This article has been updated; see revision 3 article

The OPS Data XML file format is referred to as OPSDATAXML.
It was designed to provide an open storage mechanism for data from data acquisition systems (such as SCADA, LIMS, etc).
The data inside of OPSDATAXML files can be stored in raw or summary contexts.

There are three main XML trees to each file:

1. <SPEC> - This is the specification of the file. It contains information on how the file was built such as:

FIELD	DESCRIPTION	VALUE
revision [attribute]	The revision of the file format	"2"
collector [attribute]	The identifier of collector or utility that generated the current file	"0" when using software produced by third parties; otherwise unique identifier of collector software within HACH IIM software inventory (example "12108")
context [attribute]	The context of the data is either raw or summary	"raw"/"summary"
encrypted [attribute]	Whether the <data> tree was encrypted or not. If True, 128-bit AES encryption algorithm was used.	"false"/"true"
compressed [attribute]	Whether the <data> tree was compressed or not. If True, Zip compression algorithm was used and <data> was encoded using base-64  encoding.	"false"/"true"
content	Link to this knowledge base article	web page link

Example:

2. <DATA> - This is the actual data from the source system. If encryption and/or compression is true, only this section will be encrypted and/or compressed. It contains the actual information such as:

FIELD	RAW DESCRIPTION	RAW EXAMPLE VALUE	SUMMARY DESCRIPTION	SUMMARY EXAMPLE VALUE
r	Beginning of a record	[blank]	Beginning of a record	[blank]
s	Source server name	KEPware.KEPserverEx.V4	OPS facility name	OPSWWTUTOR
t	Tag name	Channel_1.Device_1.R4	OPS VarID	21
d	UTC date & time	2008-02-21T17:30:17Z	UTC date & time	2008-02-21T17:30:17Z
v	Raw value	518	Summary value (avg, sum, ...)	518
q	Qualifiers (1)	[blank]	Qualifiers (1)	=
u	Units (2)	[blank]	Units (2)	mg/l
c	Comments	[blank]	Comments	Verified reading ....
a	Approval level (3)	[blank]	Approval level (3)	-1024
x	Data Storage Extension	[blank]	Data Storage Extension	<collectedby>Les Poyner</collectedby>

Notes:

1. Qualifiers are typically: "<" - less than, "<=" - less than or equal to, ">" - greater than, ">=" - greater than or equal to, "=" - equal to, and "<>" - not equal to

2. Units are typical for SCADA & LIMS systems and include but not limited to: MGD, mg/l, lbs, Deg F, Deg C, lbs/day, MG, gal, SU, No/100ml, inches, ft, days, gpm, ppm, ppb, tons, Number, Fraction, %, #BOD/D/#ML, #/MG, col/100ml, ntu

3. Approval levels start with zero (0) and go negative. Typically 0 means final approval, and then -1024 is the next level below that, -2048 is the third level down and so on.

Examples:

              Raw data example                                                                    Summary data example

3. <TRACE> - A set of 0 or more trace records <r> that, in chronological order, contain information about which application touched the file. Required fields :

FIELD	DESCRIPTION	EXAMPLE VALUE
audituser	Who or what program wrote the data	VIA_ODA2X
audittimestamp	UTC date time stamp	2008-02-12T17:30:29Z
apptitle	Title of application writting data	OPC DA to OPS XML
appexename	Executable name of application	OPCDA2OPSXML
appversion	Version of application	1.0.2
apppath	Path of application	.host\.....\OPCDA2OPSXML
workstation	Name of computer app is running on	LT035-VMT10549
netuser	Logon name of user running app	ops
ip	IP address of computer	10.66.6.172
winversion	Windows OS version and build	Windows NT 5.1.2600

Example of trace: