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CitectHistorian Configuration
Training Manual
Version 4.2
Volume 1
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TRADEMARKS
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mentioned in this manual. Trademarks shown below were derived from various sources.
CitectSCADA, CitectHMI, CitectFacilities, CitectHistorian and Ampla are registered trademarks of Schneider Electric (Australia) Pty Ltd
Windows, Windows NT, Windows 2000, Windows XP, Windows Vista, MSSQL Server and Excel are trademarks of Microsoft Corporation.
Oracle is a registered trademark of Oracle Corporation and/or its affiliates.
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General Notice:
Some product names used in this manual are used for identification purposes only and may be trademarks of their respective companies.
About Us
Members of Educational Services' team of Instructional Designers have tertiary qualifications in Education, Educational Course Development
and are also experienced trainers in their own right; some are also published authors. Currently, the team is supporting a range of over 70
courses in multiple languages and multiple software environments.
Authors
Contributors
Overview
Introduction
CitectHistorian is a plant-wide reporting tool that allows traditionally disparate data
types to be combined, compared and logged on a common platform. By
communicating with SCADA systems, Oracle, and SQL databases, CitectHistorian
allows the collation and management of production data for delivery to a wide
range of business applications.
The data collected by the CitectHistorian system can be published on a server and
accessed directly via client applications, or it can be logged as historical data to an
SQL Server database, exposing it to a vast array of reporting tools including SQL
Server 2005 Reporting Services.
Your Instructor
Please write the name of your Instructor here ____________________
Your Instructor will be spending the next three days with you, and will guide you
through this training course. Your Instructor is an experienced CitectHistorian user
so please feel free to ask questions.
Defining the This training manual is a supplement to the authorised training. In order to make
Scope of this full use of the software you should also refer to the Online Help and CitectHistorian
Training Manual Knowledge Base.
The graphics displaying screen shots have been taken using the Windows XP
operating system using Classic mode display properties. If you are running a
different version of Windows then your screens may differ slightly from the ones
shown in the training manual.
Some screen shots may have been taken from beta versions of the software and may
vary slightly from release screen shots.
Course Material Please take a few moments to have a look through your Training Pack. In addition
to this manual, you will find the following items:
Compendium
Mouse Pad
Pen
Notepad
Memory Stick
The current version of CitectHistorian on CD or DVD Rom
Course Assets For this course, in addition to the standard CitectHistorian software, you will need
the following files.
ActiveX.txt Sample ActiveX code for an exercise in the course (to save
typing and potentially creating errors).
The Instructor will advise on the location of these files as they are required.
Course Program The training course will take three days to complete. The following program
outlines the topics that will be covered on each day:
Day Topics
1 Data Sources
CitectHistorian at a Glance
Historian
Historian Status Indicator
Publish Information
Backfill Manager
2 Manage Projects
Tasks
Events
The Excel Client
CitectHistorian Web Client
3 Integrity Checker
Historian Interpolation
Process Analyst
Reports Deployment Manager
Sample Reports
Energy Reports
Case Study
Course Summary
Add'l CitectHistorian Installation
Info CitectHistorian in a Domain
Microsoft Reporting Services
Support If you require support during training or would like additional information about
any concepts or products in the course, please ask your Instructor.
Objectives These are the skills you will achieve by the end of each chapter. An overview
providing a brief synopsis of the topic begins each section. Often, examples are
given to illustrate the conceptual overview.
Example -
The CitectHistorian configuration environment consists of several toolbars, browser
windows and programming editors. This chapter introduces the user to the
configuration environment using an example project with pre-defined elements.
Exercises After a concept is explained you will be given exercises that practise the skills you
just learned. These exercises begin by explaining the general concept of each
exercise and then step-by-step procedures are listed to guide you through each
procedure.
Example -
Paste a genie from a library in the Include project onto a test page called Utility.
1 Run the Milk_Upgrade project then trigger and view some alarms.
i. Use the following template settings:
User Input Whenever you are required to type information into a field or dialog box it will be
written in this font
Example -
KETTLE_TEMP/25
Hints and Tips This heading will provide you with useful or helpful information that will make
configuring your project easier
Example -
Note A note will refer to a feature which may not be obvious at first glance but
something that you should always keep in mind
Example -
Note:
Any events named GLOBAL are enabled automatically when events are enabled.
Menus and Menu Text separated by the double arrow symbol “»” indicates that you are to select a
Options menu
Example -
File » New…
Horizontal and Text written this way indicates the Horizontal then the (Vertical) tab you are to
Vertical Tabs select.
Example -
Appearance (General)
See Also Text written in this way indicates further references about the current topic.
Example -
See Also:
For further information about Templates, see CitectHistorian Help - Using Page
Templates.
Further Training This heading describes topics that are covered in more advanced courses.
Example -
Further Training:
Trend Table Maths is a topic in the CitectSCADA Customisation and Design
Course.
Caution This heading describes situations where the user needs to be careful.
Example -
Caution!
If you restore to the Current project, then the currently selected project in the
Citect Explorer will be overwritten.
Overview
Introduction
CitectHistorian takes information from various data sources and prepares it for use
by client applications. This chapter describes the data sources that will be used
during this training course.
The Aladdin The Aladdin Project has been created specifically to generate data for the
Project CitectHistorian Training Course. This project is set in a fictitious mountain resort
where guided tours are held through a cave system. The project consists of three
parts.
Further Training:
Detailed training in managing a CitectSCADA environment is covered in the
variety of CitectSCADA Courses.
Building
Management
The SCADA system monitors tags and trends to provide a graphical representation
of their values:
Building In addition to localised data displays on the Building Management page, there are
Monitoring three status pages for data monitoring of Cave Temperature, Carbon Dioxide levels
and Wind Speeds.
Recipe
Management
This fictitious cave system also has pure natural spring water. Hidden away from
the view of the general public there is a small cottage industry creating flavoured
spring water. This process requires a recipe management system.
Plant Monitoring The Aladdin Cave System is located in a National Park and is therefore in an
and Data environmentally sensitive area. A water filtration system has been implemented in
Management order to take the waste water from the bottling plant and release clean water back
into the environment. Government health codes require that the treated water is
monitored for different chemical levels and that the historical data is kept for seven
years.
Page Use
Cave_System Building Management
1. Temperature (cave-name_Temp)
2. Air flow (cave-name_Air)
3. Person count (cave-name_Count)
4. Door status (cave-name_Door)
Page Use
Cave_Temp Cave temperature sensors in each of the sub-caves
Gas_Emission Carbon dioxide levels in each of the sub-caves
Wind_Speed Airflow at the doorway of each sub-cave
ii. Open these pages in the Graphic Builder and note their
configuration.
iii. Observe the list of variable tags that pertain to the objects seen on
the graphics pages.
iv. Similarly, note the Trend tags and on the Alarm menu, the various
Alarm tags.
Note:
Theses steps are only required for CitectSCADA V7.1 to work with the tightened
security restrictions - external connections are blocked by default; these instructions
open the data connection.
i. Open the CitectSCADA Project Editor and select the menu item Tools
» Computer Setup Editor.
ii. In the Parameter Reference field at the lower right, type ctapi and
click the Go button.
iii. Select the first search result CtAPI Parameters.
ii. Select the Aladdin project from the menu. Click Next.
iii. Select Server and Control Client as the role of the computer. Click
Next to continue.
v. Continue to click Next until the Events Setup screen appears. Make
sure the Events are enabled. The Events are used in this project to
generate the data that will be collected using CitectHistorian.
vi. Within the Startup Functions Setup window select the Client and
Servers item. Check that the function Startup() is listed under the
column heading Startup Function.
viii. Type StartUp() into the Modify Startup Function dialog box and
select OK.
Note:
The StartUp() function will set the initial values of all the tags and run the events
that automate the project.
x. The last screen to check is the General Options Setup. Make sure
that the Startup Page: is !Cave_Startup. Proceed to the end of the
wizard by clicking the Next button and click the Finish button to
complete the setup.
ii. Observe that the six pages discussed in previous exercises are
accessible from this page (along with access to a trends page).
iii. Open each of these pages and note the data being displayed, the
data values changing as the automation scripts control the tags and
the fact that most values can also be manually changed.
The SQL The second data source is the SQL Database. This database contains preconfigured
Database tables that will be used to transfer data between the database and the SCADA
system.
This database can be used to emulate the typical ERP system found in most larger
organisations. The database will be used as a destination for extracted data and as a
source of data for transient analysis.
iii. Right click the Databases folder and select Restore Database…
from the menu.
iv. Name the new database SQL Database. Select the option From
Device as the Source. Click the ellipsis button to select the device.
v. When the Specify Backup dialog opens click the Add button.
vi. Select the file SQLDatabase. This is a database that has been pre-
prepared and contains tables that will be used in later chapters. Your
Instructor will provide the location of the file.
vii. Click OK to close the Locate Backup File dialog, then OK to close
the Specify Backup dialog.
viii. Tick the Restore box:
Overview
Introduction
CitectHistorian connects to information from various data sources and makes it
available to client applications, in addition it creates a permanent store of the
collected data for later use. This chapter describes how to connect CitectHistorian
Servers to Data Sources and then to prepare the Data Items to be available to other
applications.
What is CitectHistorian?........................................................3-2
CitectHistorian System ..........................................................3-5
CitectHistorian Server Wizard...............................................3-6
Connect Data Sources..........................................................3-11
Publish Data.........................................................................3-18
Create a User........................................................................3-20
OPC as a Data Source..........................................................3-30
What is CitectHistorian?
Transfer Traditionally SCADA applications were set up to control and monitor mining or
Information plant operations. They can store data and report, however, in order to export that
data into other business systems it was necessary to transfer the information
manually. CitectHistorian provides connectivity to enable the transfer of
information between SCADA and other business systems. Essentially
CitectHistorian performs three functions:
Historian The Historian is a simple Data Store specifically designed to deal with long term
storage of data from a large number of SCADA tags and alarms, creating an easily-
accessible, single point of reference for data analysis. Theoretically, data can be
logged for any period of time, as long as the work is within the constraints of the
available hard disk space on the CitectHistorian Server. The Historian makes use of
SQL Server 2005.
Data Transfer Tasks are used to automatically initiate a defined activity whenever an associated
event occurs. Setting up a task involves a process of selecting the type of activity to
be executed, identifying the triggering event(s), and then configuring the details of
the required action. The types of activities that can be implemented include:
How It All Fits This diagram demonstrates how the CitectHistorian Server is able to connect to
Together multiple Production Control Systems and Business Databases, and then act as a
gateway between those different data sources. Information from the Control
System is stored in Business Databases, such as Microsoft SQL Server, Oracle and
the Historian repository and used for future reporting and analysis purposes.
Data from all of the available data sources can be published to the CitectHistorian
clients, including Excel, Microsoft Reporting Services and the Web Client, for real-
time ad-hoc reporting and analysis.
CitectHistorian There are various components that make up a CitectHistorian system. These
Components include:
CitectHistorian Server
CitectHistorian Administration Tools
- Historian Data Manager
- Historian Status Indicator
- Configuration Backup and Restore
- Historian Reports Deployment Manager
- Historian Configuration Manager
- Report Development Tools
CitectHistorian Client Tools
- Excel Client
- CitectHistorian Web Client
SCADA connector
- CitectSCADA
- OPC
Other Connectors
- Oracle
- MS-SQL
A CitectHistorian system consists of a combination of these components.
The Historian Server Wizard is a tool that is designed to prepare your server to
receive information from your data sources quickly and easily. Once the computer
has been prepared to be a CitectHistorian Server, it needs to be added to the
CitectHistorian Server Manager, which must run on that local machine, now
designated the server.
iii. The SQL Server instance will be selected by default. Click Next.
vi. Select the Database Name from the drop-down list to which
CitectHistorian will connect and click Next.
vii. Accept the default Registration Name and click Finish to complete
the registration.
viii. When the Add Historian Server Wizard is complete the Historian
Configuration Manager will open. Expand the tree to see the newly
created server structure of the CitectHistorian Server.
Build a Data Once a CitectHistorian Server has been added to the tree, the list of Data Sources
Source List it exposes can be built. A Data Source is an object that CitectHistorian may access
either to send or retrieve data. All connections must be defined as a Data Source
before CitectHistorian can use them. Connectors are currently available for:
Property Value
Name Aladdin
Type Control System
name or IP Address Name of student's PC
(this may also be localhost for computers
running both CitectHistorian and
CitectSCADA)
User name Engineer
Password citect
Note:
The term Control System is used to refer to a CitectSCADA plant management
system. All other systems must be connected as an OPC connection; this is
discussed later in the course.
Note:
If CitectSCADA Alarms are to be accessed then CitectHistorian must be connected
to a CitectSCADA Alarm Server.
Note:
The SCADA User must have a password configured. If the User has a blank
password they will not be able to connect using CitectHistorian. Also, if the
SCADA system is CitectSCADA Version 7.1, the CTapi security must have been
properly configured, else the connection will fail.
iii. Test the connection then click OK to close the window.
Note:
The Aladdin project must be running in order for the connection test to be
successful.
vi. A second dialog box will appear asking to run the Integrity Checker
Tool. This tool will be examined at length in Integrity Checker
(page 13-1). Select No.
vii. The Historian Configuration Manager will display the Data Items in
a tree layout. All data items are ordered into a folder structure
imported directly from the source database.
viii. Click OK. Just as it did with the CitectSCADA data source,
CitectHistorian will import the Data Source Schema of the SQL Data
Source.
ix. Open the new data source. The tables have been ordered into a
folder structure imported directly from the source database.
Data is Available Once the CitectHistorian Server has connected to the required data sources, the
to Clients items that will be available to the client applications need to be made visible. This
process is referred to as Publishing Data. CitectHistorian is able to publish all
items from the data sources or only the items selected. The simplest way to add
data items is to drag and drop the whole data source into the Published Information
node.
ii. Open the Published Information node. The items from the original
data source have been copied in their original folder configuration.
Note:
In the displayed hierarchy, AladdinsCaves refers to the ClusterName of the
CitectSCADA project.
See Also:
For further information about Publishing Data, see CitectHistorian Help -
Publishing Data » Publishing Data.
Users and The last step necessary to allow users to gain access to the data sources is to create
Permissions a User and to assign Permissions to the user. CitectHistorian security allows each
User to have specific data assigned as accessible and to determine the constraints of
each user's access (i.e. READ, WRITE, VIEW, etc.). These constraints are known
as Permissions.
ii. Type in the Name and Password of the new User (here Name and
Password are both John). Click OK.
2 Assign the User permission to view the Published Items. This will
allow the User to gain access to the data items from Client
applications.
i. Select the Aladdin folder under Published Information. Right click
Aladdin and select Properties from the menu.
ii. Go to the Permissions tab and Add the User to the Folder
Properties. Click OK.
iii. When the Confirm Changes dialog appears apply the changes to all
sub-items and attributes. Click OK to apply the changes.
ii. Observe that CitectHistorian users are defined in the SQL back-end
like any SQL user.
Now that the data connections have been created in the CitectHistorian Server and a
User has been given permission to view the Published data, it is possible to view
the data in the Client tools.
Note:
Equivalent information for Microsoft Office 2007 is contained in the
CitectHistorian Help.
iv. Open the Trusted Publishers tab. Enable the Visual Basic Project
option. Click OK.
iii. Click the New button to open a new spreadsheet. When the
spreadsheet opens the first button on the CitectHistorian toolbar will
become enabled.
Note:
The database name in the previous screen ("Historian") refers to an in-built name
derived from the name of the product rather than specifically being a Historian.
Note:
This action may trigger a Windows installation message. Simply wait for it to
complete.
ii. Expand the Aladdin folder to display its subfolder in the Published
Data pane. Expand the AladdinsCaves folder to display its
subfolders.
iii. Select the Digital Alarms folder then click the right-pointing arrow to
move them into the Selected Data pane. Change the Duration to 15
mins. Click Next > to continue.
v. When the report is generated it will display the alarm records for the
last 15 minutes.
CitectHistorian Configuration Manual Release 1 3-29
OPC as a Data Source
OPC Data The final Data Source type to be included is OPC (as there is no Oracle server
Sources available in the training environment, this option will not be investigated).
CitectHistorian can connect to any OPC DA server compliant with OPC DA 2.05a
or with OPC DA3.
Note:
If you connect to Schneider Electric's OPC Factory Server (OFS) as a data source,
you can only import the schema for one connected OPC device. This means you
must configure a separate Historian data source for each device connected to OFS,
and set the browse root at the device level.
In the following exercises a demonstration version of the Cogent OPC server will
be used as a temporary data source.
OPC-HDA
OPC-HDA is a server mode of operation which permits Manufacturing Execution
System (MES) packages (Ampla, for instance) to source data from the plant in
order to determine long-term operational parameters such as plant Key Performance
Indicators, Overall Equipment Effectiveness etc.
iii. The first screen recommends closing all other applications before
continuing; please don't do this. Click Next > to continue.
v. Accept the default of anyone using the computer. Click Next > to
continue.
vi. The default Destination Folder is fine. Click Next > to continue.
vii. Accept the offered Start Menu Folder of Cogent. Click Install to
commence the software installation.
viii. Click Finish to complete the process. The installer will have created
three icons on the desktop.
vii. Select the Web Server option in the left-side icon column.
viii. The Cogent web server can interfere with the web components of the
Historian environment and must be disabled. Ensure that the check
box Act as web server (in the upper-left corner) is cleared.
ix. Click the View Data button (to the lower-left of the screen) to see
the tag values being generated by the DataSim simulation module.
x. Select any value in the list of tags and observe that manual values
may be provided.
xi. Don't change anything. Close the Data Browser and the Properties
window.
Name Cogent
Type OPC
iv. Click the Add button, configure the OPC dialog box as follows:
v. Click OK.
vi. Click OK. The Import Schema task will launch automatically.
ii. OPC tags cannot be viewed in the same fashion as SCADA tags. The
system has not yet been configured to be able to display the data in
a client, the OPC connection will be re-visited when conditions are
ready.
Overview
Introduction
The Historian is a simple Data Store specifically designed to provide long term
storage of tags and alarm data from a number of SCADA sources, creating an
easily-accessible, single point of reference for data analysis. Theoretically, data can
be logged for any period of time, as long as it works within the constraints of the
available hard disk space on the CitectHistorian Server.
The Historian is a Microsoft SQL Server 2005 database with schema optimised for
writing Tag/Alarm data, and interfaces for retrieving the data. The Historian Data
Manager allows users to import/export data. When used with a broader archiving
strategy to CD or network, export creates a sustainable method of permanent
storage for plant data.
Data Repository Historian is a SQL 2005 database designed to store and gain access to large
amounts of data over long periods of time. Trend files by their nature consume
large amounts of disk space. This makes it difficult to store and consequently to
retrieve contiguous data over large periods of time. A system that has many trends
may create large amounts of network traffic unnecessarily by polling for data that
changes infrequently. By contrast, Historian works by exception. A sample of data
is stored only when there has been a change in the tag value.
Trend Values
A trend value is sampled over
a regular time period or
whenever an event occurs.
This will happen regardless of
whether there has been a
change in the Tag value.
Historian
Historian records a sample of
data only when a significant
change in the Tag value has
occurred. In this example the
source data is polled every
100ms and the data is only
recorded if it differs by at least
0.01
See Also:
For further information about Historian Data Fields, see CitectHistorian Help
Topics - Index » Historian » Data Fields.
Numeric Data The size of data samples taken by Historian are based on the tag type. The table
below shows the information that is stored with every Numeric sample.
Digital Data The table below shows the information that is stored with every Digital sample.
String Data The table below shows the information that is stored with every String sample.
Alarm Data The table below shows the information that is stored with every Alarm sample.
Manage the The creation and management of an Historian database is achieved via the
Historian Historian Data Manager, a component of CitectHistorian that controls the
Database interaction with SQL Server 2005. It allows the user to perform basic data
management tasks, such as exporting and importing, backup and restore, and
permanent archiving.
Before the Historian can be used it must be set up to connect to the SQL Server by
the Historian Data Manager.
or
Open the CitectHistorian Configuration Manager. Right click the Historian node
and select Properties from the menu. Click the Historian Data Manager... button.
ii. Click the New Server button. This will open the Historian Server
Connection dialog. In the Server Name field, add the name of the
server.
iv. Optionally, click the Test button to confirm connectivity to the SQL
Database. Click OK to close the test dialog box.
v. Click OK to continue.
vi. After the connection has been made the Historian Data Manager will
display the name of the server.
SQL Database The Historian data is stored in an SQL database. Once the Historian has connected
to the SQL Server the next task is to create the database itself.
Table By default the Historian database consists of two files, where <Name> represents
Configuration the name of the database.
File Description
<Name>_Log the database log file
<Name>_Data the numeric, digital and string samples, and the associated
configuration information
Advanced Table If the Advanced Table Configuration option is chosen the _Data file is split and
Configuration the numeric data is placed into a separate file, allowing faster seek times.
File Description
Numeric the numeric sample data
Digital & String the digital and string samples, and configuration data.
Database Files Each of the database files has properties that may be configured by the user to suit
the individual application
Property Action
Name the name of the file
To change one of the default settings for the file group properties, select
the relevant cell in the table, and then click it again to make the required
value adjustments.
Initial Size the starting size of the file. The default is 3Mb for data files, 1Mb for the
log file.
Maximum a cap on the file size. The minimum value you can use is that set for Initial
Size Size, the maximum is 2,097,152MB
Grow By the growth rate for the database. This sets the percentage of the maximum
that the database will grow by when it runs low on space. The default is 10
percent
Mode The Mode column determines how the growth of a database file is
managed. You have the option to automatically increase a file size by a
percentage of the existing size (%), or via units measured in megabytes
(MB). Selecting None switches automatic database growth off.
File the location of the file in relation to the SQL Server. The button to the
right of the table cell allows you to select a location.
or
ii. When the New Database dialog opens, type Historian as the name
of the new database into the Name field. The name can be up to 123
characters in length and must be unique on the connected SQL
Server.
iii. The Collation field selects the collation mode that the server will use
for the Historian database. This determines how SQL Server 2005
sorts and compares characters stored in non-Unicode data types. Set
this to <Server Default> (located at the top of the drop-down list).
iv. Click Create.
v. When the Historian Maintainer has created the new database a
success dialog box will appear. Click the OK button to close the
dialog.
vi. The new database name will appear in the Active field.
Properties The Historian Configuration may be viewed and customised by right-clicking the
Historian node and choosing Properties from the menu.
See Also:
For further information about Historian Configuration, see CitectHistorian Help -
Setting up a Historian Server.
v. Select the database. Select Historian from the drop down list. Click
OK.
Data Sources The second tab configures the Data Source properties in Historian. Each Data
Source may be configured separately.
Tags, Alarms and Historian Tags and Alarms are directly linked back to their plant-based data sources
Time-Stamped and are typically given matching names.
Time-Stamped data is connected to Trend Tags and thus comes complete with
timing information.
This information is used to define the generic parameters of the data connection.
Poll-Rate By default SCADA data sources are polled at 1 second intervals. The minimum
poll rate is 100 ms. Every time the data is polled, Historian checks the values of all
tags logged from that data source. If there has been a change then the new value is
recorded.
Polling large numbers of tags may slow down system performance. One of the
advantages of this system is that multiple data sources may be defined from the
same SCADA project. This means that the poll rate for tags that are less time
critical may be configured separately.
See Also:
Scanning too quickly may have an adverse affect on the SCADA system. For
further information regarding Historian Scan Rates, see CitectHistorian Help
Topics - Index » Historian » Data Sources scan rate.
The period of time the Historian will wait for a heartbeat response from a SCADA
data source before declaring that data source as offline. The default is 10 seconds.
Request Timeout
The period of time the Historian will wait for a data request response from a
SCADA data source before declaring that data source as offline, and marking the
request as failed in the event log. The default is 10 seconds and the maximum value
is 10 minutes (600 seconds).
Redundant Whenever the primary SCADA data source is offline, if a redundant SCADA data
CitectSCADA source has been configured, the Historian Data Service will attempt to poll the
Servers redundant server. If no redundant server has been configured, or if the redundant
server is unavailable or unresponsive, the connection is marked as inactive in the
event log.
Acquire Rate The Acquire Rate calls a CtAPI alarm log query for the specified period at that rate.
By default this is 5 minutes. This means that Historian will request 5 minutes of
data every 5 minutes.
Limit Alarm Large amounts of data may slow system performance. If large numbers of alarms
Requests occur the system will limit the number of alarms requested. By default that number
is 1000. When that block has been transferred, Historian will then transfer the next
block.
Drag from the Tags are configured in Historian the same way as they are prepared in the Published
Data Source Information folder - by dragging them from the Data Source into the Historian
folder.
or
Note:
Like the Published Information folder, tags may not be dragged into the root of the
Historian node, they must be placed in a directory.
Note:
Dragging the whole folder into Historian will take less time than dragging
individual tags (even if grouped), because the back-end procedures can perform a
bulk insert, instead of individual inserts.
1 Tags logged in the Historian do not sit in the root of the Historian
folder but in their own subfolder. This exercise will demonstrate
the correct method of locating tags to be logged in the Historian.
i. Return to the Historian Configuration Manager.
ii. Right click Historian and select New Folder… from the menu.
iii. Name the new folder Aladdin Data Source and click OK.
iv. Drag the Tags folder from the data source into the Aladdin Data
Source folder in Historian.
AladdinsCaves.Bit_1
AladdinsCaves.DescPLC
AladdinsCaves.FileOffset
AladdinsCaves.NamePLC
AladdinsCaves.Random_Number
AladdinsCaves.WorkOrderPLC
Note:
Depending on the number of tags to be Historised, it would be more likely to
identify the specific tags required and move them into the Historian in small
groups.
Enable Logging Prior to v6.0 of CitectSCADA, logging needed to be enabled within the
CitectSCADA system if Historian was to store CitectSCADA alarm data. By
default, the parameter [ALARMLOG]NumFiles is set to zero (0) within
CitectSCADA. A value needs to be applied to this parameter in order to commence
logging, otherwise there will be no log files available for the CitectHistorian Server
to access.
Note:
The parameters [ALARMLOG]DefaultSearchDays and
[ALARMLOG]Format should be checked to ensure that they have not been
configured in a way that will impact the functionality of the Historian.
Field Value
Section AlarmLog
Parameter Numfiles
Value 7
Note:
This number is chosen arbitrarily. The number of files chosen will depend on how
large the files will become and how many days of data need to be stored.
iv. Close the Computer Setup Editor and save all changes to the
Citect.ini file.
v. Shutdown and Restart the Aladdin SCADA project.
Properties The properties of Historian items may be viewed in the same way as the items in
other folders. Right click the item then select Properties from the menu.
Logging Logging is the important attribute tab in this property. It is enabled by default. If
the Logging Enabled box is ticked and the Historian Service is running then the
tags will be logged into the Historian. The Alarm items only have the Logging
Enabled box, whereas the Tag items have more options that are configurable.
This mode correctly implies that the Historian has direct and timely access to the
source data.
Select this option to store tag data in the Historian database using historical time-
stamped values. This option is required to retain the time-stamping associated with
data that is cached before it is passed to a SCADA system. In this mode, data is
acquired from the SCADA trend system based on the last read sample time for a
time-stamped tag.
This method of data acquisition is useful for data that is time-stamped and cached
before it is passed to a control system. For example, a device may be connected to a
control system for only an hour each day due to a periodic modem connection
(typically a RTU or similar device). As Historical acquisition reads back to the last
detected value change when polling occurs, a day's worth of data can be
successfully integrated into the Historian database despite the delay in it's
availability.
Note:
To acquire data for a tag in historical mode, the tag must be bound to a trend tag to
allow time-stamped data to be retrieved from the source.
Deadband Historian is configured to ignore minor changes in tag values. The Deadband is
the change in value that a tag must undergo from the previously logged value,
before another sample is logged. The advantage in using a deadband is that it will
help to reduce the volume of logged data.
Note:
When the data is derived from an OPC source, the deadband is always expressed in
a raw percentage format (not converted to an Engineering Unit range).
Bind to Trend Backfill, based on the bind to trend feature allows data to be inserted after the fact
when either:
The backfill function keeps track of multiple gaps, and works through them to
ensure that all gaps are captured and filled. For example, if a backfill operation is in
progress, and the network to the SCADA fails, two gaps will exist in the data, and
upon resumption, the backfill operation will fill in both of them. It does this by
keeping track of gaps in a database table in the CitectHistorian configuration
database called tb_BackfillHistory.
If a trend exists with the same name as the tag it will automatically be bound to that
tag in Historian. However if a trend of the same name does not exist a trend may
be configured from this tab.
See Also:
For further information about Backfill, see the CitectHistorian KnowledgeBase.
ii. Click the Ellipsis button next to the Bind to trend: field. This
will display a list of available trends. If there are many trends
wildcards can be used to filter the list (here *L_P is used).
iii. Select AladdinsCaves.HTL_P from the list and click OK to close the
Trend selection window. Click OK to close the Attribute Properties
dialog box. The trend will be bound to the Hom_Tank_Level tag.
Note:
The Automatic start box may optionally be ticked.
Note:
The use of the Historian Status Indicator to start and stop the Data Service is
covered in more detail in Service Management (page 4-44).
ii. Within the Connect to Server dialog box, click the Connect button.
Once connected, the Management Studio window will open.
iv. The SQL Manager will create a new pane and display the data.
iii. This will build a properly configured query in the right pane.
Databases As part of a functioning CitectHistorian environment, the SQL 2005 Server will
host a number of databases which together will form a working system.
ii. On the Connect to Server dialog box, click the Connect button.
iii. Once the Studio screen opens, expand the Databases folder.
iv. For each of the three relevant databases (listed below), expand the
tree structure and view the tables and the data contained therein.
CitectHistorian
Historian
ReportServer$CITECTHISTORIAN
vii. The screen will then show the data contained in that table.
The hardware key confirms that the correct version of CitectHistorian is installed,
that the license is current, and that any chargeable components are enabled at the
appropriate level.
License-free CitectHistorian can run in one of two distinct modes when no hardware licence key
Modes of is present:
Operation
Demo mode
Historian Mini mode
Demo mode enables a system to run for a period of one hour with few limitations.
It is intended to be used for product evaluation. The demo mode time limitation is
enforced via the Historian Data Service and the Event Service, which cease to
operate after one hour. When this occurs, you will be informed via a message in the
Windows notification area. At this point, you may either restart for another demo
period, or insert a hardware key for continuous operation.
Backfilling is disabled while running in demo mode so data stored to the Historian
database is restricted to the evaluation period.
Mini mode is enforced via the Historian Data Service. If the number of enabled
Historian tags exceeds 10, the Historian Data Service and the Event Service will
switch to demo mode and run for one hour. A message will appear in the Windows
notification area and will be added to the application event log when this occurs.
Within a few seconds of plugging the hardware key into a PC, the Historian Status
Indicator will 'notice' the change and alter the state of the system to match the
attributes of the key.
Clicking on the blue message will load the Historian Status Indication with the
General tab selected, showing the current licencing information.
Data Service The Historian Data Service is an application that resides on a CitectHistorian Server
and manages access to the Historian database. When running, it acts on the
conditions specified by the configuration of the Historian database and its
attributes, and archives data accordingly. It also manages requests from client
applications for archived data.
The Data Service is controlled via the Historian Status Indicator, which is readily
accessible via the Windows system tray.
From within the running instance of the CitectHistorian Status Indicator, The Data
Service tab is used to monitor and control the Historian Data Service. It includes
two sections:
Start/ This button will Start the Data Service, or Continue its operation if it is currently
Continue in a paused state.
Pause If the Data Service is in a running state, this button will temporarily stop the
delivery of data to the Historian database without implementing a full shutdown
of the service. Use the Start/Continue button to return the service to a full
running state.
Stop This button will Stop the Data Service.
Automatic Check this box to automatically start the Data Service whenever the host
Start computer's operating system launches.
Status The Status field describes the current operational state of the Data Service.
The first part of the description is based on the current licensing conditions (see
Licencing (page 4-41)). It will state one of the following:
Licensed - a valid license key has been detected
Expired - an expired license key has been detected
Demo - no license key detected, the service is running in time-
restricted demo mode
Mini - no license key detected, the service is running in Mini
mode
Exceeded - the number of tags currently configured for archiving
exceeds the amount specified on the detected license key
The table presents a list of messages, defined by their type. If you select a message
within this list, the details of the message appear within the viewing pane below.
After a reboot, the Status Indicator will appear like this. In this state, there will be
no data transferred from the data Sources into the Historian.
Clicking the green Start / Continue button will (after a few seconds) set the service
to be Running.
If a new Data Source is added to the CitectHistorian Server and the data configured
is to be logged in Historian, the Historian Service will need to be restarted before
the Historian can log data from that source. A restart allows the Historian Service
to revisit the list of connected data sources and identify any additions.
Event Service The Historian Event Service is an application that resides on a CitectHistorian
Server and manages the detection and signaling of events. When running, it
monitors the CitectHistorian system for conditions specified by the events currently
configured in the active project, including any time-based events, and flags their
occurrence to the task engine. Events are covered in detail in Events (page 9-1).
From within the running instance of the CitectHistorian Status Indicator, The Event
Service tab is used to monitor and control the Historian Event Service. It includes
two sections:
Start/Contin This button will Start the Data Service, or Continue its operation if it is
ue currently in a paused state.
Pause If the Event Service is in a running state, this button will temporarily stop events
being triggered without implementing a full shut of the service. Use the
Start/Continue button to return the service to a full running state.
Stop This button will Stop the Data Service.
Automatic Check this box to automatically start the Data Service whenever the host
Start computer's operating system launches. This verifies the service automatically
becomes active again following a restart of the host computer.
Status The Status field describes the current operational state of the Event Service.
The first part of the description is based on the current licensing conditions (see
Licencing (page 4-41)). It will state one of the following:
Licensed - a valid license key has been detected
Expired - an expired license key has been detected
Demo - no license key detected, the service is running in time-
restricted demo mode
Mini - no license key detected, the service is running in Mini
mode
The Messages section of the dialog (the middle white area on the image on the
next page) displays time-stamped messages regarding the operation of the Event
Service.
The table presents a list of messages, defined by their type. If you select a message
within this table, the details of the message appear within the viewing pane below
(grey in the image as there are currently no messages to display).
After a reboot, the Status Indicator will appear like this. In this state, Events will
not be checked or launched.
Clicking the green Start / Continue button will (after a few seconds) set the service
to be running.
System Tray In accordance with the various licencing modes described in the section Licencing
Status Indicators (page 4-41), the Historian Status Indicator icon in the System Tray (bottom right of
the screen) can take on a number of appearances.
Fail to Start By default, the Data Service and Event Service are allocated a maximum of 30
seconds to complete their startup sequence (by Windows).
If the service takes longer than the allocated time, an error message will be passed
back saying that the service "failed to start."
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control]
"ServicesPipeTimeout"=dword:000493e0
Note:
Please be very familiar with the use of RegEdit before attempting this update as
mistakes in the Registry can potentially render Windows inoperable.
This exercise summarises activities that are dealt with (in the most part) in other
sections of the course. It is presented as a useful summary of the tasks that may be
performed using the Historian Status Indicator.
v. Physically remove the key from the PC and wait a few moments for
the "Licence Changed" message in the lower right of the screen.
vi. Click on the Click here to view..." message to re-open the Historian
Status Indicator; make sure the General tab is selected. This will
now show the configuration of an un-licensed installation.
vii. Re-insert the hardware key and note the Licence Changed message
and the re-display of the correct licensing information.
Note:
Pausing the Event Service may be used as a tool to temporarily stop the processing
of Events on a short-term basis - perhaps when unusual plant conditions would
normally trigger events, but those events are not currently relevant.
Overview
Introduction
CitectHistorian takes information from various data sources and prepares itor use
by client applications. This chapter describes how to take the data made available
from the connected data sources and prepare it to be made available to other
applications.
Drag and Drop Once CitectHistorian Server has been connected to the required data sources, the
Items into items that the client applications will use need to be made available. This process is
Published referred to as Publishing Data. CitectHistorian is able to publish all items from the
Information data source or only the items that have been selected.
As demonstrated in Publish Data (page 3-18) the simplest way to add data items is
to drag and drop the whole data source into Published Information.
When the items have been copied all items will appear in the Published
Information node in their original folders and subfolders.
Create a Folder However, data items may also be published into folders that have more meaning
Hierarchy from a management point of view. Folders and sub-folders may be created to
organise the data in a manner that is more logical for specific users using client
applications.
Select Folders or When selecting data items it may be necessary to only drag and drop complete
Individual Items folders. It is also possible to select individual items from within each folder to
customise the information that is made available to different users.
The advantage of this system is that the data that is made available to different
users or groups of users is managed at the folder level rather than assigning security
to each item.
Secure Access to Once Folders and items have been constructed, a permission structure may be
Folders assigned to permit the fine-grained control of access. This will permit full access,
read-only access and denial of access at any level. Security will be covered in more
detail in the section Security (page 5-10) later in thishapter.
2 Add items from the Data Sources to the Published Items folders.
i. Select the AladdinsCaves folder under the Aladdin data source.
This will display all the data source folders in the right pane. Hold
the Control (Ctrl) key and click to select the Advanced , Analog and
Digital alarm folders and the Tags and Trend folders.
ii. Drag the selected folders into the Engineers folder in Published
Information.
iii. Drag the SQL Database data source into the Engineers folder in
Published Information.
iv. Select all of the Tags that end in _Temp and drag them into the
Cave Temps folder.
v. Copy the groups of tags listed in the table below from the Data
Sources folder into the corresponding sub folders in the Guides
folder.
Tags Folder
*_CO2 CO2 Levels
*_Count People Count
*_Air Wind Speed
Identify Data
Connections
In order to present data to the client, all of the data paths in this diagram must be
explicitly defined.
At this stage, the connections from the plant-based data sources to the Historian
Server are all defined, as is the connection from the Historian Data Service to the
Historian database.
What has not yet been defined is the connection from the Historian database to the
Published items service. This is the next task.
Note:
While a connection from the data sources directly to the clients can only display
current data, connections from the Historian database are more complex and permit
the definition of time ranges and other data filters.
Note:
Currently, implementation rules prohibit this folder from being called 'Historian.'
ii. Drag the Aladdin Data Source folder in Historian to this new folder
in Published Information. The Published Information hierarchy
should look like this:
As has been mentioned previously, OPC Data Sources cannot be published 'raw,'
they must be written to the Historian database and then published from that
repository.
For a brief period, the system will display a dialog box showing the
establishment of the links to the Data Source tags. This will close
automatically.
ii. Drag the newly created DataSim folder (in the Historian folder) to
the Published Information folder.
Again, for a brief period, the system will display a dialog box showing
the establishment of the links to the Historian tags. This will close
automatically.
iii. Grant Everyone access to the new DataSim folder in Published
Information.
iv. Highlight DataSim and click the right-facing arrow to add all tags to
the Selected Data list.
v. Leave the Period at 30 seconds.
CitectHistorian Configuration Manual Release 1 5-9
Security
Groups and When the security system is configured users will only be able to gain access to the
Users data that they have been given permission to view. Each time a user connects to the
CitectHistorian Server, the Server will use their Login Name and Password to
determine which data they can view and to what extent they can modify or add to
that data. If a user does not have a profile they will not be able to gain access to
anything on the Server.
Add Users to When the Groups have been created you may then add the Users to the Groups.
Groups
If a User is added to the system later, they may be added to a Group or to multiple
Groups.
Engineers Guides
Anne Ruth
Bert Stan
Carl Tina
iii. In the Group Properties click the Add… button. This will display the
User list. Add half of the Users to the Group. Use the CTRL key to
select more than one User at a time. Click OK once the users are
selected.
iv. When the Users have been added to the Group the names will be
displayed in the Group Properties.
v. Click OK to save the Engineer group definition.
vi. Add the rest of the newly created Users to the Guides group.
3 Assign Users to the Published Items so that the Users will have
access to view the data items from Client applications.
i. Open Published Information. Right click the Engineers folder and
select Properties.
ii. Open the Permissions tab and Add the Engineers group to the
Folder Properties.
vi. Add the Engineers group to the Guides folder but leave the
Permissions set to Full Access.
vii. Open the properties of the Hist folder in Published information.
viii. Add the Engineers group to the Hist folder and leave the
Permissions set to Full Access.
1 Use the Excel Client to view the data that has now been made
available to the client applications.
i. From the Windows Start menu, select Programs » Citect »
CitectHistorian » Clients » Excel Client.
ii. Connect to the CitectHistorian Server using the same process as
demonstrated in Exercise - View Data in the Excel Client (page
3-26). Log in as a User who has been placed in the Guides group.
iii. Open the Data Selection screen and notice that the data is
presented in the way that has been organised for the Guides group
in the Server Manager. Select the tags in the Cave Temps folder
and click Next.
iv. When the Data Presentation screen opens change the Name: to Cave
Temperatures.
v. Finish the data selection and view the data in the spreadsheet. The
Excel Client displays the current cave temperatures as read only
data.
User Friendly One of the main purposes of the CitectHistorian suite of programs is the ability to
Names extract information from available Data Sources without re-engineering the original
system. In a SCADA system such as CitectSCADA, the names of the Data Items
such as Variable Tags, Alarms and Trends follow a logical format for Plant
Operators and Engineers.
For Example –
VALVE_2_CMD
BIT_8
PUMP_1_M
However, these names can be meaningless to people who work outside the system
such as some Managers and non-technical staff. The CitectHistorian Configuration
Manager will allow the renaming of Data Items for use in Client applications
without changing the original runtime system. The new name is called an Alias.
iii. The name of the Attribute does not need to be the same as the alarm
tag. When it has been changed, the new name will be used in all
client applications without affecting the original data source item.
Overview
Introduction
The Backfill Manager is used to add historical values stored in the SCADA Trend
Server to the Historian database in the situation where connection to the SCADA
environment has been lost.
This might be due to the connection only being periodically available or the
Historian Server being only intermittently on-line.
Backfilling uses the SCADA system's trend logs to fill in any missing values from
your Historian data. As soon as communication is restored after an interruption, the
Historian will automatically retrieve any missing tag values from the SCADA
system's trend data. It will then reconstruct the Historian data accordingly. If
enabled, backfilling will also work for periods where the Historian Data Service is
turned off.
By default, the Historian will automatically bind a logged tag to a trend in the
SCADA system with the same name. Under these circumstances, you don't have to
specify where to back fill data from as it happens automatically.
However, if any of the trends in the SCADA system have a different name to the
tag they monitor, you'll need to manually bind the tag to its trend.
Pre-Populate the The Backfill technology can also be used to populate the Historian with data
Historian derived from SCADA Trend tags which pre-dates the installation of the Historian
software.
Clearly this would be a one-off task which allows any currently trended data to be
added to the Historian.
Current and The Backfill Manager is a tool that displays all the current and pending backfill
Pending Backfill activity on the CitectHistorian Server. It is primarily a list showing details of the
Activity SCADA trend data scheduled for transfer to the Historian.
Note:
The Backfill Manager will only display a snapshot of the current backfill activity at
the time of opening. The information it displays does not update dynamically.
Backfills Queued This displays the name of the Historian server. It indicates that the scheduled
for: backfill activity will only be implemented for the CitectHistorian Server the
Backfill Manager is running on.
Data Source This column displays the Data Source from which the backfill data will be
retrieved. If you are in the process of adding a new backfill task, a drop-down list
will be available from this column allowing you to select from the data sources
connected to the CitectHistorian Server.
From This column shows the time and date that represents the start of the period for data
backfilling.
To This column shows the time and date representing the end of the period data for the
backfill. If the To column is blank, it means the data source is currently offline. As
soon as the CitectHistorian Server can re-establish communication with the data
source, the To column will display the time of reconnection and the backfill task
will be able to progress.
See Also:
For further information about adding your own backfill tasks, see CitectHistorian
Help Topics – Manually triggering backfilling.
Completed To The Completed To field provides an estimate of how far a backfill task has
progressed by displaying the timestamp for the last value loaded into Historian.
You can roughly assess how close the task is to completion by comparing the time
and date displayed to that in To column.
Status The Status column uses coloured dots to represent the current status of a scheduled
backfilling task. A green dot indicates that the backfill is currently active; a yellow
dot indicates that it is pending.
Add Use this button to manually Add a backfill task to the list of those scheduled. If this
button is not active, it means there are currently no tags loaded into the Historian
folder.
Delete This button will clear a scheduled backfill task that is currently being configured. It
will NOT delete one of the automated backfill tasks, or a manually configured task
that has been implemented with the OK button.
iii. Click the Add button. A new Backfill Task will be added to the
queue.
iv. Click the Datasource for that task. A drop down list appears
displaying the available data sources.
vi. Select one of the tasks by clicking the record. Click OK to start the
backfill. The Delete button becomes inactive. This is because
automated backfill tasks, or any manually configured task launched
with the OK button, cannot be deleted.
vii. Delete any other tasks that were added manually. Click the OK
button to close the Backfill Manager.
Note:
The training computers may or may not be configured to have this data available.
the Instructor will advise whether to proceed with this exercise.
iii. Based on the provided date/time range configure the Backfill task.
be sure to also check the Datasource.
Note:
After selecting the date from the calendar tool, the From and To fields must be
double clicked to be able to modify the time component.
Here, the screen has been configured for a notional July 1st to
December 31st 2008.
CitectHistorian Configuration Manual Release 1 6-9
Exercise - Test Automatic Backfill
ii. Select the Logging tab to observe that Chris_Temp has been
automatically linked to the trend tag of the same name.
iii. Open the CitectSCADA development environment and from the
Project Editor, select the menu System » Events. The first entry
shows the automation controlling the Chris_Temp tag which sets the
value to be either 4, 5 or 6 and changed every 4 seconds.
ii. Repeat the query a number of times to confirm that the number of
records is increasing, and thus the Historian is capturing data.
iii. Execute the query from Step 2 on the previous page a few more
times to demonstrate that no samples are currently being collected.
vi. Execute the query again and confirm that samples have been stored
in the table for the period during which the Historian & Data service
was stopped.
Note:
The SCADA Aladdin project must continue running all night for this to fully
succeed. This means that it must be a licensed installation of CitectSCADA. If it is
not, the project will terminate 10 hours after it was commenced (probably around
7:30pm that evening). If the SCADA does terminate, backfill data will only be
available for the period up until it stopped and will only be obtained after the
SCADA is restarted.
Overview
Introduction
CitectHistorian allows you to backup and restore the configuration database for a
CitectHistorian Server. This is useful if you want to store your configuration
settings on a regular basis to ensure that a copy is always kept in a safe place.
Having a stored configuration also ensures that you can restore your system if it has
become damaged. You can also use a backup file to duplicate the configuration of a
CitectHistorian Server onto a new machine.
Backup CitectHistorian will backup and restore the configuration database for a
Configuration CitectHistorian Server. This process is performed through the Configuration
Database Backup and Restore Utility. This utility is launched from the CitectHistorian
group in the Windows Start Menu.
The backup file is saved with a .CBF extension. It is important to note that Backup
and Restore must be run locally on the CitectHistorian Server.
The .CBF files are simply a re-named .ZIP archive and may be loaded in WinZip or
any similar tool.
Recommended Citect is not in a position to accurately gauge the needs of every organisation, but
Backup Strategy the following points should serve as a general guide upon which to base your
organisation’s backup strategy.
CitectSCADA is able to control and monitor the operation of your plant and in
addition store a short-term record of values via the Trend system.
CitectHistorian is intended to be a long-term store for historical data that will
(in all likelihood) be the only location in which that data is stored.
SQL Server 2005 (upon which CitectHistorian is built) contains mechanisms to
assist with the automation of the backup process to either separate disk volumes
or to tape.
The general observation with regard to backups is that the time between
backups should be the length of time for which you are prepared to lose data.
Modern SQL environments permit shadowing of data to restrict the impact of
file corruption, but this technique will not address the catastrophic loss of the
server or the hard disks contained therein.
It would be considered ‘normal’ to run overnight backups to tape while having
an incremental shadowing task throughout the day.
There is little point in making regular backups when there is no knowledge of
the validity of the contents of the tape to which the data is copied. It is essential
that a trial restore is undertaken at the time of setting up the backup system to
confirm that the data is fully usable. Subsequent (but infrequent) trials should
be performed to confirm valid backups into the future.
Similarly to the previous point, it is equally crucial that successful backup tapes
are stored off-site in a suitably secured facility (there are many companies
world-wide that offer such a service).
These comments specifically relate to backup and protection of the stored data and
do not consider the separate issue of Change Management (and potential roll-back).
iii. Click the Ellipsis button to open the Backup File dialog. Give
the backup file a name and click Save to continue.
ii. Click the Ellipsis button to open the Restore File dialog. The file
location will be the same as where the backup was created.
iv. Select CitectHistorian from the Database dropdown list box. Click
OK to restore the configuration.
vii. Open the CitectHistorian Server Manager and check that the
configuration has been restored.
Note:
The restore function may modify the passwords for existing users defined in the
system. If it is found that existing users can no longer log in via the Excel client,
the current users must be removed from both the Historian and SQL security
systems and re-created. Information on deleting users from the SQL environment
is provided in Delete the Project (page 7-22).
The previous discussion addressed only the need to Backup and Restore the
configuration database - it did not relate to the actual data collected from the plant.
ii. If the server and database are not connected as shown in the
graphic, create the necessary connections.
iii. Select the Backup/Restore tab.
iv. Click the Ellipsis button beside the Backup File field.
Allows Users to On a development PC, it quite reasonable to have many projects installed and either
Switch between (potentially) operational or under continued development. In either case, only one
Projects project can actually be operating on the PC at any one time. This is referred to as
the Active Project.
The Server icon of the current Active Project is overlayed with a green tick.
This means that if a new CitectHistorian Server is added using the default settings,
this server will be the active server project for the local machine. However, should
a CitectHistorian Server be added to the local machine that does not use the default
database name of "CitectHistorian", and this server is to be the Active Server
Project, the CitectHistorian Server Manager provides a context-sensitive menu
item to set the active project.
The Active Project sets the CitectHistorian Server name in the Event and Historian
Services. It is necessary to stop these services before changing the Active Server.
Also if an existing CitectHistorian database is going to be restored under a new
name it is still necessary to link the CitectHistorian Server with a new name using
the Register CitectHistorian Server Wizard.
See Also:
For further information about Active project, see CitectHistorian Help - backing
up and restoring a project » Restoring a project configuration.
ii. Select the backup file that you created in the previous exercise.
iii. Give the Database a new name. Click OK.
iv. When the restore is complete click OK and then Close to exit the
Backup and Restore Utility.
vi. At this screen use the dropdown list to select your newly created
database or type in a new name.
viii. The last screen will display your new CitectHistorian Registration
Name. Click Finish.
ix. The CitectHistorian Configuration Manager will now list your new
CitectHistorian Server.
ii. Stop the Data Service by clicking the red Stop button.
Note:
Notice that the Database is CitectHistorian. As this service is accessing the
CitectHistorian database it is necessary to stop the Data Service before the Active
Project can be changed. The Event Services must also be stopped, but this has not
yet been started, it will be considered in Events (page 9-1).
iii. Once the Data Service is stopped (the Start/Continue button will be
painted green), return to the Historian Configuration Manager.
iv. Right click the newly restored database and select Set as Active
Project.
vi. Open the CitectHistorian Status Indicator; click the Refresh button.
The database is now displaying the name of the new database.
Delete the Project Should there be a need to delete the entire project and it's data, the following steps
must be taken.
This is NOT an Exercise, do not follow these steps during the course.
In the dialog box, ensure that The selection Close existing connections is
ticked.
Delete all users defined in the project from the SQL Security folder.
When an account is created in CitectHistorian a matching account is also created in
the SQL Security folder. Having deleted the CitectHistorian databases and their
associated users already, the SQL users remain. If they are not deleted in SQL and
the same users are re-created in CitectHistorian the accounts will have mis-matched
password hashes and the users will not be able to login, even if the passwords are
the same. Thus the accounts must be manually deleted from the SQL Security sub-
system.
Other than for security, why would Backup and Restore functions be used?
Where must the above functions be run?
What is the benefit of the Active Project?
Overview
Introduction
Tasks are used to trigger actions, transfer data or email information. A Task may
be triggered manually or set to trigger automatically using Events, which will be
covered in Events (page 9-1).
Tasks Initiate Tasks are used to initiate a defined activity automatically whenever an associated
Actions Event occurs. Tasks replace all the hard to maintain Cicode used for SQL, DDE and
CTAPI connections of the past with simple to use GUIs that require no knowledge
of code to use. This makes the Task simple to view, edit and modify. Like the rest
of the CitectHistorian configuration, Tasks may be backed up and restored with
ease.
General Tab Creating a Task involves a process of selecting the Type of activity to be executed,
identifying the triggering Event(s), and then configuring the details of the required
Action. There are several different types of Tasks offered in CitectHistorian.
When a new Task is created the dialog will list these types in the Type field on the
General Tab.
See Also:
For further information about Tasks, see CitectHistorian Help - Working with tasks
» Creating a task.
Triggering Tab The Triggering tab allows Tasks to be configured to run automatically. The
Events are configured separately, however, they are implemented in the
Triggering tab to trigger Tasks. Events will be examined in the chapter Events
(page 9-1).
Action Tab The Action Tab configures the Task itself. The information in this tab will change
depending on the type of Task that is being configured. This is because each Task
type generates a very different outcome, and therefore requires unique settings and
instructions to fulfill its purpose.
Variables Tab The Variables tab features a table where Visual Basic script (VBScript)
expressions or SQL data queries that will be applied to the Task are listed.
Variables are used to modify the activity defined for a Task using customised
VBScript or SQL statements. The Variable Properties dialog is used to compose
the VBScript or SQL statements that will be applied to a Task. This tab varies for
each Task type. Some Task types such as Upload Alarms, Trends and Historian
have predefined variables. Other Task types such as ActiveX and Download Tags
can accept user defined variables.
Transfer Data There are several types of activities that can be implemented to transfer data using
between Systems Tasks. These include:
Note:
If the installation contains a lot of tasks, these may be organised into task folders.
However, this will not be done in these exercises.
ii. The Task configuration will open at the General tab. Name the Task
Alarm Upload and select the Upload Alarms type.
Note:
When configuring a Task to upload alarm data, the selected columns must include
the Tag and OnDateTime properties, otherwise the Task will fail.
ii. Click the Preview button. This will display the Source Data Preview
window which shows the arrangement of the data in a table, based
on the columns that have been selected. The preview functionality is
useful for checking that the source columns have been configured as
intended. Click OK to return to the Action tab.
iii. The Destination pane lists the Database Data Sources. Select the
Alarm table from the list.
iv. Click the Add button to open the Column Selection window.
v. There are two ways to map the columns correctly. Either select
columns individually in the correct order or select all columns and
then reorder them using the up and down arrows on the Action tab.
vi. Position the Column Selection dialog box such that the list of source
columns in the New task dialog is visible. In the Column Selection
dialog, select each column name in the order they appear in the
source list and click the right-facing arrow to add to the Selected list.
vii. When the list is complete, click OK to close the Column Selection
dialog.
Note:
The fields in both columns MUST match exactly as the system will create a 1-to-1
mapping between the two lists in the order they are encountered. The names are
not required to be identical, but the contents and datatypes must match. the up and
down arrows may be used to adjust the order.
ii. Select the StartDateTime Variable and click Edit. Change the
StartDateTime to 1 hour.
iii. Click OK on each of the open dialogs to save the settings of the new
Task.
5 View the Alarm data that has been transferred to the SQL
Database.
i. Open the SQL Server Management Studio.
ii. Locate the SQL Database. Right click the Alarm table and select
Open Table from the menu.
iii. If the Task has been successful all alarm data from the last hour will
be visible.
v. Move all of the tags across into the Selected Tags pane.
vi. Click OK to return to the Action tab.
ii. Return to the Action tab and change the Column Style to Crosstab
(transpose). Preview the data.
The Crosstab style returns the data one record at a time for each
tag per date/time stamp. Therefore, the columns used include
Date/Time and a separate column for each Tag. The Crosstab style
is the most efficient, easy and fastest to query, however it requires
more maintenance and takes longer to configure.
iii. Click OK to close the Source Data Preview and change the Column
Style back to Tabular.
ii. Click OK to save the Task and exit the properties dialog.
Note:
With a SamplePeriod of 2 seconds and a randomiser in the SCADA project of
between 5 and 11 seconds, many of the samples stored in the SQL_Database will
have to be estimated. CitectHistorian uses an estimation method called
"interpolation." This is discussed extensively in the chapter Historian
Interpolation (page 14-1).
This step will configure the Source side pane to use one tag per
column.
i. Click the Add button to open the Add Column dialog and enter
*central into the Filter: field.
ii. In this Task each tag must be configured separately. Entering a
Column Name is not absolutely necessary but it helps define the
Task. Select Central_Air and enter Air Speed into the Column
Name: field. Then click OK.
iii. Repeat the process for the tags Central_co2, Central_Count and
Central_Temp. Ignore the Central_Door tag.
iv. Configure the Destination pane to use the table Tag_Crosstab.
This task will not be saved or executed as there is no source data available to
download. It is presented to the student as an example of how data may be moved
into the Historian system rather than out of it, as was done in the previous
exercises.
iii. Preview the Data Source table. This is simply a representation of the
data currently held in the SQL_Database table.
v. Preview the data source table. This time only the first row of data is
returned.
vi. Change the Where: clause to 2, 3 etc to return the other rows. Do
not configure the Destination pane as this data will not be
downloaded into the SCADA system. Click the Cancel button.
Customise Tasks The Tasks that have been configured so far have dealt with the transfer of data
between SCADA and Databases. The remaining types of Tasks are:
Sending e-mails
Executing ActiveX script
Executing DTS packages
ActiveX, DTS Package and Email tasks do not relate directly to the transfer of data
between SCADA and Databases but provide the power and flexibility to tap into
existing corporate resources or customise Tasks.
Note:
The DTS Package Task runs packages that were developed using SQL Server
2000 tools. SQL Server 2005 does not install the DTS package designer although
this package is available through the Microsoft website for backwards
compatibility.
In MS-SQL 2005 and 2008, Microsoft has introduced the replacement: SQL Server
Integration Services (SSIS). SSIS packages are also not addressed in this course.
Note:
This code will use the function CreateObject() to create a file called testfile.txt
and append the current date and time using the function Now().
ii. Execute the Task manually. Check the C:\ directory for a file named
testfile.txt. It should have one entry showing the date and time that
the Task was executed.
3 Set up a Task that uses ActiveX Script to log the current value of
the Aer_Tank_Level tag into a text file called water.txt.
i. Create a new Task named Insert Water Tag Value into File. The
Type: is ActiveX Script.
ii. Open the Action Tab. Enter this Active X script.
Name Water
See Also:
This example demonstrates how to read Integer values from CitectSCADA. For
information on how to read String Variables from CitectSCADA for use in
ActiveX script refer to CitectHistorian KB Article P1103.
ii. Click OK to continue. The new variable will look like this.
Send Email CitectHistorian permits the creation of a task to send a simple email message to any
Tasks address on the web.
The email cannot directly contain tag values, although it is a relatively simple task
to create an output file with the ActiveX task which can then be included in the
email as an attachment.
Note:
A set of Gmail email addresses have been created for use in this exercise. They are
CitectStudent.01@gmail.com through to CitectStudent.12@gmail.com. The
instructor will allocate an address for the use of each student. The password for
each account is citectcitect.
i. Create a new Task called Send Email and select Send Email in the
Type: field.
Note:
If a mail server is not configured for the computer to use, this Task will not do
anything useful.
Multiple Folders Tasks may be organised into separate folders to simplify their management.
The use of such folders has no impact on the functionality of the Tasks.
iv. Drag the two ActiveX Tasks into the new folder.
Overview
Introduction
CitectHistorian may be configured to initiate actions in the SCADA system. Events
may be executed manually or automatically by using the Event Service.
The Event The Event Manager runs as a separate service and is managed via the Event Service
Service tab in the CitectHistorian Status Indicator.
The primary task of the Event Service is to regularly check a list of a available jobs
to determine if they have satisfied their trigger conditions.
Events Provide a Events signal the occurrence of specified condition changes within your
Trigger CitectHistorian system, providing a trigger for automated Tasks. They can be set up
to flag a value change within a connected SCADA system, or whenever a period of
time passes. Events may be based on the progression of a Task, allowing Tasks to
be daisy-chained.
Note:
Events should NOT be used for reaction time critical SCADA control as there are
delays between the conditions becoming true, the Event firing and the Task being
executed.
Event Types There are five different types of Events in CitectHistorian. These are the three
SCADA types, the Clock and the Task Engine.
Task Engine Event Triggers an action based on the status of a CitectHistorian Task
iv. Double click the Date/Time Log Task to open the Task proerties.
Open the Triggering tab, select the 10 Second Timer Event and click
the right-facing button, thereby enabling it. Click OK to continue.
Detection and The Event Service is an application that resides on a CitectHistorian Server to
Signalling of handle the detection and signalling of Events. When running, it monitors the
Events CitectHistorian system for conditions specified by the currently configured Events,
and flags any time-based Events. This is the “nuts and bolts” of the whole
CitectHistorian Event System which automates the execution of the Events and
Tasks. Without the Event Service running, the Events and Tasks themselves do not
run and Tasks can only be executed manually.
There are some important features to note regarding the Event Service. These
include:
The Event Service relies on the Historian Service to connect to data sources.
There will be a dialog advising of this
The Event Service needs to stop and restart whenever changes are made to
Events. This includes modifying existing Events, creating new Events or even
deleting old Events
It is not necessary to stop the Event Service when changes are made to Tasks
including adding or removing triggers
The Event Service is really comprised of several distinct phases. The following is a
simplified description of how the system works:
Event Service constantly scans for Events configured since the time it was last
started
When Events occur they are placed on the Event Queue. The Events progress
down the queue in the order they were placed on the queue (first in first out)
When an Event reaches the front of the Event Queue, the CitectHistorian Server
is searched for any Tasks triggered by that Event
The Tasks are placed on the Task Queue. Again, the Tasks progress down the
queue in the order they were placed on the queue (first in first out)
When Tasks reach the front of the Task Queue, the Task is executed
Start button.
Note:
Every time you configure a new Event the Event Service will need to be restarted
for the Event to execute.
iii. Now that the Event Service is running the 10 Second Timer event
will cause the Date/Time Log Task to run every 10 seconds. Open
the file testfile.txt that was created by the Task in Exercise -
ActiveX Tasks (page 8-31). Check that the date and time are being
logged every 10 seconds.
Note:
Whenever ANY CitectHistorian system is configured to write back to the
underlying SCADA, extreme care should be taken that suitable practices and
procedures are in place to properly manage the process.
Events are managed by the Event service which regularly polls the list of available
Events detecting which are able to be run. Once an Event runs, it is capable of
launching any Task which has specified the Event as its Triggering Event.
This exercise configures Historian to write recipe values to the SCADA system
when a new work order number is selected on the SCADA Flavouring page.
v. Repeat the process to assign tags for each of the remaining columns
in the Source pane with the exception of NamePLC and
WorkOrderPLC.
vi. Select the Variables tab and click the Add button.
Name MyRecipe
Note:
The variable tag name WorkOrderPLC is enclosed in single quotes.
viii. The variable tag WorkOrderPLC specifies the name of the soft drink
recipe. Click OK.
ix. Return to the Action tab and edit the Where: clause so that the
recipe selected will be based on the value of the ID in the
RecipeSetup table.
4 Create two Events to trigger the Download Recipe Task when the
tag WorkOrderPLC changes.
i. Return to Historian Configuration Manager and create a new Event
named WorkOrderIncrease. Be sure to tick the Increases
checkbox.
ii. Select the When tag field to use the WorkOrderPLC tag.
v. Click the Verify button to enter the Approver credentials. Type the
password citect.
vii. Once all counter-signers have entered their passwords, the final step
is to 'approve' the transaction. Click the Approve button (it may still
be cancelled at this point).
viii. Click the OK button to close the acknowledgement screen. Once this
is done, the data entry dialog box is displayed.
ix. Remember to choose a value just one higher or lower than the
current value (the current WordOrder number is supplied as a
default). Click OK.
x. The Recipe will change to match the data linked to the ID in the
RecipeSetup table.
This exercise will modify the execution of the previous recipe download
functionality to include logging of the recipes to create an audit trail.
Refer to the diagram at the beginning of Exercise - Use an Event to Trigger a Task
(page 9-9).
In this exercise, an additional Task / Event pair will be inserted between the
WorkOrder Event and the Download Recipe Task to write the outgoing recipe to a
data file.
The "Recipe Logged OK" Event is simply a dummy Event to permit chaining as in
such a structure, Events and Tasks must alternate; in addition, the second (dummy)
Event is constructed to be activated by the successful completion of the previous
Task.
v. Click the Add button again and select all of the PLC tags except the
tags NamePLC and WorkOrderPLC (use *PLC in the Filter field) and
click OK.
vii. Use the table RecipeLog as the Destination table. Select the
DateTime, PLCValue and PLCName columns (in that order) in the
RecipeLog table.
2 Create a new Event to act on the success of the Log Recipe Status
task.
i. Create a new Event and configure it as follows:
State Succeeded
iv. Open Microsoft SQL Sever Management Studio and view the contents
of the RecipeLog table in the SQL Database. Observer that there
are blocks of entries to match each change in the WorkOrder value.
Overview
Introduction
CitectHistorian is supplied with two client applications. The first of these is the
Excel client. Once the data items have been prepared for publication in the
CitectHistorian Configuration Manager they are available for use by the Excel
Client and many other client applications. This chapter will examine different
methods of extracting and displaying data. We will then use the tools in Excel to
turn that data into meaningful information for business users.
Simple The Excel Client is simple to use. Most of the configuration for the client
Configuration applications has been set up in the CitectHistorian Configuration Manager. When
the User has connected to the CitectHistorian Server, the Data Items that the User
has permission to view will be available in the Excel Client, and may then be
manipulated using the powerful tools available in Excel.
i. Launch the Excel Client and click the New button to open a new
spreadsheet. When the spreadsheet opens the first button on the
CitectHistorian toolbar will become enabled.
Note:
Here is the reason for using a CitectHistorian instance when setting up SQL
Server. Notice that only the SQL Servers with a CitectHistorian instance are
displayed in the drop down list. However, the Server Name is displayed without
CitectHistorian in the name. If an SQL Server that does NOT have a
CitectHistorian instance is being used simply type in the name of the SQL Server
rather than choosing it from the list.
iii. Click the CitectHistorian Data Selection button to open the data
selection dialog.
iv. The Data Selection dialog will display the data items available to the
User who has been selected.
v. Highlight the Digital Alarms Folder. This will allow the user to select
all items within that folder. Alternatively the branch may be
expanded to allow individual items to be selected.
vi. Click the right-facing arrow to move the items into the Selected
Data pane. Click Next to continue.
vii. Give the Data Presentation the name DigitalAlarms then click
Finish.
viii. The current Alarm data will be displayed using the default settings.
Modify the The Exercise - View Data in the Excel Client (page 3-26) demonstrated how
Display Options quickly it is possible to have CitectSCADA data appear in the Excel Client.
However, the Excel client may be customised to change the look of the data as well
as the type of data to display.
The Data Selection dialog provides more flexibility than simply selecting the data
items. It will also allow a particular time segment to be selected from the
Parameters.
The CitectHistorian Data Properties allows two areas to be configured, the Refresh
type and the Data Layout.
1 Modify the display options of the selected data. The first part of
this exercise will change the display options for the digital alarms.
i. Open a new spreadsheet and connect the Excel Client to the
CitectHistorian Server as one of the Users in the Engineers Group.
ii. Select the Digital Alarms folder and move all the items across to the
Selected Data. All items in the Selected Data pane will be
highlighted by default. Change the Duration to 30 minutes. Click
Next to continue.
vi. Click the Format button. Then click the Alarm On colour button and
select a different colour from the colour picker.
vii. Select the Double line from the line style. Make any other changes
to customise the look of the table. Click OK to continue.
viii. Click Finish to close the Data Presentation window. The table will
appear displaying only the alarms that have occurred in the last 30
minutes and in the customised colour format.
iii. A Chart Data Layout only allows the Name of the chart to be
customised. Name the chart CO2Levels.
Turn Data into CitectHistorian gathers data that can be used by other business tools. Once this is
Information achieved it is possible to use that raw data to create information that is useful for
application in business. Excel is a powerful tool that will aid in the statistical
analysis of the data retrieved by CitectHistorian.
iv. A new column will appear on the left of the spreadsheet. This
column has counted and subtotalled each alarm. The pane on the
left of the worksheet shows the outline symbols. This enables the
spreadsheet to show and hide the different grouping levels quickly.
In this example there are three levels.
iii. Select the Chart Wizard button from the main toolbar and select
an Exploded pie with a 3-D visual effect. Click Next to continue.
iv. The Chart Source Data allows specific cells that contain the labels
and data to be visible in the chart. Click Next to continue.
v. The Chart Options allow the standard options in the chart type to be
customised. Change the Chart Title to Digital Alarms.
vii. The last step is to select the location for the chart. Select the option
to display the chart as an object in Sheet 2.
=C2-B2
then press the Enter key. The result should look something like this:
1900/01/00 00:00:10
vii. Make sure cell D2 is still highlighted and select Format » Cells…
from the menu. This dialog will appear.
viii. Edit the Type: to display hh.mm.ss only then click OK to continue.
The cell should now display the alarm duration.
ix. Select the cell D2 and place the pointer over the Fill Button in the
bottom right hand corner of the cell. The pointer will change to the
Fill pointer.
iv. In the Source Data screen select the Series tab and remove the
OnDateTime and OffDateTime. Click Next to continue.
v. In the Chart Options select the Legend tab and untick the Show
Legend option.
iii. Click the arrow next to the AutoSum button. This will display a
list of the most common functions. Select Average from the list.
iv. The default range will appear in the cell. Ensure that the cell
references are correct then press ENTER.
vi. Follow the same procedure for Minimum and Maximum by using the
MIN and MAX functions.
3 Use the Fill function to calculate values for all the CO2 trends.
i. Highlight all three values then place the pointer over the fill button in
the bottom right hand corner of the selected cells. Drag the pointer
across to the right so that the cells under all the columns are
selected. The columns will be filled in sequence.
ii. Copy and paste the Trend Headings into the row above the
calculations. Remove the Cluster Name prefix, AladdinsCaves,
from the headings.
iii. Use the Chart Wizard to create a bar graph displaying the Maximum,
Minimum and Average values for all of the trends.
Overview
Introduction
The CitectHistorian Web Client is the second of the client applications that are
installed with CitectHistorian. The CitectHistorian Web Client is a web portal to
the plant floor. It allows current data to be viewed at anytime and from anywhere
that an Internet connection can be established. This chapter will demonstrate the
standard features of CitectHistorian Web Client.
Internet Explorer In general, it should be possible to run the CitectHistorian Web Client and log in as
a User without any problems. However, depending upon the security arrangements
made by each Network Administrator, it may be necessary to set up the
CitectHistorian Web Servers as Trusted Sites in Internet Explorer.
When the CitectHistorian Web Client is opened, the Home Page is displayed.
If it is necessary to set up a Trusted Site, click the link. This will open page in the
Help that describes how to set up a Web Server as a Trusted Site.
iii. Select Trusted Sites from the options then click the Sites button.
iv. Type in the URL of the CitectHistorian Web Server in the Add this
Web site to the zone field, then untick the Require Server
Verification (https:) for all sites in this zone. Click the Add button.
v. Click Close.
2 Configure IIS
i. Open the IIS Administrative panel. Start » Settings » Control Panel
» Administrative Tools » Internet Information Services.
ii. Expand the tree and right click the Historian web site. Choose
Properties.
iii. Within the Virtual Directories tab, set the Application Protection to
Low.
x. Scroll down to find the ActiveX controls and plug-ins section. Set
the option Initialize and script ActiveX controls not marked as safe
to be Enable.
Why Do We Use Internet Information Services (IIS) is the Windows Web service that makes it easy
Internet for information to be published on the Intranet. The purpose of Internet Information
Information Services is to take local directory structures and turn them into a URL so that a
Services (IIS)? remote client can locate the source using a web browser.
IIS is not installed by default but can be added using the Add/Remove Programs
dialog box from the Control Panel.
CitectHistorian When the client connects to the CitectHistorian Web Server the Home Page is
Web Client displayed. By default the client will connect to the local CitectHistorian Web
Home Page Server. The Address Bar displays the location of the Active Server Page in a
URL format.
http://localhost/Historian/default.asp
A Web Client can connect to a remote Server by changing the location in the
address bar. Internet Information Services provides the references needed to
connect to the correct Server, Website and Page.
When the Server, Website and Page are typed into the Address Bar using the URL
format, the Web Client will connect to the Web Server page.
http://Training/Historian/default.asp
iii. Log in as one of the Users who has been set up in the CitectHistorian
Configuration Manager.
iv. When the User has logged in the CitectHistorian Web Client toolbar
will display the current User and the Site.
v. Click the Web Client Link. The Web Client will open and establish a
link to the Web Server. The Folder pane on the page will display the
name of the CitectHistorian Server and all of the data items that the
User has permission to view.
Information Tree The Information Tree displays the name of the CitectHistorian Server. When the
tree is expanded it will display the data that has been made available to the current
User as it has been configured in the CitectHistorian Server.
Summary The Summary Window displays the items that have been selected for display. The
Window left pane displays the Data Items as they have been configured in the
CitectHistorian Server. The Right pane displays the configurable parameters for
each item.
Display Area The Display Area is a visual representation of the data that the User has selected to
view.
Display Current When the connection to the CitectHistorian Server has been established and a
Plant Floor Data configured User has logged in, it is then possible to display current plant floor data
in the CitectHistorian Web Client. To view data in the Web Client, simply select
the items from the Information Tree in the left pane, then double click or drag the
item into the Summary Window at the bottom of the page.
The Display Area on the right will use the default display format for whatever
information type is selected for display. When more than one format is selected, for
example Snapshot data and Historical data, the Display Area will split into
multiple sections to accommodate the various data displays.
These are the default display formats for each data type:
Once the data to be displayed is selected, clicking the Refresh Data button will
retrieve data from the Data Sources and display it in the Display Area.
Gantt Charts Events allow the display of alarms and other event type logs. Displays include
frequency of occurrences as well as duration of occurrences.
When Alarm items are selected from the Information tree and placed in the
Summary Window a Gantt chart is displayed by default.
Gantt Charts show the duration of each event, and the status of the event using
these colours:
Pareto Charts Changing the Event display to a Pareto Chart will show the alarm frequencies.
This chart shows, for instance, that the alarm Main Door Opened has occurred
twelve times within the selected display period.
1 Use the Web Client interface to display alarm data using different
formats.
i. Open the Web Client and log in as a User who has access to the
Digital Alarms.
ii. Select all of the Digital Alarms by double clicking each in turn. As
each alarm is selected it will appear in the Summary Window.
iii. Select all of the alarms in the Summary Window and change the
Duration parameter to 1 hour.
vi. Using the mouse pointer draw a box around some of the alarms.
Draw the box from top left to bottom right.
vii. The display will zoom in on the area that has been selected.
viii. Draw the rectangle in reverse, that is, from bottom right to top left,
and the chart will return to its original size.
iii. Click the Settings button on the Display Window toolbar. This will
open the Display Configuration dialog.
Note:
The current version of the Web Client does not preserve any changes made to this
view. Upon closure and re-entry the system will return to the default settings.
Live Data from Snapshot data is the display of live data directly from the SCADA system. Data
SCADA may be updated either by pressing the Refresh Data button or by setting the
parameters of the snapshot to periodically update the data automatically. When the
data is updated, the Web Client executes a query for live data from the SCADA
system and displays the values as a cross-tab list.
Selecting the pull-down list beside the Snapshot button allows the user to select
the display format. The choices offered are:
Line Graph
Cross-tab
Data List
iii. Click the Refresh Data button. The Snapshot data will appear in the
Display Area as a Cross Tab table.
2 Change the view to display the snapshot data in the form of a Line
Graph.
i. Click the dropdown list beside the Snapshot button and change the
display to a Line graph.
iii. Click the Advanced button. Using the configuration tools provided,
make changes to the way data is displayed. For instance in the
graphic below, the sample period has been shortened considerably.
Trend Data Time Series data is a display of Trend Data taken directly from the SCADA
system's historical trend archive. When the Refresh Data button is pressed, the
Web Client executes a query for historical data from the SCADA system and
displays the values, by default, as a Line Chart.
Selecting the dropdown list beside the Time-series button allows the user to select
the display format. Choices offered are:
Line Graph
Histogram
iii. Highlight the data items and change the Duration and EndDateTime
parameters.
iv. Click the Settings button in the Display Area and edit the Line Chart
to display different features, for example, add a Title to the Chart
etc.
v. Click the Time-series dropdown list and view each type of chart.
Use the Settings button to change the display of each type of chart.
In this chapter, we will focus on the Attributes Time-series, Recordset and Web
Page.
Data Stored in There are two ways of storing time-series data in a table: in rows or in columns.
Rows The way the data is stored in the table must be known to configure the attribute.
When the data series is in rows, it means the table has at least three fields:
When the data series is stored in Columns, a record could contain samples for
multiple data series with the samples having the same date/time stamp for each
record. In this case, only the date/time field and data series field need to be selected.
The difference between storing data series in rows versus columns is that when they
are stored in rows, data series can be added easily by adding more rows whereas
adding data series to a table using column storage means the definition of the table
must be changed. On the other hand, storing data series in columns is more
efficient, in terms of both disk space usage and query performance. Basically the
names of the trend data-series that are stored in any given table are known, the table
should be designed to store its data-series in columns, i.e. one column per data-
series.
CitectHistorian supports user defined recordset attributes that use data from a
database source. The recordset is defined by a query command text that is
supported by the Data Source, such as an SQL statement against a database.
iv. Use the Expression Builder button to the right of the Expression
field and define the expression as follows:
http://Training/Historian/Reports/Digital 2 Hours.xls
http://Training/Historian/Reports/PDF_Report.pdf
iii. Assign Permissions and view the PDF file in the Web Client.
Note:
Adobe Acrobat Reader must be installed on the computer to be able to view this
document.