OPC is a software standard designed to provide automation applications with easy access to industrial plant floor data. We have led the development of OPC through our active role in the founding of the OPC Task Force, a consortium of leading industrial automation suppliers formed to speed the development of an OLE-based communication standard. The goal of OPC is to define a standard interface based on Microsoft's Component Object Model (COM) technology that allows greater interoperability between automation and control applications; control devices; and business and office applications.
Using OPC, the iFIX WorkSpace can communicate directly with any OPC server. You can add an OPC server to your iFIX node using the Data Server Installer program. This utility, located in the Tools sub-folder of your iFIX Windows program folder, lets you add, modify, and remove OPC servers from the list of data servers available to iFIX. For more information about the Data Server Installer, refer to the Data Server Installer Dialog Box topic.
If you need to communicate with a remote OPC server, specify the machine where the remote server resides in the Machine Name field when you add an OPC Server using the Data Server Installer. Alternatively, you can also use the OPC Client driver to communicate with a remote OPC server. This driver lets you communicate with any local or remote OPC server and store the information in the process database.
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