Technical Reference Manual - InduSoft

Communication with Other Devices
Configuring an OPC UA Client connection to an OPC UA Server
The OPC UA Client task/worksheet is to communicate with any system that implements the OPC UA Server
protocol.
About OPC UA
The OPC UA Client task/worksheet uses the new OPC Unified Architecture protocol introduced by the OPC
Foundation. According to the foundation:
The existing OPC COM based specifications have served the OPC
Community well over the past 10 years, but as technology moves on so
must our interoperability standards. Here are the factors that influenced the
decision to create a new architecture:
• Microsoft has deemphasized COM in favor of cross-platform capable Web
Services and SOA (Service Oriented Architecture)
• OPC Vendors want a single set of services to expose the OPC data models
(DA, A&E, HDA ...)
• OPC Vendors want to implement OPC on non-Microsoft systems,
including embedded devices
• Other collaborating organizations need a reliable, efficient way to move
higher level structured data
In other words, OPC UA is intended to be a platform- and language-independent protocol that
is also backwards-compatible with OPC "Classic" systems. For more information, go to http://
www.opcfoundation.org/UA/.
Note: This feature includes cryptographic software written by Eric Young (eay@cryptsoft.com).
Configuring a new OPC UA server connection
To configure a new connection to an OPC UA server:
1. Do one of the following:
• On the Insert tab of the ribbon, in the Communication group, click OPC Client and then select OPC UA
Connection from the drop-down list; or
• In the Comm tab of the Project Explorer, right-click OPC UA Connections and then click Insert on the
shortcut menu.
The UA Server Configuration dialog box is displayed:
UA Server Configuration dialog box
2. In the Connection Name box, type a name for the connection.
This name will be displayed in the OPC UA Connections folder in the Project Explorer, and it is the name
you will look for when you configure the OPC UA Client worksheet.
3. In the End point box, type the URL of the OPC UA server to which you want to connect.
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