The OPC DA Server Interface does not communicate directly with an OPC Server. Instead, the interface reads in OPSDATAXML files that have been generated by a Collector Utility that reads the OPC data. The Collector continuously monitors the OPC Server and writes the data to a new OPSDATAXML file every minute. Each file contains 1 data point for each OPC tag that you are monitoring. Once OPSDATAXML files are being generated the Interface will start reading the data into Hach WIMS.

In the default installation, the Interface, Collector and OPC DA Server reside on the same machine. You may also configure the Collector and OPC DA Server to be on the same machine but have the Interface on another machine. If you do this, you'll want to make sure that the Collector is saving the OPSDATAXML files to a location that the machine the Interface is installed on has access to (i.e. a shared network drive). The OPC Server and the Collector must be installed on the same machine. The Collector only connects to a single OPC DA Server.

To start the Collector from the Interface click on Configuration/Collector Configuration.

From here you can either configure the Collector or start it.

If you choose to start the Collector before it has been configured, you will be presented with a warning message indicating that it has not been configured yet. You can dismiss the message and proceed to configure the Collector.

The Collector will not start collecting data until it has been configured. In the configuration screen you have two tabs of configuration settings. The "General Settings" tab contains information on how you want the Collector to run.

In the "OPC Server Settings" tab you configure the connection to the OPC Server and select all the tags that you want to collect data for.

When you launch the Collector it will either start as a Windows Tray Application (default) or in NT Service View and Control mode. The standard screen is below.

If the status bar shows "RUNNING" then the Collector is scheduled to run and collect the OPC data. If the status is "PAUSED" you need to configure the connection to the OPC Server and click the Start button. If no OPC Server or OPC tags have been defined yet, then the Collector will not run. If you start the Collector and it does not appear on the screen then you can find it in the Windows System Tray (by default the Collector is hidden when it is started unless errors occur during startup). You can double click on it's icon in the System Tray to make it visible.

If you click on the Configure button when the Collector is running as a Windows Tray Application you are presented with a Proxy Setting screen before being able to configure the Collector's settings.

The proxy screen contains needed information on how you plan to run the Collector. For a standard installation just leave the settings the way that they are

When the Collector is installed to run as a service you are presented with the following screen when starting the application.

From here you can see if the Service is running, configure it, stop it, start it, and view the activity log files.