SUMMARY
This Tech Note is provided courtesy of Wonderware PacWest.
When troubleshooting communications between your HMI and data source it can be useful to utilize the Wonderware Client (WWClient) utility to verify connection status and read values. This document lists the procedures necessary to install and use the WWClient utility to help troubleshoot communications.
SITUATION
Application Versions
All Wonderware software packages that utilize SuiteLink or DDE communication protocols.
Wonderware Client Utility (WWClient).
Procedure
Locate and install the WWClient utility.
You can find it at the following locations:
If you have FactorySuite 2000 Common Components installed on your system, click Start > All Programs > Wonderware FactorySuite > Common > WWClient.
You can download and install the utility from the Global Customer Support website Product Hub under the Utilities and Script Functions, General list.
You can also install the utility from Device Integration CD 1 of 2 at X:\WW\Diagnostic Utilities\Diagnostic.exe. X is the drive letter of your 0CD/DVD-ROM (Figure 1 below).
Figure 1: WW Device Integration CD Download Location
Double-click Diagnostic.exe. The WinZip Self-Extractor window appears.
Browse to or type the directory to which the contents will be unzipped. When finished click the Unzip button.
The utility extracts 2 files: wwclient.exe and wwclintf.dll.
Figure 2: WinZip Self-Extractor for WWClient
When the unzip process is complete a status message appears. Click OK to proceed (Figure 3 below).
Figure 3: Status Message
Navigate to the directory where you unzipped the utility.
Note: If you have any other Wonderware products installed on the machine that the WWClient utility was extracted to, delete the wwclintf.dll file BEFORE using the WWClient utility. The wwclintf.dll file is included ONLY for systems that do not have any Wonderware products installed. Failure to delete the DLL file can cause a conflict when attempting to open any other Wonderware products.
Figure 4: wwclient.exe Install Location
Double-click the wwclient.exe file. The Wonderware Client window appears.
On the main menu, click Connections > Create.
Figure 5: Connections > Create
The Create Connection window appears. The configuration options are similar to an Access Name for InTouch.
Configure a connection and click Create.
Figure 6: Configure the Connection
Configuration for our example:
• Node: localhost. Connect to a DAServer installed on the local machine.
• Application: dasabtcp. Connect to the Wonderware DASABTCP DAServer.
• Topic: Topic_0. This is the default name used when defining a topic in the DASABTCP DAServer.
• Connection Type: For this Tech Note the IOT connection type is used. IOT is the original name for the SuiteLink protocol. IOT Thread starts the protocol in a separate thread and is not advised for this use.
You will see a line of text in the Wonderware Client window. The text displays information about the protocol in use, the path to connect to the end device, and the connection status.
Figure 7: Protocol, Path and Status Items
Understanding the Items’ Values
Notice that the hexadecimal value does not read 0x00000000.
To see the actual value and what it means
From the Wonderware Client window menu select Item. The Item window appears.
Select the connection in question in the Connections pane, and type a valid data point.
Select the appropriate data type in the Item section.
Click AdviseEx.
You now see the advised item information displayed under the connection information in the main Wonderware Client window.
Between the item name and the timestamp you will see the actual value of the item advised. To the far right is another set of hexadecimal values, where 0x00c0 represents a good connection to the data source.
A legend of these hexadecimal (and their respective decimal) values is located in the OPC Quality Code Legend section below.
OPC Quality Code Legend
Hexadecimal
Decimal
Description
0x0000 0 Bad
0x0001 1 Bad, Low Limited
0x0002 2 Bad, High Limited
0x0003 3 Bad, Constant
0x0004 4 Bad, Configuration Error
0x0005 5 Bad, Configuration Error, Low Limited
0x0006 6 Bad, Configuration Error, High Limited
0x0007 7 Bad, Configuration Error, Constant
0x0008 8 Bad, Not Connected
0x0009 9 Bad, Not Connected, Low Limited
0x000A 10 Bad, Not Connected, High Limited
0x000B 11 Bad, Not Connected, Constant
0x000C 12 Bad, Device Failure
0x000D 13 Bad, Device Failure, Low Limited
0x000E 14 Bad, Device Failure, High Limited
0x000F 15 Bad, Device Failure, Constant
0x0010 16 Bad, Sensor Failure
0x0011 17 Bad, Sensor Failure, Low Limited
0x0012 18 Bad, Sensor Failure, High Limited
0x0013 19 Bad, Sensor Failure, Constant
0x0014 20 Bad, Last Known Value
0x0015 21 Bad, Last Known Value, Low Limited
0x0016 22 Bad, Last Known Value, High Limited
0x0017 23 Bad, Last Known Value, Constant
0x0018 24 Bad, Comm Failure
0x0019 25 Bad, Comm Failure, Low Limited
0x001A 26 Bad, Comm Failure, High Limited
0x001B 27 Bad, Comm Failure, Constant
0x001C 28 Bad, Out of Service
0x001D 29 Bad, Out of Service, Low Limited
0x001E 30 Bad, Out of Service, High Limited
0x001F 31 Bad, Out of Service, Constant
0x0020 32 Bad, Waiting for Initial Data
0x0021 33 Bad, Waiting for Initial Data, Low Limited
0x0022 34 Bad, Waiting for Initial Data, High Limited
0x0023 35 Bad, Waiting for Initial Data, Constant
0x0040 64 Uncertain
0x0041 65 Uncertain, Low Limited
0x0042 66 Uncertain, High Limited
0x0043 67 Uncertain, Constant
0x0044 68 Uncertain, Last Usable Value
0x0045 69 Uncertain, Last Usable Value, Low Limited
0x0046 70 Uncertain, Last Usable Value, High Limited
0x0047 71 Uncertain, Last Usable Value, Constant
0x0050 80 Uncertain, Sensor Not Accurate
0x0051 81 Uncertain, Sensor Not Accurate, Low Limited
0x0052 82 Uncertain, Sensor Not Accurate, High Limited
0x0053 83 Uncertain, Sensor Not Accurate, Constant
0x0054 84 Uncertain, Engineering Units Exceeded
0x0055 85 Uncertain, Engineering Units Exceeded, Low Limited
0x0056 86 Uncertain, Engineering Units Exceeded, High Limited
0x0057 87 Uncertain, Engineering Units Exceeded, Constant
0x0058 88 Uncertain, Sub-Normal
0x0059 89 Uncertain, Sub-Normal, Low Limited
0x005A 90 Uncertain, Sub-Normal, High Limited
0x005B 91 Uncertain, Sub-Normal, Constant
0x00C0 192 Good
0x00C1 193 Good, Low Limited
0x00C2 194 Good, High Limited
0x00C3 195 Good, Constant
0x00D8 216 Good, Local Override
0x00D9 217 Good, Local Override, Low Limited
0x00DA 218 Good, Local Override, High Limited
0x00DB 219 Good, Local Override, Constant