Connecting to OPC

Question

Hello jmpers,

I was asked if there is a way to connect JMP to OPC I must admit that I don’t know much about OPC

I usually connect JMP to SQL Server and do analysis on the data is it the same?

How can I define a connection to OPC and then retrieve the data? The client wants real time data to show on a control chat..

Tanks,

Pniel

David_Burnham · Answer

Mark

I would guess your users are using an Excel add-in that exploits the OLE DB interface to the databased.  This is a Microsoft based connection that provides programmatic access to the database - either as historical data (PHD) or for online control (OPC).

The interface supports SQL style queries such as "select from" as well as more sophisticated methods that allow for re-sampling of the data with or without interpolation (these are common techniques to generate more manageable and meaningful data from data sampled at high frequency).

There are two key requirements to successfully interface between PHD and JMP:

1. Technology capability - JMP supports OLE automation so it should be possible to build a library of functions that act as a connector.  These functions would be packaged as a DLL file which would be accessible by JMP through an appropriate front-end.

2. Knowledge of the PHD data scheme - the OLE DB interface for PHD hasa user guide which seems to provide the required level of information.

-Dave

markschahl · Answer

This is nearly four years old now. Were you able to get JMP to talk to OPC?

Dear JMP Customer Support People and 3rd party developers:

This is an opportunity for you to increase your user base of industrial users. OPC is a communication standard that is used extensively across industry that allows users to get live and historical data from equipment and control systems. A lot of the world's industrial plants use Honeywell control systems + historian. The Honeywell historian database can be queried using OPC, the SQL is very limited.

http://www.matrikonopc.com/main/about.aspx

The biggest complaint I get from JMP users in my company is: getting our data (live/historical process measurements) into JMP is a pain. We currently have to fetch data in Excel then push/pull into JMP. Users are constantly asking if there is a way to bypass the Excel step. We would definitely have more JMP users if we could get the data directly into JMP... We could finally use the power that is in Application Builder to build monitoring applications. My mind is racing now with all of the possibilities...