Software Toolbox Technical Blog

Software-based licensing is a commonality among software solutions across all industries, not just industrial process control.  It's flexible, doesn't require physical shipping and is very reliable. But some system architectures can ultimately benefit from another licensing option - hardware keys.

Hardware key licensing is invaluable for high-availability systems for a number of reasons.  We've recently expanded licensing support in OmniServer, the proven OPC solution for integrating non-standard devices that don't have an off-the-shelf driver, to include optional hardware key support.

In this blog post, we'll cover the key reasons that hardware key licensing is beneficial for many OmniServer users.

Barcode scanners and printers are devices that are very common in a variety of industries, whether it's for use in a manufacturing process or a multitude of other possible uses.  But how do you go from scanning a barcode to printing that barcode?

In this video, we will cover how to connect to both a Datalogic barcode scanner and a Zebra barcode printer, as well as, transferring the scanned barcode data to the printer automatically.

If you know nothing else about OmniServer, you probably know it is commonly used for accessing information from devices that use ‘non-standard’ protocols including such devices as weight scales, barcode readers, and printers either over serial connections or Ethernet connections.

From its beginnings 25 years ago, OmniServer was designed to save time and effort when integrating your "other" devices, especially when compared to the time, effort and cost of alternatives such as custom code.

In this blog post, we will step through the 5 most time-saving features of OmniServer's Visual Protocol Editor, including short demo videos of each feature, highlighting how they can help you save up to 40% more of your time and effort when configuring an OmniServer protocol to communicate to your other devices.

OmniServer's connectivity and data parsing capabilities are its primary job; however, they are only the part of how OmniServer helps with integrating non-standard devices with Inductive Automation's Ignition HMI/SCADA.  How does the device data actually make it into Ignition?

In this video blog, I'll show you how to make an OPC UA client connection from Ignition to OmniServer for integrating process data from all of your "other" devices that don't have a standard, off-the-shelf driver - and all without the expense and headaches of having to write custom code.

OmniServer's connectivity and data parsing capabilities are only part of how OmniServer helps with integrating non-standard devices with external software such as HMI, SCADA, MES, historians and other client application.  How does the device data actually make it into the client?

In this video blog, I'll show you how to make a secure OPC UA connection from OPC UA clients supporting the Data Access profile to OmniServer for integrating process data from all of your "other" devices where there isn't a standard, off-the-shelf driver - all without the cost and effort of having to write a custom driver.

It’s a new year and a new decade and, as everything moves faster, we all have to keep our knowledge and skills current.

In this blog post, we provide a quick reference to learning resources that users have told us were the most helpful to them over the course of the last year.

If you aren’t already subscribed to our blog, we encourage you to subscribe . We publish new content about once a week, sometimes more often, and you can control when you are notified of new content.

Those of you even somewhat familiar with OmniServer are likely aware that OmniServer is frequently used for accessing information from devices that use ‘non-standard’ protocols including such devices as weight scales, barcode readers, and printers either over serial connections or Ethernet connections.

Over the past several years, we've been working to evolve the OmniServer user experience with the goal of making it easier and more efficient to build a non-standard protocol/driver.

In this video blog post, we will step through the most powerful features of the new visual protocol editor for OmniServer, demonstrating the key enhancements to the user experience that will make integrating your non-standard devices easier and faster than ever.

Another common non-standard device integration scenario that we encounter is integration of phone and intercom systems with the control system.  There is normally a control application provided by the system manufacturer but that adds another system that the user has to know, use and maintain.

In the next blog post of a series on OmniServer user stories, we’ll discuss a specific use case of a system integrator working with a correctional facility needing direct integration of their Telecor phone and intercom system with Wonderware.  And we'll discuss how OmniServer provided a driver to the Telecor system without the need for custom code, eliminating the need for an additional control application.