Industrial Gateway Server (IGS) - Quick Start Guide

The IGS driver contains over 100 protocols supporting all major PLC brands within a single common driver framework. The IGS is licensed per product suite (AB, GE-IP,
Schneider, Omron, Siemens, etc). During installation of the IGS, users select the specific protocol suites they require.
If the needs of the plant change, users can switch between protocol suites or purchase additional suite licenses.

The IGS Driver appears in the SCU as a native iFIX driver.
The IGS features two different methods of driver addressing (Dynamic & Static tags), iFIX supports both methods. The IGS can also be used as an OPC Server, which can be
utilised with Proficy Historian and other products.

When using the IGS with iFIX our preferred method of interfacing is by utilising Dynamic addressing. You can also mix & match the addressing to suit your project needs; it
doesnt all need to be done via one method exclusively.

IGS Dynamic Tags:
An agile and scalable approach to I/O addressing.
Dynamic Tags effectively pass-through an existing IGS Channel and Device combination without having to be fully defined within the IGS driver configurator.
iFIX database references Dynamic Tags by their PLC I/O address.
Update (Poll) Rate to the PLC is set by appending it to the I/O Address in the iFIX database.
Dynamic Tags cannot be browsed via the embedded OPC quick client
Creating IGS Dynamic Tags:
From the iFIX SCU, open the IGS configuration utility; define the required Channel/Protocol and relevant devices (PLCs). Save & close the configuration utility, the IGS is
now configured.

Open the iFIX database manager, create a tag and address your field I/O using the addressing syntax of: Channel.Device.I/O_Address@Datatype,poll_rate.
Note: If you do not specify the poll-rate and data-type as part of an IGS dynamic tag address, it will default to a 100ms poll-rate and the default data-type defined within the
IGS configurator.

IGS Dynamic Tag - Example:
IIC HMI / SCADA Software Production Management Software Go Mobile Support Central Articles Contact
Page 1 of 3 IGS - Quick Start Guide
23/09/2013 http://www.iic.co.nz/index.php/support-central/igs-quickstart.html
If the default data-type of a PLC defined as Packing was a long, to get a floating point value of Tank1_Flow every 1000ms, the I/O address in the iFIX database would be:
Eth_Chan1_AB.Packing.Tank1_Flow@Float,1000


IGS Static Tags: The classic approach
When users add a tag to iFIX, they must also add it to the IGS driver
Users create/define static tags within the IGS driver. Data-type & update (poll rate) are defined individually for each static tag.
iFIX database references the IGS static tags by their Full Item name (channel.device.item)
Static Tags can be browsed via the embedded OPC quick client
Creating IGS Static tags:
From the SCU, open the IGS configuration utility, define the required Channel/Protocol, Devices and configure the Static Items (Tags) as required. Close the utility.
Open the iFIX database manager, create a tag and address your previously defined IGS static tag using the addressing syntax of: Channel.Device.Item_Name
IGS Static Tag - Example:
Eth_Chan1_AB.Packing.MyStaticTag
Page 2 of 3 IGS - Quick Start Guide
23/09/2013 http://www.iic.co.nz/index.php/support-central/igs-quickstart.html
Page 3 of 3 IGS - Quick Start Guide
23/09/2013 http://www.iic.co.nz/index.php/support-central/igs-quickstart.html