ProcessLogix

Application Note – Connecting to HIMA H41q, H51q and Planar4

This document describes in detail how to establish a connection between the

ProcessLogix Server and HIMA H41q, H51q failsafe PLCs, hardwired system
Planar4 using the OPC client connectivity built into the ProcessLogix Server
R200.
© 1999 Rockwell Automation. All rights reserved.
The information contained in this document represents the current view of Rockwell Automation on the issues
discussed as of the date of publication. Because Rockwell Automation must respond to changing market
conditions, it should not be interpreted to be a commitment on the part of Rockwell Automation, and Rockwell
Automation cannot guarantee the accuracy of any information presented after the date of publication.
This White Paper is for informational purposes only. ROCKWELL AUTOMATION MAKES NO WARRANTIES,
EXPRESS OR IMPLIED IN THIS DOCUMENT.
HIMA H41, H51 and Planar4 are trade names of HIMA Paul Hildebrandt GmbH + Co KG,
Albert-Bassermann-Straße 28, 68782 Brühl near Mannheim
Other product or company names mentioned herein may be the trademarks of their respctive owners.
Rockwell Automation • Storchengasse 1 • A-1150 Vienna • Austria
CONTENTS HARDWARE- & SOFTWARE CONFIGURATION ............................ 1

The SETUP Procedure.................................................................. 2

Setting up the System 2
Network Configuration 2
Configuring Security 2
Setting up User Accounts 2
Setting up DCOM 2
Installing the OPC Proxy 2

Configuring the ProcessLogix Server ......................................... 4

Creating an OPC Channel 4
Creating an OPC Controller 5
Creating a Data Point 6
Download the new configuration 9
Test the new configuration 10
HARDWARE- & Connectivity between the ProcessLogix Server and HIMA H41q, H51q, Planar4
SOFTWARE systems has been tested using the following system configuration:
CONFIGURATION

HIMA OPC Server ProcessLogix

Server

Ethernet Hub

Ethernet TCP/IP Ethernet TCP/IP

ProcessLogix
HIMA H51Q or
Controller

ControlNet
Planar 4
HIPRO

Provided by HIMA Provided by Rockwell Automation

Figure 1 - Test System Configuration

The ProcessLogix Server PC has been running the following software versions:

Software Version
Windows NT Workstation 4.0 SP4
Internet Explorer 4.01 SP1
ProcessLogix Server System R200 beta
ProcessLogix Station R200 beta
RSLinx OEM 2.00.97

Since ProcessLogix R200 has not been available as final release product at the time
of the testing, we had to use the most recent beta release.

The HIMA PC has been running the following software versions:

Software Version
Windows NT Workstation 4.0 SP3
HIMA OPC-Server 1.0.19

ProcessLogix Application Note 1

THE SETUP This chapter shortly describes the course of the setup procedure including all configu-
PROCEDURE ration steps required on the ProcessLogix Server PC.

Setting up the System

The system has been set up physically as illustrated in figure 1.

Network Configuration
The network connectivity between the HIMA PC and the ProcessLogix Server PC
must be setup for usage of the TCP/IP protocol according to the following table:

HIMA PC ProcessLogix PC
IP Address 192.168. 0. 34 192.168. 0. 32
Subnet Mask 255.255.255. 0 255.255.255. 0
Default Gateway 0. 0. 0. 0 0. 0. 0. 0

The setting for the default gateway is not relevant when using the above settings,
since they put both PCs in the same IP-Network. The setup neither relies on a DNS-
server nor on entries in the hosts-files of both machines, the further setup procedure
is based on IP-addresses.
The TCP/IP connection between both machines should be verified now using the
PING utility from the command line.

Configuring Security
Using the configuration described above both PCs are not connected to a LAN or
even worse to the Internet. Therefore we are not concerned about network security
here.
Setting up User Accounts
To make life easier, the next step is to setup identical user accounts on both ma-
chines. To perform this, open the User Manager and copy the Administrator account.
Make sure that this step is repeated on the second machine and that both ma-
chines show the same account name and password.
Now log off both machines and log on using the new accounts.
Setting up DCOM
DCOM must be setup properly on the HIMA PC since it is running the OPC-server
to connect to the HIMA PLCs.
Select "The interactive user" as identity inside the DCOM properties of the HIMA
OPC-server.

Installing the OPC Proxy

In order for the OPC Client to connect to the HIMA OPC Server, the relevant registry
settings that describe the OPC server must be present on the ProcessLogix PC.
Create a directory “C:\HIMA”and copy the files “p4info.dll”and “himaopcs.exe”
into this directory. Those files are provided by HIMA.

2 ProcessLogix Application Note

 Open a command prompt and change to the HIMA directory by entering the
command “cd \HIMA”.
Now register the HIMA OPC server by entering the command:

himaopcs -regserver

Now close the command prompt window.

For the unregistration use the command:

himaopcs -unregserver

ProcessLogix Application Note 3

CONFIGURING THE The ProcessLogix Server’s OPC Client connectivity is configured by means of the
PROCESSLOGIX SERVER QuickBuilder Utility.

Creating an OPC Channel

Click on the tab”Channel”on the left side of the QuickBuilder window. Right-click in
the channel list. A popup menu appears. Select the menu item “Add Item(s)”. Now
the dialog box “Add Items”appears. Select “OPC”as the channel type as illustrated
in figure 2:

Figure 2 - Dialog Box "Add Item(s)"

Now configure the new channel according to figure 3. The Prod Id entry defines
the OPC Server the client should connect to. Enter

HIMA.OPCServer

Now enter the IP-Address of the HIMA PC in the edit box “Host name”:

192.168.0.34

Note: If a name server is present on the TCP/IP-network, you should enter the
correct node name.
All other settings should not be changed at this time.

4 ProcessLogix Application Note

 Figure 3 - OPC Channel Configuration

Creating an OPC Controller

The next step is to create an OPC Controller. Click on the Controller tab on the left
side of the QuickBuilder window to display the controller node list. Right-click on an
empty spcae in the controller list. A popup menu appears. Select the menu item
“Add item(s)”. The dialog box “Add Item(s)”will appear as illustrated in figure 4:

Figure 4 - Dialog Box "Add Item(s)"

ProcessLogix Application Note 5

 Figure 5 - OPC Controller Settings

Select “OPC”as the controller type and click OK to create the controller. Now
enter the OPC controller settings according to figure 5.
Name the new controller “HIMA”and enter any description of your choice.
In the combo box “Channel Name”select the name of the OPC channel that has
been created in the previous configuration step.
All other settings should remain untouched right now.

Creating a Data Point

The final configuration step required is the creation of the data points on the HIMA
PLC that are to be scanned.

6 ProcessLogix Application Note

 Click on the Point tab on the left side of the QuickBuilder window to display the
point list. Right-click on an empty space in the point list. A popup menu appears.
Select the menu item “Add item(s)”. The dialog Box “Add Item(s)”will appear. Select
an analog point according to figure 6.

Figure 6 - Dialog Box "Add Item(s)"

Now enter the main settings for the new data point according to figure 7.
Enter a unique point ID and any description of your choice. The required setting
for the Area Code depends on the existing configuration of the ProcessLogix server.
Make sure that you enter a valid area code. A list of existing areas can be retrieved
from within the ProcessLogix station by selection the menu item “Configure – Areas”.
Now enter the required PV source address. It consists of the name of the res-
source and of the name of the data item:

HIMA opcwor29.runuint

The name of the ressource can be the ressource name of the H41q, H51q or the
rack name of the Planar4 rack
ProcessLogix R200 beta does not support OPC-browsing. Therefore valid data
item names must be manually entered. You can display all valid names in the HIMA
configuration utility ELOP II. There use the function documentation, Res-docu loaded
of the ressource which is connected to the HIMA OPC-Server.

ProcessLogix Application Note 7

 You have the possibilities to print out the list or to export the list in a file.

For the Planar4 system have a look in the documentation of the HIMA OPC-
server, there you will find the names of the items of the different modules.

Enter 2 seconds as the PV Scan period and the correct settings for the Engineer-
ing Units and the value range. Make sure that the checkbox “Scanning enabled”is
checked.

Figure 7 - Analog Point Main Settings

8 ProcessLogix Application Note

 In order to also test OPC writes you must enter another OPC data item. Click on
the tab “Control”at the top of the QuickBuilder window. Enter the control settings
according to figure 8.
Enter the following settings:

Setpoint source address HIMA opcwor29.uintthroughin

Setpoint destination address HIMA opcwor29.uintthroughin
Setpoint scan period 2
OP source address HIMA planar4.5_62100.currentvalue1
OP scan period 2

Figure 8 - Point Control Settings

Note: In a real life project you will have to configure all settings according to your
loop setup.

Download the new configuration

In order to activate the new configuration entries that have been created by the pro-
cedure described above, they must be downloaded to the ProcessLogix Server.
Make sure that the server is running and click on the download button to download all
entries that have been changed or added.

ProcessLogix Application Note 9

 Test the new configuration
You may now create a custom display or configure a group within the ProcessLogix
Station to see whether life data is delivered to the ProcessLogix Server.

10 ProcessLogix Application Note