Software Toolbox Technical Blog

I'm sure that, by now, you've at least heard about the latest and greatest TOP Server just released on November 15 – TOP Server V6.0.  In case you missed it, I did another high-level post giving you an overview of the five biggest features from the release - click here to see that post.

Now, let's take an in-depth look at the enhancements made to the user interface itself.  New users will find the enhancements very user-friendly and existing users will appreciate the thought that's gone into increasing productivity without sacrificing existing knowledge about configuring TOP Server.

By now, I'm sure you've at least heard about the latest and greatest TOP Server just released on November 15 – so you've likely received one or more of our mailings announcing the release of TOP Server V6.0.

And you're probably asking, “If I’ve already read those emails, what more is this blog post going to tell me?”  Keep reading to find out more specific details about five of the most exciting features in TOP Server V6.0.

A key feature of any HMI package is the ability to not only show the current state of your control system, but to then store that information for historic purposes. But what good is historical data when you can’t easily access it? How can historical data result in process improvements, financial returns, or increases in efficiency if you’re not accessing it?

Over the years, I have run across a number of system integrators asking question about how to connect various systems. One of the common ones I run across is how to connect Wonderware products to other servers or systems.

So you just installed a Software Toolbox product and have run into a problem and you have exhausted all the normal troubleshooting steps – what do you do now?

The next step should be to give our support team a call, or shoot us an email. Whether you call or email, the moment you reach out to us a support ticket will be created and your support history is recorded in its entirety in our CRM system for future reference.

This blog post will cover how easy it is to access your current and historical cases with the Software Toolbox support team.

In this blog, we will cover the built-in startup and testing features included in the TOP Server including a video link to see these tools in action.

These tools include a sample OPC client that can help with quickly testing connectivity to your devices, as well as device-to-server level and server-to-client level communication diagnostics. The user interface displays important informational messages, as well as communication warnings and errors. Also available is extensive and easy to navigate help documentation.

We’ll briefly discuss each of these tools and take a look at a video which walks us through the use of each of these tools and points us to further troubleshooting resources at Software Toolbox.

Have you ever been in a situation where you were working with both Wonderware and some other client (HMI, SCADA, other) and needed to share data?  Perhaps your company acquired another company or assets and a non-Wonderware HMI/SCADA came as part of the assets.  Or perhaps your company merged with another and now your Wonderware system is expected to play nicely with some other system.  Your options for sharing data largely depend on what software interfaces this "other system" supports.

In this blog post, I'll discuss how to share your Wonderware ArchestrA or InTouch data via OPC UA for situations where you're working with an OPC UA capable client application that needs access to process data in your Wonderware system.

Barcode scanners are one of those types of devices that are extremely common in a variety of industries, whether it's for use in a manufacturing process or for cataloging inventory or a multitude of other possible uses.  But how do you go from scanning a barcode to making that barcode data available to your monitoring applications such as an HMI or a SCADA?

Over the years of working in the automation software realm, I've seen dozens of clients have this seemingly basic need to bring barcodes up into various software packages.  Regardless of the make/model of the scanner, the process is almost identical.  For example, you could connect to a DataLogic scanner in under five minutes. (Click for How-To Video)

This post will cover the steps for bridging that gap between your scanners and your client applications.