The simple drivers that are supported by ClearSCADA allow the ClearSCADA server to either:
- Communicate with various third-party devices, including PLCs and loggers
- Retrieve calculated values, such as those produced within logic programs in remote PLCs, so that they can be displayed within ClearSCADA or used for further calculations
or:
- Monitor various aspects of the system (for example, free disk space).
Each driver provides extra features in the ClearSCADA database to present the data from those devices and, where supported, to set point values or send controls to plant (see Driver Composition).
Intended Audience
This guide is primarily intended for engineers that are tasked with configuring simple driver features and items.
The guide is also intended for engineers and system administrators investigating any faults that ClearSCADA has detected on simple driver items.
Document Scope
The Simple Driver documentation explains how to configure the features that are common to many simple drivers (see Add a Driver-Specific Item to the Database and see Tabs That are Common to Many Configuration Forms). It also explains the order that the configuration should take (see Configuration Order). For further information, see the following sections:
- Configuring Simple Driver Server Settings
- Configuring Channels on Simple Drivers
- Configuring Scanners on Simple Drivers
- Points on Simple Drivers.
Use this documentation alongside the ClearSCADA Guide to Drivers and the driver-specific documentation for a comprehensive understanding of the configuration associated with your drivers.
You can use the core ClearSCADA features, such as Lists, Actions, and Mimics, with simple driver items. For more information on the core database items, please refer to the general documentation (the non-driver specific documentation).
For aspects of configuration that are common to most types of database item (for instance, saving configuration changes, and renaming, copying, and deleting database items), see the ClearSCADA Guide to Core Configuration.
If additional fields have been added to any Forms specifically for your system, you will also need to refer to the system-specific documentation that explains those fields. For information on adding such fields, see Extra Database Fields in the ClearSCADA Guide to Server Administration.
The Simple Driver documentation also explains features that are of interest to system administrators and engineers when diagnosing any abnormal conditions that ClearSCADA has detected. For information, see the following sections: