1. What are the OPC Quality Codes?

ANSWER / SOLUTION
The quality of a given OPC tag is used to represent the validity of the tag's value (in other words, whether or not an OPC
client can trust the data). OPC quality is divided into three main categories: Good (generally indicates the data is valid), Bad
(generally indicates the data is not valid), or Uncertain (generally indicates the data is speculative in some manner). Each
category is further divided into sub-categories; the exact criteria for using a particular sub-category may vary depending on
the end protocol and vendor, however the list below provides a good starting point for further investigation.

OPC DA Quality Codes

0 0x00000000 Bad [Non-Specific]
4 0x00000004 Bad [Configuration Error]
8 0x00000008 Bad [Not Connected]
12 0x0000000c Bad [Device Failure]
16 0x00000010 Bad [Sensor Failure]
20 0x00000014 Bad [Last Known Value]
24 0x00000018 Bad [Communication Failure]
28 0x0000001C Bad [Out of Service]
64 0x00000040 Uncertain [Non-Specific]
65 0x00000041 Uncertain [Non-Specific] (Low Limited)
66 0x00000042 Uncertain [Non-Specific] (High Limited)
67 0x00000043 Uncertain [Non-Specific] (Constant)
68 0x00000044 Uncertain [Last Usable]
69 0x00000045 Uncertain [Last Usable] (Low Limited)
70 0x00000046 Uncertain [Last Usable] (High Limited)
71 0x00000047 Uncertain [Last Usable] (Constant)
80 0x00000050 Uncertain [Sensor Not Accurate]
81 0x00000051 Uncertain [Sensor Not Accurate] (Low Limited)
82 0x00000052 Uncertain [Sensor Not Accurate] (High Limited)
83 0x00000053 Uncertain [Sensor Not Accurate] (Constant)
84 0x00000054 Uncertain [EU Exceeded]
85 0x00000055 Uncertain [EU Exceeded] (Low Limited)
86 0x00000056 Uncertain [EU Exceeded] (High Limited)
87 0x00000057 Uncertain [EU Exceeded] (Constant)
88 0x00000058 Uncertain [Sub-Normal]
89 0x00000059 Uncertain [Sub-Normal] (Low Limited)
90 0x0000005a Uncertain [Sub-Normal] (High Limited)
91 0x0000005b Uncertain [Sub-Normal] (Constant)
192 0x000000c0 Good [Non-Specific]
193 0x000000c1 Good [Non-Specific] (Low Limited)
194 0x000000c2 Good [Non-Specific] (High Limited)
195 0x000000c3 Good [Non-Specific] (Constant)
216 0x000000d8 Good [Local Override]
217 0x000000d9 Good [Local Override] (Low Limited)
218 0x000000da Good [Local Override] (High Limited)
219 0x000000db Good [Local Override] (Constant)

OPC HDA Quality Codes

65536 0x00010000 Bad [Non-Specific] : Extra Data

65540 0x00010004 Bad [Configuration Error] : Extra Data
65544 0x00010008 Bad [Not Connected] : Extra Data
65548 0x0001000c Bad [Device Failure] : Extra Data
65552 0x00010010 Bad [Sensor Failure] : Extra Data
65556 0x00010014 Bad [Last Known Value] : Extra Data
65560 0x00010018 Bad [Communication Failure] : Extra Data
65564 0x0001001c Bad [Out of Service] : Extra Data
65600 0x00010040 Uncertain [Non-Specific] : Extra Data
65601 0x00010041 Uncertain [Non-Specific] (Low Limited) : Extra Data
65602 0x00010042 Uncertain [Non-Specific] (High Limited) : Extra Data

2. How do OPC communication ports work?

ANSWER / SOLUTION
DCOM uses Port 135 to establish communication. Once the OPC Client and Server are able to communicate, they will
negotiate new port numbers for communication dynamically. OPC applications typically use 4 ports. Once, the OPC Client
and OPC Server applications find the available ports, they use them and release traffic from port 135

3. What is Security DCOM Error with error code 0x80070005 ?

ANSWER / SOLUTION
Cause:
Note that this case is applicable to Matrikon Products, and not Experion
This error occurs when DCOM communication is stopped by the Access Control List (ACL) of either the OPC Client or
OPC Server Computer.
This DCOM error will appear when it succeeds in launching an OPC Server or OpcEnum, but fails to receive a reply from
either of the applications. This error could be caused under several conditions:

 On the OPC Server PC, the OPC Client User Account does not have the right Access Control List (ACL)
permissions in the System-Wide DCOM settings, Access Permissions, Edit Default.
 On the OPC Client PC, the OPC Server User Account does not have the right Access Control List (ACL)
permissions in the System-Wide DCOM settings, Access Permissions, Edit Limits.
 On the OPC Client PC, the DCOM Default Impersonation Level is set to "Anonymous" instead of "Identify", and
the "ANONYMOUS LOGON" Access Control Entry (ACE) does not exist in the OPC Client PC, Access Control
List (ACL) permissions in the System-Wide DCOM settings, Access Permissions, Edit Limits.

Background:
There are cases where an OPC client application can launch a remote OPC Server, but is unable to receive further responses.
Thus, DCOM will inform the OPC Client that the launch of the remote server was successful, but the OPC Client will be
unable to continue communicating with the OPC Server application. In this case, the OPC Client application will display
DCOM Error 0x80070005. In essence, this error occurs when DCOM communication is stopped by the Access Control List
(ACL) of either the OPC Client PC or OPC Server PC.

Test:
If you receive DCOM Error 0x80070005, check if the OPC Server application is actually running on the OPC Server PC. If
you received this error when you tried to browse for OPC Servers on the OPC Server PC, check if OpcEnum is running. If
either is running, end both processes on the OPC Server PC. Then try to establish communication again. If you still receive
the same DCOM Error 0x80070005, then the cause is as listed above. If you receive a different DCOM error, then you will
need to search for that specific error instead.

4. How do I resolve the error messages that state 'could not load some objects because they are not available on this
machine' or, 'Compile error in hidden module: OPC Proxy'?

ANSWER / SOLUTION
These error messages are a result of a Windows OCX file which Excel Reporter requires in order to function properly. You
can encounter these errors when using Excel Reporter v3.3.0.22 and installing on a machine that has Office 2003 (SP2 or
higher), 2007 (SP2 or higher) or 2010*, however the cases for these errors have been rare. What occurs is that the OCX file
is not registered by the installer and therefore the product does not run properly on the system. Any time that you attempt to
run Excel you will be met with errors similar to those above.

*NOTE: Office 2010 is not officially supported by Excel Reporter v3.3.0.22. If you wish to trial Excel Reporter with this
version of Office, please contact your Account Manager or OPC Support for additional instructions.

To resolve these errors a full uninstall and reinstall of Excel Reporter along with specific instructions to register the
Windows OCX file are required. Please follow these steps below and note that these steps require that you are an
Administrator user on the machine.

1. Ensure no instance of Excel are open on the machine

2. Uninstall Excel Reporter using the Windows Control Panel and Add/Remove Programs
3. Reinstall Excel Reporter
NOTE: If you are trialing Excel Reporter, you will need to contact OPC Support or your Account Manager with
MatrikonOPC for an installer that will permit this reinstall step
4. Once Excel Reporter is installed, DO NOT LAUNCH EXCEL UNTIL THE NEXT STEPS ARE COMPLETED
5. Open a command prompt on your system
If this is a Windows 7 or Windows 2008 machine, you should open the command prompt by right-clicking the
Command Prompt executable shortcut and selecting 'Run as Administrator'
6. Browse to C:\Windows\System32 (for 64bit OS such as Windows 7 or Windows
2008 C:\Windows\SysWOW64)
7. Reregister the MSCOMCTL.OCX file
regsvr32 MSCOMCTL.OCX
8. You should now be able to launch Excel properly

WWADS01- Wonderware Automation Device Specification (ADS)

1. Install the VLC player (http://www.videolan.org/vlc/) on the InTouch HMI machine.

2. Add the VLC ActiveX control to your InTouch application.

3. Find the RTSP port number and protocol for the camera. This will be needed for the RTSP
URL you'll configure in the VLC ActiveX control on your InTouch window. (e.g. port 8557, using
H.264). The RTSP URL for the camera would then be something like rtsp://<ip
address>:8557/h264.

4. In InTouch, add the VLC ActiveX control to your window. Then, either configure a message tag
and set the value of the tag to the RTSP URL, or set the ActiveX control's BaseURL parameter
directly by referencing the control name and parameter name in the InTouch window's On
Show script.
5. Assuming the door trigger is wired up to a PLC or some device InTouch can communicate
with, create a condition script that monitors the door trigger tag and opens the window containing
the VLC ActiveX control you just configured. In my screenshots, my VLC window's name is
"_junk".

I don't have an RTSP camera feed to test this out with, but I don't see any reason why it wouldn't
work. I'd love to hear how it works out.