First for OPC news and information Copyright 2006 Mike Dillamore http://www.OPCconnect.com/ http://www.OPCconnect.com/img/opc_news.png http://www.OPCconnect.com/ 100 70 OPCconnect.com opc@OPCconnect.com (OPCconnect.com) opc@OPCconnect.com (OPCconnect.com) en-US http://www.OPCconnect.com/?item=2008-May-12_1#updates 12 May 2008 00:00:00 GMT 2008-May-12_1 core components, .NET API and sample code are now available. This release provides full 64-bit support, plus all redistributables are now code signed by OPC Foundation.]]> http://www.OPCconnect.com/?item=2008-May-08_1#updates 08 May 2008 00:00:00 GMT 2008-May-08_1 DevCon presentations. These are available to Foundation members and non-members alike.]]> http://www.OPCconnect.com/?item=2008-May-06_1#updates 06 May 2008 00:00:00 GMT 2008-May-06_1 post last week, Matrikon's Eric Murphy has taken up the debate (again) on whether the OPC specifications should be freely available. He's seeking your input - why not let him know what you think?]]> http://www.OPCconnect.com/?item=2008-May-01_2#updates 01 May 2008 01:00:00 GMT 2008-May-01_2 continues on the OPC forums, with OPC Foundation's justification for its policy on charging looking as weak as ever.
An attempt is made to draw a distinction between IT specs, which are traditionally free and open, and Automation specs that are often charged. This distinction is moot: the OPC specs are standards in both the IT and Automation spheres. Any protocol that can run on Ethernet needs to be documented in a free and open way. As an IT manager, I would not be happy running any OPC standards on my network while access to specifications continues to be charged or restricted.
As Randy Armstrong suggests, you are encouraged to lobby the OPC directors to make your views known.]]> http://www.OPCconnect.com/?item=2008-May-01_1#updates 01 May 2008 00:00:00 GMT 2008-May-01_1 web page. Past editions remain available.]]> http://www.OPCconnect.com/?item=2008-Apr-30_2#updates 30 Apr 2008 01:00:00 GMT 2008-Apr-30_2 See our Free Utilities page for more information and access to a 30-day trial download.]]> http://www.OPCconnect.com/?item=2008-Apr-30_1#updates 30 Apr 2008 00:00:00 GMT 2008-Apr-30_1 suggesting a publication date of January 2009.
See our bookshelf page for information on this and other OPC-related publications.]]> http://www.OPCconnect.com/?item=2008-Apr-25_1#updates 25 Apr 2008 00:00:00 GMT 2008-Apr-25_1 documentation to support the UA SDK (available to Foundation Corporate Members only).
Included are presentations from the 2007 DevCon, MSDN-style docs generated from code comments, an architecture document (work in progress) and updated diagrams.]]> http://www.OPCconnect.com/?item=2008-Apr-16_1#updates 16 Apr 2008 00:00:00 GMT 2008-Apr-16_1 More details on the OPC TAC blog and the official press release.]]> http://www.OPCconnect.com/?item=2008-Apr-10_2#updates 10 Apr 2008 01:00:00 GMT 2008-Apr-10_2 itemized some of the OPC UA events planned for 2008. These include:
- OPC UA Early Adopter Developer Plug Fest, Foxboro, MA, June 2-6 - interop event for early adopters.
- OPC UA Developers' Workshop, Scottsdale, AZ, June 16-18 - on getting started with product development.
- OPC UA DevCon, Munich, Germany, October 27-29 - a higher-level view for architects, visionaries, end users and integrators.
An initial reaction is that we've now had several DevCons, and we need more of the hands-on workshop style of event to really get developers up to speed. Maybe it's not too late to replace the Munich DevCon with a Developers' Workshop in Europe?]]> http://www.OPCconnect.com/?item=2008-Apr-10_1#updates 10 Apr 2008 00:00:00 GMT 2008-Apr-10_1 omitted from the previous build. These downloads are available to OPC Foundation Corporate Members only.]]> http://www.OPCconnect.com/?item=2008-Mar-29_3#updates 29 Mar 2008 02:00:00 GMT 2008-Mar-29_3 XML-DA Interop Server. The server platform has been upgraded for better performance and with upgraded XML-DA software. As a consequence, the range of available XML-DA servers is currently reduced. Let us know if there's a particular server you'd like to see running there.
Access to the XML-DA Interop Server is free to registered users.]]> http://www.OPCconnect.com/?item=2008-Mar-29_2#updates 29 Mar 2008 01:00:00 GMT 2008-Mar-29_2 generally available, the remainder being for Foundation members only.]]> http://www.OPCconnect.com/?item=2008-Mar-29_1#updates 29 Mar 2008 00:00:00 GMT 2008-Mar-29_1 now open.]]> http://www.OPCconnect.com/?item=2008-Mar-27_2#updates 27 Mar 2008 01:00:00 GMT 2008-Mar-27_2 The UA SDK and corresponding WSDL are available to Corporate Members of OPC Foundation. The new RC specifications are said to be available from OPC Foundation's Sharepoint site, but we were unable to reach these.
Note: OPCconnect.com has an RSS feed to keep you automatically updated with changes to OPC downloads.]]> http://www.OPCconnect.com/?item=2008-Mar-27_1#updates 27 Mar 2008 00:00:00 GMT 2008-Mar-27_1 new blog for posts from its 18-member Technical Advisory Council. The TAC exists "to guide, monitor and approve the technical deliverables of its OPC Unified Architecture (OPC-UA) technology". It consists of leading OPC vendors, plus bodies such as Fieldbus Foundation, IEC and WBF. The TAC blog has its own RSS feed.]]> http://www.OPCconnect.com/?item=2008-Mar-15_1#updates 15 Mar 2008 00:00:00 GMT 2008-Mar-15_1 Free Clients: Control See's U.C.ME-OPC demo download offers flexible alarm notification and remote control.]]> http://www.OPCconnect.com/?item=2008-Mar-14_1#updates 14 Mar 2008 00:00:00 GMT 2008-Mar-14_1 Training Providers now includes OPC Competence Centre South Africa.
Free Servers: added simulator and toolkit demo from Graybox.]]> http://www.OPCconnect.com/?item=2008-Mar-03_1#updates 03 Mar 2008 00:00:00 GMT 2008-Mar-03_1 web page. The headline item from OPC Foundation President Tom Burke includes an update on the first Independent OPC Certification Test Lab, plus news of an OPC UA Developers' Workshop, scheduled for June 2008. Previous editions of the newsletter are also available.]]> http://www.OPCconnect.com/?item=2008-Feb-18_2#updates 18 Feb 2008 01:00:00 GMT 2008-Feb-18_2 critical vulnerability with OLE Automation, has been discussed both by Matrikon's Eric Murphy, and by Dale Peterson at Digital Bond.
Murphy's post clouds the issue slightly by talking about the origins of the acronym 'OLE'. He correctly points out that OPC has little to do with OLE, but doesn't quite say that OLE Automation is not strictly OLE either: 'COM for Scripting' would be more accurate.
So, how many OPC systems will be impacted by this vulnerability? We expect that many systems - a large minority - will make use of the oleaut32.dll at the heart of this problem. Most of these will use the copy from the Windows system32 folder, and these should be patched - either manually or via Windows Update. A small number will use a copy of oleaut32.dll supplied by an OPC vendor. We suggest you contact your vendor for details, but don't be fobbed off if you can see a copy of oleaut32.dll in an application folder!]]> http://www.OPCconnect.com/?item=2008-Feb-18_1#updates 18 Feb 2008 00:00:00 GMT 2008-Feb-18_1 Release Candidate specifications for the OPC Test Lab, covering Compliance Tests, Interoperability Workshops, and Independent Test Laboratories. These documents are available to Foundation members only.]]> http://www.OPCconnect.com/?item=2008-Feb-01_1#updates 01 Feb 2008 00:00:00 GMT 2008-Feb-01_1 ascolab in Germany, is now open for registration. The test lab forms part of OPC Founation's enhanced certification logo program.
At the same time, OPC Foundation has updated some of its Release Candidate specifications for the OPC Test Lab. This comprehensive set of documents covers the proposed model of testing and certification for both OPC-UA and legacy OPC (COM) products.]]> http://www.OPCconnect.com/?item=2008-Jan-27_1#updates 27 Jan 2008 00:00:00 GMT 2008-Jan-27_1 Delphi community.
Prosys Sentrol, the outstanding Rapid OPC Application Development Framework, offers full DA 2.0 compliance and now supports Delphi 2007. Likewise our free Delphi demo server - kindly provided by Everest Software - is also updated for Delphi 2007 compatibility.
Why not discover the advantages of OPC development without the baggage of .NET?]]> http://www.OPCconnect.com/?item=2008-Jan-21_2#updates 21 Jan 2008 01:00:00 GMT 2008-Jan-21_2 his blog, OPC Foundation President Tom Burke shares his vision for OPC in 2008. In summary, "OPC wants to be the USB for plug-and-play interoperability between anything".
However, it's hard to disagree with the anonymous commenter: "this vision would be so much more convincing if you could find a way to make the specs open again - like the USB specs".]]> http://www.OPCconnect.com/?item=2008-Jan-21_1#updates 21 Jan 2008 00:00:00 GMT 2008-Jan-21_1 OPC Analyzer utility - available to corporate members only. OPC Analyzer is used at interoperability workshops for monitoring the behavior of OPC DA clients. More details here. This new version includes a number of fixes and enhancements.]]> http://www.OPCconnect.com/?item=2008-Jan-20_1#updates 20 Jan 2008 00:00:00 GMT 2008-Jan-20_1 OPC Training Institute (OPCTI) has scheduled a free webinar - OPC & DCOM Troubleshooting: Quick Start Guide - for Friday, January 25.]]> http://www.OPCconnect.com/?item=2008-Jan-10_1#updates 10 Jan 2008 00:00:00 GMT 2008-Jan-10_1 IEC 62541-x. As part of this process a formal IEC working group has been created. OPC Foundation has more information.]]> http://www.OPCconnect.com/?item=2008-Jan-07_1#updates 07 Jan 2008 00:00:00 GMT 2008-Jan-07_1 These Seminars are designed to cover the fundamentals of OPC including servers, clients, OPC Data Access, OPC Unified Architecture, best practices and compliance.]]>