Software Toolbox Technical Blog

If you’ve been following our blog series on custom error detection, you’ll remember that OmniServer provides a large number of pre-defined Error Detection Codes (EDC) for use in different protocols for non-standard device communication.  And, again, it’s not uncommon to find an EDC from a vendor that is not pre-defined due to some specialized handling by the device manufacturer.

As we covered in our previous posts on creating a custom checksum and LRC, OmniServer gives you the ability to build custom EDCs in an OmniServer protocol to handle these situations.  This post, the final of three on custom Error Detection Codes, covers the basics steps to creating a custom CRC (Cyclic Redundancy Check) in an OmniServer protocol.

Common in the oil and gas industry, flow computers and devices store historical EFM (Electronic Flow Measurement) data used for analysis, custody transfer and production optimization.  Enron Modbus, which is a version of the open Modbus protocol, is a frequently used communication protocol by many EFM devices including but not limited to Schneider SCADAPack, ThermoScientific AutoPilot, Cameron NuFlo Scanners and many others.

In this video blog, I'll show you how to get started using our Enron Modbus driver to connect and gather real-time and EFM data from Enron Modbus devices from Wonderware applications.

OmniServer Wedges, included with OmniServer Professional Edition, are built-in components providing powerful, supplemental capabilities that expand the functionality of OmniServer beyond its core connectivity and data parsing abilities for non-standard devices.

The OmniServer File Wedge allows you to log your device data to any text file, including CSV, with a highly configurable format and flexible conditions.  And this ability is built into OmniServer, eliminating the need for separate external components.

In this video blog, I'll show you how to get started using the OmniServer File Wedge to easily log process data based on specified conditions, making it possible to monitor trends in your process and easily troubleshoot any issues that are discovered.

You may be aware that OmniServer provides a wide variety of pre-defined Error Detection Codes (EDC, also known as CRC, LRC and Checksums) for use in protocols for non-standard device communication.  However, it’s not uncommon to find an EDC that isn’t pre-defined due to some specialized handling by the device manufacturer.

To handle such situations, OmniServer provides the ability to build your own custom EDCs in an OmniServer protocol.  This post, the second of three on custom Error Detection Codes, will cover the basics of creating a custom LRC (Longitudinal Redundancy Check) in OmniServer.

OmniServer Plug-ins (or Wedges), which are included with OmniServer Professional Edition, are built-in components that provide powerful, supplemental capabilities that expand the functionality of OmniServer beyond its core connectivity and data parsing abilities for non-standard devices.

The OmniServer Email Plug-in / Wedge allows you to send your device data as an email message or text in a highly configurable format with configurable conditions.  And it provides this ability built into OmniServer, eliminating the need for separate external components.

In this video blog, I'll show you how to get started using the OmniServer Email Plug-in / Wedge to send timely email or text notifications to your key personnel based on specified conditions, allowing those individuals to quickly take the appropriate action to minimize any related loss or downtime that might occur. This includes configuring secure SSL or TLS encryption with a configurable port, as well as, a new test function for confirming email server settings work correctly.

The Message Queue Telemetry Transport (MQTT) standard is a lightweight publish/subscribe model communications protocol used widely for Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) integration of edge devices across a wide variety of industries around the world.

In this video blog, I'll show you how to get started using our MQTT Client driver to interface to an MQTT broker or server (including devices acting as a broker or server) to integrate data from your IIoT data into Wonderware applications.

If you’ve worked with OmniServer to connect your non-standard devices in the past, you may be aware of the large number of pre-defined Error Detection Codes (EDC, also known as CRC, LRC and Checksums) available.  However, as is the nature of custom protocols out there, it’s not uncommon to find an EDC that isn’t pre-defined due to some specialized handling by the device manufacturer.

To that end, OmniServer provides the flexibility to define your own custom EDCs in an OmniServer protocol.  This post, the first of three on custom Error Detection Codes, will cover the basics of creating a simple custom checksum in OmniServer.

When you live in a remote region that is one of the most arid places on earth, you import your raw materials, and you’re making millions of hectoliters of beer a year, you have to make the most of all the resources you have and leverage what is in abundance in your location.  Namibia Breweries Ltd. (NBL) has a long history of success in a tough environment at their Windhoek site. They have received numerous awards for their innovative approaches to meeting their information system needs.

In this blog post, we’ll share their look into how they use off-the-shelf software and their teams' intellectual know-how and creativity to empower their manufacturing success.  If you read the stories in Automation World or Pro Food World you learned about how Andre Engelbrecht, manager of industrial control systems at NBL, and his teammates Annemarie Kruger, Rolando du Pisani and others unlocked data sources and built a digital smart manufacturing platform across the entire facility.  In this article, we’re going to share the rest of the story of NBL’s integration points, problems solved, and how they leveraged Software Toolbox’s full value proposition as part of their team effort.