Configuring Custom Collector Wizard

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Configuring a Custom Collector using the Wizard

You can create a custom collector using the Visual Studio wizard or the sample application available as part of the installation.

To create a collector using the wizard, follow the below procedure.

  1. Navigate to the folder where the toolkit utility is saved. For example, C:\Program Files\Proficy\ProficyHistorian\CollectorToolkit\CollectorToolkit. The toolkit, by default, gets saved in the same installation folder as Historian in the Program files folder of your computer. The example here indicates that Proficy Historian is installed on the C drive. If Proficy Historian is installed in D drive, the location changes accordingly.
  2. Double-click the CollectorToolkit.sln file. A Microsoft Visual Studio window opens in Administrator mode.
  3. Right-click the project in the Solution Explorer pane and click one of the following: Build Solution or Rebuild Solution.

    An output window appears indicating whether the Build or Rebuild has been successful.

    • If you see the message, Build succeeded or Rebuild All succeeded, it indicates that the wizard has been activated. If the wizard is successful, the CollectorToolkit.ico and CollectorToolkit.vsz files appear in the wizardsfolder in Visual Studio.
    • The location of the files varies depending on the operating system. For example, if it is on Windows 7, the location is C:\Users\UserName\Documents\Visual Studio 2010\Wizards. For Windows XP, the location is C:\Documents and Settings\UserName\MyDocuments\Visual Studio 2010\Wizards.
    • Ensure that the CollectorToolkit.vsz and CollectorToolkit.ico files exist in the above corresponding Operating system locations.
    • If you are working in 64 bit operating system, open CollectorToolkit.vsz in Notepad and replace the following line: Param="ABSOLUTE_PATH = C:\Program Files\Proficy\Proficy Historian\CollectorToolkit\CollectorToolkit" with Param="ABSOLUTE_PATH = C:\Program Files\Proficy\Proficy Historian\x86\CollectorToolkit\CollectorToolkit". This enables you to open the wizard correctly.
  4. Proceed to Creating a custom collector as described below.

Creating a Custom Collector

Note:

The collector toolkit runtime for 32-bit collectors uses ihCollector-DelegatorN.dll and ihCollector-DelegatorN.lib, where N is a version number, which changes from version to version.

The collector toolkit runtime for 64-bit collectors uses ihCollector-DelegatorN_x64.dll and ihCollector-DelegatorN_x64.lib, where N is a version number, which changes from version to version.

  1. Open Microsoft Visual Studio 2010 in Administrator Mode.
  2. Open a new project by navigating to File > New > Project.
    The New Project screen appears.
  3. In the Installed Templates section, click Wizards.
    The Collector Toolkit Wizard dialog box appears.
  4. Enter the following information in the New Project screen.
    • Provide the name of the collector in the Name field.
    • Provide the location where you want to save the Collector in the Location field. Click Browse... to navigate to the desired location.
    • Provide the solution name in the Solution name field. A solution name is the name of the Collector solution.
    • Select the Create directory for solution check box to create a directory for the collector.
  5. Click OK to proceed.
    The Welcome to the Historian Collector Toolkit Wizard screen appears.
  6. Click Next to proceed.
    The Application Settings screen appears. The options that you see on the Application Setting screen are set by default. These are the recommended settings and should not be changed.
  7. Click Finish

    The Microsoft Visual Studio opens in Administrator mode with the source code framework for the custom collector. Write the custom logic in the Skeletal Methods generated through the Wizard for the respective functionality. Refer to About Interfaces for a description of the methods.