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OPC Expert is a tool to view OPC data and troubleshoot connections.
In this tutorial we use OPC Expert to connect to local and remote OPC servers and view real-time automation data.
The first important observation about OPC Expert is it's only a single executable.
You do not need to install OPC Expert and OPC Expert does not make any registry changes!
So you can even run OPC Expert from a USB stick.
I already put OPC Expert in its own folder and created a desktop shortcut.
Let’s start OPC Expert and connect to an OPC server.
Double-click to browse this computer.
We now see 3 OPC DA servers.
Double-click to open the Kepware OPC server and establish a connection.
OPC Expert immediately checks the connection.
The green checkmark tells us everything is OK.
Double-click each branch in the browse tree to see individual items.
These "items," sometimes known as "tags," correspond to real measurements in the field.
Double-click to subscribe to these items and receive information about changes on the plant floor.
I can also use the keyboard.
Just click the right-arrow on your keyboard.
It's much easier if you want to subscribe to many items.
The green checkmark on each item tells us OPC Expert already checked the connection health and determined everything is alright.
Now, let's connect to an OPC server on a network computer.
Let's open the "Entire Network," then "Workgroup," and finally we see some computers.
Let's keep browsing.
When we open this computer we can see it has some OPC servers on it as well.
Let's open the Simulator OPC server, and drill inside to see the items.
Just double-click each time to take an action.
Finally we can see some items here, and we can subscribe to their data as well.
Again, you can press the right-arrow key instead of the mouse.
Let's connect to one more computer.
I will collapse the tree to keep a clean view.
Let's open the remote computer...
Now, open the Simulator OPC server.
This time, OPC Expert doesn't give us a checkmark.
Instead, we see an exclamation mark, so we know we have to pay attention.
In fact, the event log already shows me a problem...
... but we will look at it shortly.
You see, even though OPC Expert detected a problem, it still enables me to see data in my OPC servers.
Let's drill in and subscribe to some items.
The exclamation mark indicates I have a problem with these items.
When I look at the Message Window, I can see OPC Expert tells me there is a problem.
When I double-click the warning message, I get a verbose description of the problem, its cause, and even how to fix it!
Now I know what to do.
In this tutorial we used OPC Expert to connect to local and remote OPC servers and view real-time automation data.
We also saw how OPC Expert automatically detects problematic OPC connections and provides repair recommendations.
OPC Expert is easy to use and is a favorite tool for people handling OPC technical support.
Give it a try!