Software Toolbox Technical Blog

A common question I run into when talking to OmniServer users is "How can I gain more visibility into what is going on with my OmniServer."  After all, a primary concept for an OPC Server is to be invisible – to be a transparent converter between the protocol used by a device, and that used by your SCADA or HMI (i.e. OPC, Wonderware SuiteLink, etc.).

While there are a number of answers to how you can be more aware of what is going on with your system, this fourth post in our "OmniServer Did You Know?" blog series focuses on the importance of system tags, and specifically how they can be used in the OmniServer to query the health of the server as a whole, as well as individual device connections.

You've probably received one of my emails or possibly heard from a colleague about the latest TOP Server released on June 8 – so you may have a general idea of the key new features in the TOP Server V6.2 release.

In this blog, I'll go through the biggest four features released in V6.2 in more detail and how they benefit you as a TOP Server user.

As you likely already know, OmniServer is primarily used to retrieve information from devices that use ‘non-standard’ protocols to communicate such as weight scales, barcode readers, and printers.

But were you aware that OmniServer, as part of that function, is capable of specifying a default initial value for data items on startup?  In this third post in our "OmniServer Did You Know?" blog series, keep reading to find out how to use initial values for your data items in OmniServer and under what situations that will be important.

There are some powerful new features available with TOP Server V6.1.  In case you missed it, I did a high-level post giving you an overview of the six biggest features from the V6.1 release - click here to see that post.

Today, I'd like to give you a more detailed review of the great improvements made to the Mitsubishi Ethernet driver in TOP Server V6.1.  Keep reading to find out about new device model support and some great increases in read and write performance for communication with your Mitsubishi controllers.

You've potentially already heard about the latest and greatest TOP Server - Version 6.1.  You may have read my blog post about the 6 new features to be most excited about already.

But if you'd like to join me, in the following on-demand video blog, I'll step you through the new features that Wonderware users should care about in TOP Server V6.1 beyond what they are and cover how you can benefit from them, as well as, showing you what you can expect in future releases.

If you are familiar with the OmniServer, you probably already know that it can be used to retrieve information from devices that use ‘non-standard’ protocols to communicate – typically these are your weight scales, barcode readers, and printers.

However, did you know that the OmniServer can also retrieve data that are exposed via web services, or even websites?  Keep reading to find out you can "scrape" web sites or services to integrate useful information into your systems using OmniServer.

There are some powerful new features now available with TOP Server V6.1.  In case you missed it, I did a high-level post giving you an overview of the six biggest features from the V6.1 release - click here to see that post.

Today, I'd like to give you a more detailed summary of the features of the new CODESYS Ethernet driver now available in TOP Server V6.1.  Typically used by controller manufacturers for whom creating custom firmware isn't scalable, CODESYS has grown in usage globally over the years. Keep reading to find out more about the CODESYS Ethernet driver both now and what's on the horizon for integrating your CODESYS devices.

There are some powerful new features now available with TOP Server V6.1.  In case you missed it, I did a high-level post giving you an overview of the six biggest features from the V6.1 release - click here to see that post.

Today, I'd like to give you an in-depth look at the new Siemens Plus Suite now available in TOP Server V6.1.  Over the past few years, we've heard from many of you that you need the latest functionality and connectivity for Siemens controllers. Keep reading to find out how our latest suite for Siemens connectivity provides the options you've been looking for.