WinCCAlarmServer

insite GmbH

Overview#

General Information##

The program "WinCCAlarmServer" transmits the current state and progress of alarm states to a connected TCP/IP client. The source of the alarm data is a Message Archive table ("Meldearchiv") in a database on a Microsoft SQL server. By cyclically polling this database table the current status of the alarms registered there is determined, transformed into telegrams and forwarded to the client. Some entries in the table signal error states in the communication between the WinCC-Runtime environment and PLC or the Offline-Status of the WinCC-Runtime. These entries serve as a "marker", e.g. to implicitly terminate or generally ignore alarm states. The features for detecting such entries can be defined via the configuration file.

Preparation of the Microsoft SQL Server##

The Microsoft SQL Server Express can be used, for example, as a database. This can be obtained free of charge from Microsoft via the Internet.

Before you can work with the WinCCAlarmServer, however, the SQL server must be patched by several SQL scripts after the initial installation. This patch ensures that the Message Archive will contain a column "SeqID" also after a new installation, which can guarantee the chronology of the registered events. The scripts are provided by Siemens and must be executed once (e.g. with the aid of the application "Microsoft SQL Server Management Studio Express" - part of the aforementioned Express package).

Program Window#

The application window essentially represents four main states:

  1. Enable polling ticker: The Polling database can be switched on and off (Default: on)
  2. ** Verbindungsanzeige:** Address and connection port of the currently connected TCP/IP-Client.
  3. Aktuelle Meldungen: The table shows the currently pending alarms.
  4. Datenbankverbindung: The whole window is displayed in red and placed in the foreground when there is no database connection.

Database connection ok, but no client connected##

WinCC_dbok_noclient.png

Database connection not ok and no client connection##

WinCC_dbnok_noclient.png

Database connection ok and a client is connected##

WinCC_dbok_client_connected.png

Files#

Configuration file##

These are XML files. A standard text editor or (better) an XML editor (e.g. the free "XML Notepad", download from Microsoft) can be used for editing.

XML?###

An XML document consists of the following elements. An element comprises a Start-Tag and End-Tag. Between the Start-Tag and End-Tag of an element can either be an element value or additional elements. This allows data structures to be mapped hierarchically:

<person>                Start-Tag of the person element
    <name>              Start-Tag of the name element
        Gorkow          Value of the name element
    </name>             End-Tag of the name element
    <first name>        Start-Tag of the first name element
        Karsten         Value of the first name element
    <first name>        End-Tag of the first name element
<person>                End-Tag of the person element

In the case of the configuration file, e.g. all application specific settings are stored in elements with the following structure:

<SettingNameDescription>Value</SettingNameDescription>

Configuration Parameters###

The configuration parameters and a description of their position in the configuration file will now follow. The path to the element concerned is presented here according to a path on a data carrier with the "/" as a delimiter. If an attribute value plays a role for the selection, the name and value of the attribute is attached to the element in round brackets.

Example of the above server port:

<TCPIPPort>7777</TCPIPPort>

Allow disabling of DB polling in UI####

Element: AllowDisablingOfDBPolling

Default: true

Connection string to the database####

Element: DBConnectionString

Default: Data Source=.$\backslash\backslash$SQLEXPRESS;Initial Catalog=ARCHIV1;Integrated Security=True

Severport####

Element: TCPIPPort

Default: 7777

Polling interval for database in milliseconds####

Element: DBPollingRate

Default: 2000

Name of the database table (Meldearchiv)####

Element: DBTableName

Default: Meldearchiv_10

Substring in the message text of the WinCC Runtime online message####

Element: MsgTextOnline

Default: Change to the 'Online' operating mode.

Content of the MsgProc column for online message of the WinCC-Runtime####

Element: MsgProcOnline

Default: 1

A value <= 0 in this parameter causes this column to be ignored when searching this dataset.

Content of the MsgClass column for online message of the WinCC-Runtime####

Element: MsgClassOnline

Default: 3

A value <= 0 in this parameter causes this column to be ignored when searching this dataset.

Content of the MsgNumber column for online message of the WinCC-Runtime####

Element: MsgNumberOnline

Default: 110001

A value <= 0 in this parameter causes this column to be ignored when searching this dataset.

Substring in the message text in the event of a connection disruption to the PLC####

Element: MsgTextConnDown

Default: Connection terminated

Content of the MsgProc column in the event of a connection disruption to the PLC####

Element: MsgProcConnDown

Default: 1

A value <= 0 in this parameter causes this column to be ignored when searching this dataset.

Content of the MsgClass column in the event of a connection disruption to the PLC####

Element: MsgClassConnDown

Default: 3

A value <= 0 in this parameter causes this column to be ignored when searching this dataset

Content of the MsgNumber column in the event of a connection disruption to the PLC####

Element: MsgNumberConnDown

Default: 140000

A value <= 0 in this parameter causes this column to be ignored when searching this dataset.

Substring in the message text after reestablishing connection with PLC####

Element: MsgTextConnUp

Default: Connection established

Content of the MsgProc column after reestablishing connection with PLC####

Element: MsgProcConnUp

Default: 1

A value <= 0 in this parameter causes this column to be ignored when searching this dataset.

Content of the MsgClass column after reestablishing connection with PLC####

Element: MsgClassConnUp

Default: 3

A value <= 0 in this parameter causes this column to be ignored when searching this dataset.

Content of the MsgNumber column after reestablishing connection with PLC####

Element: MsgNumberConnUp

Default: 140000

A value <= 0 in this parameter causes this column to be ignored when searching this dataset.

Message text when you exit WinCCflex or disconnect the database connection####

Element: MsgTextWinCCFlexDownAlarm

Default: ""

A value == "" in this parameter means that the message will not be sent.

MsgProc when you exit WinCCflex or disconnect the database connection####

Element: MsgProcWinCCFlexDownAlarm

Default: 0

MsgClass when you exit WinCCflex or disconnect the database connection####

Element: MsgClassWinCCFlexDownAlarm

Default: 0

Messages which do not have PLCMarker ut to be still passed####

Element: HandledHMIMsgNumbers

Default: ""

This field can be filled with a semicolon-separated list of message numbers. (e.g .: "320008;320009")

Disconnection after each polling####

Element: DBDisconnectAfterPolling

Default: false

Marker for PLC alarm####

Element: PLCMarker

Default: WinLC RTX

Do not set any SeqID filter when reading out the alarms from the database####

Element: UseUnfilteredQuery

Default: false

Use a databsae filter by time and seqid to determine unhandled entries####

Element: UseChronologicalFilter

Default: (depending on UseChronologicalOrderToVerifyMsgPair )

Number of days the log files are kept before being deleted####

Element: DaysToKeepLogfiles

Default: 7

Controlling the comparison to determine whether a leaving message belongs to a specific pending alarm####

Elements: UseMsgTextToVerifyMsgPair, UseMsgClassToVerifyMsgPair, UseMsgProcToVerifyMsgPair, UseMsgNumberToVerifyMsgPair

Default: all true

During the allocation, a leaving message for a pending alarm is checked by default for compliance with all 4 message criteria (Text, Proc, Class, Number).

This behaviour can be influenced with these flags. If the corresponding flag for a criterion is not set (false), the criterion is ignored during the allocation.

Controlling the comparison to determine whether a coming message is already pending####

Elements: UseMsgTextToMatchPendingMsgs, UseMsgClassToMatchPendingMsgs, UseMsgProcToMatchPendingMsgs, UseMsgNumberToMatchPendingMsgs,
UseVar1ToMatchPendingMsgs, ... , UseVar8ToMatchPendingMsgs

Default: all true

Coming alarms are only ever detected as "already pending" if all elements specified with true match.

Log File##

A log file is generated in the current work directory daily - the name of the file is made up as follows:

LOG_YYYYMMDD.txt

(Year, Month, Day)