one configuration set, you can select it for
use.
To select a configuration set
1

In the DAServer Manager, navigate to the configuration node.

a

Expand DAServer Manager, expand the node group, and then

expand Local or the remote computer name.

Expand the DAServer.

Click Configuration.

Right-click, point to Use Another Configuration Set, then click the

desired name.

To change the parameter values saved in a configuration set, make

sure the desired configuration set is shown, then follow this procedure.

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52 Chapter 5 Managing Your DAServer

To change the parameter values in a configuration set

1

In the DAServer Manager, navigate to the configuration node.

a

Expand DAServer Manager, expand the node group, and then

expand Local or the remote computer name.

Expand the DAServer.

Click Configuration.

Change the parameters that you want to change.

Click the Save icon.

Clearing a configuration set returns the parameters to their default

values.
To clear a configuration set
1

In the DAServer Manager, navigate to the configuration node.

a

Expand DAServer Manager, expand the node group, and then

expand Local or the remote computer name.

Expand the DAServer.

Click Configuration.

Right-click, move the mouse over Clear Configuration Set, then

left click.

Read the warning message, then click Yes. The parameters are set
to the default values.

To delete a configuration set

1

In the DAServer Manager, navigate to the configuration node.

a

Expand DAServer Manager, expand the node group, and then

expand Local or the remote computer name.

Expand the DAServer.

Click Configuration.

Right-click Configuration, point to Delete Configuration Set and

select the configuration set to delete.

Read the warning message, then click Yes.

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Activating/Deactivating the DAServer53

Activating/Deactivating the DAServer

When you activate the DAServer, it starts communicating and
accepting requests from client applications. If a DAServer is
configured as an automatic service, the DAServer is started and
activated when the computer starts up. Also, a DAServer can be
activated by the an OPC client connection request, but only
out-of-proc.
To activate the DAServer
1

In the DAServer Manager, navigate to the DAServer.

Expand DAServer Manager, expand the node group, and then

expand Local or the remote computer name.
2

Right-click ArchestrA.DASSIDirect.3 and then click Activate

Server.

Deactivating your DAServer stops it from communicating with client

applications.
A DAServer with active OPC clients does not stop until the last OPC
client shuts down.
To deactivate the DAServer
1

In the DAServer Manager, navigate to the DAServer.

Expand DAServer Manager, expand the node group, and then

expand Local or the remote computer name.
2

Right-click ArchestrA.DASSIDirect.3 and then click Deactivate

Server.

Read the warning message and click Yes.

In-Proc/Out-of-Proc
The DAServer can run only as a stand-alone process (out-of-proc). If
the CLXCTX_ALL option is the chosen, out-of-proc activation for the
DAServer is triggered. Explicitly starting as part of the client process
(in-proc) is not currently supported. Activation using the
CLSCTX_ACTIVATE _64_BIT_SERVER flag is also not supported.
When the DAServer is running out-of-proc, it supports requests from
both DDE/SuiteLink and OPC client applications, as well as VB
clients.
If the DAServer is running as a service, the icon on the DAServer node
in the SMC is yellow. If the DAServer is not running as a service, the
icon is white. For more information, see the DAServer Manager Users
Guide.

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54 Chapter 5 Managing Your DAServer

Hot Configuration
If a parameter value change takes effect right away while the
DAServer is running, the parameter is a hot-configurable parameter.
Certain parameters in the SIDirect DAServer are hot-configurable.
Incorporated in the DAServer are the following hot-configuration
functionalities:

Modifying Global Configuration parameters.

Adding, deleting, or modifying device nodes (without affecting any
other device nodes, excluding the children of the modified device
nodes).

Adding, deleting, or modifying device groups, the Update Interval

column in the Device Groups tab, and device items.
Limited support is provided for the hot configuration for the
server-specific configuration parameters in this release. You can
modify server-specific parameters while the server is active. However,
to have those changes take effect, you have to restart the DAServer.
The following parameters are hot configurable. They can be modified
online and changes will take affect without restarting the DAServer.

Replay timeout
String variable style
Register type
Note: If changes are made to server-specific parameters while the
server is active, the DAServer will issue a warning message to the
logger.

Demo Mode
You can install a fully functioning version of this SIDirect DAServer
for demonstration purposes without a license. Demo mode allows you
to test the functionality of the server for 120 minutes. After that time,
you must install a license to continue using the DAServer.
When you first start this SIDirect DAServer, it checks for a license. If
the DAServer cannot find a valid license installed on the local
computer, it logs a warning message indicating a valid license cannot
be retrieved and enters Demo mode. Thereafter, the SIDirect
DAServer repeats its request for the license every 30 seconds. If no
licenses are found, the DAServer again logs a warning message on the
issue.

SIDirect DAServer Users Guide

Demo Mode55

This process is repeated for 120 minutes, after which the DAServer
stops updating read/write on all device items. Read from cache is
allowed, but all non-system data receive Bad quality status. The
SIDirect DAServer continues to request a license and clients continue
to function normally. For example, you can still add or remove an item,
but its quality is set to Bad until a license is obtained.
Note: Use the $SYS$Licensed system item, a read-only Boolean item,
to check the status of your license: True for Licensed and False for Not
Licensed.

If you subsequently add a license to the License Manager, the

DAServer logs a message acknowledging the license, switches out of
Demo mode, and runs normally.
Note: After a DAServer obtains a valid license, it no longer checks for
a license. If your license expires while the DAServer is running, the
DAServer continues to function normally until it is stopped.

SIDirect DAServer Users Guide

56 Chapter 5 Managing Your DAServer

SIDirect DAServer Users Guide

57

Chapter 6
Accessing the Data in Your
DAServer

The method for accessing items through the DAServer depends on the
communications protocol used.

Accessing Items Using the OPC

Communications Protocol
In the case of OPC communications, the protocol addresses an element
of data in a conversation with six characteristics:

node name
program name
group name
device group
link name
item name
The node name and device group are optional. A fully qualified OPC
item name (ItemID) is composed of the link name and item name. All
other characteristics are specified through separate DAServer means.

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58 Chapter 6 Accessing the Data in Your DAServer

To access an OPC item, the OPC client connects to the DAServer,

either in-process or out-of-process, and creates an OPC group defining
the data-acquisition properties for the collection of items to be added.
OPC groups can be either public or private. Public OPC groups are
shared across multiple clients. Private OPC groups are local to a single
client.
Note: DAServers only support private OPC groups.

You can optionally specify a device group, which indicates the access
path to the items for Read/Write.
The following briefly describes each characteristic of the OPC protocol.

node name
Computer (host) name identifying a specific node on the network.
This node name is required for remote access and is optional for
local access.

program name
The registered OPC server name uniquely identifying a specific
server (ProgID).
For this DAServer, the program name is
ArchestrA.DASSIDirect.3.

group name
The OPC group created from the client for logically organizing a
collection of items with the same data-acquisition properties
between the client and the server, such as update rate.

device group
Meaningful names configured in the DAServer under a specific
controller for the common custom attributes between the
DAServer and the device, such as update interval.
If not specified from the client, the default device group using the
global-configuration attribute values from the DAServer is
assumed.
Functionally, a device group is equivalent to an access path
(optional).

SIDirect DAServer Users Guide

Accessing Items Using the DDE/SuiteLink Communications Protocol59

link name
The set of hierarchy node names separated by delimiters. Link
names represent the specific devices on a communications path
link from the hierarchy root to a specific controller as configured
for this DAServer under the DAServer Manager.

item name
A specific data element, the leaf of the hierarchy tree of this
DAServer, within the specified group.
For example, when using this DAServer, an item can be a relay,
timer, counter, register, and so on, in the controller.

Accessing Items Using the DDE/SuiteLink

Communications Protocol
In the case of DDE/SuiteLink communications, the protocol addresses
an element of data in a conversation that uses a four-part naming
convention. The naming convention includes the node name,
application name, topic name, and item name. The fully qualified
DDE/SuiteLink naming convention includes all four parts, although
the optional node-name is only required for remote access.
Important: On Windows Vista and later operating systems, Local
DDE is supported only when the DAServer is configured as "Not a
Service" and activated from its executable file or started from the
InTouch HMI. Local DDE is not supported when the DAServer is
activated in the System Management Console (SMC).

The following briefly describes each portion of this naming convention.

node name
Computer name or host name identifying a specific node on the
network. This node name is required for remote access and is
optional for local access.

application name
The name of the Windows program (this DAServer) that accesses
the data element. In the case of data coming from or going to the
Siemens devices via the DDE/SuiteLink Plugin of this DAServer,
the application name portion of the address is DASSIDirect.

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60 Chapter 6 Accessing the Data in Your DAServer

topic name
Meaningful names configured in the DAServer to identify specific
devices. These names are used as the topic names in all
conversations with that device.
For example, FASTPOLL.
Topic names map to a device group defined in the DAServer.
Note: You can define multiple device group (topic) names for the
same device (PLC) to poll different points or items at different rates.

item name
A specific data element within the specified topic.
For example, when using this DAServer, an item can be a relay,
timer, counter, register, and so on, in the PLC.
For more information on item names, see "Item Naming" on page 61.

SIDirect DAServer Users Guide

61

Chapter 7
Item Naming

The Wonderware SIDirect DAServer uses an item-naming convention

based on the two-letter data-type identifiers used in programming the
Siemens PLCs. The server accepts both the English and German
standard identifiers.
The tables in this section describe the item naming convention for the
Siemens S7 PLCs. The ranges specified in those tables vary according
to the type of the controller used.
Note: PDU (Protocol Data Unit) size is factored in determining
Read/Write size limits. The S7-300 family of controllers can process
PDU lengths of 480 to 960 bytes, depending on the controller. An
S7-400 controller can process PDU lengths of 960 bytes.

Data Blocks and Instance Blocks

The following table summarizes the data format, item or point, suffix,
data type, and range for Data Blocks and Instance Blocks.
See the S7-200 and S7-1200 sections in this documentation for specific
item naming conventions and/or limitations for those controllers.

Data
Format

Item/Point

Bit
String
S7String

Suffix

Data Type

Range

D<B,I>d,Xx.y

VT_BOOL

0 or 1

D<B,I>d,Sx,v

VT_BSTR

String

D<B,I>d,STRINGx,v

VT_BSTR

String

D<B,I>d,S7Sx,w

VT_BSTR

String

D<B,I>d,S7STRINGx,w

VT_BSTR

String

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62 Chapter 7 Item Naming

Data
Format
Byte

Item/Point

Suffix

Data Type

Range

D<B,I>d,Bx

VT_UI1

0 to 255

D<B,I>d,BYTEx

VT_UI1

0 to 255

VT_BSTR

1990-1-1-0:00:00.000 to
2089-12-31-23:59:59.999

D<B,I>d,Bx,v

VT_ARRAY|VT_UI1

0 to 255 for each element*

D<B,I>d,BYTEx,v

VT_ARRAY|VT_UI1

0 to 255 for each element*

VT_I1

-128 to 127

VT_BSTR

1990-1-1-0:00:00.000 to
2089-12-31-23:59:59.999

DT
Byte Array
Char

D<B,I>d,CHARx
DT

Char Array

D<B,I>d,CHARx,v

VT_ARRAY|VT_UI1

-128 to 127 for each element*

Word

D<B,I>d,Wn

VT_UI2

0 to 65535

D<B,I>d,WORDn

VT_UI2

0 to 65535

BCD

VT_UI2

0 to 9999

KT

VT_BSTR

0.0 to 999.3

S5T

VT_BSTR

0ms to 2h46m30s0ms

TR

VT_R4

0.0 to 9990.0 (s)

VT_BSTR

1990-1-1 to 2168-12-31

VT_ARRAY|VT_UI2

0 to 65535 for each element*

Word Array D<B,I>d,Wn,v

Integer

Integer
Array
Double
Word

D<B,I>d,WORDn,v

VT_ARRAY|VT_UI2

0 to 65535 for each element*

D<B,I>d,INTn

VT_I2

-32768 to 32767

BCD

VT_I2

-999 to 999

VT_BSTR

1990-1-1 to 2168-12-31

D<B,I>d,INTn,v

VT_ARRAY|VT_UI1

-32768 to 32767 for each

element*

D<B,I>d,Dm

VT_UI4

0 to 4294967295**

D<B,I>d,DWORDm

VT_UI4

0 to 4294967295**

BCD

VT_UI4

0 to 99999999

TOD

VT_BSTR

0:00:00.000 to 23:59:59.999

VT_BSTR

-24D_20H_31M_23S_648MS
to
24D_20H_31M_23S_647MS

VT_ARRAY|VT_UI4

0 to 4294967295 for each

element*

VT_ARRAY|VT_UI4

0 to 4294967295 for each

element*

Double
D<B,I>d,Dm,v
Word Array
D<B,I>d,DWORDm,v
Double
Integer

Double
Integer
Array

VT_I4

-2147483648 to 2147483647

BCD

VT_I4

-9999999 to 9999999

TOD

VT_BSTR

0:00:00.000 to 23:59:59.999

VT_BSTR

-24D_20H_31M_23S_648MS
to
24D_20H_31M_23S_647MS

VT_ARRAY|VT_I4

-2147483648 to 2147483647
for each element*

D<B,I>d,DINTm

D<B,I>d,DINTm,v

SIDirect DAServer Users Guide

Data Blocks and Instance Blocks63

Data
Format

Item/Point

Real
Real Array

Suffix

Data Type

Range

D<B,I>d,REALm

VT_R4

+/-1.2e-38 to +/-3.4e+38

D<B,I>d,REALm,v

VT_ARRAY|VT_R4

+/-1.2e-38 to +/-3.4e+38 for

each element*

*: For DDE/SuiteLink, the item value is the HexASCII representation

of the complete array. The result is one string containing all the
elements of the array in the HexASCII representation of the binary
data in big endian format when data is returned to the DDE/SuiteLink
layer.
**: For DDE/SuiteLink, this value is restricted to the range of 0 to
2147483647. Values higher than that are clamped to the maximum
value of 2147483647 in a SuiteLink or DDE client. In this case, the
quality of the item shows "Clamp High."
Where:
d

is the data block number, with a range from 1 to 65535.

is the start address. For S7-300/400/1200 PLCs, the range is

from 0 to 65535. For S7-200 PLCs, the value is 1.

is the bit position, with a range from 0 to 7.

0 is the LSB (Least Significant Bit).

7 is the MSB (Most Significant Bit).
n

is the start address of 2-byte data/2-byte data arrays.

is the start address of 4-byte data/4-byte data arrays.

is the length of data in elements (an item in an array), with a

range from 0 to 65534.

is the length of the net S7 string data in characters (size in

S7 message is w+1, size of string representation in S7 PLC is
w+2).

Note: All data blocks are Read/Write. The longest string or array that
can be read in a cyclic service has the length of the PDU size minus 32
bytes. The longest string the InTouch software can process is 131
bytes. The longest string that can be poked is 256 bytes or the PDU size
minus 28 bytes, whichever is less. The DAServer processes a write
(POKE) to a Data Block.

Examples for S7-300/400/1200 PLCs:

DB123,W24
DB23,DINT10BCD
DI5,X2.0
DI6,BYTE4,10

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64 Chapter 7 Item Naming

Flag Bytes
The following table summarizes data format, item or point, suffix, data
type, and range for Flag Bytes.
Data
Format Item/Point

Bit
String

Byte

Suffix

Data Type

Range

FXx.y

VT_BOOL

0 or 1

MXx.y

VT_BOOL

0 or 1

FSx,v

VT_BSTR

String

MSx,v

VT_BSTR

String

FSTRINGx,v

VT_BSTR

String

MSTRINGx,v

VT_BSTR

String

FBx

VT_UI1

0 to 255

MBx

VT_UI1

0 to 255

FBYTEx

VT_UI1

0 to 255

MBYTEx

VT_UI1

0 to 255

VT_BSTR

1990-1-1-0:00:00.000 to
2089-12-31-23:59:59.999

DT
Byte
Array

Char

FBx,v

VT_ARRAY|VT_UI1 0 to 255 for each element*

MBx,v

VT_ARRAY|VT_UI1 0 to 255 for each element*

FBYTEx,v

VT_ARRAY|VT_UI1 0 to 255 for each element*

MBYTEx,v

VT_ARRAY|VT_UI1 0 to 255 for each element*

FCHARx

VT_I1

-128 to 127

MCHARx

VT_I1

-128 to 127

VT_BSTR

1990-1-1-0:00:00.000 to
2089-12-31-23:59:59.999

FCHARx,v

VT_ARRAY|VT_I1

-128 to 127 for each

element*

MCHARx,v

VT_ARRAY|VT_I1

-128 to 127 for each

element*

DT
Char
Array

SIDirect DAServer Users Guide

Flag Bytes65

Data
Format Item/Point

Word

Word
Array

Integer

Integer
Array

Double
Word

Suffix

Data Type

Range

FWn

VT_UI2

0 to 65535

MWn

VT_UI2

0 to 65535

FWORDn

VT_UI2

0 to 65535

MWORDn

VT_UI2

0 to 65535

BCD

VT_UI2

0 to 9999

KT

VT_BSTR

0.0 to 999.3

S5T

VT_BSTR

0ms to 2h46m30ms

TR

VT_R4

0.0 to 9990.0 (s)

VT_BSTR

1990-1-1 to 2168-12-31

FWn,v

VT_ARRAY|VT_UI2 0 to 65535 for each element*

MWn,v

VT_ARRAY|VT_UI2 0 to 65535 for each element*

FWORDn,v

VT_ARRAY|VT_UI2 0 to 65535 for each element*

MWORDn,v

VT_ARRAY|VT_UI2 0 to 65535 for each element*

FINTn

VT_I2

-32768 to 32767

MINTn

VT_I2

-32768 to 32767

BCD

VT_I2

-999 to 999

VT_BSTR

1990-1-1 to 2168-12-31

FINTn,v

VT_ARRAY|VT_I2

-32768 to 32767 for each

element*

MINTn,v

VT_ARRAY|VT_I2

-32768 to 32767 for each

element*

FDm

VT_UI4

0 to 4294967295**

MDm

VT_UI4

0 to 4294967295**

FDWORDm

VT_UI4

0 to 4294967295**

VT_UI4

0 to 4294967295**

BCD

VT_UI4

0 to 9999999

TOD

VT_BSTR

0:00:00.000 to 23:59:59.999

VT_BSTR

-24D_20H_31M_23S_648MS
to
24D_20H_31M_23S_647MS

MDWORDm

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66 Chapter 7 Item Naming

Data
Format Item/Point

Double
Word
Array

Double
Integer

Suffix

Data Type

Range

FDm,v

VT_ARRAY|VT_UI4 0 to 4294967295 for each

element*

MDm,v

VT_ARRAY|VT_UI4 0 to 4294967295 for each

element*

FDWORDm,v

VT_ARRAY|VT_UI4 0 to 4294967295 for each

element*

MDWORDm,v

VT_ARRAY|VT_UI4 0 to 4294967295 for each

element*

FDINTm

VT_14

-2147483648 to 2147483647

MDINTm

VT_14

-2147483648 to 2147483647

BCD

VT_14

-9999999 to 9999999

TOD

VT_BSTR

0:00:00.000 to 23:59:59.999

VT_BSTR

-24D_20H_31M_23S_648MS
to
24D_20H_31M_23S_647MS

Double
Integer
Array

FDINTm,v

VT_ARRAY|VT_I4

-2147483648 to 2147483647
for each element*

MDINTm,v

VT_ARRAY|VT_I4

-2147483648 to 2147483647
for each element*

Real

FREALm

VT_R4

+/-1.2e-38 to +/-3.4e+38

MREALm

VT_R4

+/-1.2e-38 to +/-3.4e+38

FREALm,v

VT_ARRAY|VT_R4

MREALm,v

VT_ARRAY|VT_R4

+/-1.2e-38 to +/-3.4e+38 for

each element*

Real
Array

+/-1.2e-38 to +/-3.4e+38 for

each element*
*: For DDE/SuiteLink, the item value is the HexASCII representation
of the complete array. The result is one string containing all the
elements of the array in the HexASCII representation of the binary
data in big-endian format when data is returned to the DDE/SuiteLink
layer.

SIDirect DAServer Users Guide

Input Bytes67

**: For DDE/SuiteLink, this value is restricted to the range of 0 to

2147483647. Values higher than that are clamped to the maximum
value of 2147483647 in a SuiteLink or DDE client. In this case, the
quality of the item shows "Clamp High."
Where:
x

is the start address, with a range from 0 to 65535.

is the bit position, with a range from 0 to 7.

0 is the LSB (Least Significant Bit).

7 is the MSB (Most Significant Bit).
n

is the start address of 2-byte data/2-byte data arrays, with a

range from 0 to 65534.

is the start address of 4-byte data/4-byte data arrays, with a

range from 0 to 65532.

is the length of data in elements (an item in an array), with

a range from 1 to (net PDU data size/type size - header
information).

Note: All flags are Read/Write (x=0 to 65535, y=0 to 7, n=0 to

65534, m=0 to 65532, v=1 to net PDU data size/type size - header
information, this size may vary). The longest string or array that can be
read in a cyclic service is the length of the PDU size minus 32 bytes.
The longest string the InTouch software can process is 131 bytes. The
longest string that can be poked is 256 bytes or the PDU size minus 28
bytes, whichever is less. The DAServer processes a write (POKE) to a
Flag Byte.

Input Bytes
The following table summarizes the data format, item or point, suffix,
data type, and range for Input Bytes.
Data
Format

Item/Point

Bit

String

Suffix

Data Type

Range

Ix.y

VT_BOOL

0 or 1

Ex.y

VT_BOOL

0 or 1

IXx.y

VT_BOOL

0 or 1

EXx.y

VT_BOOL

0 or 1

ISx,v

VT_BSTR

String

ESx,v

VT_BSTR

String

ISTRINGx,v

VT_BSTR

String

ESTRINGx,v

VT_BSTR

String

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68 Chapter 7 Item Naming

Data
Format

Item/Point

Byte

Suffix

Data Type

Range

IBx

VT_UI1

0 to 255

EBx

VT_UI1

0 to 255

IBYTEx

VT_UI1

0 to 255

EBYTEx

VT_UI1

0 to 255

VT_BSTR

1990-1-1-0:00:00.000 to
2089-12-31-23:59:59.999

IBx,v

VT_ARRAY|VT_UI1

0 to 255 for each element*

EBx,v

VT_ARRAY|VT_UI1

0 to 255 for each element*

IBYTEx,v

VT_ARRAY|VT_UI1

0 to 255 for each element*

EBYTEx,v

VT_ARRAY|VT_UI1

0 to 255 for each element*

ICHARx

VT_I1

-128 to 127

ECHARx

VT_I1

-128 to 127

VT_BSTR

1990-1-1-0:00:00.000 to
2089-12-31-23:59:59.999

VT_ARRAY|VT_I1

-128 to 127 for each element*

DT
Byte
Array

Char

DT
Char
Array
Word

Word
Array

ICHARx,v

-128 to 127 for each element*

ECHARx,v

VT_ARRAY|VT_I1

IWn

VT_UI2

0 to 65535

EWn

VT_UI2

0 to 65535

IWORDn

VT_UI2

0 to 65535

EWORDn

VT_UI2

0 to 65535

BCD

VT_UI2

0 to 9999

KT

VT_BSTR

0.0 to 999.3

S5T

VT_BSTR

0ms to 2h46m30s0ms

TR

VT_R4

0.0 to 9990.0 (s)

VT_BSTR

1990-1-1 to 2168-12-31

IWn,v

VT_ARRAY|VT_UI2

0 to 65535 for each element*

EWn,v

VT_ARRAY|VT_UI2

IWORDn,v

VT_ARRAY|VT_UI2

EWORDn,v

VT_ARRAY|VT_UI2

0 to 65535 for each element*

SIDirect DAServer Users Guide

0 to 65535 for each element*

0 to 65535 for each element*

Input Bytes69

Data
Format

Item/Point

Integer

Integer
Array

Double
Word

Double
Word
Array

Double
Integer

Double
Integer
Array

Suffix

Data Type

Range

IINTn

VT_I2

-32768 to 32767

EINTn

VT_I2

-32768 to 32767

BCD

VT_I2

-999 to 999

VT_BSTR

1990-1-1 to 2168-12-31

IINTn,v

VT_ARRAY|VT_I2

-32768 to 32767 for each

element*

EINTn,v

VT_ARRAY|VT_I2

-32768 to 32767 for each

element*

IDm

VT_UI4

0 to 4294967295**

EDm

VT_UI4

0 to 4294967295**

IDWORDm

VT_UI4

0 to 4294967295**

EDWORDm

VT_UI4

0 to 4294967295**

BCD

VT_UI4

0 to 99999999

TOD

VT_BSTR

0:00:00.000 to 23:59:59.999

VT_BSTR

-24D_20H_31M_23S_648MS
to
24D_20H_31M_23S_647MS

IDm,v

VT_ARRAY|VT_UI4

0 to 4294967295 for each

element*

EDm,v

VT_ARRAY|VT_UI4

0 to 4294967295 for each

element

IDWORDm,v

VT_ARRAY|VT_UI4

0 to 4294967295 for each

element*

EDWORDm,v

VT_ARRAY|VT_UI4

0 to 4294967295 for each

element

IDINTm

VT_I4

-2147483648 to 2147483647

EDINTm

VT_I4

-2147483648 to 2147483647

BCD

VT_I4

-9999999 to 9999999

TOD

VT_BSTR

0:00:00.000 to 23:59:59.999

VT_BSTR

-24D_20H_31M_23S_ 648MS
to
24D_20H_31M_23S_647MS

IDINTm,v

VT_ARRAY|VT_I4

-2147483648 to 2147483647
for each element*

EDINTm,v

VT_ARRAY|VT_I4

-2147483648 to 2147483647
for each element*

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70 Chapter 7 Item Naming

Data
Format

Item/Point

Real
Real
Array

Suffix

Data Type

Range

IREALm

VT_R4

+/-1.2e-38 to +/-3.4e+38

EREALm

VT_R4

+/-1.2e-38 to +/-3.4e+38

IREALm,v

VT_ARRAY|VT_R4

EREALm,v

VT_ARRAY|VT_R4

+/-1.2e-38 to +/-3.4e+38 for

each element*
+/-1.2e-38 to +/-3.4e+38 for
each element

*: For DDE/SuiteLink, the item value is the HexASCII representation

of the complete array. The result is one string containing all the
elements of the array in the HexASCII representation of the binary
data in big-endian format when data is returned to the DDE/SuiteLink
layer.
**: For DDE/SuiteLink, this value is restricted to the range of 0 to
2147483647. Values higher than that are clamped to the maximum
value of 2147483647 in a SuiteLink or DDE client. In this case, the
quality of the item shows "Clamp High."
Where:
x

is the start address, with a range from 0 to 65535.

is the bit position, with a range from 0 to 7.

0 is the LSB (Least Significant Bit).

7 is the MSB (Most Significant Bit).
n

is the start address of 2-byte data/2-byte data arrays, with a

range from 0 to 65534.

is the start address of 4-byte data/4-byte data arrays, with a

range from 0 to 65532.

is the length of data in elements (an item in an array), with

a range from 1 to (net PDU data size/type size - header
information).

Note: All inputs are Read-Only. The longest string or array that can
be read in a cyclic service is the length of the PDU size minus 32 bytes.
The longest string the InTouch software can process is 131 bytes. The
DAServer does not process a write (POKE) to an Input Byte.

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Output Bytes71

Output Bytes
The following table summarizes data format, item or point, suffix, data
type, and range for Output Bytes.
Data
Format

Item/Point

Bit

String

Byte

Suffix

Data Type

Range

Ox.y

VT_BOOL

0 or 1

Ax.y

VT_BOOL

0 or 1

Qx.y

VT_BOOL

0 or 1

OXx.y

VT_BOOL

0 or 1

AXx.y

VT_BOOL

0 or 1

QXx.y

VT_BOOL

0 or 1

OSx,v

VT_BSTR

String

ASx,v

VT_BSTR

String

QSx,v

VT_BSTR

String

OSTRINGx,v

VT_BSTR

String

ASTRINGx,v

VT_BSTR

String

QSTRINGx,v

VT_BSTR

String

OBx

VT_UI1

0 to 255

ABx

VT_UI1

0 to 255

QBx

VT_UI1

0 to 255

OBYTEx

VT_UI1

0 to 255

ABYTEx

VT_UI1

0 to 255

QBYTEx

VT_UI1

0 to 255

VT_BSTR

1990-1-1-0:00:00.000 to
2089-12-31-23:59:59.999

DT
Byte
Array

OBx,v

VT_ARRAY|VT_UI1 0 to 255 for each element*

ABx,v

VT_ARRAY|VT_UI1 0 to 255 for each element*

QBx,v

VT_ARRAY|VT_UI1 0 to 255 for each element*

OBYTEx,v

VT_ARRAY|VT_UI1 0 to 255 for each element*

ABYTEx,v

VT_ARRAY|VT_UI1 0 to 255 for each element*

QBYTEx,v

VT_ARRAY|VT_UI1 0 to 255 for each element*

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72 Chapter 7 Item Naming

Data
Format

Item/Point

Char

Suffix

Data Type

Range

OCHARx

VT_I1

-128 to 127

ACHARx

VT_I1

-128 to 127

QCHARx

VT_I1

-128 to 127

VT_BSTR

1990-1-1-0:00:00.000 to
2089-12-31-23:59:59.999

OCHARx,v

VT_ARRAY|VT_I1

-128 to 127 for each element*

ACHARx,v

VT_ARRAY|VT_I1

-128 to 127 for each element*

QCHARx,v

VT_ARRAY|VT_I1

-128 to 127 for each element*

OWn

VT_UI2

0 to 65535

AWn

VT_UI2

0 to 65535

QWn

VT_UI2

0 to 65535

OWORDn

VT_UI2

0 to 65535

AWORDn

VT_UI2

0 to 65535

QWORDn

VT_UI2

0 to 65535

BCD

VT_UI2

0 to 9999

KT

VT_BSTR

0.0 to 999.3

S5T

VT_BSTR

0ms to 2h46m30s0ms

TR

VT_R4

0.0 to 9990.0 (s)

VT_BSTR

1990-1-1 to 2168-12-31

DT
Char
Array

Word

Word
Array

Integer

OWn,v

VT_ARRAY|VT_UI2 0 to 65535 for each element*

AWn,v

VT_ARRAY|VT_UI2 0 to 65535 for each element

QWn,v

VT_ARRAY|VT_UI2 0 to 65535 for each element

OWORDn,v

VT_ARRAY|VT_UI2 0 to 65535 for each element*

AWORDn,v

VT_ARRAY|VT_UI2 0 to 65535 for each element

QWORDn,v

VT_ARRAY|VT_UI2 0 to 65535 for each element

OINTn

VT_I2

-32768 to 32767

AINTn

VT_I2

-32768 to 32768

QINTn

VT_I2

-32768 to 32768
-999 to 999

BCD
D

SIDirect DAServer Users Guide

VT_BSTR

1990-1-1 to 2168-12-31

Output Bytes73

Data
Format

Integer
Array

Double
Word

Double
Word
Array

Double
Integer

Item/Point

Suffix

Data Type

Range

OINTn,v

VT_ARRAY|VT_I2

-32768 to 32767 for each

element*

AINTn,v

VT_ARRAY|VT_I2

-32768 to 32767 for each

element*

QINTn,v

VT_ARRAY|VT_I2

-32768 to 32767 for each

element*

ODm

VT_UI4

0 to 4294967295**

ADm

VT_UI4

0 to 4294967295**

QDm

VT_UI4

0 to 4294967295**

ODWORDm

VT_UI4

0 to 4294967295**

ADWORDm

VT_UI4

0 to 4294967295**

QDWORDm

VT_UI4

0 to 4294967295**

BCD

VT_UI4

0 to 99999999

TOD

VT_BSTR

0:00:00.000 to 23:59:59.999

VT_BSTR

-24D_20H_31M_23S_648MS to
24D_20H_31M_23S_647MS

ODm,v

VT_ARRAY|VT_UI4 0 to 4294967295 for each

element*

ADm,v

VT_ARRAY|VT_UI4 0 to 4294967295 for each

element*

QDm,v

VT_ARRAY|VT_UI4 0 to 4294967295 for each

element*

ODWORDm,v

VT_ARRAY|VT_UI4 0 to 4294967295 for each

element*

ADWORDm,v

VT_ARRAY|VT_UI4 0 to 4294967295 for each

element*

QDWORDm,v

VT_ARRAY|VT_UI4 0 to 4294967295 for each

element*

ODINTm

VT_I4

-2147483648 to 2147483647

BCD

VT_I4

-9999999 to 9999999

TOD

VT_BSTR

0:00:00.000 to 23:59:59.999

VT_BSTR

-24D_20H_31M_23S_648MS to
24D_20H_31M_23S_647MS

ADINTm
QDINTm

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74 Chapter 7 Item Naming

Data
Format

Item/Point

Double
Integer
Array

ODINTm,v

Real

OREALm

Suffix

Data Type

Range

VT_ARRAY|VT_I4

-2147483648 to 2147483647 for

each element*

VT_R4

+/-1.2e-38 to +/-3.4e+38

VT_ARRAY|VT_R4

+/-1.2e-38 to +/-3.4e+38 for each

element*

ADINTm,v
QDINTm,v
AREALm
QREALm

Real
Array

OREALm,v
AREALm,v
QREALm,v

*: For DDE/SuiteLink, the item value is the HexASCII representation

of the complete array. The result is one string containing all the
elements of the array in the HexASCII representation of the binary
data in big-endian format when data is returned to the DDE/SuiteLink
layer.
**: For DDE/SuiteLink, this value is restricted to the range of 0 to
2147483647. Values higher than that are clamped to the maximum
value of 2147483647 in a SuiteLink or DDE client. In this case, the
quality of the item shows "Clamp High."
Where:
x

is the start address, with a range from 0 to 65535.

is the bit position, with a range from 0 to 7.

0 is the LSB (Least Significant Bit).

7 is the MSB (Most Significant Bit).
n

is the start address of 2-byte data/2-byte data arrays, with a

range from 0 to 65534.

is the start address of 4-byte data/4-byte data arrays, with a

range from 0 to 65532.

is the length of data in elements (an item in an array), with

a range from 1 to (net PDU data size/type size - header
information).

Note: All outputs are Read/Write. The longest string or array that can
be read in a cyclic service is the length of the PDU size minus 32 bytes.
The longest string the InTouch software can process is 131 bytes. The
longest string that can be poked is 256 bytes or the PDU size minus 28
bytes, whichever is less. The DAServer processes a write (POKE) to an
Output Byte.

SIDirect DAServer Users Guide

Peripheral Input Bytes75

Peripheral Input Bytes

The S7-200 PLCs do not support Peripheral Input Bytes.
The following table summarizes the data format, item or point, suffix,
data type, and range for Peripheral Input Bytes.
Data
Format

Item/Point

Bit

String

Byte

Suffix

Data Type

Range

PIx.y

VT_BOOL

0 or 1

PEx.y

VT_BOOL

0 or 1

PIXx.y

VT_BOOL

0 or 1

PEXx.y

VT_BOOL

0 or 1

PISx,v

VT_BSTR

String

PESx,v

VT_BSTR

String

PISTRINGx,v

VT_BSTR

String

PESTRINGx,v

VT_BSTR

String

PIBx

VT_UI1

0 to 255

PEBx

VT_UI1

0 to 255

PIBYTEx

VT_UI1

0 to 255

PEBYTEx

VT_UI1

0 to 255

VT_BSTR

1990-1-1-0:00:00.000 to
2089-12-31-23:59:59.999

PIBx,v

VT_ARRAY|VT_UI1

0 to 255 for each element*

PEBx,v

VT_ARRAY|VT_UI1

0 to 255 for each element*

PIBYTEx,v

VT_ARRAY|VT_UI1

0 to 255 for each element*

PEBYTEx,v

VT_ARRAY|VT_UI1

0 to 255 for each element*

PICHARx

VT_I1

-128 to 127

PECHARx

VT_I1

-128 to 127

VT_BSTR

1990-1-1-0:00:00.000 to
2089-12-31-23:59:59.999

PICHARx,v

VT_ARRAY|VT_I1

-128 to 127 for each element*

PECHARx,v

VT_ARRAY|VT_I1

-128 to 127 for each element*

DT
Byte
Array

Char

DT
Char
Array

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76 Chapter 7 Item Naming

Data
Format

Item/Point

Word

Word
Array

Integer

Integer
Array
Double
Word

Suffix

Data Type

Range

PIWn

VT_UI2

0 to 65535

PEWn

VT_UI2

0 to 65535

PIWORDn

VT_UI2

0 to 65535

PEWORDn

VT_UI2

0 to 65535

BCD

VT_UI2

0 to 9999

KT

VT_BSTR

0.0 to 999.3

S5T

VT_BSTR

0ms to 2h46m30s0ms

TR

VT_R4

0.0 to 9990.0 (s)

VT_BSTR

1990-1-1 to 2168-12-31

PIWn,v

VT_ARRAY|VT_UI2

0 to 65535 for each element*

PEWn,v

VT_ARRAY|VT_UI2

0 to 65535 for each element*

PIWORDn,v

VT_ARRAY|VT_UI2

0 to 65535 for each element*

PEWORDn,v

VT_ARRAY|VT_UI2

0 to 65535 for each element*

PIINTn

VT_I2

-32768 to 32767

PEINTn

VT_I2

-32768 to 32767

BCD

VT_I2

-999 to 999

VT_BSTR

1990-1-1 to 2168-12-31

PIINTn,v

VT_ARRAY|VT_I2

-32768 to 32767 for each element*

PEINTn,v

VT_ARRAY|VT_I2

PIDm

VT_UI4

0 to 4294967295**

PEDm

VT_UI4

0 to 4294967295**

PIDWORDm

VT_UI4

0 to 4294967295**

PEDWORDm

VT_UI4

0 to 4294967295**

BCD

VT_UI4

0 to 99999999

TOD

VT_BSTR

0:00:00.000 to 23:59:59.999

VT_BSTR

-24D_20H_31M_23S_648MS to
24D_20H_31M_23S_647MS

-32768 to 32767 for each element*

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Peripheral Input Bytes77

Data
Format

Double
Word
Array

Item/Point

Suffix

Data Type

Range

PIDm,v

VT_ARRAY|VT_UI4

0 to 4294967295 for each

element*

PEDm,v

VT_ARRAY|VT_UI4

0 to 4294967295 for each element

PIDWORDm,v

VT_ARRAY|VT_UI4

PEDWORDm,v

VT_ARRAY|VT_UI4

PIDINTm

VT_I4

-2147483648 to 2147483647

PEDINTm

VT_I4

-2147483648 to 2147483647

BCD

VT_I4

-9999999 to 9999999

TOD

VT_BSTR

0:00:00.000 to 23:59:59.999

VT_BSTR

-24D_20H_31M_23S_648MS to
24D_20H_31M_23S_647MS

VT_ARRAY|VT_I4

-2147483648 to 2147483647 for

each element*

0 to 4294967295 for each element

Double
Integer

0 to 4294967295 for each element

Double
Integer
Array

PIDINTm,v

Real

PIREALm

VT_R4

+/-1.2e-38 to +/-3.4e+38

PEREALm

VT_R4

+/-1.2e-38 to +/-3.4e+38

PIREALm,v

VT_ARRAY|VT_R4

PEREALm,v

VT_ARRAY|VT_R4

+/-1.2e-38 to +/-3.4e+38 for each

element*

Real
Array

PEDINTm,v

+/-1.2e-38 to +/-3.4e+38 for each

element
*: For DDE/SuiteLink, the item value is the HexASCII representation
of the complete array. The result is one string containing all the
elements of the array in the HexASCII representation of the binary
data in big-endian format when data is returned to the DDE/SuiteLink
layer.
**: For DDE/SuiteLink, this value is restricted to the range of 0 to
2147483647. Values higher than that are clamped to the maximum
value of 2147483647 in a SuiteLink or DDE client. In this case, the
quality of the item shows "Clamp High."
Where:
x

is the start address, with a range from 0 to 65535.

is the bit position, with a range from 0 to 7.

0 is the LSB (Least Significant Bit).

7 is the MSB (Most Significant Bit).
n

is the start address of 2-byte data/2-byte data arrays, with a

range from 0 to 65534.

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78 Chapter 7 Item Naming

Where:
m

is the start address of 4-byte data/4-byte data arrays, with a

range from 0 to 65532.

is the length of data in elements (an item in an array), with

a range from 1 to (net PDU data size/type size - header
information).

Note: All peripheral inputs are Read-Only. The longest string or array
that can be read in a cyclic service is the length of the PDU size minus
32 bytes. The longest string the InTouch software can process is 131
bytes. The longest string that can be poked is 256 bytes or the PDU size
minus 28 bytes, whichever is less. The DAServer does not process a
write (POKE) to a Peripheral Input Byte. Some input modules are not
readable.

SIDirect DAServer Users Guide

Peripheral Output Bytes79

Peripheral Output Bytes

The S7-200 PLCs do not support Peripheral Output Bytes.
The following table summarizes the data format, item or point, suffix,
data type, and range for Peripheral Output Bytes.
Data
Format

Item/Point

Bit

String

Byte

Suffix

Data Type

Range

POx.y

VT_BOOL

0 or 1

PAx.y

VT_BOOL

0 or 1

PQx.y

VT_BOOL

0 or 1

POXx.y

VT_BOOL

0 or 1

PAXx.y

VT_BOOL

0 or 1

PQXx.y

VT_BOOL

0 or 1

POSx,v

VT_BSTR

String

PASx,v

VT_BSTR

String

PQSx,v

VT_BSTR

String

POSTRINGx,v

VT_BSTR

String

PASTRINGx,v

VT_BSTR

String

PQSTRINGx,v

VT_BSTR

String

POBx

VT_UI1

0 to 255

PABx

VT_UI1

0 to 255

PQBx

VT_UI1

0 to 255

POBYTEx

VT_UI1

0 to 255

PABYTEx

VT_UI1

0 to 255

PQBYTEx

VT_UI1

0 to 255

VT_BSTR

1990-1-1-0:00:00.000 to
2089-12-31-23:59:59.999

DT
Byte
Array

POBx,v

VT_ARRAY|VT_UI1 0 to 255 for each element*

PABx,v

VT_ARRAY|VT_UI1 0 to 255 for each element*

PQBx,v

VT_ARRAY|VT_UI1 0 to 255 for each element*

POBYTEx,v

VT_ARRAY|VT_UI1 0 to 255 for each element*

PABYTEx,v

VT_ARRAY|VT_UI1 0 to 255 for each element*

PQBYTEx,v

VT_ARRAY|VT_UI1 0 to 255 for each element*

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80 Chapter 7 Item Naming

Data
Format

Item/Point

Char

Suffix

Data Type

Range

PACHARx

VT_I1

-128 to 127

POCHARx

VT_I1

-128 to 127

PQCHARx

VT_I1

-128 to 127

VT_BSTR

1990-1-1-0:00:00.000 to
2089-12-31-23:59:59.999

POCHARx,v

VT_ARRAY|VT_I1

-128 to 127 for each element*

PACHARx,v

VT_ARRAY|VT_I1

-128 to 127 for each element*

PQCHARx,v

VT_ARRAY|VT_I1

-128 to 127 for each element*

POWn

VT_UI2

0 to 65535

PAWn

VT_UI2

0 to 65535

PQWn

VT_UI2

0 to 65535

POWORDn

VT_UI2

0 to 65535

PAWORDn

VT_UI2

0 to 65535

PQWORDn

VT_UI2

0 to 65535

BCD

VT_UI2

0 to 9999

KT

VT_BSTR

0.0 to 999.3

S5T

VT_BSTR

0ms to 2h46m30s0ms

TR

VT_R4

0.0 to 9990.0 (s)

VT_BSTR

1990-1-1 to 2168-12-31

DT
Char
Array

Word

Word
Array

Integer

POWn,v

VT_ARRAY|VT_UI2 0 to 65535 for each element*

PAWn,v

VT_ARRAY|VT_UI2 0 to 65535 for each element*

PQWn,v

VT_ARRAY|VT_UI2 0 to 65535 for each element*

POWORDn,v

VT_ARRAY|VT_UI2 0 to 65535 for each element*

PAWORDn,v

VT_ARRAY|VT_UI2 0 to 65535 for each element*

PQWORDn,v

VT_ARRAY|VT_UI2 0 to 65535 for each element*

POINTn

VT_I2

-32768 to 32767

PAINTn

VT_I2

-32768 to 32767

PQINTn

VT_I2

-32768 to 32767

BCD

VT_I2

-999 to 999

VT_BSTR

1990-1-1 to 2168-12-31

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Peripheral Output Bytes81

Data
Format

Integer
Array

Double
Word

Double
Word
Array

Double
Integer

Double
Integer
Array

Item/Point

Suffix

Data Type

Range

POINTn,v

VT_ARRAY|VT_I2

-32768 to 32767 for each

element*

PAINTn,v

VT_ARRAY|VT_I2

-32768 to 32767 for each

element*

PQINTn,v

VT_ARRAY|VT_I2

-32768 to 32767 for each

element*

PODm

VT_UI4

0 to 4294967295**

PADm

VT_UI4

0 to 4294967295**

PQDm

VT_UI4

0 to 4294967295**

PODWORDm

VT_UI4

0 to 4294967295**

PADWORDm

VT_UI4

0 to 4294967295**

PQDWORDm

VT_UI4

0 to 4294967295**

BCD

VT_UI4

0 to 99999999

TOD

VT_BSTR

0:00:00.000 to 23:59:59.999

VT_BSTR

-24D_20H_31M_23S_648MS to
24D_20H_31M_23S_647MS

PODm,v

VT_ARRAY|VT_UI4 0 to 4294967295 for each

element*

PADm,v

VT_ARRAY|VT_UI4 0 to 4294967295 for each

element*

PQDm,v

VT_ARRAY|VT_UI4 0 to 4294967295 for each

element*

PODINTm

VT_I4

-2147483648 to 2147483647

PADINTm

VT_I4

-2147483648 to 2147483647

PQDINTm

VT_I4

-2147483648 to 2147483647

BCD

VT_I4

-9999999 to 9999999

TOD

VT_BSTR

0:00:00.000 to 23:59:59.999

VT_BSTR

-24D_20H_31M_23S_648MS to
24D_20H_31M_23S_647MS

PODINTm,v

VT_ARRAY|VT_I4

-2147483648 to 2147483647 for

each element*

PADINTm,v

VT_ARRAY|VT_I4

-2147483648 to 2147483647 for

each element*

PQDINTm,v

VT_ARRAY|VT_I4

-2147483648 to 2147483647 for

each element*

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82 Chapter 7 Item Naming

Data
Format

Item/Point

Real

Real
Array

Suffix

Data Type

Range

POREALm

VT_R4

+/-1.2e-38 to +/-3.4e+38

PAREALm

VT_R4

+/-1.2e-38 to +/-3.4e+38

PQREALm

VT_R4

+/-1.2e-38 to +/-3.4e+38

POREALm,v

VT_ARRAY|VT_R4

PAREALm,v

VT_ARRAY|VT_R4

+/-1.2e-38 to +/-3.4e+38 for each

element*

PQREALm,v

VT_ARRAY|VT_R4

+/-1.2e-38 to +/-3.4e+38 for each

element*
+/-1.2e-38 to +/-3.4e+38 for each
element*

*: For DDE/SuiteLink, the item value is the HexASCII representation

of the complete array. The result is one string containing all the
elements of the array in the HexASCII representation of the binary
data in big-endian format when data is returned to the DDE/SuiteLink
layer.
**: For DDE/SuiteLink, this value is restricted to the range of 0 to
2147483647. Values higher than that are clamped to the maximum
value of 2147483647 in a SuiteLink or DDE client. In this case, the
quality of the item shows "Clamp High."
Where:
x

is the start address, with a range from 0 to 65535.

is the bit position, with a range from 0 to 7.

0 is the LSB (Least Significant Bit).

7 is the MSB (Most Significant Bit).
n

is the start address of 2-byte data/2-byte data arrays, with a

range from 0 to 65534.

is the start address of 4-byte data/4-byte data arrays, with a

range from 0 to 65532.

is the length of data in elements (an item in an array), with

a range from 1 to (net PDU data size/type size - header
information).

Note: All peripheral outputs are Write-Only. The longest string or

array that can be read in a cyclic service is the length of the PDU size
minus 32 bytes. The longest string the InTouch software can process is
131 bytes. The longest string that can be poked is 256 bytes or the PDU
size minus 28 bytes, whichever is less. All output modules are not
readable. Only POKES are allowed.

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Counters83

Counters
The following table summarizes data format, item or point, suffix, data
type, and range for Counters.
Data
Format

Item/Point

Suffi
x

Data Type

Range

Word

Cx

None

VT_UI2

065535

Zx

None

VT_UI2

0 to 65535

BCD

VT_UI2

0 to 9999

KT

VT_BSTR

0.0 to 999.3

S5T

VT_BSTR

0ms to 2h46m30s

Where:
x

is the start address, with a range from 0 to 65535.

When the suffix is used, the client is responsible for ensuring the
correct value is specified or returned.
Note: S7-1200 PLCs do not support "direct" counter\timer access by
the client/server. That is, you cannot use the current S7-300/400 item
name Cx or Tx and its associated suffixes to subscribe to counter\timer
values from the S7-1200 PLC. However, you can use the database
items to indirectly output the associated system counter\timer value
(internal IEC counter\timer) from the PLC.

For example:
If the value of counter C0 is 42, the value read by just using the
"C0" item syntax is 42. However, if the item syntax is "C0 BCD,"
the value returned by the DAServer is 66.
Similar principle applies to poking:
If the value for the counter is 42, using the "C0" pokes a value of 42
into the counter C0. However, with the "C0 BCD" syntax, the poke
value is 66.
Note: All counters are Read/Write. The DAServer processes a write
(POKE) to a counter. Although the DAServer allows poking any word
value into counters, the S7 PLC can only process values in the range of
02457 or 0999 (BCD).

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84 Chapter 7 Item Naming

Timers
For S7-200 Timers, see "S7-200 Timers" on page 107.
The following table summarizes data format, item or point, suffix, data
type, and range only for the S7-300, S7-400, and S7-1200 Timers.
Data
Format

Item/Point

Suffix

Data Type

Range

Word

Tx

None

VT_UI2

0 to 14745

BCD

VT_UI2

0 to 9999

KT

VT_BSTR

0.0 to 999.3

S5T

VT_BSTR

0ms to 2h46m30s0ms

None

VT_R4

0.0 to 9990.00

TREALx

Where:
x

is the start address, with a range from 0 to 65535.

When the suffix is used, the client is responsible for ensuring the
correct value is specified or returned.
Note: S7-1200 PLCs do not support "direct" counter\timer access by
the client/server. That is, you cannot use the current S7-300/400 item
name Cx or Tx and its associated suffixes to subscribe to counter\timer
values from the S7-1200 PLC. However, you can use the database
items to indirectly output the associated system counter\timer value
(internal IEC counter\timer) from the PLC.

For example:
If the value of timer T0 is 42, the value read by just using the "T0"
item syntax is 42. However, if the item syntax is "T0BCD," the
value returned by the DAServer is 66.
Similar principle applies to poking:
If the value for the timer is 42, using the "T0" pokes a value of 42
into the timer T0. However, with the "T0BCD" syntax, the poke
value is 66.
Note: All timers are Read/Write. The DAServer processes a write
(POKE) to a timer. Although the DAServer allows poking any word
value into timers, the S7 PLC can only process values that represent a
valid time format.

SIDirect DAServer Users Guide

Block Items85

Block Items
The SIDirect DAServer supports Block Items for the S7-300 and
S7-400 PLCs. The server does not support Block Items for the S7-200
and S7-1200 PLCs.
The Block Items have two sets of items:

Read-Only Block Items

Write-Only Block Items

Read-Only Block Items

The following table summarizes the data format, item or point, suffix,
data type, and range for Read-Only Block Items.
Data
Format

Item/Point

Bit
String
Byte

Suffix

Data Type

Range

BLd,Xx.y

VT_BOOL

0 or 1

BLd,Sx,v

VT_BSTR

String

BLd,STRINGx,v

VT_BSTR

String

BLd,Bx

VT_UI1

0 to 255

BLd,BYTEx

VT_UI1

0 to 255

VT_BSTR

1990-1-1-0:00:00.000 to
2089-12-31-23:59:59.999

DT
Byte
Array

BLd,Bx,v

VT_ARRAY}VT_UI1

0 to 255 for each element*

BLd,BYTEx,v

VT_ARRAY|VT_UI1

0 to 255 for each element*

Char

BLd,CHARx

VT_I1

-128 to 127

VT_BSTR

1990-1-1-0:00:00.000 to
2089-12-31-23:59:59.999

DT
Char
Array

BLd,CHARx,v

VT_ARRAY|VT_I1

-128 to 127 for each element*

Word

BLd,Wn

VT_UI2

0 to 65535

BLd,WORDn

VT_UI2

0 to 65535

BCD

VT_UI2

0 to 9999

KT

VT_BSTR

0.0 to 999.3

S5T

VT_BSTR

0ms to 2h46m30s0ms

TR

VT_R4

0.0 to 9990.0 (s)

VT_BSTR

1990-1-1 to 2168-12-31

BLd,Wn,v

VT_ARRAY|VT_UI2

0 to 65535 for each element*

BLd,WORDn,v

VT_ARRAY|VT_UI2

0 to 65535 for each element*

Word
Array

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86 Chapter 7 Item Naming

Data
Format

Item/Point

Integer

BLd,INTn

Suffix

Data Type

Range

VT_I2

-32768 to 32767

BCD

VT_I2

-999 to 999

VT_BSTR

1990-1-1 to 2168-12-31

Integer
Array

BLd,INTn,v

VT_BSTR

-32768 to 32767 for each

element*

Double
Word

BLd,Dm

VT_UI4

0 to 4294967295**

BLd,DWORDm

VT_UI4

0 to 4294967295**

BCD

VT_UI4

0 to 99999999

TOD

VT_BSTR

0:00:00.000 to 23:59:59.999

VT_BSTR

-24D_20H_31M_23S_648MS to
24D_20H_31M_23S_647MS

VT_ARRAY|VT_UI4

0 to 4294967295 for each

element*

Double
Word
Array

BLd,Dm,v

Double
Integer

BLd,DINTm

0 to 4294967295 for each

element**

BLd,DWORDm,v
VT_I4

-2147483648 to 2147483647

BCD

VT_I4

-9999999 to 9999999

TOD

VT_BSTR

0:00:00.000 to 23:59:59.999

VT_BSTR

-24D_20H_31M_23S_648MS to
24D_20H_31M_23S_647MS

Double
Integer
Array

BLd,DINTm,v

VT_ARRAY|VT_I4

-2147483648 to 2147483647 for

each element

Real

BLd,REALm

VT_R4

+/-1.2e-38 to +/-3.4e+38

Real
Array

BLd,REALm,v

VT_ARRAY|VT_R4

+/-1.2e-38 to +/-3.4e+38 for each

element*

*: For DDE/SuiteLink, the item value is the HexASCII representation

of the complete array. The result is one string containing all the
elements of the array in the HexASCII representation of the binary
data in big-endian format when data is returned to the DDE/SuiteLink
layer.

SIDirect DAServer Users Guide

Block Items87

**: For DDE/SuiteLink, this value is restricted to the range of 0 to

2147483647. Values higher than that are clamped to the maximum
value of 2147483647 in a SuiteLink or DDE client. In this case, the
quality of the item shows "Clamp High."
Where:
x

is the start address, with a range from 0 to 65535.

is the bit position, with a range from 0 to 7.

0 is the LSB (Least Significant Bit).

7 is the MSB (Most Significant Bit).
n

is the start address of 2-byte data/2-byte data

arrays, with a range from 0 to 65534.

is the start address of 4-byte data/4-byte data

arrays, with a range from 0 to 65532.

is the length of data in elements (an item in an

array), with a range from 1 to (net PDU data
size/type size - header information).

Note: All Block items are Read-Only. The longest string or array that
can be read in a block service is the length of 65534 bytes. The longest
string the InTouch software can process is 131 bytes.

Write-Only Block Items

The following table summarizes the data format, item or point, suffix,
data type, and range for Write-Only Block Items.
Data
Format

Byte
Array

Item/Point

BWd

Suffix

Data Type

Range

VT_ARRAY|VT_UI1

0 to 255 for each element*,**

Note also that theDAServer does
not cache the value of the item
written to the PLC.
0 to 255 for each element*,***

BWCd-q,x

VT_ARRAY|VT_UI1

Note also that the DAServer

caches the value of the item
written to the PLC.

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88 Chapter 7 Item Naming

Data
Format

Item/Point

Suffix

BWCd-q.Send

Data Type

Range

VT_BOOL

TRUE (1)***,****
FALSE (0)***,****
The value of item (BWCd-q.x),
cached by the DAServer, is sent
to the PLC when this item is
transitioned from FALSE to
TRUE.
The value of this item remains
TRUE until the appropriate
acknowledgment is received
from the PLC.
After the acknowledgment is
received from the PLC, the value
of this item is set to 0.

*: For DDE/SuiteLink, the item value is the HexASCII representation

of the complete array. The result is one string containing all the
elements of the array in the HexASCII representation of the binary
data in big-endian format when data is returned to the DDE/SuiteLink
layer.
**: The starting address is always at 0 for Writes. The number of
bytes written to the PLC block is determined from the length of the
input byte stream. However, the length of the byte stream must be less
than 65535.
***: The Siemens S7 block write protocol BSEND does not allow a
starting address. All block writes to the PLC always start at address 0.
To circumvent this limitation, the BWC item syntax allows for a
starting address. The logical number of bytes written to the PLC block
is determined from the difference in the start address and end address,
(q-x+1), or the length of the input byte stream.
If the input byte stream is longer than the (q-x+1), only (q-x+1) bytes
are written.
If the input byte stream is shorter than (q-x+1), the whole input byte
stream is written.
Internally, the DAServer allocates cache buffers based on the PLC
data block and the end address. For more information, see Block Write
Caching.

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Block Items89

****: The BWCd-q.Send item is readable to allow monitoring of the

status of the block send function.
Where:
d

is the block ID, in decimal, with a range from 0 to

4294967295.

is the start address, with a range from 0 to 65535.

is the end address, with a range from 0 to 65535.

It must be equal or greater than x.

Note: All BW and BWC block items are Write-Only. BWCxx.Send

items are Read/Write. The longest string or array that can be written
in a block service is the length of 65534 bytes. The longest string the
InTouch software can process is 131 bytes.

Block Write Caching

BWC is a special item that caches the data before sending it to the
PLC. The item syntax for the BWC item is:
BWC<R_ID>-<length>,<start_address>
The R_ID is the ID that is configured for the Block Write in the PLC. A
caching buffer is created, based on R_ID and length as an index, inside
the server whenever you advise the BWC item. The buffer is not
created if one already exists for the same R_ID and length.
For example, you advise the following items: BWC10-60,50,
BWC10-60,20, BWC10-60,0, BWC10-20,10 and BWC10-20,0. Only
two buffers are created inside the server for these items:

Consider following scenarios:

1

You poke 20 bytes of data in item BWC10-60,0. Buffer-1 is filled

from byte 0 to 19.

SIDirect DAServer Users Guide

90 Chapter 7 Item Naming

You poke 15 bytes of data in item BWC10-60,50. Buffer-1 is filled

from byte 50 to 59. The last 5 bytes are truncated because only 10
bytes are available in that offset.

You poke 30 bytes of data in item BWC10-60,20. Buffer-1 is filled

from byte 20 to 49.

You poke 20 bytes of data in item BWS10-20,0. Buffer-2 is filled

from byte 0 to 19.

You poke 1 to item BWC10-20.Send. Buffer-2 is flushed to the PLC

with byte 20.

You poke 1 to item BWC10-60.Send. Buffer-1 is flushed to the PLC

with byte 60.

Alarms and Events

Note: The S7-200 and S7-1200 PLCs do not provide alarms and
events capability.

Alarm and event information can be received from the S7-300 and
S7-400 PLCs. The item syntax for Alarms and Events is as follows:
ALARM<EV_ID>.<Extension 1>[,<Extension 2>[<Suffix>]]
EVENT<EV_ID>.<Extension 1>[,<Extension 2>[<Suffix>]]

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Alarms and Events91

The following table shows valid values and valid value combinations
for Extension 1, Extension 2, and Suffix.
Item

Extension 1

ALARM
<EV_ID>

Extension 2 Suffix

Data Type

Range

EVENT_ STATE

VT_UI2

0 to 65535

STATE

VT_UI2

0 to 65535

ACK_STATE

VT_UI2

0 to 65535

TIME_ STAMP

VT_BSTR

String*, ****

NO_ADD_ VALUES
ADD_VALUEw

VT_UI2

0 to 10

DATA_TYPE

VT_BSTR

String

LENGTH

VT_UI2

0 to 65535

Xx.y

VT_BOOL

0 or 1

Sx,v

VT_BSTR

String

STRINGx,v

VT_BSTR

String

Bx

VT_UI1

0 to 255

VT_UI1

0 to 255

VT_BSTR

String

Bx,v

VT_ARRAY|VT_UI1

0 to 255 for each

element**

BYTEx,v

VT_ARRAY|VT_UI1

0 to 255 for each

element**

CHARx

VT_I1

-128 to 127

VT_BSTR

String

CHARx,v

VT_ARRAY|VT_I1

-128 to 127 for each

element**

Wn

VT_UI2

0 to 65535

BYTEx
DT

DT

WORDn

VT_UI2

0 to 65535

BCD

VT_UI2

0 to 9999

KT

VT_BSTR

0.0 to 999.3

S5T

VT_BSTR

0ms to 2h46m30s0ms

VT_BSTR

String

Wn,v

VT_ARRAY|VT_UI2

0 to 65535 for each

element**

WORDn,v

VT_ARRAY|VT_UI2

0 to 65535 for each

element**

INTn

VT_I2

-32768 to 32767

BCD

VT_I2

0 to 9999

VT_BSTR

String

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92 Chapter 7 Item Naming

Item

Extension 1

SIDirect DAServer Users Guide

Extension 2 Suffix

Data Type

Range

INTn,v

VT_ARRAY|VT_I2

-32768 to 32767 for

each element**

Dm

VT_UI4

0 to 4294967295***

DWORDm

VT_UI4

0 to 4294967295***

BCD

VT_UI4

0 to 99999999

VT_BSTR

String

TOD

VT_BSTR

String

Dm,v

VT_ARRAY|VT_UI4

0 to 4294967295 for
each element**

DWORDm,v

VT_ARRAY|VT_UI4

0 to 4294967295 for
each element**

DINTm

VT_I4

-2147483648 to
2147483647

BCD

VT_I4

0 to 99999999

VT_BSTR

String

TOD

VT_BSTR

String

DINTm,v

VT_ARRAY|VT_I4

-2147483648 to
2147483647 for each
element**

REALm

VT_R4

+/-1.2e-38 to
+/-3.4e+38

REALm,v

VT_ARRAY|VT_R4

+/-1.2e-38 to
+/-3.4e+38 for each
element**

Alarms and Events93

Item

Extension 1

EVENT

EVENT_

<EV_ID>

STATE

Extension 2 Suffix

Data Type

Range

VT_UI2

0 to 65535

STATE

VT_UI2

0 to 65535

ACK_STATE

VT_UI2

0 to 65535

TIME_

VT_BSTR

String*, ****

VT_UI2

0 to 10

DATA_TYPE

VT_BSTR

String

LENGTH

VT_UI2

0 to 65535

Xx.y

VT_BOOL

0 or 1

S,v

VT_BSTR

String

STAMP
NO_ADD_
VALUES
ADD_VALUEw

STRINGx,v

VT_BSTR

String

Bx

VT_UI1

0 to 255

BYTEx

VT_UI1

0 to 255

VT_BSTR

String

Bx,v

VT_ARRAY|VT_UI1

0 to 255 for each

element**

BYTEx,v

VT_ARRAY|VT_UI1

0 to 255 for each

element**

VT_I1

-128 to 127

VT_BSTR

String

VT_ARRAY|VT_I1

-128 to 127 for each

element**

DT

CHARx
DT
CHARx,v

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94 Chapter 7 Item Naming

Item

Extension 1

Extension 2 Suffix

Data Type

Range

Wn

VT_UI2

0 to 65535

VT_UI2

0 to 65535

BCD

VT_UI2

0 to 9999

KT

VT_BSTR

0.0 to 999.3

S5T

VT_BSTR

0ms to 2h46m30s0ms

VT_BSTR

String

Wn,v

VT_ARRAY|VT_UI2

0 to 65535 for each

element**

WORDn,v

VT_ARRAY|VT_UI2

0 to 65535 for each

element**

INTn

VT_I2

-32768 to 32767

BCD

VT_I2

0 to 9999

VT_BSTR

String

INTn,v

VT_ARRAY|VT_I2

-32768 to 32767 for

each element**

Dm

VT_UI4

0 to 4294967295***

WORDn

VT_UI4

0 to 4294967295***

BCD

VT_UI4

0 to 99999999

VT_BSTR

String

TOD

VT_BSTR

String

Dm,v

VT_ARRAY|VT_UI4

0 to 4294967295 for
each element**

DWORDm,v

VT_ARRAY|VT_UI4

0 to 4294967295 for
each element**

DINTm

VT_I4

-2147483648 to
2147483647

BCD

VT_I4

0 to 99999999

VT_BSTR

String

TOD

VT_BSTR

String

DINTm,v

VT_ARRAY|VT_I4

-2147483648 to
2147483647 for each
element**

REALm

VT_R4

+/-1.2e-38 to
+/-3.4e+38

REALm,v

VT_ARRAY|VT_R4

+/-1.2e-38 to
+/-3.4e+38 for each
element**

DWORDm

*: Starting with version 1.1, this string value can be used to timestamp
other alarm items.
**: For DDE/SuiteLink, the item value is the HexASCII representation
of the complete array. The result is one string containing all the
elements of the array in the HexASCII representation of the binary
data in big-endian format when data is returned to the DDE/SuiteLink
layer.

SIDirect DAServer Users Guide

Alarms and Events95

***: For DDE/SuiteLink, this value is restricted to the range of 0 to

2147483647. Values higher than that are clamped to the maximum
value of 2147483647 in a SuiteLink or DDE client. In this case, the
quality of the item shows "Clamp High."
****: For alarm blocks (such as SFB31, 34, 35) that provide multiple
event states in one notification, the timestamp that comes with the
notification reflects only the timestamp of the last changing state.
This restriction is prescribed by the message that it receives from the
PLC.
Where:
<EV_ID> is the ID defined by Step7, in the integer format, filled
with leading zeros up to six (6) characters.
x

is the start address, with a range from 0 to 65535.

is the bit position, with a range from 0 to 7.

0 is the LSB (Least Significant Bit).

7 is the MSB (Most Significant Bit).
n

is the start address of 2-byte data/2-byte data arrays, with

a range from 0 to 65534.

is the start address of 4-byte data/4-byte data arrays, with

a range from 0 to 65532.

is the length of data in elements (an item in an array),

with a range from 1 to (net PDU data size/type size header information).

is the length of the net S7 string-data in characters, with a

range from 1 to 10.

Note: All alarms and events are Read-Only. The longest string or
array that can be read in a cyclic service is the length of the PDU size
minus 32 bytes. The longest string the InTouch software can process is
131 bytes. The SIDirect DAServer does not process writes (POKES) to
Alarms and Events.

Examples:
ALARM000010.TIME_STAMP
EVENT001234.ADD_VALUE2,LENGTH
ALARM000555.ADD_VALUE10,REAL0
EVENT000001.ADD_VALUE3,D0TOD
Alarm and event information is delivered from the S7-300/400 PLCs in
the form of data items with the syntax described above. Alarm
provider and alarm acknowledgment functionality is not supported.

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96 Chapter 7 Item Naming

The configuration of the alarms is first performed in the appropriate

function blocks in the S7-300/400 PLCs as follows:
Name

SFB/SFC

S7 CPU

ALARM_SQ

SFC 17

S7-300/400

ALARM_S

SFC 18

S7-300/400

ALARM_DQ

SFC 107

S7-300/400

ALARM_D

SFC 108

S7-300/400

NOTIFY_8P

SFB 31

S7-400

ALARM

SFB 33

S7-400

ALARM_8

SFB 34

S7-400

ALARM_8P

SFB 35

S7-400

NOTIFY

SFB 36

S7-400

Events must be configured in the Symbol Editor.

Alarms and Events Terms

The following table lists the terms available in Alarms and Events
Terms and their descriptions.
Term

Description

EVENT_STATE:

State of the Alarm/Event itself.

If the Alarm/Event is TRUE, then EVENT_STATE is TRUE
and vice versa.
For more detailed information, see the Siemens Step7
documentation.

STATE:

The state in general whether the Alarm/Event is available.

Maybe a data block is deleted where a bit should be
monitored.

ACK_STATE:

The state of the acknowledgment of coming or going

Alarms/Events.
For more detailed information, see the Siemens Step7
documentation.

TIME_STAMP:

The timestamp of the Alarm/Event provided by the PLC.

NO_ADD_VALUES:

The number of additional values sent with this Alarm/Event

message.

ADD_VALUEw,DATA_TYPE:

The data type of a specific additional value of an

Alarm/Event.

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Alarms and Events97

Term

Description

ADD_VALUEw,LENGTH:

The length of a specific additional value of an Alarm/Event.

<EV_ID>:

The event ID created automatically by the Step7

programming software.
In case of Alarms (FB33 to FB36, SFC17/18/107/108), this is
the EV_ID-parameter of the function block. The value of the
parameter must be converted from hexadecimal to decimal,
and then filled up with leading zeros to the length of 6
characters (for example: EV_ID: DW#16#4E25 => <EV_ID>:
020005).
In case of Events (generated by the symbol editor) this is the
"Message number." This number is in decimal format and
must be filled with leading zeros up to 6 characters (for
example: "Message number": 20000 => <EV_ID>: 020000).

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98 Chapter 7 Item Naming

Specific S7-200 Item Syntax

The S7-200 PLCs use different syntax than the S7-300, S7-400, and
S7-1200 PLCs.
The memory address range in the S7-200-series PLCs varies based on
the size of the CPU. Therefore, you can configure the SIDirect
DAServer to read and write a PLC memory address that does not exist
in the PLC. To prevent this from happening, ensure that the
configured PLC item syntax does not exceed the PLC memory ranges
of the PLC you are using.

V Memory
The S7-200 PLCs support V Memory.
Data
Format

Item/Point

Bit
String
Byte

Suffix

Data Type

Range

VXx.y

VT_BOOL

0 or 1

VSx,v

VT_BSTR

String

VSTRINGx,v

VT_BSTR

String

VBx

VT_UI1

0 to 255

VBYTEx

VT_UI1

0 to 255

VT_BSTR

1990-1-1-0:00:00.000 to
2089-12-31-23:59:59.999

DT
Byte
Array

VBx,v

VT_ARRAY|VT_UI1

0 to 255 for each element*

VBYTEx,v

VT_ARRAY|VT_UI1

0 to 255 for each element*

Char

VCHARx

VT_I1

-128 to 127

VT_BSTR

1990-1-1-0:00:00.000 to
2089-12-31-23:59:59.999

DT
Char
Array

VCHARx,v

VT_ARRAY|VT_I1

-128 to 127 for each element*

Word

VWn

VT_UI2

0 to 65535

VWORDn

VT_UI2

0 to 65535

BCD

VT_UI2

0 to 9999

KT

VT_BSTR

0.0 to 999.3

S5T

VT_BSTR

0ms to 2h46m30s0ms

TR

VT_R4

0.0 to 9990.0 (s)

VT_BSTR

1990-1-1 to 2168-12-31

VWn,v

VT_ARRAY|VT_UI2

0 to 65535 for each element*

VWORDn,v

VT_ARRAY|VT_UI2

0 to 65535 for each element*

Word
Array

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Specific S7-200 Item Syntax99

Data
Format

Item/Point

Integer

VINTn

Suffix

Data Type

Range

VT_I2

-32768 to 32767

BCD

VT_I2

-999 to 999

VT_BSTR

1990-1-1 to 2168-12-31

Integer
Array

VINTn,v

VT_ARRAY|VT_I2

-32768 to 32767 for each

element*

Double
Word

VDm

VT_UI4

0 to 4294967295**

VDWORDm

VT_UI4

0 to 4294967295**

BCD

VT_UI4

0 to 9999999

TOD

VT_BSTR

0:00:00.000 to 23:59:59.999

VT_BSTR

-24D_20H_31M_23S_648MS to
24D_20H_31M_23S_647MS

Double
Word
Array

VDm,v

VT_ARRAY|VT_UI4

0 to 4294967295 for each

element*

VDWORDm,v

VT_ARRAY|VT_UI4

0 to 4294967295 for each

element*

Double
Integer

VDINTm

VT_14

-2147483648 to 2147483647

BCD

VT_14

-9999999 to 9999999

TOD

VT_BSTR

0:00:00.000 to 23:59:59.999

VT_BSTR

-24D_20H_31M_23S_648 MS to
24D_20H_31M_23S_647MS

Double
Integer
Array

VDINTm,v

VT_ARRAY|VT_I4

-2147483648 to 2147483647 for

each element*

Real

VREALm

VT_R4

+/-1.2e-38 to +/-3.4e+38

Real
Array

VREALm,v

VT_ARRAY|VT_R4

+/-1.2e-38 to +/-3.4e+38 for each

element*

*: For DDE/SuiteLink, the item value is the HexASCII representation

of the complete array. The result is one string containing all the
elements of the array in the HexASCII representation of the binary
data in big-endian format when data is returned to the DDE/SuiteLink
layer.

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100 Chapter 7 Item Naming

**: For DDE/SuiteLink, this value is restricted to the range of 0 to

2147483647. Values higher than that are clamped to the maximum
value of 2147483647 in a SuiteLink or DDE client. In this case, the
quality of the item shows "Clamp High."
Where:
x

is the start address, with a range from 0 to 10239.

is the bit position, with a range from 0 to 7.

0 is the LSB (Least Significant Bit).

7 is the MSB (Most Significant Bit).
n

is the start address of 2-byte data/2-byte data arrays, with a

range from 0 to 10238.

is the start address of 4-byte data/4-byte data arrays, with a

range from 0 to 10236.

is the length of data in elements (an item in an array), with

a range from 1 to (net PDU data size/type size - header
information).

Note: All V Memory bytes are Read/Write. The longest string or array
that can be read in a cyclic service is the length of the PDU size minus
32 bytes. The longest string the InTouch software can process is 131
bytes. The longest string that can be poked is 256 bytes or the PDU size
minus 28 bytes, whichever is less. The SIDirect DAServer processes a
write (POKE) to V Memory.

SIDirect DAServer Users Guide

Specific S7-200 Item Syntax101

Analog Input
The following table summarizes the data format, item or point, suffix,
data type, and range for Analog Input.
Data
Format

Item/Point

Word

Suffix

Data Type

Range

AIWx

VT_UI2

0 to 65535

AIWORDx

VT_UI2

0 to 65535

BCD

VT_UI2

0 to 9999

KT

VT_BSTR

0.0 to 999.3

S5T

VT_BSTR

0ms to 2h46m30s0ms

TR

VT_R4

0.0 to 9990.0 (s)

VT_BSTR

1990-1-1 to 2168-12-31

Word
Array

AIWx,v

VT_ARRAY|VT_UI2

0 to 65535 for each element*

AIWORDx,v

VT_ARRAY|VT_UI2

0 to 65535 for each element*

Integer

AIINTx

VT_I2

-32768 to 32767

BCD

VT_I2

-999 to 999

VT_BSTR

1990-1-1 to 2168-12-31

VT_ARRAY|VT_I2

-32768 to 32767 for each

element*

Integer
Array

AIINTx,v

*: For DDE/SuiteLink, the item value is the HexASCII representation

of the complete array. The result is one string containing all the
elements of the array in the HexASCII representation of the binary
data in big-endian format when data is returned to the DDE/SuiteLink
layer.
Where:
x

is the start address, with a range from 0 to 62.

is the length of data in elements (an item in an array), with

a range from 1 to (net PDU data size/type size - header
information).

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102 Chapter 7 Item Naming

Analog Output
The following table summarizes the data format, item or point, suffix,
data type, and range for Analog Output.
Data
Format

Item/Point

Word

AOWx

Suffix

Data Type

Range

VT_UI2

0 to 65535

VT_UI2

0 to 65535

BCD

VT_UI2

0 to 9999

KT

VT_BSTR

0.0 to 999.3

S5T

VT_BSTR

0ms to 2h46m30s0ms

TR

VT_R4

0.0 to 9990.0 (s)

VT_BSTR

1990-1-1 to 2168-12-31

VT_ARRAY|VT_UI2

0 to 65535 for each element*

VT_ARRAY|VT_UI2

0 to 65535 for each element*

VT_I2

-32768 to 32767

BCD

VT_I2

-999 to 999

VT_BSTR

1990-1-1 to 2168-12-31

VT_ARRAY|VT_I2

-32768 to 32767 for each

element*

AQWx
AOWORDx
AQWORDx

Word
Array

AOx,v
AQx,v
AOWORDx,v
AQWORDx,v

Integer

AOINTx
AQINTx

Integer
Array

AOINTx,v
AQINTx,v

*: For DDE/SuiteLink, the item value is the HexASCII representation

of the complete array. The result is one string containing all the
elements of the array in the HexASCII representation of the binary
data in big-endian format when data is returned to the DDE/SuiteLink
layer.
Where:
x

is the start address, with a range from 0 to 30.

is the length of data in elements (an item in an array), with

a range from 1 to (net PDU data size/type size - header
information).

SIDirect DAServer Users Guide

Specific S7-200 Item Syntax103

Stage Memory
The following table summarizes the data format, item or point, suffix,
data type, and range for Stage Memory.
Data
Format

Item/Point

Bit

Suffix

Data Type

Range

SXx.k

VT_BOOL

0 or 1

Byte

SBx

VT_UI1

0 to 255

Byte
Array

SBx,v

VT_ARRAY|VT_UI1

0 to 255*

Word

SWy

VT_UI2

0 to 65535

SWORDy

VT_UI2

0 to 65535

BCD

VT_UI2

0 to 9999

KT

VT_BSTR

0.0 to 999.3

S5T

VT_BSTR

0ms to 2h46m30s0ms

TR

VT_R4

0.0 to 9990.0 (s)

VT_BSTR

1990-1-1 to 2168-12-31

Word
Array

SWy,v

VT_ARRAY|VT_UI2

0 to 65535 for each element*

SWORDy,v

VT_ARRAY|VT_UI2

0 to 65535 for each element*

Integer

SINTy

VT_I2

-32768 to 32767

BCD

VT_I2

-999 to 999

VT_BSTR

1990-1-1 to 2168-12-31

Integer
Array

SINTy,v

VT_ARRAY|VT_I2

-32768 to 32767 for each

element*

Double
Word

SDz

VT_UI4

0 to 4294967295**

SDWORDz

VT_UI4

0 to 4294967295**

BCD

VT_UI4

0 to 99999999

TOD

VT_BSTR

0:00:00.000 to 23:59:59.999

VT_BSTR

-24D_20H_31M_23S_648MS
to
24D_20H_31M_23S_647MS

SDz,v

VT_ARRAY|VT_UI4

0 to 4294967295 for each

element*

SDWORDz,v

VT_ARRAY|VT_UI4

0 to 4294967295 for each

element*

Double
Word
Array

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104 Chapter 7 Item Naming

Data
Format

Double
Integer

Double
Integer
Array

Item/Point

Suffix

Data Type

Range

VT_I4

-2147483648 to 2147483647

BCD

VT_I4

-9999999 to 9999999

TOD

VT_BSTR

0:00:00.000 to 23:59:59.999

VT_BSTR

-24D_20H_31M_23S_648MS
to
24D_20H_31M_23S_647MS

VT_ARRAY|VT_I4

-2147483648 to 2147483647
for each element*

SDINTz

SDINTz,v

*: For DDE/SuiteLink, the item value is the HexASCII representation

of the complete array. The result is one string containing all the
elements of the array in the HexASCII representation of the binary
data in big-endian format when data is returned to the DDE/SuiteLink
layer.
**: For DDE/SuiteLink, this value is restricted to the range of 0 to
2147483647. Values higher than that are clamped to the maximum
value of 2147483647 in a SuiteLink or DDE client. In this case, the
quality of the item shows "Clamp High."
Where:
k

is the bit position, with a range from 0 to 7.

0 is the LSB (Least Significant Bit).

7 is the MSB (Most Significant Bit).
x

is the start address, with a range from 0 to 31.

is the start address, with a range from 0 to 30.

is the start address, with a range from 0 to 28.

is the length of data in elements (an item in an array), with

a range from 1 to (net PDU data size/type size - header
information).

Special Memory
The following table summarizes the data format, item or point, suffix,
data type, and range for Special Memory.
Data
Format

Item/Point

Bit
Byte

Data Type

Range

SMx.k

VT_BOOL

0 or 1

SMBx

VT_UI1

0 to 255

SIDirect DAServer Users Guide

Suffix

Specific S7-200 Item Syntax105

Data
Format

Item/Point

Suffix

Data Type

Range

Byte
Array

SMBx,v

VT_ARRAY|VT_UI1

0 to 255 for each element**

Word

SMWy

VT_UI2

0 to 65535

SMWORDy

VT_UI2

0 to 65535

BCD

VT_UI2

0 to 9999

KT

VT_BSTR

0.0 to 999.3

S5T

VT_BSTR

0ms to 2h46m30s0ms

TR

VT_R4

0.0 to 9990.0 (s)

VT_BSTR

1990-1-1 to 2168-12-31

Word
Array

SMWy,v

VT_ARRAY|VT_UI2

0 to 65535 for each element**

SMWORDy,v

VT_ARRAY|VT_UI2

0 to 65535 for each element**

Integer

SMINTy

VT_I2

-32768 to 32767

BCD

VT_I2

-999 to 999

VT_BSTR

1990-1-1 to 2168-12-31

Integer
Array

SMINTy,v

VT_ARRAY|VT_I2

-32768 to 32767 for each

element*

Double
Word

SMDz

VT_UI4

0 to 4294967295***

SMDWORDz

VT_UI4

0 to 4294967295***

BCD

VT_UI4

0 to 99999999

TOD

VT_BSTR

0:00:00.000 to 23:59:59.999

VT_BSTR

-24D_20H_31M_23S_648MS to
24D_20H_31M_23S_647MS

Double
Word
Array

SMDz,v

VT_ARRAY|VT_UI4

0 to 4294967295 for each

element**

SMDWORDz,v

VT_ARRAY|VT_UI4

0 to 4294967295 for each

element**

Double
Integer

SMDINTz

VT_I4

-2147483648 to 2147483647

BCD

VT_I4

-9999999 to 9999999

TOD

VT_BSTR

0:00:00.000 to 23:59:59.999

VT_BSTR

-24D_20H_31M_23S_648MS to
24D_20H_31M_23S_647MS

VT_ARRAY|VT_I4

-2147483648 to 2147483647 for

each element

Double
Integer
Array

SMDINTz,v

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106 Chapter 7 Item Naming

Special Memory addresses from 0 to 29 are Read-Only. Addresses

above 29 are both Read and Write. If you perform a poke (a Write
request) using addresses 0 through 29, the PLC will reject it.
**: For DDE/SuiteLink, the item value is the HexASCII representation
of the complete array. The result is one string containing all the
elements of the array in the HexASCII representation of the binary
data in big-endian format when data is returned to the DDE/SuiteLink
layer.
***: For DDE/SuiteLink, this value is restricted to the range of 0 to
2147483647. Values higher than that are clamped to the maximum
value of 2147483647 in a SuiteLink or DDE client. In this case, the
quality of the item shows "Clamp High."
Where:
k

is the bit position, with a range from 0 to 7.

0 is the LSB (Least Significant Bit).

7 is the MSB (Most Significant Bit).
x

is the start address, with a range from 0 to 549.

is the start address, with a range from 0 to 548.

is the start address, with a range from 0 to 546.

is the length of data in elements (an item in an array), with

a range from 1 to (net PDU data size/type size - header
information).

SIDirect DAServer Users Guide

Specific S7-200 Item Syntax107

High-Speed Counter
The following table summarizes the data format, item or point, suffix, data
type, and range for High-Speed Counter.
High speed counters are restricted to items HC0 through HC5. The
DAServer returns Bad quality to high speed counter items with an
address higher than 5.
The following table summarizes the data format, item or point, suffix,
data type, and range for High-Speed Counter.
Data
Format

Double
Word

Item/Point

Suffi
x
Data Type

HCx

VT_I4

Range

-2147483648 to
2147483647*

*: The high speed counter item is Read-Only. The item type is double
word. The value ranges only from -2147483648 to 2147483647.
Where:
x

is the start address, with a range from 0 to 5.

S7-200 Timers
The following table summarizes the data format, item or point, suffix,
data type, and range for S7-200 Timers.
Data
Format

Item/Point

Word

Tx

Double
Word

Tx

Suffi
x
Data Type

MS

Range

VT_UI2

0 to 32767*,***

VT_UI4

0 to 3276700
milliseconds**,***

*: The Tx item syntax returns or pokes the timer value in its native
form as stored in the PLC. The timer resolution may be different for
different timer addresses. Be aware of the timer resolution and
convert it to the proper value for processing. See *** below.
**: The Tx MS item syntax translates the S7-200 counter value to its
corresponding time in milliseconds. The SIDirect DAServer performs
the conversion automatically. It is based on the timer address, x,
specified in the item syntax using the timer resolution table stated in
the *** note.

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108 Chapter 7 Item Naming

***: The timer resolution is based on its address listed in the following
table.

Timer Address

Resolution
Maximum
in
Millisecon Value in
Milliseconds
ds

T0, T32, T64, T96

32767

T1-T4, T33-T36, T65-T68, 10

T97-T100

327670

T5-T31, T37-T63,
T69-T95, T101-T255

3276700

100

For example, if the PLC's T33 timer value is 1000, advising item T33
returns a timer value of 1000, advising item T33 MS returns a value of
10000 milliseconds. Similarly, if T255 timer in the PLC has a value of
2000, advising item T255 MS returns a value of 200000 milliseconds.
Poking a value of 5000 to T33 MS writes a value of 500 to the T33
timer in the S7-200 PLC.
Where:
x

is the start address, with a range from 0 to 255.

Note: All timers are Read and Write.

SIDirect DAServer Users Guide

Specific S7-1200 Item Syntax109

Specific S7-1200 Item Syntax

The S7-1200 PLC is a newer series of Siemens S7 PLCs. Its item
syntax follows a similar convention as the S7 300/400 series, with
some differences. The S7-1200 supports the additional datatypes of
LREAL and DTL (Date Time Long).

S7-1200 Data Blocks and Instance Blocks

The following table summarizes the data format, item or point, suffix,
data type, and range for Data Blocks and Instance Blocks.
Data
Format

Item/Point

Bit
String
S7String
Byte

Suffix

Data Type

Range

D<B,I>d,Xx.y

VT_BOOL

0 or 1

D<B,I>d,Sx,v

VT_BSTR

String

D<B,I>d,STRINGx,v

VT_BSTR

String

D<B,I>d,S7Sx,w

VT_BSTR

String

D<B,I>d,S7STRINGx,w

VT_BSTR

String

D<B,I>d,Bx

VT_UI1

0 to 255

VT_UI1

0 to 255

VT_BSTR

1990-1-1-0:00:00.000 to
2089-12-31-23:59:59.999***

D<B,I>d,Bx,v

VT_ARRAY|VT_UI1

0 to 255 for each element*

D<B,I>d,BYTEx,v

VT_ARRAY|VT_UI1

0 to 255 for each element*

D<B,I>d,USINTx

VT_UI1

0 to 255

VT_BSTR

1990-1-1-0:00:00.000 to
2089-12-31-23:59:59.999***

VT_ARRAY|VT_UI1

0 to 255 for each element*

VT_I1

-128 to 127

VT_BSTR

1990-1-1-0:00:00.000 to
2089-12-31-23:59:59.999***

D<B,I>d,BYTEx
DT
Byte Array
USINT

DT
USINT
Array

D<B,I>d,USINTx,v

Char

D<B,I>d,CHARx
DT

Char Array

D<B,I>d,CHARx,v

VT_ARRAY|VT_UI1

-128 to 127 for each element*

SINT

D<B,I>d,SINTx

VT_I1

-128 to 127

VT_BSTR

1990-1-1-0:00:00.000 to
2089-12-31-23:59:59.999***

SINT Array D<B,I>dSINTx,v

VT_ARRAY|VT_UI1

-128 to 127 for each element*

Word

VT_UI2

0 to 65535

DT

D<B,I>d,Wn

VT_UI2

0 to 65535

BCD

VT_UI2

0 to 9999***

KT

VT_BSTR

0.0 to 999.3***

S5T

VT_BSTR

0ms to 2h46m30s0ms***

TR

VT_R4

0.0 to 9990.0 (s)***

VT_BSTR

1990-1-1 to 2168-12-31

VT_ARRAY|VT_UI2

0 to 65535 for each element*

VT_ARRAY|VT_UI2

0 to 65535 for each element*

D<B,I>d,WORDn

Word Array D<B,I>d,Wn,v

D<B,I>d,WORDn,v

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110 Chapter 7 Item Naming

Data
Format

Item/Point

UINT

D<B,I>d,UINTn

Suffix

Range

VT_UI2

0 to 65535

BCD

VT_UI2

0 to 9999***

KT

VT_BSTR

0.0 to 999.3***

S5T

VT_BSTR

0ms to 2h46m30s0ms***

TR

VT_R4

0.0 to 9990.0 (s)***

D
UINT Array D<B,I>d,UINTn,v
Integer

Data Type

VT_BSTR

1990-1-1 to 2168-12-31

VT_ARRAY|VT_UI2

0 to 65535 for each element*

VT_I2

-32768 to 32767

BCD

VT_I2

-999 to 999***

VT_BSTR

1990-1-1 to 2168-12-31

D<B,I>d,INTn

Integer
Array

D<B,I>d,INTn,v

VT_ARRAY|VT_UI1

-32768 to 32767 for each

element*

Double
Word

D<B,I>d,Dm

VT_UI4

0 to 4294967295**

VT_UI4

0 to 4294967295**

BCD

VT_UI4

0 to 99999999***

TOD

VT_BSTR

0:00:00.000 to 23:59:59.999

VT_BSTR

-24D_20H_31M_23S_648MS
to
24D_20H_31M_23S_647MS

VT_ARRAY|VT_UI4

0 to 4294967295 for each

element*

D<B,I>d,DWORDm,v

VT_ARRAY|VT_UI4

0 to 4294967295 for each

element*

D<B,I>d,UDINTm

VT_UI4

0 to 4294967295**

BCD

VT_UI4

0 to 99999999***

TOD

VT_BSTR

0:00:00.000 to 23:59:59.999

VT_BSTR

-24D_20H_31M_23S_648MS
to
24D_20H_31M_23S_647MS

VT_ARRAY|VT_UI4

0 to 4294967295 for each

element*

D<B,I>d,DWORDm

Double
D<B,I>d,Dm,v
Word Array

UDINT

UDINT
Array

D<B,I>d,UDINTm,v

Double
Integer

D<B,I>d,DINTm

VT_I4

-2147483648 to 2147483647

BCD

VT_I4

-9999999 to 9999999***

TOD

VT_BSTR

0:00:00.000 to 23:59:59.999

VT_BSTR

-24D_20H_31M_23S_648MS
to
24D_20H_31M_23S_647MS

Double
Integer
Array

D<B,I>d,DINTm,v

VT_ARRAY|VT_I4

-2147483648 to 2147483647
for each element*

Real

D<B,I>d,REALm

VT_R4

+/-1.2e-38 to +/-3.4e+38

Real Array

D<B,I>d,REALm,v

VT_ARRAY|VT_R4

+/-1.2e-38 to +/-3.4e+38 for

each element*

SIDirect DAServer Users Guide

Specific S7-1200 Item Syntax111

*: For DDE/SuiteLink, the item value is the HexASCII representation

of the complete array. The result is one string containing all the
elements of the array in the HexASCII representation of the binary
data in big endian format when data is returned to the DDE/SuiteLink
layer.
**: For DDE/SuiteLink, this value is restricted to the range of 0 to
2147483647. Values higher than that are clamped to the maximum
value of 2147483647 in a SuiteLink or DDE client. In this case, the
quality of the item shows "Clamp High."
Where:
d

is the data block number, with a range from 1 to 65535.

is the start address. For S7-300/400/1200 PLCs, the range is

from 0 to 65535. For S7-200 PLCs, the value is 1.

is the bit position, with a range from 0 to 7.

0 is the LSB (Least Significant Bit).

7 is the MSB (Most Significant Bit).
n

is the start address of 2-byte data/2-byte data arrays.

is the start address of 4-byte data/4-byte data arrays.

is the length of data in elements (an item in an array), with a

range from 0 to 65534.

is the length of the net S7 string data in characters (size in

S7 message is w+1, size of string representation in S7 PLC is
w+2).

***: The SIDirect DAServer provides suffixes (S5T, TR, DT, KT, and
BCD) that are used to interpret raw bytes as having a special data
format. Review the PLC processor documentation, as not all processors
have ladder logic internally to interpret those data formats the same
way (for example, the S7-1200 PLC).
Note: All data blocks are Read/Write. The longest string or array that
can be read in a cyclic service has the length of the PDU size minus 32
bytes. The longest string the InTouch software can process is 131
bytes. The longest string that can be poked is 256 bytes or the PDU size
minus 28 bytes, whichever is less. The DAServer processes a write
(POKE) to a Data Block.

For example:
DB5,DTL5 TREAL

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112 Chapter 7 Item Naming

LREAL Data Type and Syntax

The S7-1200 PLC contains a data type named LREAL. The LREAL
data type is a ANSI/IEEE 754-1985 64-Bit Floating Point value with a
range illustrated in the following table:
Data Type

Bit Size

Range

LREAL

64

-1.7976931348623158e+308 to
-2.2250738585072014e-308,
0,
+2.2250738585072014e-308 to
+1.7976931348623158e+308

The S7-1200 PLC may not support LREAL types on all memory
regions.
The item name syntax for LREAL is as follows:
Memory Type

Syntax

Data Block

D<B,I>d,LREALm
D<B,I>d,LREALm,v

Flag Bytes

FLREALm
MLREALm
FLREALm,v
MLREALm,v

Input Bytes

ILREALm
ELREALm
ILREALm,v
ELREALm,v

Output Bytes

OLREALm
ALREALm
QLREALm
OLREALm,v
ALREALm,v
QLREALm,v

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Specific S7-1200 Item Syntax113

Memory Type

Syntax

Peripheral Input Bytes

PILREALm
PELREALm
PILREALm,v
PELREALm,v

Peripheral Output
Bytes

POLREALm
PALREALm
PQLREALm
POLREALm,v
PALREALm,v
PQLREALm,v

Where:
d

is the data block number, with a range from 1 to 65535

is the start offset of an LREAL tag

is the length of an array in elements, with a range from 1 to

65535

DTL Data Type and Syntax

The S7-1200 PLC contains a data type named DTL (Date Time Long).
The DTL can be subscribed as a string (VT_BSTR), which provides the
full range and resolution of 1 nanosecond, or as a date and time
(VT_DATE), which provides the full range but with the highest
resolution of 1 second. The DTL data type in the PLC is a 12-byte
structure with the following format:
Byte

Field Name

Date Type

Value Range

0,1

Year

UINT

1970 to 2554

Month

USINT

1 to 12

Day

USINT

1 to 31

Weekday

USINT

1(Sunday) to 7(Saturday)

Hour

USINT

0 to 23

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Byte

Field Name

Date Type

Value Range

Minute

USINT

0 to 59

Seconds

USINT

0 to 59

8,9,10,11

Nanoseconds

UDINT

0 to 999,999,999

The SIDirect DAServer reads the 12-byte structure from the S7-1200
PLC and converts it into one of the following canonical types based on
the item name suffix specified:
DTL
Suffix

Canonical
Type

Range

<none>

VT_BSTR

1970-1-1-0:0:0.000000000 to 2554-12-31-23:59:59.999999999
( Highest resolution in units of 1 nanoseconds increments )

TREAL

VT_DATE

1970-1-1-0:0:0 to 2554-12-31-23:59:59
( Highest resolution is in units of 1 sec increments )
The S7-1200 PLC may not support DTL types on all memory regions.
The item name syntax for DTL is as follows:

Memory Type

Syntax

Canonical Type

Data Block

D<B,I>d,DTLm

VT_BSTR

D<B,I>d,DTLmTREAL

VT_DATE

D<B,I>d,DTLm,v

VT_ARRAY |VT_DATE

D<B,I>d,DTLm,vTREAL

VT_ARRAY |VT_DATE

FDTLm

VT_BSTR

MDTLm

VT_BSTR

FDTLmTREAL

VT_DATE

MDTLmTREAL

VT_DATE

FDTLm,v

VT_ARRAY |VT_BSTR

MDTLm,v

VT_ARRAY |VT_BSTR

FDTLm,vTREAL

VT_ARRAY |VT_DATE

MDTLm,vTREAL

VT_ARRAY |VT_DATE

Flag Bytes

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Memory Type

Syntax

Canonical Type

Input Bytes

IDTLm

VT_BSTR

EDTLm

VT_BSTR

IDTLmTREAL

VT_DATE

EDTLmTREAL

VT_DATE

IDTLm,v

VT_ARRAY |VT_BSTR

EDTLm,v

VT_ARRAY |VT_BSTR

IDTLm,vTREAL

VT_ARRAY |VT_DATE

EDTLm,vTREAL

VT_ARRAY |VT_DATE

ODTLm

VT_BSTR

ADTLm

VT_BSTR

QDTLm

VT_BSTR

ODTLmTREAL

VT_DATE

ADTLmTREAL

VT_DATE

QDTLmTREAL

VT_DATE

ODTLm,v

VT_ARRAY |VT_BSTR

ADTLm,v

VT_ARRAY |VT_BSTR

QDTLm,v

VT_ARRAY |VT_BSTR

ODTLm,vTREAL

VT_ARRAY |VT_DATE

ADTLm,vTREAL

VT_ARRAY |VT_DATE

QDTLm,vTREAL

VT_ARRAY |VT_DATE

Output Bytes

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Memory Type

Syntax

Canonical Type

Peripheral Input Bytes

PIDTLm

VT_BSTR

PEDTLm

VT_BSTR

PIDTLmTREAL

VT_DATE

PEDTLmTREAL

VT_DATE

PIDTLm,v

VT_ARRAY |VT_BSTR

PEDTLm,v

VT_ARRAY |VT_BSTR

PIDTLm,vTREAL

VT_ARRAY |VT_DATE

PEDTLm,vTREAL

VT_ARRAY |VT_DATE

PODTLm

VT_BSTR

PADTLm

VT_BSTR

PQDTLm

VT_BSTR

PODTLmTREAL

VT_DATE

PADTLmTREAL

VT_DATE

PQDTLmTREAL

VT_DATE

PODTLm,v

VT_ARRAY |VT_BSTR

PADTLm,v

VT_ARRAY |VT_BSTR

PQDTLm,v

VT_ARRAY |VT_BSTR

PODTLm,vTREAL

VT_ARRAY |VT_DATE

PADTLm,vTREAL

VT_ARRAY |VT_DATE

PQDTLm,vTREAL

VT_ARRAY |VT_DATE

Peripheral Output
Bytes

Where:
d

is the data block number, with a range from 1 to 65535

is the start offset of an DTL tag

is the length of an array in elements (an item in an array), with

a range from 1 to 65535

DTL Clamping
Any DTL value being read from or poked to the PLC that has a year
field less than the minimum or greater than the maximum year
results in the date and time being clamped as follows:

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For Canonical VT_BSTR:

Year < 1970 = 1970-01-01-00:00:00.000000000
Year > 2554 = 2554-12-31-23:59:59.999999999
For Canonical VT_DATE:
Year < 1970 = 1970-01-01-00:00:00
Year > 2554 = 2554-12-31-23:59:59
If any other field, month, day, hour, min, second, or nanosecond is less
than the minimum or greater than the maximum, it results in a
rejected poke or read. Also, an uncertain quality results for subscribed
tags.
This applies to the syntax of all DTL names.

Using DTL without a Suffix

When poking or subscribing a DTL without a suffix where the
RequestedType=VT_BSTR and the CanonicalType=VT_BSTR and you
do not enter the entire 9 digits of the nanosecond field, the field is
padded to the right with zeros.
The reason for doing this is to maintain the meaning of the decimal
place after the seconds field. For example, 2011-10-31-1:1:1.5 results
in 500000000 being poked to the nanoseconds field of the DTL, which
really means 1/2 a second. To enter 5 nanoseconds, you must poke
2011-10-31-1:1:1.000000005.
All other fields of the date and time are considered to be padded to the
left.

Using DTL with a TREAL Suffix

When poking or subscribing a DTL using the TREAL suffix where the
RequestedType=VT_BSTR and the CanonicalType=VT_DATE, the
string passed between the SIDirect DAServer and the client is
formatted using the "short date" and "long time" format that you
configure in the region and language settings of the computer.

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High-Speed Counters
S7-1200 PLCs support High-Speed Counters. After the High-Speed
Counters are enabled in the PLC program, they can be accessed
through the Input Bytes in DWord format (for example, ID1000,
depending on which counter is to be addressed, the configuration of the
counter, and the CPU model of the S7-1200 controller).
For more information about configuring and using the High-Speed
Counters, see the S7-1200 PLC documentation.

Conversions and Suffixes of Items

This section describes what data-format items and suffixes are
converted and what they are converted into.

Endian Conversion
In endian conversions, all items with the following data formats are
copied in a reverse-byte order to convert the data from the big endian
of the PLC to the little endian of the computer:

Word
Integer
Double Word
Double Integer
Real

Suffix BCD
All items with the following data formats and suffix BCD are
converted from the BCD format into the integer and back:

Word
Integer
Double Word
Double Integer

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Suffix DT
All items with the following data formats and suffix DT (Date and
Time) are converted from DT into a message and back to store a value
in the range of 1990-1-1-0:00:00.000 to 2089-12-31-23:59:59.999."

Byte
Char
This is an 8-byte value (although declared as "byte") that contains both
the date and time. In the client, you see a string such as:
1999-12-13-07:06:05.888. The construction is a BCD interpretation.
This means that the value in the memory of the PLC (seen as a hex
value) represents directly the single "parts" of the string above.
The example above looks like the following in the memory:
0x9912130706058880
The last character ("0" in this example) is not used in this string, but
represents the day of the week. If a DT item is poked, the server writes
the correct day of the week to the PLC.

Suffix KT
All items with the following data format and suffix KT are converted
from KT to a message and back to store a value in the range of 0.0 to
999.3.

Word
The item contains a time value in the same format as in the old Step-5
PLCs. In the client, you see a string such as: 999.3. The construction is
like a BCD interpretation, but the digits are twisted.
The example above looks like the following in the memory of the PLC:
0x3999
Another example, 0x2345, in the memory of the PLC is 345.2 as the
item value.

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Suffix S5T
All items with the following data format and suffix S5T are converted
from S5T to a message and back to store a value in the range of 0ms to
2h46m30s.

Word
The memory in the PLC is exactly the same as for the KT items, but
the presentation is different although it means the same time. This
means a memory content of 0x3999 (as in the first example for KT)
results in the string of 2h46m30s0ms.
999.3 (KT) means as follows:
999

The first three characters are the time value in

BCD.

The last digit is the multiplier. Possible values are:

0: 0.01s
1: 0.1s
2: 1s
3: 10s.

This means:
A value of 123.0 represents: 123*0.01s=1.23s (equals 1s230ms)
A value of 543.2 represents: 543*1s=543s (equals 9m3s0ms)
A value of 999.3 represents:

999*10s=9990s (equals 2h46m30s0ms)

Suffix TR
All items with the following data format and with suffix TR (Time as
real value) are converted from TR into a real value or back to store a
value in the range of 0.0 to 9990.0 (s).

Word
The memory in the PLC is exactly the same as for the KT items, but
the presentation is different, although it means the same time. The
memory content of 0x3999 (as in the example for KT) results in the
real value of 9990.0. The construction is the result of the
multiplication as described in the examples for S5T, given to the client
as a real value.

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Suffix D
All items with the following data formats and with suffix D (Date) are
converted from D into a message or back to store a value in the range
of 1990-1-1 to 2168-12-31.

Word
Integer
The item contains the date. The construction is the number of days
since 1/1/1990. The integer value 4010, for example, represents
2000-12-24.

Suffix T
All items with the following data formats and with suffix T (Time) are
converted from T into a message or back to store a value in the range
of
24D_20H_31M_23S_648MS to 24D_20H_31M_23S_647MS.

Double Word
Double Integer
The item contains a time in the IEC format. The client shows a value
such as: 3D_7H_32M_11S_153MS. This is the time in milliseconds,
shown as a more readable string.
The range from 0 to 2147483647 (0x0 to 0x7FFFFFFF) is interpreted
as a positive time value. The range from
-2147483648 to -1 (0x80000000 to 0xFFFFFFFF) is interpreted as a
negative time value.

Suffix TOD
All items with the following data formats and with suffix TOD (Time
Of Day) are converted from TOD into a message or back to store a
value in the range of 0:00:00.000 to 23:59:59.999.

Double Word
Double Integer
The item contains the time of a day. The client shows a value such as:
4:58:15.654. This is the time in milliseconds (as for T), shown as a
more readable string. The highest value is 23:59:59.999. There are no
negative values. All values greater than 86399999 (0x05265BFF) are
shown with quality 0x0056 (Clamp Hi).

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Note: If you use the DAServer in the English operating system, the
following applies. The string is always represented in a 24-hour format,
regardless of the time representation of the operating system used.
This means you see the time 1:13:5 P.M. as 13:13:5.0.

DAServer Standard System Items

System items supply you with easy access to the DAServer status and
diagnostic information. They are treated just like ordinary items with
respect to the client. However, in most cases these items are not
directly acquired via the communications layer. System item values
are usually generated through internal calculations, measurements,
and tracking of the DAS Engine.
No DAServer-specific system items are provided in this SIDirect
DAServer.
System items, like ordinary items, are defined by name in the
following context:

Group (client group/OPC group)

Arbitrary collection of items, not correlated.

Hierarchical location (link name/OPC path: Hierarchical node

section of the fully qualified OPC item ID)
The device the item is attached to.

Device group (OPC access path/topic, or a Scan Group on a

hierarchical branch)
Collection of items on the same physical location with the same
protocol update rate.
To check the status of an external device, the reference can be:
<PortCpS7 name>.<S7Cp>.$SYS$Status

Example:
TCPIP.PLC1.$SYS$Status

In this example, the scope of the item is not limited to a specific access
path/device group. As long as the data requested is from the same
external device specified by the same hierarchical location, the value is
always the same.
Note: For DDE/SuiteLink clients, $SYS$Status always comes from the
leaf level of a DAServer hierarchy branch, which is defined by the
unique device group. For OPC clients, $SYS$Status can be accessed at
all hierarchy levels. $SYS$Status at the root level of the whole
hierarchy tree is always good, as it represents the quality status of the
local computer itself. For practical application, OPC clients should
reference $SYS$Status at hierarchy levels other than the root.

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In the ArchestrA context, the device group plays the most important
role of identifying the scope of any item. The device group defines the
hierarchical location implicitly when using globally unique device
group names, which is required for DDE/SuiteLink compatibility.
All system items follow the same naming convention:

All system items start with $SYS$.

Parsing of the name is case-insensitive.
The DAS Engine scans and parses the name for system items.
All system items can be accessed through subscriptions to a device
group. However, while some system items return data for that device
group, others are server-wide.

DAServer Global System Item

The following system item refers to specific information regarding a
global condition of the DAServer.
System Item
Name

$SYS$Licensed

Type/
Access
Rights

Description

Values

RANGE: 0, 1
Boolean/Read The Binary status
indication of the existence
of a valid license for the
1: Valid license
DAServer.
exists.
If FALSE, this item causes
0: No valid licenses
the DAServer to stop
updating existing tags, to exist.
refuse activation of new
tags, and to reject write
requests as well as setting
quality for all items to
BAD.
If TRUE, the DAServer
functions as configured.
All instances have the
same value.

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DAServer Device-Specific System Items

The following system items refer to specific information regarding the
device(s) the DAServer is connected to.
System Item
Name (Type)

$SYS$Status

$SYS$ErrorCode

Type/
Access
Rights

Description

Values

Boolean/Read The Binary status indication

of the connection state to the
device (hierarchy level) the
item is attached to.
The device group (OPC
access path/topic) does not
affect the value. The status
can be good even if individual
items have errors.
For DDE/SuiteLink clients,
$SYS$Status always comes
from the leaf level of a
DAServer hierarchy branch,
which is the destination PLC
node.
For OPC clients,
$SYS$Status can be accessed
at all hierarchy levels.
$SYS$Status at the root level
of the whole hierarchy tree is
always good, as it represents
the quality status of the local
computer itself. Hence, for
practical application, OPC
clients should reference
$SYS$Status at any
hierarchy levels other than
the root.

RANGE: 0, 1

Longint/Read

>=0: Good status

(0 is the default
state
connected.

Detailed error code of the

communications state to the
device.
The device group (OPC
access path/topic) does not
affect the value.

1: DAServer
connection to the
device is intact.
0: Error
communicating
with the device.

>0: is some
device state such
as, connecting,
initializing, and
so on.
<0: Error status
(value indicates
the error).

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System Item
Name (Type)

Type/
Access
Rights

$SYS$ErrorText

String/Read

Description

Values

Detailed error string of the

communications state of the
device.

Descriptive text
for the
communications
state
corresponding to
the error code.

The device group (OPC

access path/topic) does not
affect the value.
$SYS$StoreSettings Integer/
Read/Write

Makes the temporary update

interval changes via the
$SYS$UpdateInterval item
permanent.
If the client pokes a value of
1 into this system item, the
currently set update interval
is written to the servers
configuration file.
The value of this system item
clears to 0 after being set if
the configuration file write is
successful. If the write fails,
then the value is set to -1.
If the update interval is
changed via the
$SYS$UpdateInterval item
and this item is not poked to
1, the DAServer uses the
original update interval for
that topic the next time it is
started.
Reading the item always
provides 0. Read/Write
values are persisted only if
you set this system item. The
values other than this persist
only for the life of the
DAServer.

RANGE: -1, 0, 1
-1: Error
occurred during
saving the
configuration
file.
0: Always Read
value if status is
OK.
1: Persist
settings (cleared
immediately).

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DAServer Device-Group-Specific System Items

The following system items refer to specific information regarding
device groups that are configured in the DAServer.
System Item Name
(Type)

$SYS$UpdateInterval

$SYS$MaxInterval

Type/
Access
Rights

Dword/
Read/Write

Description

Values

Accesses the currently set update

interval. It is the current update
interval of the device group in
milliseconds. A client can poke
new values into this item.
The value of zero indicates that no
non-system items on that topic
are updated (data for these items
are not acquired from the device).

RANGE:
02147483647

Dword/Read Accesses the currently measured

maximum update interval in
milliseconds of all items of the
corresponding device group.
This item is read-only. The value
of the slowest item is shown.

0: Topic inactive, no
items are updated.
Data acquisition is
stopped.
>0: Expected
updated interval for
the set of all items
in the device group.
RANGE:
02147483647
0: If update interval
is 0 or if the status
is false.
>0: Measured
update interval.

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System Item Name

(Type)

$SYS$WriteComplete

Type/
Access
Rights

Integer/
Read/Write

Description

Values

Accesses the state of pending

write activities on the
corresponding device group.
On device group creation (adding
items to an OPC group) the value
of this system item is initially 1,
indicating all write activities are
complete no pokes are pending.

RANGE: -1, 0, 1

If values are poked into any items

of the device group, the value of
this item changes to 0, indicating
write activity is currently in
progress.
If the server completes all write
activities, the value of this item
changes to 1 if all pokes were
successful or to -1 if at least one
poke failed.

1: Write complete
(no writes are
pending initial
state).
0: Writes are
pending.
-1: Writes
completed with
errors.

If the value of this item is not

zero, the client can poke 1 or -1 to
it (poke a 1 to clear errors, or a -1
to test a client reaction on write
errors).
If the value of this item is zero, it
cannot be poked.
$SYS$ReadComplete

Integer/
Read/Write

Accesses the state of reads on all RANGE: -1, 0, 1

items in the corresponding device
group.
The value is unequal 0 if all active 1: Read complete
items in a device group are read. (all values have
been read).
If at least one item in the device
0: Not all values
group is activated, this item
changes to 0. It changes to 1 if all have been read.
newly activated items are read
-1: All values have
successfully or to -1 if at least one been read but some
item has a non-good quality.
have a non-good
Poking a 0 to this item resets the quality.
internal-read states of all items in
this device group. This resets this
item to 0. If all items are read
again after this poke, this item
changes back to 1 or -1.

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System Item Name

(Type)

$SYS$ItemCount

Type/
Access
Rights

Description

Dword/Read Accesses the number of items in

the corresponding device group.
This item is read-only.

Values

RANGE:
02147483647
>=0: Number of
active and inactive
items.

$SYS$ActiveItemCount Dword/Read Accesses the number of active

RANGE:
items in the corresponding device 02147483647
group.
This item is read-only.
$SYS$ErrorCount

Dword/Read Accesses the number of all items

(active and inactive) with errors
(non-good OPC quality) in the
corresponding topic.

>=0: Number of
active items.
RANGE:
02147483647

>=0: Number of all

If the communications status of a
items (active and
device group is bad, all items have
inactive) with
errors.
errors.
This item is read-only.

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System Item Name

(Type)

$SYS$PollNow

Type/
Access
Rights

Boolean/
Read/Write

Description

Values

Poking a 1 to this item forces all RANGE: 0, 1

items in the corresponding device
group to be read immediately (all
messages in this device group
become due).
This is useful if you want to force
getting the newest values from
the device, regardless of its
update interval. This also works
on device groups with a zero
update interval (manual protocol
triggering).

$SYS$MasterController Int/Read

This system item indicates

whether a particular S7-400H
PLC is a master or slave.
Applicable only for S7-400H
conrollers.
This information also is used
internally to trigger a failover in
the DAS redundant pair. You do
not need to subscribe to the
$SYS$MasterController item for
failovers to take place.

1 = master
0 = slave
-1 = communicating
with a non-400H
PLC

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DAServer Redundant Device Specific System

Items
These system items are specific to the Redundant Device.
System Item Name

$SYS$ForceFailover

Type/Access
Rights

Boolean/
ReadWrite

Description

Values

This is required to
achieve the failover
condition to be
forced by client.

TRUE, FALSE

Note: By poking a
value of "1" (True)
into the Force
Failover item, a
client can
conveniently switch
to the secondary
device.
The ForceFailover
command has no
effect when the
RDO is
communicating
with a redundant
pair of S7-400H
controllers. An
accompanying
Logger message is
shown indicating
the reason the
ForceFailover did
not trigger.
$SYS$ActiveDevice

String/Read

This system item

will show the
current runtime
active device.

Node Hierarchy
Name

$SYS$FailoverTime

Time/Read

This system item

will show the time
at which the switch
occurred.

Time at which the

switch occurred

$SYS$StandbyDevice

String/Read

This system item

will show the
current runtime
standby device.

Node Hierarchy
Name

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System Item Name

Type/Access
Rights

Description

Values

$SYS$Secondary
DeviceStatus

Boolean/Read

This system item

will show the
status of the
secondary device.
This is the status of
the second device
defined in the
configuration and
is not changed with
any failover.
RANGE: 0, 1

RANGE: 0, 1
(Contains the value
of the system item
$SYS$Status)

$SYS$PrimaryDevice
Status

Boolean/Read

This system item

will show the
status of the
primary device.
This is the status of
the first device
defined in the
configuration and
is not changed with
any failover.
RANGE: 0, 1

RANGE: 0, 1
(Contains the value
of the system item
$SYS$Status)

$SYS$FailoverReason

String/Read

This system item

will show the
reason for the
failover.

Descriptive text
ForceFailover or
the value of the
system item
$SYS$ErrorText.

Important: The Redundant Hierarchy, including the Device Group, is

not hot-configurable, and requires a Reset on the Redundant Hierarchy
to effect a configuration change.

DAServer Global System Item

The following system item refers to specific information regarding a
global condition of the DAServer.

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System Item
Name

$SYS$Licensed

Type/
Access
Rights

Description

Boolean/Read The Binary status

RANGE: 0, 1
indication of the existence
of a valid license for the
1: Valid license
DAServer.
exists.
If FALSE, this item causes
0: No valid licenses
the DAServer to stop
updating existing tags, to exist.
refuse activation of new
tags, and to reject write
requests as well as setting
quality for all items to
BAD.
If TRUE, the DAServer
functions as configured.
All instances have the
same value.

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Generic OPC Syntax133

Generic OPC Syntax

A DAServer is a container for OPC Groups, providing the mechanism
for containing and logically organizing OPC items. Within each OPC
Group, an OPC-compliant client can register OPC items, which
represent connections to devices in the field device. All access to OPC
items is maintained through the OPC Group.
The fully qualified name for an OPC item is the Item ID, equivalent to
Item Name. The syntax for specifying a unique Item ID is
DAServer-dependent. In OPC data acquisition DAServers, the syntax
can be as follows:
TCPIP.PLC1.DB1,B20

Where each component (delimited by a period) represents a branch or

leaf of the field devices hierarchy.
In this example:

PLC1 is the name of the target PLC.

DB1,B20 is the specific data point or item desired.
An item is typically a single value such as an analog, digital, or string
value, where:

Item ID describes the syntax for defining the data point.

OPC provides another parameter, called Access Path, that defines
optional specifications for obtaining that data.
In DAServers, Access Paths are equivalent to Device Groups. This
parameter defines the update interval between the DAServer and the
field device for accessing the values of data points in the PLC.

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VT_Array Syntax
VT_Array items from SIDirect can fail to return good VTQ data in
Object Viewer without the addition of an index to the Item/Point
syntax. While the syntax provided in this section is correct, VT_Arrays
require a [-1] offset. Without this offset, the VT_Array will not count
the 0 byte in the range.
Following is an example of the syntax for a VT_Array item to receive
proper validation under a LMX client such as Object Viewer in
Application Server:
S7C_S7_001.SG1.attribute(DB111,WORD10,4)[-1]

In this example, the syntax has the following structure:

<SIDirect_DiDevice_Instance>.<ScanGroup>.attribute(D<B>d,WO
RDn,v)[-1]

where

d is the data block number,

n is the start address of a 2-byte data array, and
v is the length of data in elements (the size of the array). Each item
in an array is called an element.

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Chapter 8
Troubleshooting

This section describes the troubleshooting tools that you can use to
deal with SIDirect DAServer problems.
The DAServer Manager provides access to diagnostics and other
statistical data. The Log Viewer provides access to event messages
logged during the operation of the SIDirect DAServer. Your client, for
example, the InTouch software, can also monitor connectivity with the
PLC through the $SYS$Status item. Use these tools together with the
information in this chapter to troubleshoot your SIDirect DAServer.

Finding the DAServer Version Number

This section describes finding the version number of your DAServer.
To find the version number
1

From the Start menu, point to Settings, and click on the Control
Panel option.

Click Add or Remove Programs

Find and click on Wonderware SIDirect DAServer from the

Currently installed programs list and click the hyperlink, Click
here for support information. The release version of the DAServer
appears in the Support Info dialog box.

OR

Click on the DAServer node in the hierarchy-tree view. In the

Details pane on the right you see the build version numbers of the
respective DAServer components.

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136 Chapter 8 Troubleshooting

OR
1

Search for DASSIDirect.dll.

Right-click on the File Name and select Properties on the menu.

Click the Version tab on the Properties dialog box. The version of
your DAServer is listed under File Version.

Monitoring Connectivity Status with the PLC

You can use the built-in discrete item, $SYS$Status, to monitor the
status of communications with the PLC. This item is set to:

0 (zero) when communications with the PLC fails.

1 (one) when communications is successful.
For DDE/SuiteLink clients, $SYS$Status always comes from the leaf
level of a DAServer hierarchy branch, which is the destination PLC
node. For OPC clients, $SYS$Status can be accessed at all hierarchy
levels. $SYS$Status at the root level of the whole hierarchy tree is
always good, as it represents the quality status of the local computer
itself. For practical application, OPC clients should reference
$SYS$Status at any hierarchy levels other than the root.
Enter the following DDE reference formula in the appropriate place in
your client:
=DASSIDirect|S7PLC!$SYS$Status
where:
DASSIDirect

is the name of the DAServer application.

S7PLC

is the exact device group defined in the DAServer

for the PLC.

$SYS$Status

is the discrete item that monitors the status of

connectivity with the PLC.

Enter the following OPC item reference syntax when adding the item
in your OPC client:
YourOPCAccessPath.$SYS$Status
where:
YourOPCAccessPath

is the assembly of hierarchy node names

leading to a specific device (controller).

$SYS$Status

is the discrete item used to monitor the

status of connectivity with the device
(controller).

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Monitoring the Status of DAS Conversations137

Monitoring the Status of DAS Conversations

The InTouch WindowsViewer supports built-in topic names,
DDEStatus and IOStatus, that can monitor the status of specific
DAS conversations.
For example, assume that WindowViewer (VIEW) is communicating
with the SIDirect DAServer to a PLC. The PLC is defined in the
DAServer with the topic name S7PLC. The discrete items,
DDEStatus and IOStatus, are set to 0 when this DAS conversation
failed, and to 1 when this DAS conversation is successful.

Using DDEStatus and IOStatus in Excel

The status of communications between the PLC and InTouch software
can be read into Excel by entering the following DDE reference
formula in a cell on a spreadsheet:
=view|DDEStatus!S7PLC
or
=view|IOStatus!S7PLC
where:
view

is the name of the InTouch application.

[DDE][IO]
Status

is the built-in topic name that monitors the

status of communications between the DAServer
and the InTouch software.

S7PLC

is the exact topic name defined in the server for

the PLC.

Reading Values from the DAServer into Excel

Values can be read directly into Excel spreadsheets from the DAServer
by entering a DDE formula into a cell using the following format:
=applicationname|<devicegroup>!itemname
Example formula:
=DASSIDirect|S7PLC!'DB1,B20'
where:
DASSIDirect

is the name of the DAServer application.

S7PLC

is the exact device group name defined in the

DAServer for the PLC.

DB1,B20

is the actual location in the PLC that contains

the data value. This is the item name.

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In this example, each time the value of <DB1,B20> changes in the

PLC, the DAServer automatically sends the new value to the cell
containing the formula in Excel.
Note: See the Microsoft Excel documentation for complete details on
entering Remote Reference formulas for cells.

Writing Values to the DAServer from Excel

You can write values from Microsoft Excel to the DAServer by creating
an Excel macro that uses the POKE command.
The proper command is entered in Excel as follows:
channel=INITIATE("applicationname","topicname")
=POKE(channel,"itemname", Data_Reference)
=TERMINATE (channel)
=RETURN()
The following describes each of the above POKE macro statements:
channel=INITIATE("applicationname","topicname")

Opens a channel to a specific topic name that is defined in the

DAServer in a particular application name (the executable
name without the .exe).

Assigns the number of that opened channel to channel.

Note: When using the channel=INITIATE statement, the word
channel must be used in the =POKE statement instead of the actual
cell reference. The "application name" and "topic name" portions of
the formula must be enclosed in quotation marks.

=POKE(channel,"itemname", Data_Reference)

Pokes the value contained in the Data_Reference to the

specified item name or the actual location in the PLC, via the
channel number that is returned by the previously executed
INITIATE function.

Data_Reference is the row/column ID of the cell containing

the data value.
=TERMINATE(channel)

Closes the channel at the end of the macro.

Channel is the channel number returned by the previously
executed INITIATE function.

Some applications have a limited number of channels,

therefore they should be closed when finished.

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Debugging Communications Between the SIDirect DAServer and the PLC139

=RETURN()

Marks the end of the macro.

Note: See the .xlm sample Excel poke macro provided on the
DAServer CD. See the Microsoft Excel documentation for complete
details on entering Remote Reference formulas for cells.

Debugging Communications Between the

SIDirect DAServer and the PLC
The DAServer Manager lets you use on-line diagnostics of the SIDirect
DAServer components at run-time, locally and remotely.
To perform on-line diagnostics

Select any active SIDirect DAServer on any node in the DAServer

Manager.
The Diagnostics branch is visible only if the DAServer is active as
indicated by the green icon on the server branch. It contains the
following sub-branches:

Client Groups
Structure
Transactions
Statistics
Messages
Device Groups
Each of these sub-branches contains live information from the
DAServer. They allow detailed diagnostics of objects within the
SIDirect DAServer.
Note: If you have pokes that are folded, the diagnostics shows ALL
items in the transaction. However, because they are folded, only items
that have actually been sent have both the message ID and value. All
other items that have not been sent, because of the folding, are listed
in this transaction with the same timestamp but without the message
and value.

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Client Groups
The information provided in the Client Groups diagnostic root is
organized like all DAServers. See the DAServer Manager users guide
for detailed explanation of the generic diagnostic information of
DAServers.
In the Diagnostics Client Groups branch, the OPC client groups are
listed as created by the OPC clients. The DDE/SL plug-in always
creates only one client group called DDESLPlugIn.
The list view shows the following information:
Name

The name of the client group.

Items

The number of created items in the client group.

Active Items

The number of active items in the client group.

Errors

The number of active and inactive items with

errors or the OPC quality is not good in the client
group.

Update Interval

The client group update interval.

State

The state of the client group, Active or Inactive.

Clicking an item in the list view shows the full diagnostic information
for this item.
For example:
Name:

DDESLPlugIn

Items:

10234

Active Items:

10234

Items with Errors: 0

Update Interval:

Selecting a client group in the tree view shows all items in this client
group. The item information is grouped into the following columns:
Name

The OPC leaf item name without the fully

qualified OPC item ID path.

Client Value

The last updated value to the client.

Client Time

The timestamp the client was updated last.

Client Quality

The item quality of last update.

Subscr Msg

The DAS identifier for the subscription message

of the item.

Location

The path item name, which is the OPC path part

of the fully qualified item ID.

Device Group

The name of the device group the item is in.

Clicking an item in the list view shows the full diagnostic information
of this item.

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Debugging Communications Between the SIDirect DAServer and the PLC141

For example:
Name:

MB9

Client Value:

129

Client Time:

Monday, July 29, 2002

Quality:

GOOD: Nonspecific:

Location:

New_PortCpS7_000 New_

Subscription Message: 1002809

Device Group:

PLC1

Structure
The structure view shows the physical hierarchical organization of the
DAServer. In the Diagnostics Structure branch, the structure view
shows generic DAServer information as well as
SIDirect-DAServer-specific information. See the DAServer Manager
users guide for detailed explanation of the generic diagnostic
information of DAServers.
The list view shows either the branches, items, or both, populating
different columns. The branches populate the following columns:
Name

The branch name.

Items

The number of active items.

Errors

The number of items with errors.

R/W Status

The Read/Write status of the corresponding

branch.
R: Read complete
All item values are acquired.
W: Write complete
All write operations are completed.

Messages

The number of messages and messages on this

branch.

Device Groups

The number of device groups on this branch.

The SIDirect DAServer provides the following additional S7-specific

columns for branches:
S7 Error:

The S7 error code.

A&E:

The Alarms and Events setting. Valid values are

OFF, ALARMS ON, and EVENTS ON.

The items populate the following columns:

Name

The item leaf name.

R/W Status

R: Item was updated.

W: No writes are pending on the item.

Value

The last protocol value.

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142 Chapter 8 Troubleshooting

Time

The last protocol time.

Quality

The last protocol quality.

No S7-specific columns are populated for items.

Transactions
The transactions view shows currently pending transactions and
completed transactions, depending on the backlog setting. It also
shows generic DAServer information as well as
SIDirect-DAServer-specific information. Refer to the DAServer
Manager users guide for detailed explanation of the generic diagnostic
information pertaining to the DAServers.
In the Diagnostics Transactions branch, the transactions populate the
following columns:
Type

The Demand Read and Demand Write icons

showing the state of the transaction.

ID

The unique identifier for the transaction.

Items

The number of items.

Status

The status of the transaction.

Start

The time the transaction starts.

End

The time the transaction ends. The column is

empty if the transaction is not complete.

Expanding a transaction lists all items with the same columns as in

Structure.

Statistics
The statistics view shows current statistics of a DAServer. This
generic information is not specific to the SIDirect DAServer. See the
DAServer Manager users guide for detailed explanation of the generic
diagnostic information pertaining to DAServers.

Messages
The message view shows generic and S7-specific information of the
SIDirect DAServer. See the DAServer Manager users guide for
detailed explanation of the generic diagnostic information of
DAServers.
In the Diagnostics Messages branch, the message view shows all
messages in the DAS Engine.
MsgID

The message unique identifier.

Items

The number of items.

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Debugging Communications Between the SIDirect DAServer and the PLC143

Errors

The number of items with non-good quality.

Status

The status of the message.

The following is the SIDirect-DAServer-specific diagnostic

information:
S7 Msg ID

The S7 message ID consisting of one of the

following letters:
P: poll message
C: cyclic service
B: block message
W: write message
S: scan message
A: alarm message and a number

PDU size

<req msg>/<data resp>

Where <data resp> is the size of the data in the
response message and <req msg> is the size of
the request message.

Message error

The S7-message communications error code.

Clicking a message in the list view shows the full diagnostic

information of this message.
For example:
Name:

0100280A

Active Items:

462

Error Items:

Status:

IDLE

S7 Msg ID:

P0

PDU Size (resp/req):

480/24

Msg Error:

OK

Expanding a message lists all items with the same columns as in

Structure.
Name

The item leaf name.

R/W Status

R means the item was updated. W means no

writes are pending on the item.

Value

The last updated value from the protocol.

Time

The last updated time from the protocol.

Quality

The last updated quality from the protocol.

Msg ID

The DAServer internal message identifier.

Location

The OPC path of fully qualified item ID.

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144 Chapter 8 Troubleshooting

The following is the SIDirect-DAServer-specific diagnostic

information:
S7 Msg ID

The S7 message ID consisting of one of the

following letters:
P: poll message
C: cyclic service
B: block message
W: write message
S: scan message
A: alarm message and a number

Item error

The S7-item communications error code where

255 = OK.

Clicking an item in the list view shows the full diagnostic information
of this item.
For example:
Name:

New_PortCpS7_000.New_...

Read status:

complete

Write status:

complete

Value:

127

Type:

VT_Ul1 - unsigned c...

Time:

Monday, July 29, 2002...

Quality:

GOOD: Nonspecific:...

S7 Msg ID:

P2

Item Error:

OK

Device Groups
The device groups view shows all device groups in the DAS Engine.
Device Group

The device group name.

Update Interval

The protocol update interval in milliseconds.

Items

The number of items.

Active Items

The number of active items.

Errors

The number of items with errors.

Location

The OPC path of the fully qualified Item IDs of

items in this device group.

Poll Msgs

The number of poll messages.

Cyclic Srvs

The number of cyclic services.

Clicking a device group in the list view shows the full diagnostic
information of this device group.

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Diagnostics and Error Tracing145

For example:
Name:

PLC1

Updated Interval:

1000

Number of Items:

10234

Located at:

New_PortCpS7_000.New_...

Poll Messages:

23

Cyclic Services:

Expanding a device group in the tree view shows all items in this
group. The diagnostic information on items in a device group is
identical to the items in Messages.

Diagnostics and Error Tracing

The SIDirect DAServer uses the standard diagnostic information
provided by the DAS Toolkit. Access to other internal diagnostic
registers of the PLC is performed through reads and writes via the
syntax used in Item Naming.

Diagnostics Facility
This section describes the areas in which the SIDirect DAServer
diagnostics can help you.

Communications Processor
The diagnostics window of the CP (Communications Processor) shows
all DAS-provided diagnostic columns plus a column for any error code
on the CP level. The diagnostic information shows DAS information
text plus the error text description.

S7 Communications Processor
The diagnostics window of the CP shows all DAS-provided diagnostic
columns plus a column for any error code on the PLC CP level. The
diagnostic information shows the DAS information text plus the error
code description.

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146 Chapter 8 Troubleshooting

Items
To the DAS-provided diagnostics of items, the following two columns
are added:

The message ID
The message ID consists of two parts:

A letter indicating the type of message.

For example, P-poll, C-cyclic, B-block, and so on.

A message number.
For example, order ID, block ID, event ID, and so on.

The S7 error code

The diagnostic information shows the message ID. For example,
order ID, block ID, or event ID, and the error code description.

Messages
Four types of messages having different diagnostic appear.
Variable Service Message with:

P poll message
W poke message
C cyclic message
B block message
In addition to the standard DAS diagnostic messages, the following
information is added:

Message ID
Two PDU sizes indicating block size if applicable and request block
size

The message or S7 error code

The diagnostic information shows the DAS information text plus the
message ID, PDU size, and error text description.

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Diagnostics and Error Tracing147

Device Group
The device group diagnostics window shows the DAS-provided
standard diagnostic columns plus the following four additional
columns:

Number of poll messages

Number of cyclic services
Number of block messages
Number of alarm & event messages
The diagnostic information shows the corresponding additional values.

DASTrace Diagnostic Messages

The SIDirect DAServer generates messages that you can use for
diagnostic purposes. These DASTrace diagnostic messages do not
necessarily indicate that error conditions exist.
The following table is not a complete list of messages that are shown in
the Logger when DASTrace is enabled. Other diagnostic messages are
shown, as well.
Note: The logger messages use the following codes: %s to represent
strings, %d to represent numbers (integer), %x to represent the
address of the object, and %ums to represent time in milliseconds.

Logger Message

Explanation

Probable Cause

Solution

Message is in
SlowPollMode (%s
msg=0x%08X) for
topic %s

The message state is The response for

set to Slow poll
this message has
interval.
not been received
by the server.
Either the
response time is
very small or the
PLC is very busy.

Message leaves the

SlowPollMode (%s
msg=0x%08X) for
topic %s

The message state is The server

N/A
coming out of the
recovered from the
Slow poll interval.
error situation.

UpdateInterval for
Device Group: %s
changed to %d

The update interval N/A

for the device group
has been changed.
The messages are
now to be polled at a
new update interval
for this device group.

Adjust the message

reply timeout in the
server in accordance
with the
performance of the
PLC to achieve the
optimal behavior.

N/A

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Logger Message

Explanation

Probable Cause

Solution

Setting all items to The server updates

The connection
bad in hierarchy: %s the status of all the with the PLC is
items as Bad on this broken.
connection.

Check the connection

with the PLC.

Connection with '%s' For the S7-200 only.

dropped while
The socket
pending, forcing
connection with the
immediate reconnect
PLC fails due to a
given error code:
"The PLC initiated
termination of the
Socket Connection."

The PLC is not

responding to the
Connect request
from the
DAServer. The
maximum number
of connections on
the configured
RTSAP may have
been exceeded.

DASSIDirect will
attempt to
automatically
reconnect. No user
action is required.

Connection with '%s' For the S7-200 only.

failed twice while
The socket
pending, going to
connection with the
slow poll
PLC fails due to a
given error code:
"The PLC initiated
termination of the
Socket Connection."

The PLC is not

responding to the
Connect request
from the
DAServer. The
maximum number
of connections on
the configured
RTSAP have been
exceeded.

Configure the PLC to

accept connections
on a different
RTSAP or turn off all
other clients
accessing the same
PLC.

Connection with '%s' The socket

dropped, restarting connection with the
connection
PLC fails due to a
given error code:
"The PLC initiated
termination of the
Socket Connection."

The PLC is not

responding to the
Connect request
from the
DAServer.

DASSIDirect will
attempt to
automatically
reconnect. No user
action is required.

Connection with '%s'

dropped while
pending, going to
slow poll

The socket
connection with the
PLC fails due to a
given error code:
"The PLC initiated
termination of the
Socket Connection."

The PLC has been Check the PLC

disconnected
connection and clear
and/or has faulted. any outstanding
PLC faults.

Block receive size:

doesn't match msg
size

The server receives This message from Check the PLC

an invalid block
the PLC is garbled. health status and
packet from the PLC.
the network
condition.

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Diagnostics and Error Tracing149

Error Tracing with the Wonderware Logger

The SIDirect DAServer supports error messages, board-specific error
messages, trace logger messages, and error codes. Use the Log Flag
data to customize the type of messages logged to the Log Viewer.
Note: See the Log Viewer online documentation for more information
about using log flags.

SIDirect DAServer Logger Flags

The SIDirect DAServer supports the following server-specific DAS
logger flags.

Errors
General errors from the server have the prefix "ERROR." All
related errors, such as for poll messages, have the prefix
"POLL_ERROR." They include CONNECTION_ERROR,
POLL_ERROR, POKE_ERROR, CYCLIC_ERROR,
BLOCK_ERROR, and ALARMS_AND_EVENTS_ERROR.

Trace
General traces from the server have the prefix "TRACE." All
related traces, such as for poll messages, have the prefix
"POLL_TRACE." They include CONNECTION_TRACE,
POLL_TRACE, POKE_TRACE, CYCLIC_TRACE,
BLOCK_TRACE, and ALARMS_AND_EVENTS_TRACE.
The following table lists all the available logger flags and their
meanings.
Type

Name

Description

Server Flag

ERROR

Shows general server errors.

TRACE

Shows general server traces.

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150 Chapter 8 Troubleshooting

Type

Name

Description

Transaction
Flag

CONNECTION_

Shows connection errors.

ERROR
POLL_ERROR

Shows errors of poll messages.

POKE_ERROR

Shows errors of poke messages.

CYCLIC_ERROR

Shows errors of cyclic messages.

BLOCK_ERROR

Shows errors of block messages.

ALARMS_AND_

Shows errors of alarm and scan

messages.

EVENTS_ERROR
CONNECTION_

Shows connection traces.

TRACE
POLL_TRACE

Shows traces of poll messages.

POKE_TRACE

Shows traces of poke messages.

CYCLIC_TRACE

Shows traces of cyclic messages.

BLOCK_TRACE

Shows traces of block messages.

ALARMS_AND_

Shows traces of alarm and scan

messages.

EVENTS_TRACE

Error Messages, Trace Messages, Error Codes,

and Warnings
In addition to the SIDirect DAServer error and warning messages, S7
Trace messages and generic DAServer error codes are supported. Use
these messages together with the DAServer Manager Diagnostic root
data to troubleshoot SIDirect DAServer problems.
Note: The logger messages use the following codes: %s to represent
strings, %d to represent numbers (integer), %x to represent the
address of the object, and %ums to represent time in milliseconds.

You can also use the Log Flag data to customize the type of messages
logged to the Log Viewer. For more information about using log flags,
see the Log Viewer online Help.

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Diagnostics and Error Tracing151

DAServer Error Messages

The following list shows error messages produced by the DAServer
that are logged to the Log Viewer with the DASProtFail log flags.
Logger Message

Explanation

Probable Cause Solution

DASProtFail Messages
Internal Error:
The internal type
CIoVariant::Update() conversion
encounters an
invalid or unknown
type.

Send fail because of

wrong order id

This is an
internal program
error.

Turn on
POLL_TRACE in
the Wonderware
Logger to obtain
additional trace
information. Report
the error to
Wonderware
Technical Support.

The message cannot This is an

be sent to the PLC
internal program
because of the order error.
ID is incorrect.

Turn on
POLL_TRACE,
POKE_TRACE, and
CYCLIC_TRACE in
the Wonderware
Logger to obtain
additional trace
information. If the
problem persists,
report it to
Wonderware
Technical Support.

(2):s7_multiple_read_ The poll message

This is an
req (orderid=%d)
cannot be sent to the internal program
[(%d) %s]x
PLC.
error.

Turn on
POLL_TRACE in
the Wonderware
Logger to obtain
additional trace
information. If the
problem persists,
report it to
Wonderware
Technical support.

Internal state error:

multiple read
response (S7Type
0x%X)

Turn on
POLL_TRACE in
the Wonderware
Logger to obtain
additional trace
information. If the
problem persists,
check with the PLC
vendor.

The server receives a This is an

duplicate response
unknown error.
for the poll message.

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152 Chapter 8 Troubleshooting

Logger Message

Explanation

Probable Cause Solution

(%d):Invalid item
name: %s (%s)

The requested item

name has a bad
syntax.

The item syntax

is wrong.

(%d):Invalid item
name suffix: %s (%s)

The requested item

suffix has a bad
syntax.

The item suffix is Correct the item

wrong.
suffix as defined in
this users guide.

Alarm event header

key not: FF09:
%02X%02X

The alarm received

from the PLC has a
bad header.

This is a PLC
issue.

Turn on
ALARMS_AND_EV
ENTS_TRACE in
the Wonderware
Logger to obtain
additional trace
information. Report
the error to
Wonderware
Technical Support.

The server fails to

Send: (MSG_FAIL):
send the message to
message (%s
the PLC.
msg=0x%08X)
[msg_state=%d,con_st
ate=%d]

This is an
internal error.

Turn on
POLL_TRACE,
POKE_TRACE, and
CYCLIC_TRACE in
the Wonderware
Logger to obtain
additional trace
information. Report
the error to
Wonderware
Technical Support.

(%d): s7_brcv_init
(r_id=%d) [0]

There is an error in
s7_brcv_init (Block
services).

A configuration or Turn on
communications BLOCK_TRACE in
error occured.
the Wonderware
Logger to obtain
additional trace
information. Report
the error to
Wonderware
Technical Support.

Timeout for initial

values of block with
r_id=%d

The block message

The PLC does not Check the PLC
has timed out for the send the block
program and see the
initial updates.
update.
B_SEND is
configured correctly.

Timeout updating
values of block with
r_id=%d

Timeout occurs
while updating the
subsequent values
for the block
message.

SIDirect DAServer Users Guide

Correct the item

syntax as defined in
this users guide.

The connection
Check the PLC
with the PLC may program and see the
be dropped.
B_SEND is
configured correctly.

Diagnostics and Error Tracing153

Logger Message

Explanation

Probable Cause Solution

Release blockid:%d
for message (%s
msg=0x%08X,con=%s
) [number of
blockids=%d] was not
successful

Releasing the block

ID from the block
message operation
fails.

This is an
internal error.

Turn on
BLOCK_TRACE in
the Wonderware
Logger to obtain
additional trace
information. If the
error persists, report
it to Wonderware
Technical Support.

S7BlockMessage::Ha
ndleResponse:
premature block end
received at size %d
(expected: %d)

The message
received from the
PLC for the block
service has no data.

This is an
unknown error.

Turn on
BLOCK_TRACE in
the Wonderware
Logger to obtain
additional trace
information. Report
the error to
Wonderware
Technical Support.

S7BlockMessage::Ha
ndleResponse:
unsegmented block
messages did not
have correct size: %d
(len: %d)

The unsegmented
This is an
message received
unknown error.
from the PLC for the
block service has
incorrect data size.

Turn on
BLOCK_TRACE in
the Wonderware
Logger to obtain
additional trace
information. Report
the error to
Wonderware
Technical Support.

S7BlockMessage::Ha
ndleResponse:
segmented messages
did not add up
correctly in size: %d
to indicated response
data (len: %d)

The segmented
This is an
message received
unknown error.
from the PLC for the
block service has
incorrect data size.

Turn on
BLOCK_TRACE in
the Wonderware
Logger to obtain
additional trace
information. Report
the error to
Wonderware
Technical Support.

S7BlockMessage::Ha
ndleResponse: cannot
allocate memory for
response data (len:
%d)

The server cannot

The server runs
allocate the memory out of memory.
for the response
received from the
PLC for the block
message.

Turn on
BLOCK_TRACE in
the Wonderware
Logger to obtain
additional trace
information. Restart
the server or the
computer.

SIDirect DAServer Users Guide

154 Chapter 8 Troubleshooting

Logger Message

Explanation

Probable Cause Solution

S7BlockMessage::Ha
ndleResponse: too
much block data
received: (received:
%d + new: %d more
than expected: %d)

The server receives

too much data for
the block message.

This is a PLC
problem.

Turn on
BLOCK_TRACE in
the Wonderware
Logger to obtain
additional trace
information. Report
the error to
Wonderware
Technical Support.

Internal Error:
Unknown type: %d
updating event item:
%s

The server receives

the updates for the
unknown type of
alarm and event
message.

This is an
unknown error.

Turn on
ALARMS_AND_EV
ENTS_TRACE in
the Wonderware
Logger to obtain
additional trace
information. Report
the error to
Wonderware
Technical Support.

Could not generate

data for item %s

The server cannot

read the poke value
for the item.

This is an
internal error.

Turn on
POKE_TRACE in
the Wonderware
Logger to obtain
additional trace
information. Report
the error to
Wonderware
Technical Support.

This is an
unknown error.

Turn on
POLL_TRACE,
POKE_TRACE, and
CYCLIC_TRACE in
the Wonderware
Logger to obtain
additional trace
information. Report
the error to
Wonderware
Technical Support.

Can't send request for The server cannot

msg=%.08X (no
send the message to
orderid available)
the PLC because it
runs out of order
IDs.

SIDirect DAServer Users Guide

Diagnostics and Error Tracing155

Logger Message

Explanation

Probable Cause Solution

Send fail because of

wrong order id

The server cannot

This is an
send the message to unknown error.
the PLC because the
order ID is incorrect.

(%d):s7_multiple_writ The write request to The data poke

e_req (orderid=%d)
the PLC fails.
may be too long or
[0]
this is an internal
error.

Turn on
POLL_TRACE,
POKE_TRACE, and
CYCLIC_TRACE in
the Wonderware
Logger to obtain
additional trace
information. Report
the error to
Wonderware
Technical Support.
Turn on
POKE_TRACE in
the Wonderware
Logger to obtain
additional trace
information. Report
the error to
Wonderware
Technical Support.

Internal state error:

multiple write
response (S7Type
0x%X)

The server receives a This is an

unknown error.
duplicate response
for the poke
message.

(%d):s7_cycl_read
(orderid=%d) [0]

An error occurs
A configuration or Check the PLC
when sending the S7 communications configuration/connec
cyclic read message. error occured.
tion and resource
limitation,
particularly the ones
related to the cyclic
service.

(%d):s7_cycl_read_ini An error occurs

A configuration or
t_req (orderid=%d) [0] when sending the S7 communications
cyclic read initiation error occured.
request message.

Turn on
POKE_TRACE in
the Wonderware
Logger to obtain
additional trace
information. If the
problem persists,
report the error to
Wonderware
Technical Support.

Check the PLC

configuration/connec
tion and resource
limitation,
particularly the ones
related to the cyclic
service.

SIDirect DAServer Users Guide

156 Chapter 8 Troubleshooting

Logger Message

Explanation

Probable Cause Solution

(%d):s7_cycl_read_sta An error occurs

A configuration or Check the PLC
rt_req (orderid=%d): when sending the S7 communications configuration or
[0]
cyclic read start
error occured.
connection.
request message.
(%d):s7_cycl_read_del An error occurs
A configuration or Check the PLC
ete_req (orderid=%d): when sending the S7 communications configuration or
[0]
cyclic read delete
error occured.
connection.
message.
ERROR in
S7_CYLC_READ_INI
T_CNF - PLC
responded with error
code

The PLC returns an

error code in
response to the cyclic
read initiation
request.

It is a PLC,
DAServer
configuration, or
resource error.

Turn on
CYCLIC_TRACE in
the Wonderware
Logger to obtain
additional trace
information. Check
the PLC
configuration/connec
tion and resource
limitation,
particularly the ones
related to the cyclic
service.

ERROR in
S7_CYCL_READ_ST
ART_CNF - PLC
responded with error
code

The PLC returns an

error code in
response to the cyclic
read start request.

It is a PLC or
DAServer
configuration
error.

Turn on
CYCLIC_TRACE in
the Wonderware
Logger to obtain
additional trace
information. If the
problem persists,
contact Wonderware
Technical Support.

ERROR in
S7_CYCL_READ_DE
LETE_CNF - PLC
responded with error
code

The PLC returns an

error code in
response to the cyclic
read delete request.

It is a PLC or
DAServer
configuration
error.

Turn on
CYCLIC_TRACE in
the Wonderware
Logger to obtain
additional trace
information. If the
problem persists,
contact Wonderware
Technical Support.

SIDirect DAServer Users Guide

Diagnostics and Error Tracing157

Logger Message

Explanation

Probable Cause Solution

Internal state error:

cyclic read response
(S7Type 0x%X)

The server receives a This is an

duplicate response
unknown error.
for the cyclic
message.

Turn on
CYCLIC_TRACE in
the Wonderware
Logger to obtain
additional trace
information. If the
problem persists,
contact Wonderware
Technical Support.

Scan event header

key not: 120A:
%02X%02X

When parsing the

This is a
packet returned by
programming
error.
the Scan event
packet from the
PLC, the header key
is incorrect.

Turn on
ALARMS_AND_EV
ENTS_TRACE in
the Wonderware
Logger to obtain
additional trace
information. Repeat
the test and/or
restart the
DAServer/PLC. If
the error persists,
contact the PLC
vendor.

Item doesn't fit in a

single message and
won't be advised

The server cannot fit

this item into a
message, therefore it
cannot advise this
item.

The item byte

range is larger
than the PLC
PDU size.

Split the item into

smaller items so that
they can be fitted
into the available
PDU size.
The S7-300 family of
controllers can
process PDU lengths
of 480 to 960 bytes,
depending on the
controller. An
S7-400 controller
can process PDU
lengths of 960 bytes.

SIDirect DAServer Users Guide

158 Chapter 8 Troubleshooting

Logger Message

Explanation

Probable Cause Solution

Can't create poke

message for item %s,
data size is too large

The server cannot fit

this item into a poke
message, therefore it
cannot poke this
item.

The item byte

range is larger
than the PLC
PDU size.

Split the item into

smaller items so that
they can be fitted
into the available
PDU size.
The S7-300 family of
controllers can
process PDU lengths
of 480 to 960 bytes,
depending on the
controller. An
S7-400 controller
can process PDU
lengths of 960 bytes.

The poke data

value cannot be
converted into the
PLC datatype.

Check the value

being poked and
create the correct
format.

%s Leaving Slow Poll This is only a piece

Mode
of information about
the server leaving
the Slow Poll mode.

The connectivity
to the PLC
recovered from a
failure. Normal
communications
is resumed.

If this message
shows up
consistently, verify
the network
connectivity to the
PLC.

%s Entering Slow Poll This is only a piece

Mode
of information about
the server entering
the Slow Poll mode.

The connectivity
to the PLC failed.
The DAServer
tries to reconnect
at the Slow Poll
interval.

Verify the network

connectivity to the
PLC. Turn on
CONNECTION_TR
ACE, DASSend, and
DASReceive in the
Wonderware Logger
to obtain additional
diagnostic
information.

TIMEOUT for
pending initiate
request

A configuration or Check the

communications communications or
error occured.
configuration. If the
problem persists,
turn on
CONNECTION_TR
ACE, DASSend, and
DASReceive in the
Wonderware Logger
to obtain additional
diagnostic
information.

Can't create poke

message for item %s,
not able to generate
data

SIDirect DAServer Users Guide

The poke data for

creating a poke
message cannot be
generated.

A timeout occurs
while waiting for an
initiate
confirmation.

Diagnostics and Error Tracing159

Logger Message

Explanation

Probable Cause Solution

(%d):s7_initiate_req
[0]

There is an error in
initiating a request
(establishing a
connection).

A configuration or Check the

communications connection and the
error occured.
PLC configuration/
program. If the
problem persists,
turn on
CONNECTION_TR
ACE, DASSend, and
DASReceive in the
Wonderware Logger
to obtain additional
diagnostic
information.

Can't connect

There is an error
establishing a
connection.

A configuration or Check the

communications connection and the
error occured.
PLC
configuration/progra
m. If the problem
persists, turn on
CONNECTION_TR
ACE, DASSend, and
DASReceive in the
Wonderware Logger
to obtain additional
diagnostic
information.

Received order id on a
deleted non
read/write (type:
0x%04X) message:
0x%x

The server receives a

response from the
PLC for a message
that has already
been deleted from
the server.

Unexpected order If the problem

ID is received
persists, contact the
from the PLC.
PLC vendor.
The DAServer
discards the
message
associated with it.

Internal HEXASCII
conversion buffer
overflow

The server cannot

allocate memory for
the HEXASCII
conversion.

The server may

There could be a
be out of memory. memory contention
issue on the
computer. Check the
memory allocations
for all processes on
the computer.

SIDirect DAServer Users Guide

160 Chapter 8 Troubleshooting

Logger Message

Explanation

Probable Cause Solution

Generate data failed

for item %s because
at least one element
of the array is not
filled

The server cannot

poke the array item
as the items are not
filled correctly.

You poke the

Fill all elements in
array items but
the array before
some of the
poking the array.
element are left
unfilled. All
elements in the
array are rejected
for poking.

TIMEOUT for
A timeout occurs
connection (while %s), while waiting for a
m_state=%d
response message to
<command>.

A
communications/
configuration
error occured.

Verify the network

connectivity to the
PLC. Turn on
CONNECTION_TR
ACE, DASSend, and
DASReceive in the
Wonderware Logger
to obtain additional
diagnostic
information.

(%d):s7_msg_initiate_ There is an error in A configuration or

req (orderid=%d) for the message initiate communications
error occured.
%s [(%d) %s]
request (initiating
alarms and events).

Verify the network

connectivity to the
PLC. Turn on
CONNECTION_TR
ACE, DASSend, and
DASReceive in the
Wonderware Logger
to obtain additional
diagnostic
information.

ERROR: order ID %d
exists for cyclic ID:
%d in cyclic reference
map

The server tries to

This is an
add the order ID for internal error.
the cyclic service
that has already
been occupied by
some other message.

If the problem
persists, turn on
CYCLIC_TRACE in
the Wonderware
Logger to obtain
additional diagnostic
information.

ERROR: Retrieving
order ID: %d from
cyclic ID: %d in cyclic
reference map

The server cannot

This is an
find the order ID in internal error.
the order ID map for
this message.

If the problem
persists, turn on
CYCLIC_TRACE in
the Wonderware
Logger to obtain
additional diagnostic
information.

SIDirect DAServer Users Guide

Diagnostics and Error Tracing161

Logger Message

Explanation

Probable Cause Solution

ERROR: UNKNOWN The server receives

cyclic ID (%d) in cyclic an unknown cyclic
read indication
message form the
PLC.

The PLC reports

a cyclic response
that is not
requested by the
DAServer.

Check with the PLC

vendor.

%s Connection
aborted

Either the PLC

closed the
connection or the
server closed the
connection.

If this is caused by
the normal
shutdown or items
removal, no actions
are required. If not,
verify the PLC
configuration for the
Keep-Alive
parameter.

The connection to
the PLC is closed.

S7 Trace Messages
The SIDirect DAServer provides five types of trace messages as
follows:

Connection Trace
Poll Trace
Cyclic Trace
Block Trace
Alarms and Events Trace

SIDirect DAServer Users Guide

162 Chapter 8 Troubleshooting

The following table lists the trace messages produced by the

DAServer. For more information about trace messages, see "SIDirect
DAServer Logger Flags" on page 149.
Logger Message

Explanation

Probable Cause

Solution

CONNECTION_TRACE Messages
(%d):s7_initiate_req
[0]

There is an error
The credit is not
establishing a
available to send
connection.
this request.
The server cannot
send the Connect
Request to the PLC.
The first parameter
is the error code of
the function call (-1
= Message Blocked,
-2 = Message Failed)
from the PLC.
The parameters
inside the square
bracket is 0.

If after some time

the problem still
exists, restart the
server.

Can't connect

There is an error
The credit is not
establishing a
available to send
this request.
connection. The
server cannot send
the Connect Request
to the PLC.

If after some time

the problem still
exists, restart the
server.

Close connection
(con=%s):
(cpd=%d,cref=%d)

INFO: The
DAServer closes the
connection with the
PLC. The
parameters
associated with the
PLC connection are
listed.

N/A

N/A

Connection (con=%s) The server

The PLC is in a
Check the PLC or
was not successful
connection attempts faulty condition or check the cable
to the PLC fails.
the connection is
connection.
broken.
Connection (con=%s) INFO: The server
was successful
connects with the
PLC successfully.
Internal Error: %s
Set state of
connection to %d

SIDirect DAServer Users Guide

N/A

The connection with This is an

the PLC cannot be
unknown error.
established.

N/A

Check the PLC or

cable connection, or
restart the server.

Diagnostics and Error Tracing163

Logger Message

Explanation

Probable Cause

Solution

Open connection
(con=%s)

INFO: The socket

connect call to the
PLC is successful
but the connection
negotiation is still
not completed

N/A

N/A

s7_abort = OK

INFO: The SIDirect

DAServer closes the
connection with the
PLC successfully.

The connection is
closed by either
the server or the
PLC

N/A

s7_get_initiate_cnf
cnf amq called: %d

INFO: PLC agrees

on this parameter
with the DAServer.
(cnf_amq_called)

N/A

N/A

s7_get_initiate_cnf
cnf amq calling: %d

INFO: PLC agrees

on this parameter
with the DAServer.
(cnf_amq_calling)

N/A

N/A

s7_get_initiate_cnf
cnf pdu size: %d

INFO: PLC agrees

on this parameter
with the DAServer.
(cnf_pdu_size). The
PDU size is
returned.

N/A

N/A

s7_get_initiate_cnf
ind amq called: %d

INFO: This is the

DAServer side
negotiation
parameter with the
PLC.
(ind_amq_called)

N/A

N/A

s7_get_initiate_cnf
ind amq calling: %d

INFO: This is the

DAServer side
negotiation
parameter with the
PLC.
(ind_amq_calling).

N/A

N/A

s7_get_initiate_cnf
ind pdu size: %d

INFO: This is the

DAServer side
negotiation
parameter with the
PLC. (ind_pdu_size)
The PDU size of the
PLC is requested.

N/A

N/A

SIDirect DAServer Users Guide

164 Chapter 8 Troubleshooting

Logger Message

Explanation

Probable Cause

Solution

s7_initiate_req = OK The server sends the N/A

Connect Request to
the PLC
successfully.

N/A

%s Set state of
connection to
CLOSED

The SIDirect
DAServer closes the
connection to the
PLC.

If the cable is not

disconnected, check
the PLC
configuration and
see if you have
specified the
Keep-Alive
parameter. The
Keep-Alive
parameter causes
the closing of
connection if there
are no activities for
some specified
amount of time.

%s Set state of
connection to
ERROR

The connection with The server cannot Check the PLC or

the PLC cannot be
connect to the PLC cable connection, or
established.
at all.
restart the server.

%s Set state of
INFO: The server
connection to OPEN opens a connection
with the PLC.
%s Set state of
connection to
PENDING

The connection is
closed by the
server or by the
PLC.

N/A

N/A

INFO: The server is N/A

awaiting the
response from the
PLC for the
Connection Request.

N/A

%s Set state of
The server is going
connection to SLOW into the Slow Poll
POLL MODE
mode.

The connection
with the PLC is
bad.

Check the PLC or

check the cable
connection.

POLL_TRACE Messages
%s dumping s7
objects (containing
%d items)

INFO: Dumping the

information about
the S7Info in the
logger.

N/A

N/A

(1):s7_multiple_read INFO: The multiple

_req (orderid=%d)
read request
[0]
message cannot be
sent to the PLC
because the server
runs out of credit.

N/A

N/A

SIDirect DAServer Users Guide

Diagnostics and Error Tracing165

Logger Message

Explanation

Probable Cause

Solution

(2):s7_multiple_read The multiple read

N/A
_req (orderid=%d)
request message
[0]
cannot be sent to the
PLC because of
unknown reasons.

If the problem
persists, restart the
server.

add pItem (%s) to

S7Info
(pS7Info=0x%08X,
addr: %d range: %d)

INFO: The server

adds item to the
S7Info while
building the Poll
message.

N/A

N/A

Build message (%s

msg=0x%08X) for
topic %s

INFO: The server

builds a POLL
message for the
topic.

N/A

N/A

Delete message (%s

msg=0x%08X) for
topic %s

INFO: Destructor for N/A

the POLL message
gets called.

N/A

dumping read values INFO: Dumping the N/A

read values received
from the PLC in the
logger.

N/A

INFO: The server

N/A
assigns the order ID
for the POLL
message.

N/A

Got orderid:%d for

message (%s
msg=0x%08X,con=%
s) [number of
orderids=%d]

Release orderid:%d INFO: Release the

for message (%s
order ID from the
msg=0x%08X,con=% message.
s) [number of
orderids=%d]

N/A

N/A

remove pItem (%s)

from S7Info
(pInfo=0x%08X)

N/A

N/A

N/A

N/A

INFO: The server

N/A
logs the information
about the read value
received from the
PLC in the logger.

N/A

INFO: The server

removes the item
from the S7Info.

s7_multiple_read_re INFO: The multiple

q = OK (orderid=%d) read request
message is sent to
the PLC
successfully.
S7Info=%s:result=%
d var_length=%d
value (in
HEXASCII):

POKE_TRACE Messages

SIDirect DAServer Users Guide

166 Chapter 8 Troubleshooting

Logger Message

Explanation

Probable Cause

Solution

%s dumping s7
objects (containing
%d items)

INFO: Dumping the

information about
the S7Infos in the
logger.

N/A

N/A

%s: result=%d
var_length=%d
value (in
HEXASCII)

INFO: Logging the

N/A
Result received from
the PLC for the
write request.

N/A

(1):s7_multiple_writ INFO: The multiple N/A

e_req (orderid=%d) write request
[(%d) %s]
message cannot be
sent to the PLC
because running out
of credit.

N/A

(2):s7_multiple_writ The multiple write

N/A
e_req (orderid=%d) request message
[(%d) %s]
cannot be sent to the
PLC because of
unknown reasons.

If problem persists,
restart the Server or
check the PLC.

add pItem (%s) to

S7Info
(pS7Info=0x%08X,
addr: %d range: %d)

INFO: Server adding N/A

item to the S7Info
while building the
Poke Message.

N/A

Build message (%s

msg=0x%08X) for
topic %s

INFO: Server
building a Poke
message for the
topic.

N/A

N/A

Delete message (%s

msg=0x%08X) for
topic %s

INFO: Destructor for N/A

the Poke message
gets called.

N/A

Got orderid:%d for

message (%s
msg=0x%08X,con=%
s) [number of
orderids=%d]

INFO: Server
assigns the order id
for the Poke
Message.

N/A

N/A

Release orderid:%d INFO: Release the

for message (%s
order ID from the
msg=0x%08X,con=% poke message.
s) [number of
orderids=%d]

N/A

N/A

remove pItem (%s)

from S7Info
(pInfo=0x%08X)

N/A

N/A

SIDirect DAServer Users Guide

INFO: Server
removing the item
from the S7Info.

Diagnostics and Error Tracing167

Logger Message

Explanation

Probable Cause

Solution

N/A

N/A

S7PokeMessage::Ad
dPokeItem
(Item=%s)

INFO: Server adding N/A

item to the Poke
Message.

N/A

TREAL item %s
high clamped to
9990s

INFO: The value of

TREAL item is
clamped at high
value.

N/A

N/A

TREAL item %s low INFO: The value of

clamped to 0ms
TREAL item is
clamped at low
value.

N/A

N/A

s7_multiple_write_r INFO: The multiple

eq = OK
write request
(orderid=%d)
message sent to the
PLC successfully.

CYCLIC_TRACE Messages
%s dumping s7
objects (containing
%d items)

INFO: Dumping the

information about
the S7Infos in the
logger.

N/A

N/A

(-1):s7_cycl_read
(orderid=%d) [(%d)
%s]

The server could not N/A

send the cyclic read
request to the PLC.
Temporary error.

N/A

(1):s7_cycl_read_del
ete_req
(orderid=%d): [0]

The server could not N/A

send the cyclic read
delete request to the
PLC because of
running out of
credit.

N/A

(1):s7_cycl_read_star The server could not N/A

t_req (orderid=%d): send the cyclic read
[0]
start request to the
PLC because of
running out of
credit.

N/A

(2):s7_cycl_read_del
ete_req
(orderid=%d): [0]

The server could not N/A

send the cyclic read
delete request to the
PLC because of
Unknown reason.

N/A

add pItem (%s) to

S7Info
(pS7Info=0x%08X,
addr: %d range: %d)

INFO: Server adding N/A

item to the S7Info
while building the
cyclic Message.

N/A

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168 Chapter 8 Troubleshooting

Logger Message

Explanation

Probable Cause

Solution

Build message (%s

msg=0x%08X) for
topic %s

INFO: Server
building a cyclic
message for the
topic.

N/A

N/A

Delete message (%s

msg=0x%08X) for
topic %s

INFO: Destructor for N/A

the cyclic message
gets called.

N/A

Got orderid:%d for

message (%s
msg=0x%08X,con=%
s) [number of
orderids=%d]

INFO: Server
assigns the order id
for the cyclic
Message.

N/A

N/A

Release orderid:%d INFO: Release the

order ID from the
for message (%s
msg=0x%08X,con=% cyclic message.
s) [number of
orderids=%d]

N/A

N/A

remove pItem (%s)

from S7Info
(pInfo=0x%08X)

INFO: Server
removing the item
from the S7Info.

N/A

N/A

s7_cycl_read = OK
(orderid=%d)

INFO: The server

successfully sends
the cyclic read
request to the PLC.

N/A

N/A

s7_cycl_read_delete_ INFO: The server

N/A
req = OK
successfully sends
(orderid=%d)
the cyclic read delete
request to the PLC.

N/A

s7_cycl_read_start_r INFO: The server

eq = OK
successfully sends
(orderid=%d)
the cyclic read start
request to the PLC.

N/A

N/A

s7_get_cycl_read_ini
t_cnf
(cpd=%d,m_cref=%d,
orderid=%d) Build
Poll Messages: [(%d)
%s]

INFO: The server

gets the
confirmation from
the PLC for the
Cyclic read request.

N/A

N/A

S7Info=%s:result=%
d var_length=%d
value (in
HEXASCII)

INFO: Logging the

value received from
the PLC for the
cyclic message

N/A

N/A

BLOCK_TRACE Messages

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Diagnostics and Error Tracing169

Logger Message

Explanation

Probable Cause

(0): s7_brcv_init
(r_id=%d) [0]

INFO: The block

N/A
receive initiation
request is successful.

N/A

add item (%s) to

INFO: Adding items N/A
S7BlockMessage (%s to the block message.
msg=0x%08X)

N/A

Build message (%s

msg=0x%08X) for
topic %s

INFO: Server
building a Block
message for the
topic.

N/A

N/A

Delete message (%s

msg=0x%08X) for
topic %s

INFO: Destructor for N/A

the block message
gets called.

N/A

Release blockid:%d INFO: Release block N/A

for message (%s
id for the block
msg=0x%08X,con=% message.
s) [number of
blockids=%d]

N/A

INFO: Remove item

remove item (%s)
from the block
from
S7BlockMessage (%s message.
msg=0x%08X)

N/A

N/A

s7_brcv_init = OK
(r_id=%d)

INFO: The block

N/A
receive initiation
request is successful.

N/A

s7_brcv_stop = OK
(r_id=%d)

INFO: The block

receive stop request
is successful.

N/A

N/A

Solution

ALARMS_AND_EVENTS_TRACE Messages
%s: ack_state=%d

INFO: Update the

alarm or event with
the
acknowledgement
state information.

N/A

N/A

%s: event_state=%d

INFO: Update the

alarm or event with
the event state
information.

N/A

N/A

%s:
no_add_value=%d

INFO: Update the

alarm or event with
the number of
additional value
information.

N/A

N/A

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170 Chapter 8 Troubleshooting

Logger Message

Explanation

Probable Cause

Solution

%s: state=%d

INFO: Update the

alarm or event with
the state
information.

N/A

N/A

%s: time_stamp=%s

INFO: Update the

alarm or event with
the time stamp
information.

N/A

N/A

(%d):s7_msg_abort_r The alarm abort

eq (orderid=%d) for request to the PLC
%s [0]
failed.

N/A

N/A

add item (%s) to

S7Event
(msg=0x%08X)

INFO: Add item to

the event message.

N/A

N/A

Build alarm object

(0x%08X) for
connection %s

INFO: Server builds N/A

the alarm object that
are going to receive
the alarms and
events.

N/A

Build scan object

(0x%08X) for
connection %s

INFO: Server builds N/A

the scan object.

N/A

Delete alarm object

(0x%08X) for
connection %s

INFO: The
destructor of the
alarm object gets
called.

N/A

N/A

Release eventid:%d INFO: Release order N/A

(con=%s) [number of id from the event
eventids=%d]
message.

N/A

remove item (%s)

from S7Event
(0x%08X)

INFO: Remove item

from the event
message.

N/A

N/A

s7_msg_abort_req = INFO: The server

OK (orderid=%d) for sends the alarm
%s
abort request to the
PLC successfully.

N/A

N/A

s7_msg_initiate_req INFO: The server

= OK (orderid=%d)
sends the alarm
for %s
registration request
to the PLC
successfully.

N/A

N/A

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Diagnostics and Error Tracing171

DAServer Error Codes

The following table lists the Wonderware DAServer error codes and
the error messages that appear with the codes, and their descriptions.
Error
Message

Code

Description

C004D000L Invalid
The requested item name has bad
item name syntax.
C004D001L Item name The requested item name has
not exist
good syntax, but it does not exist.
C004D002L Device not The device is not connected, so
connect
data cannot be acquired.
C004D100L Device off
scan

The device is communicating, but

it cannot accept queries for data
items.

C004D101L Timeout

A message transaction with the

device timed out.

DAServer Protocol Warnings

The following table lists protocol warnings generated by the DAServer.
The log flag for these messages is DASProtWarn.
Logger Message

Explanation

Probable Cause

Solution

DASProtWarn Messages
Send: exit
(MSG_OK): Attempt
to send POLL
message while
pending (%s
msg=0x%08X)
[msg_state=%d,con_s
tate=%d]

The server tries to

The response from
send the Poll message the PLC is slow.
while it waits for the
response from the
PLC for the same
message.

This is a flow control issue.

The server is too fast to
send the message but the
PLC is slow in responding
to those messages. Try to
reduce the load from the
PLC by disconnecting other
clients from the PLC or
reducing the scan rate of
the message. If the problem
exists call the PLC vendor.

Update item (%s,

quality=0x%04X) on
%s

N/A
The server updates
the item with Bad
quality. This message
shows up only when
the item quality is
Bad.

Check the OPC quality for

the appropriate error
message.

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172 Chapter 8 Troubleshooting

Logger Message

Explanation

Probable Cause

S7Info (%s
Logging the error code There is an item
pS7Info=0x%08X/pM returned by the PLC access error in the
sg=0x%08X) returned for the read request.
PLC.
error: %s

Solution

Check the PLC

configuration and see
whether the memory area
you try to access exists in
the PLC with proper access
right.

Could not generate

data for item %s

The server cannot

read the poke value.

Send: exit
(MSG_OK): Attempt
to send POKE
message while
pending (%s
msg=0x%08X)
[msg_state=%d,con_s
tate=%d]

The server tries to

The response from
the PLC is slow.
send the poke
message while it
waits for the response
from the PLC for the
same message.

This is a flow control issue.

The server is too fast to
send the message but the
PLC is slow in responding
to those messages. Try to
reduce the load from the
PLC by disconnecting other
clients from the PLC or
reducing the scan rate of
the message. If the problem
exists call the PLC vendor.

S7 Topic's <%s>
property <%s> was
changed to <%s>

The server is not

hot-configurable for
the given property.

Re-start the server to see

this change in effect.

Invalid value, clamp

at high limit for
poking item: %s on
%s

Poke data is clamped Poke value exceeds See the DAServer user's
into a valid range
the S7 data type
guide for the correct range
before it is sent to the range.
of values.
PLC.

Clamping S5T poke

data for %s on %s
(client poke %ums
clamped to 9990000)

S5T poke value is

Poke value exceeds See the DAServer user's
clamped to 9990000
the valid range.
guide for the correct range
before it is sent to the
of values.
PLC.

Loosing precision on
converting S5T poke
data for %s on %s
(client poke %ums
converted to 0ms)

Non-zero S5T poke

value is converted to
0.

Poke value is
below the S7 S5T
type resolution.

Loosing precision on
converting S5T poke
data for %s on %s
(client poke %ums
converted to %ums)

Precision is lost on
value.

The resolution of
See the DAServer user's
the S7 data type
guide for the correct range
does not match the of values.
poked value.

SIDirect DAServer Users Guide

This is an internal Turn on POKE_TRACE in

error.
the Wonderware Logger to
obtain additional trace
information. Report the
error to Wonderware
Technical Support.

The server does

not use the
changed value.

See the DAServer user's

guide for the correct range
of values.

Diagnostics and Error Tracing173

Logger Message

Explanation

Probable Cause

Solution

Invalid poke value,

Poke data is clamped Poke value exceeds See the DAServer user's
clamp at low limit for into a valid range
the S7 data type
guide for the correct range
item: %s on %s
before it is sent to the range.
of values.
PLC.
Invalid poke value,
Poke data is set to
cannot convert value constant.
for item: <item
name> on <device
group>

Poke value exceeds See the DAServer user's

the S7 data type
guide for the correct range
range.
of values.

ERROR: Invalid
Poke data is clamped
value, clamp at high into a valid range.
limit for poking item:
%s on %s

Poke value exceeds See the DAServer user's

the S7 data type
guide for the correct range
range.
of values.

Poke data is clamped

ERROR: Invalid
into a valid range.
value, clamp at low
limit for poking item:
%s on %s

Poke value exceeds See the DAServer user's

the S7 data type
guide for the correct range
range.
of values.

ERROR: Invalid
Poke data is set to
value, cannot convert constant.
for poking item: %s
on %s

Poke value exceeds See the DAServer user's

the S7 data type
guide for the correct range
range.
of values.

Write complete fails - The server cannot

item: %s on %s
write the value of the
item to the PLC.

Connection to the Check the PLC connection

PLC is bad or Item or configuration.
access is denied by
the PLC.

S7Cp's <%s>
property <%s> was
changed to <%s>

The server is not

hot-configurable for
the given property.

The server does

not use the
changed value.

Restart the server to see

this change in effect.

(%d):s7_msg_initiate There is an error in

_req (orderid=%d) for the message initiate
%s [(0)]
request (initiating
alarms and events).

It is a
communications
error or a PLC
configuration
error.

Check the connection and

the PLC
configuration/program.

S7CP_200's <%s>
property <%s> was
changed to <%s>

The server does

not use the
changed value.

Restart the server to see

this change in effect.

The server is not

hot-configurable for
the given property.

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174 Chapter 8 Troubleshooting

Data Conversion
The following table describes how the SIDirect DAServer handles
values that cannot be converted or do not meet the limit specifications.
Conversion

Description

NONSPECIFIC

If a value cannot be converted, the quality of the item

goes to NONSPECIFIC.

Uncertain-HIGHLIMITED

If a value is greater than the upper limit, the quality of

the item goes to uncertain-HIGHLIMITED.

Uncertain-LOWLIMITED

If a value is minor than the lower limit, the quality of

the item goes to uncertain-LOWLIMITED.

Quality Settings
The SIDirect DAServer uses the general OPC-defined quality settings.
An item can have six basic data quality states.
Quality
Code

Quality State

Description

00C0

Data quality good

Data communications is good and data is good.

The register is read or written to without any
problems converting the data.

0055

Clamp low

Data communications is good but the data is

uncertain.
The data is clamped at a low limit.
The register is correctly read or written to, but it is
necessary to clamp its value to a limit.
The value is smaller than the minimum allowed.

0056

Clamp high

Data communications is good but the data is

uncertain.
The data is clamped at a high limit.
The register is correctly read or written to, but it is
necessary to clamp its value to a limit.
The value is larger than the maximum allowed.
A string is truncated.
For example, a floating point value is clamped to
FLT_MAX.

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Diagnostics and Error Tracing175

Quality
Code

Quality State

Description

0040

Quality uncertain/No convert

Data communications is good but the data is

uncertain.
The data cannot be converted.
The server may return either a constant in place of
the data or return quality information alone.
The data is useable. However, it is not known
whether the value is too large or too small.
Incorrect data type.
Floating point is not a number.
For example, 0x000a in a PLC BCD register.

0004

Bad configure/No access

This is a configuration error.

Data communications is good but the data cannot
be sent and/or received. The data is bad and cannot
be used.
Item cannot be accessed.
The item does not exist or is not available.
The server can communicate with the PLC but
cannot access the register.
The server determined the point is not valid.
The PLC responds that the register does not exist,
cannot be read, or cannot be written to.
The server cannot access a fenced, write-protected,
or read-only item.
The PLC is in a mode that does not permit access
to this item.
The number of data bytes is incorrect but the
message is otherwise good.
The command or op code is invalid but the message
is otherwise good.
The PLC is busy. The server has given up retrying.

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176 Chapter 8 Troubleshooting

Quality
Code

Quality State

Description

0018

No communications

Data communications is down.

Cannot access the PLC due to a communications
error.
Data is bad and cannot be used.
The device group is in a slow poll or equivalent
mode.
The PLC does not exist and/or is not responding.
There is no link validating the message.
There is a lack of resources in the server. A TSR or
driver cannot allocate memory.
There is a lack of resources in the communications
link.
The communications link is off-line.
All communications channels are in use.
The network cannot route the message to the PLC.

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Diagnostics and Error Tracing177

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178 Chapter 8 Troubleshooting

SIDirect DAServer Users Guide

179

Chapter 9
Reference

This section describes the architecture of the DAServer, its collection

of components, and the environments in which the components work.

DAServer Architecture
The SIDirect DAServer is supported on the Windows operating
systems that are specified in the Readme file. The NetDDE protocol is
not supported by DAServers.
This DAServer is a collection of components that work together to
provide communications access to the hardware field devices. These
components include:

DAServer Manager
The Microsoft Management Console (MMC) snap-in environment,
supplied with the DAServer, that provides the necessary
user-interface for diagnostics, configuration, and activation.

Client Plug-ins
The components that are added to a DAServer to enable
communications with clients.
Examples are OPC, DDE/Suitelink, and so on.

DAS Engine
The library that contains all the common logic to drive data access.

Device Protocol
The custom code provided by the DAServer to define the
communications with a particular device.

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180 Chapter 9 Reference

DAServers
A DAServer consists of the following three physical parts:

Plug-in Component(s)
Component responsible for communicating with clients.

DAS Engine
Common component used by all DAServers.

PLC Protocol Layer, DAServer-specific

Component responsible for communicating with the hardware.

DAServer Architecture

Each physical part of a DAServer consists of a set of .exe and/or .dll

modules. Wonderware provides the plug-ins and the DAS Engine.
Using the DAS Toolkit, you create the PLC Protocol Layer
(DAServer-specific) modules. All three sets of modules are required for
a fully functioning DAServer.

Plug-ins
Plug-ins provide a protocol translation function for device integration
clients. Typical plug-ins communicate in DDE, SuiteLink, or OPC
protocol, and serve as interfaces between their clients and the DAS
Engine.
Note: Items in an array are not supported in the DDE/SL plug-in.
Arrays are converted to HEXASCII strings, which provide legacy
behavior for DAServers that support this.

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Component Environments181

DAS Engine
The DAS Engine is a middleware component that exposes two sets of
interfaces, one for communicating with the plug-ins and the other one
for communicating with the PLC Protocol Layer components.

PLC Protocol Layer

The PLC Protocol Layer provides a protocol translation function for
specific hardware such as ModBus, and serves as an interface between
the DAS Engine and the hardware.

Component Environments
Stand-alone DAServers have the following characteristics:

The DAS Engine is dynamically linked to the other DAServer

components. A new DAS Engine such as feature enhancements or
bug fixes do not require relinking to the other components nor
re-QA of those other components. When deployed to the system,
the new DAS Engine attaches to all existing DAServer
components.

Newly deployed plug-ins such as feature enhancements or bug

fixes do not require relinking nor re-QA of associated components.
Even new plug-ins (for example, OPC Alarm & Events) do not
require any development changes to the other components, and
require no relinking in a customer-installed base. In fact, you can
implement new functionality in a plug-in to enhance the DAServer
without involving the code of the other components.

DAServers can be configured in one stand-alone configuration

utility (DAServer Manager) capable of showing specific
configuration pages for all DAServers. This utility allows the
browsing and editing of DAServers on different nodes.

The DAServer Manager diagnostics tool shows generic diagnostic

objects common to all DAServers, as well as
DAServer-specific/DAServer-developer-defined diagnostic data.
The DAServer data configuration format is XML. Any XML-enabled
program such as, XML Editor can read this format.

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182 Chapter 9 Reference

SIDirect DAServer Users Guide

183

Appendix A
Supported DAServer
Hardware and Firmware

The following table lists the hardware and firmware tested with the
SIDirect DAServer Version 3.0.
Device

Description

Hardware and Firmware

S7-200

Controller

CPU214 214-1AD22-0XB0
Firmware Version: V1.22

S7-200

Ethernet Module

CP243-1 TCP 243-1EX00-0XE0

Hardware Version: 1
Firmware Version: V2.00
CP243-1 TCP 243-1EX01-0XE0
Firmware Version: V1.02

S7-300

Controller

CPU314C-2 PN/DP 314-6EH04 -0AB0

Hardware Version 1
Firmware Version: V3.3.0
CPU315-2 DP 315-2AG10-0AB0
Hardware Version: 1
Firmware Version: V2.6.11

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184 Appendix A Supported DAServer Hardware and Firmware

Device

Description

Hardware and Firmware

S7-300

Controller with
Built-in Ethernet

CPU317-2 PN/DP 317-2EJ10-0AB0

Hardware Version: 3
Firmware Version: V2.3.4
CPU317-2 PN/DP 317-2EK13-0AB0
Hardware Version: 4
Firmware Version: V2.6.7

S7-300

Ethernet Module

CP343-1 343-1EX30-0XE0
Hardware Version: 1
Firmware Version: V2.3.2
CP343-1 343-1EX11-0XE0
Hardware Version: 2
Firmware Version: V2.3.5

S7-400

Controller

CPU414-3 DP 414-3XJ00-0AB0
Hardware Version: 7
Firmware Version: V3.1.4
CPU414-4H 414-4HM14-0AB0
Hardware Version: 1
Firmware Version: V4.5.3

S7-400

Controller with
Built-in Ethernet

CPU412-2 PN 412-2EK06-0AB0
Hardware Version: 1
Firmware Version: V6.0.2

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185

Device

Description

Hardware and Firmware

S7-400

Ethernet Module

CP443-1 443-1EX11-0XE0
Hardware Version: 4
Firmware Version: V2.7.3
CP443-1 443-1EX20-0XE0
Hardware Version: 1.2.0
Firmware Version: V2.0.49

S7-1200

Controller with
Built-in Ethernet

CPU1211C 211-1AD30-0XB0
Firmware Version: 2.1
CPU1214C 214-1AD30-0XB0
Firmware Version: 2.1

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186 Appendix A Supported DAServer Hardware and Firmware

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187

Index

A
access path 133
Active Device 31, 32, 130
active items 140, 144
adding a PLC object 26, 29
adding a port object 25
alarms and events 28, 90, 141
alarms and events terms 96
aliases 43
analog input 101
analog output 102
application name 59
ArchestrA 123
ArchestrA System Management Console 21
ArchestrA.DASSIDIRECT.x 19, 50, 53
ArchestrA.DASSIDirect.x 22, 58
ArchestrA.SIDIRECT.x 19
archiving configuration sets 50, 54
arrays 63, 78, 111, 180
auto 41

B
backlog setting 142
BCD format 118
BCD interpretation 119

before you begin 12

block
messages 41
read 41
services 41
block items 85
read-only 85
write-only 85, 87
block services 41

C
checklist
setting up the SIDIRECT DAServer 18
clearing
all device items 44
client plug-ins 179
client quality 140
client time 140
client value 140
command
clear all 45
import 46
communication protocols 13
communications protocol server 7
configuration

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188Index

branch 25
configuration view 26, 29
configuring
default update intervals 41
the DAServer 21
counters 83
creating or adding
device groups 38
device items 43
CSV file 44
cyclic services 40, 144

D
DAS Engine 179, 180, 181
DAS logger flags 149
DAS Server Manager 21
DAS Toolkit 145, 180
DAServer
activating/deactivating the DAServer 53
configuring as service 50
managing your DAServer 49
setting up your DAServer 17
DAServer architecture 13
DAServer Manager 22, 59, 179
diagnostics tool 181
documentation 21, 23
tree view 23
DASSIDirect 59
DASSIDirect.dll 136
Data Access Server 11
data blocks 61, 109
data points 133
data-type identifiers 61
DCOM 13
DDE 8, 13, 14
DDE/SuiteLink 49, 50, 53
DDE/SuiteLink clients 136
DDESLPlugIn client group 140
DDEStatus 137
default group 22
deleting
device groups 38
device items 44
demo mode 54
device group 58, 122, 140, 144
Device groups. 54
device groups 23, 39, 133, 141
device groups view 144

SIDirect DAServer Users Guide

device hierarchy 21, 23

device item definitions 43
Device items 54
Device nodes 54
device protocol 179
device redundancy 31
diagnostics 14, 139, 141, 142
diagnostics messages 142
DTL data type 113
Dynamic Data Exchange 15

E
edit mode 25
editing
update intervals 41
end 142
endian conversion 118
errors 140, 141, 143, 144
Excel 137
Excel macro 138
exporting
DAServer item data to a CSV file 44

F
FastDDE 8, 13, 15
FASTPOLL 60
features 14
flag bytes 64

G
Global Configuration parameters 54
global parameters 23
group 122
group name 58

H
HEXASCII strings 180
hierarchical location 122
hierarchy 24
high-speed counter 107
high-speed counters 118
HMI 13
host 58
Hot configurable 54

I
ID 142
importing

Index189

DAServer item data from a CSV file 45

initial values 41
in-proc/out-of-proc 53
input and output block 40
input bytes 67
peripheral 75
instance blocks 61, 109
intervals
update 38
IOStatus 137
item
error 144
ID 133
name 60, 133
item data 44
item name 59
ItemID 57
items 140, 141, 142, 144

L
license 54
License Manager 55
link name 59
local node 22
location 140, 143, 144
Log Flag data 149, 150
Log Viewer 135, 150
Logger 54
LREAL data type 112

M
memory
special 104
stage 103
message
view 142
message error 143
messages 141
cyclic 40
poll 40
Microsoft Management Console 21
middleware component 181
MMC 21
ModBus 181
Msg ID 143
msgID 142

N
name 140, 141, 143
NetDDE 13
network address 27, 30
network transport protocol 14
node name 58, 59

O
object name 31
off-line edit on item data 44
OLE/COM technology 13
OPC 13
clients 136
item browsing 43
item name 57
protocol 58
OPC client 8, 43
optimization 41
optimization mode 41
output bytes 71
peripheral 79

P
PDU size 143
peripheral
access 40
input bytes 75
output bytes 79
Ping item 32, 35
PLC hierarchy node 43
PLC Hierarchyname.csv file 44
PLC protocol layer 180, 181
plug-in component 180
poke mode 39
poke mode settings 40
poll messages 144
port type 25
PortCpS7 object
adding 25
predefined item syntax 43
preparing
the SIDirect DAServer 22
Primary Device 33, 131
processor type 27, 29
ProgID 58
program name 58

SIDirect DAServer Users Guide

190Index

Q
quality 142, 143
quality settings 174

R
rate
update 58
read contiguous IO 40
read/write 58
read/write status 141, 143
Redundant 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 130
remote access 58
remote communications 13
remote reference formulas 139
renaming
device items 44
reverse-byte order 118
runtime behavior 31

S
S7 cyclic services 40
disabling 40
S7 error 141
S7 hierarchy 21
S7 msg ID 143, 144
S7 SAPI 41
S7 tag creator 36
SCADA 13
scan group 122
Secondary Device 33, 130, 131
service
automatic 24
manual 24
unconfirmed 41
setup.exe 22
SIDIRECT DAServer
configuring as not a service 50
SIDirect DAServer 7
SMC
finding your DAServer 19
snap-in environment 23
special memory 104
stage memory 103
start 142
state 140
statistics view 142
status 142, 143

SIDirect DAServer Users Guide

status of connectivity 136

structure 143
structure branch 141
structure view 141
subscription message 140
suffix
BCD 118
D 121
DT 119
KT 119
S5T 120
T 121
TOD 121
TR 120
SuiteLink 13
SuiteLink client 8
system item
DAServer global 123
system items
$SYS$ActiveDevice 130
$SYS$ErrorText 131
$SYS$FailoverReason 131
$SYS$FailoverTime 130
$SYS$ForceFailover 130
$SYS$MasterController 32, 129
$SYS$PrimaryDeviceStatus 131
$SYS$SecondaryDeviceStatus 131
$SYS$StandbyDevice 130
$SYS$Status 31, 35, 131
DAServer device-group-specific 126
DAServer device-specific 124
DAServer global 123, 131
System Management Console 22

T
time 142, 143
time supervision 41
timeout
connection 28, 30
initial values 41
reply 28, 30
update 41
timers 84, 107
topic name 60
transactions 142
transactions view 142
transition mode 40
TSAP

Index191

local 27, 30
remote 27, 30
type 142

U
update
intervals 38
rate 58
update interval 41, 58, 140, 144
parameter 47

Value Time Quality (VTQ) 14

values
converting 174
version 135
VIEW (WindowViewer) 137

W
WindowViewer 137
WinSock 14
Wonderware InTouch software 8

V Memory 98
value 141, 143

XML 181
XML Editor 181

SIDirect DAServer Users Guide

192Index

SIDirect DAServer Users Guide