Configuration Order

Your User Account needs to be assigned the Configure Database feature to enable you to configure items in the database (see Database Security).

For each advanced driver, you need to configure:

1. A Channel to define each communication connection between an outstation, or group of outstations, and the Geo SCADA Expert server.

   Some outstations can communicate using a variety of methods (for example, direct or PSTN)—ensure that you configure the correct type of channel to represent the type of communication used (see Configuring a Channel).

2. An Outstation Set to define each group of outstations that share the same channel(s) (with the exception of PSTN) and use the same protocol.

   As multi-drop scanning and processing becomes slower when there are many outstations in the same set, we recommend that you only include a maximum of 30 multi-drop outstations in a set (see Configuring an Outstation Set).

3. An Outstation to define each unit that obtains data from measuring devices and / or sends instructions to controllable devices.

   The type of communication may vary, depending on the outstation type—ensure that you configure the correct type of outstation for the type of communication used (see Outstation Types and Communications Set-ups, alsosee Scanning Direct Outstations, and see Configuring an Outstation).

4. A Point to represent each measuring instrument or control device that is connected to the outstation.

   The types of point that you can configure varies, depending on the driver (see Points on Advanced Drivers).

5. A Pulse action (if required) to carry out control(s) on plant for only brief periods of time.

   Pulse actions are supported by many drivers (see Defining Pulse Action Details).

If data is to be uploaded to Geo SCADA Expert using the ‘File Upload’ feature:

6. File Upload(s) to specify the directories from which data files are to be uploaded into Geo SCADA Expert, and the period for which any reports associated with the File Upload are to be retained on the server (see Configuring a File Upload).

To minimize the time taken to configure the required advanced driver items, you may want to configure them in the order given above. The order is more important for outstations that use a permanent connection rather than PSTN to communicate with the Geo SCADA Expert server, as set configuration requires you to specify a channel, and outstation configuration requires you to specify a set, and so on. (With PSTN outstations, the association with a channel is only made during run time.)

By default, an item is not ‘In Service’ when you first create a database entry for it (see Placing an Item In Service in the Geo SCADA ExpertGuide to Core Configuration). In order for the Geo SCADA Expert server to communicate with an item, you have to put the item In Service (online), and ensure that it has valid configuration (see Checking for Invalid Configuration in the Geo SCADA ExpertGuide to Core Configuration). Geo SCADA Expert will generally prompt you for any mandatory properties that an item requires as you configure it.