Web Services and

EcoStruxure™ Web Services

Supplementary technical information for system
integrators
Topics

1. What are web services?

2. Benefits
3. Evolving BMS architecture
4. Definition of terms
5. StruxureWare Building Operation Web Services
Generic Consume
EcoStruxure™ Web Services
6. StruxureWare™ Building Operation implementation
7. Guidelines
8. Licensing & part numbers

Schneider Electric – StruxureWare Building Operation v1.2: Web Services 2

Web Services
Wikipedia: A web service is a method of communication between two
electronic devices over the web (internet).

W3C: A “web service" as "a software system designed to support

interoperable machine-to-machine interaction over a network".

Based on open standards such as HTTP and XML-based protocols –

e.g. SOAP, REST

Web services are hardware, programming language, and operating

system independent

Applications written in different programming languages and running on

different platforms can seamlessly exchange data over intranet or the
Internet using web services

Schneider Electric – StruxureWare Building Operation v1.2: Web Services 3

Web Services
Allow different systems to integrate
Like other communication methods, all systems must support web services
(serve and/or consume) to communicate
o Thus not suitable to replace all current BMS integrations due to protocol
physical connection media (serial)
performance
legacy – e.g. fire panel
Internet
or Intranet
Other systems:
(Schneider Electric or third party)
Examples:
•Power management
•Data management
•Billing
•Analytics
•Finance

Supports
Web
Supports Services
Web
Supports Services
Supports
Web
Web SmartStruxure Solution powered
Services
Services by StruxureWare Building
Operation software

Schneider Electric – StruxureWare Building Operation v1.2: Web Services 4

Benefits of Web Services
Opens systems to exchange data beyond industry-specific protocols
Moving towards service oriented architecture (SOA)

IT-friendly

Flexible
Because web services use IT standards-based communications methods, integration
is platform independent

Cost savings from developing based on standards and re-usability of code for
other integrations

Web Services commonly used for:

Integration with Peer Systems
o Real Time: Values and Active Alarms
Integration with Host Systems
o Historical Data: Reporting and Analytics

Schneider Electric – StruxureWare Building Operation v1.2: Web Services 5

Evolving the BMS architecture

Schneider Electric – StruxureWare Building Operation v1.2: Web Services 6

BMS communications: Field bus

BMS communications
evolve:
from serial connections to
field bus

Schneider Electric – StruxureWare Building Operation v1.2: Web Services 7

BMS communications: TCP / IP level

BMS communications
evolve:
from serial connections to
field bus
field bus up to TCP / IP

Schneider Electric – StruxureWare Building Operation v1.2: Web Services 8

BMS communications: Web Services

Internet
or Intranet

Other systems:
(Schneider Electric or third party)
Examples:
•Power management
•Data management
•Billing
•Analytics
•Finance

BMS communications
evolve:
from serial connections to
field bus
field bus up to TCP / IP
now between systems
through Web Services
…with StruxureWare Building
Operation
Schneider Electric – StruxureWare Building Operation v1.2: Web Services 9
Evolving the BMS architecture

Internet
or Intranet

Other systems:
(Schneider Electric or third party)
Examples:
•Power management
•Data management
•Billing
•Analytics
•Finance

Moving from:
•communication between field
bus and plantroom (using
BACnet, Lon, Modbus)
To :
•communication between
plantroom and IT (using Web
Services)

Schneider Electric – StruxureWare Building Operation v1.2: Web Services 10

Beyond industry specific communication
Web Services move communication
System to System
beyond industry-specific devices and
systems
Opens the door to other systems
(beyond BMS), such as:
Web Services
including EcoStruxure o Analytics (energy efficiency)
Web Services
o Billing (retails)
o Power management (electrical
High-end device to distribution)
high-end device
-e.g. using BACnet/IP, o Data management
Modbus TCP
o Room reservation (hotels)
Industry-specific
protocols EcoStruxure Web Services is
- e.g. BACnet, LON, Modbus Schneider Electric’s defined standard
for Web Services
Low-end device to Natively integrating Schneider Electric’s
low-end device
-e.g. using BACnet MS/TP,
enterprise systems, including:
Modbus RTU
o Building management
o Power management
o Data center control

Schneider Electric – StruxureWare Building Operation v1.2: Web Services 11

Definition of terms
From the perspective of a SmartStruxure Solution powered by
StruxureWare Building Operation software
Consume: Take in data from other systems for use within the BMS system
o By means of EcoStruxure Web Services consume
o By means of Generic Consume

Serve: Provide data out to other systems

o By means of EcoStruxure Web Services serve

Consume Serve

Schneider Electric – StruxureWare Building Operation v1.2: Web Services 12

SmartStruxure Solution
Web Services available in StruxureWare Building Operation v1.2:
Available on both the Automation Server and the Enterprise Server
1.Generic Consume
General web services implementation to “consume” data into StruxureWare
Building Operation
o Connect to both SOAP and REST web services
Ideal when integrating to third party systems with a pre-existing web service
interface
Conforms to the third party’s format of data presented
2.EcoStruxure Web Services: Serve & Consume
Support “serving” and/or “consuming” data from other Schneider Electric
products & systems – e.g. StruxureWare Data Center Expert, StruxureWare
Power Monitoring Expert
Data “served” from StruxureWare Building Operation conforms to Schneider
Electric’s defined format
o There is no “generic serve” in web services; must conform to a format
EcoStruxure Web Services offers web services functionality beyond what is
capable via Generic Consume approach
Schneider Electric – StruxureWare Building Operation v1.2: Web Services 13
StruxureWare Building Operation

WEB SERVICES: GENERIC

CONSUME

14
Generic consume: Binding Tool
Consume "simple" values

Well suited for simple web

services with predictable
format such as
Weather
RSS feeds

Connect to both SOAP and

POX/REST web services

Easy to configure, widely

accessible to channel
personnel

Data retrieval is triggered

based on StruxureWare
Building Operation initiation
only – no polling

Schneider Electric – StruxureWare Building Operation v1.2: Web Services 15

Generic consume: Script programming
Suitable for processing
complicated web service
Varying in content
Results require parsing

Use script string parsing

keywords for complex results
Search, mid, left, right

Consume SOAP and REST

data into Script variables

Data retrieval is triggered

based on StruxureWare
Building Operation initiation
only
No automatic polling
Initiation can be scripted

Schneider Electric – StruxureWare Building Operation v1.2: Web Services 16

Generic consume use case examples
Weather services
Pass in zip code (or lat/long), return temperature, humidity and Barometric pressure
Forecast

Energy costs
Return cost per energy unit from utility
company
o Used for demand control

Integration tool
Data exchange with third party product

Notification
Text message
Email

Other
Sunrise/sunset by latitude/longitude
coordinates

Schneider Electric – StruxureWare Building Operation v1.2: Web Services 17

StruxureWare Building Operation

ECOSTRUXURE WEB
SERVICES

18
EcoStruxure™ Web Services
Consistent web services standard for Schneider
Electric products implementing web services
functionality
Common and easy integration into other Schneider
Electric products
Reduce time to market & complexity
Additional web services functionality available when
integrating multiple Schneider Electric systems
Functionality defined: Serve and Consume
o Browse the other system’s exposed objects
o Read/Write real time values
o Receive and acknowledge active alarms
o Read historical (trend log) data
Secure log on with system user name and password
Manage access to system directories and data
Can be used with third parties (if third party supports the EcoStruxure Web
Services standard)
Schneider Electric – StruxureWare Building Operation v1.2: Web Services 19
Evolving EcoStruxure Web Services standard

Functionality of the EcoStruxure Web Services standard will evolve

over time through the EcoStruxure program

StruxureWare Building Operation v1.2 implements current EcoStruxure

Web Services v1.1 standard
Not all Schneider Electric products will implement same portions of
standard, interoperability will increase over time
Interoperability may be version dependent (in both systems being integrated
through EcoStruxure Web Services)

Schneider Electric – StruxureWare Building Operation v1.2: Web Services 20

Web Services “serve” example
Third party device consumes values
served from a StruxureWare Building
Internet Operation server

Consume
Outside of StruxureWare Building
Serve

Operation, the data is published in table

format from a web server
Display format and use of data can vary

Third Party
(non-Schneider
Supports Electric device) Supports
Web Web
Services: Services:
Serve Consume

Schneider Electric – StruxureWare Building Operation v1.2: Web Services 21

EcoStruxure Web Services implementation
Web Services are supported in both the Automation Server and the Enterprise
Server
Like BACnet, Lon, and Modbus, create a “Web Service” interface
Select what kind of Web Service interface to create
Multiple Web Service interfaces can be created in a single server

Web Services interface options:

EcoStruxure Web Service EcoStruxure Web Services
Script Web Service SOAP Generic Consume via Script
Simple XML Web Service REST Generic Consume via Binding Tool
SOAP Web Service SOAP Generic Consume via Binding Tool

Schneider Electric – StruxureWare Building Operation v1.2: Web Services 22

EcoStruxure Web Services “consume” example
Create a connection to a remote device that supports EcoStruxure Web
Services

Once the connection is

successfully established,
remote objects are visible in
hardware tree view

Schneider Electric – StruxureWare Building Operation v1.2: Web Services 23

EcoStruxure Web Services “consume” example

Choose which devices and/or objects to “Host” in StruxureWare

Building Operation”
Not all third party objects need to be brought into the system

Schneider Electric – StruxureWare Building Operation v1.2: Web Services 24

EcoStruxure Web Services “consume” example

“Hosted” objects appear in the system

tree (like native objects)
These objects can be used in
StruxureWare Building Operation features,
such as:
oGraphics
oExtended trend logs
oTrendCharts
oPrograms

Schneider Electric – StruxureWare Building Operation v1.2: Web Services 25

EcoStruxure Web Services “consume” example

Value and alarm polling rates can

be defined per web services
connection

Alarm on loss of connection

Set number of retries and interval

Schneider Electric – StruxureWare Building Operation v1.2: Web Services 26

EcoStruxure Web Services Server
configuration

Select faster HTTP or

secure HTTPS protocols

Enable/Disable
Browse
Serve Value
Serve Alarm
Alarm Acknowledge
Serve History

Select Read/Write or
ReadOnly Mode for
Values

Schneider Electric – StruxureWare Building Operation v1.2: Web Services 27

EcoStruxure Web Services “serve” – User
configuration
Web Services communication between products requires a valid user
name and password for data exchange

A third party product connecting into StruxureWare Building

Operation requires a standard user with name and password
Connection will adhere to permissions granted to that user

Schneider Electric – StruxureWare Building Operation v1.2: Web Services 28

EcoStruxure Web Services “serve” – User
configuration

Serve
Restrict remote EcoStruxure Web
Services access to specific path(s)
with Read only or Read/Write
permissions

Consume
Allow or Deny the ability to “Host”
StruxureWare Building Operation
objects

Schneider Electric – StruxureWare Building Operation v1.2: Web Services 29

Guidelines
Web Services are ideal for:
Reporting
Analytics
Non-”time-critical” sharing of values and current alarms
o Not intended for time-sensitive, real-time control applications; polling only

System must support EcoStruxure Web Services to consume from

StruxureWare Building Operation
Other system (e.g. Schneider Electric system, third party system) must implement
EcoStruxure Web Services standard

Only the objects and functions defined in the EcoStruxure Web Services
standard can be served and supported
Example: Schedules, graphics, programs, and graphical TrendCharts cannot be
served
Values cannot be “forced” using web services – e.g. “forcing inputs”
Non-active alarms cannot be transmitted over web services

Schneider Electric – StruxureWare Building Operation v1.2: Web Services 30

Consideration
Device/System supports both Web System to System
Services and Industry-specific protocol
Which should you use for
integration? Web Services
including EcoStruxure
Web Services

Must understand how

much of the communications High-end device to
high-end device
functionality each side supports -e.g. using BACnet/IP,
Modbus TCP

One method may offer a more efficient way

to retrieve information over the other Industry-specific
protocols
o Example: Retrieving a multiple - e.g. BACnet, LON, Modbus
values with one command vs. one
at a time
Low-end device to
One device/system may not support the low-end device
-e.g. using BACnet
functionality required MS/TP, Modbus RTU

o Example: One system may not have implemented “accepting”

remote acknowledgement or alarms

Schneider Electric – StruxureWare Building Operation v1.2: Web Services 31

Licensing
Web services is an paid add-on option for the Automation Server and Enterprise Server
There is one license per P/N option
License is managed through the License Administrator
One license is required per Enterprise Server or Automation Server enabled
Different licensing structure for run-time usage of web services vs. development:

Run-Time Use Development Kit

Authorizes implementing EcoStruxure Web
Enables functionality to use the feature
Services support in third party (non-Schneider
in an Enterprise or Automation Server Electric) device/system

Generic (Consume) Web Services
• Read/Write real time values on
third party only
• Limited support for
StruxureWare Building
Operation side of
implementation
• Manually triggered based on
StruxureWare Building
Operation initiation only
EcoStruxure Web Services
• Read/Write real time values
• Receive and acknowledge active
alarms
• Easily browse the other system’s
exposed objects
• Read historical (trend log) data
• Support-able through PSS
• Polling (interval) based
EcoStruxure Web Services
• Access to EcoStruxure Web
Services Protocol
• Documentation
• Training
• Access to Servers for Development
Testing
• Development Support
• No licensing in products.
• Licensing is authorized legal
permission/approval to develop
EcoStruxure Web Services interface in
third party systems to interact with
StruxureWare Building Operation.

Schneider Electric – StruxureWare Building Operation v1.2: Web Services 32

Web services option part numbers
Run-Time Use Development Kit
Generic Web Services EcoStruxure Web Services EcoStruxure Web Services

• Read/Write third party real • Read/Write real time EcoStruxure Web • For real-time and historical
time values Services third party values (trend log):
• Send/Receive active alarms o Data exchange
• Acknowledge third party alarm if o Alarms
given write permission o Browsing
Consume • Easily browse the EcoStruxure Web • Access to EcoStruxure Web
Servicesthird party system’s exposed Services Protocol
objects • Documentation
License – Paid option License – Paid option • Training
P/N: SXWSWGWSX00001 P/N: SXWSWEWSX00001 • Access to Servers for
Development Testing
Additional support to what’s included
in “Consume” box above • Development Support
• Allows third party to Read/Write real
time SBO values License – Paid option
Serve & • Allows third party to acknowledge SBO
No standard P/N at this time
N/A Requires review/approval
Consume active alarms
• Expose SBO’s directory to be browsed process & legal agreement
License – Paid option Contact your corresponding
P/N: SXWSWEWSX00002 StruxureWare Building
Additional support to what’s included Operation Regional Launch
in “Serve & Consume” box(es) above Manager if you’re interested in
• Serve/Consume historical (trend log) the EcoStruxure Web Services
Historical data
N/A Development Kit.
Serve • Applies to direct business
License – Paid option (branches), partners, and local third
P/N: SXWSWEWSX00003 party companies

Schneider Electric – StruxureWare Building Operation v1.2: Web Services 33

System architecture using web services
Depending on system design, web services option(s) do not need to be enabled
on all servers (although possible)
For a multi-Automation Server system, likely only the Enterprise Server may be
licensed and enabled for web services
Enabled
for Web
Services
Internet
or Intranet

Other systems:
(Schneider Electric or third party)
Examples:
•Power management
•Data management
•Billing
•Analytics
•Finance

Schneider Electric – StruxureWare Building Operation v1.2: Web Services 34

System architecture using web services
In a single Automation Server system, the Automation Server must be licensed
and enabled for web services
Web services are paid add-on features requiring an extra license

Internet
or Intranet

Other systems:
(Schneider Electric or third party)
Enabled
for Web Examples:
•Power management
Services
•Data management
•Billing
•Analytics
•Finance

Schneider Electric – StruxureWare Building Operation v1.2: Web Services 35

Make the most of your energy