Features of the OPC Data ActiveX Control

• Supported Operating Systems - Windows NT 4.0 SP4 and higher, Windows 2000 Pro, Server, Advanced Server, Windows XP and Windows 2003. If you are using Windows NT or XP Embedded, the OPC Data Control will work, but you need to make sure DCOM is included in your OS image.
   
• Data Binding for OPC - ActiveX allows you to bind any OPC data point to properties on any object on a form in your application without writing any code. See how it works
   
• Lightweight control - the first instance only uses about 240 kb and subsequent instances only need a few kb to store instance specific data. Compare to products that take 15 Mb just to install!
   
• Runtime Free Distribution - choose your licensing option from very low cost single usage to affordable runtime/royalty-free distribution.
   
• Easy-to-use property pages for connecting objects to OPC process data - see the property pages
   
• Read data without writing code or with code - the choice is yours
   
• Write data easily with just a few lines of code
   
• Extensive Sample Code Library - no other rapid development tool for VB to OPC connectivity offers as many sample applications as the OPC Data ActiveX control - view the full list.
   
• FREE OPC Browser control - drop it into your VB application and let your users browse available OPC servers, connect and browse available items, even over DCOM -- the control returns the necessary connection strings when the user clicks OK. See the browser in action.
   
• Optional programmatic connecting of objects and OPC items provides flexibility for those who might wish to accomplish the same tasks on the fly with their VB code
   
• Connect to multiple OPC servers simultaneously using multiple instances of the control
   
• DCOM support for network applications with configurable timeout on the OPC server connection when used on a remote machine to ensure robust performance.
   
• Meaningful error messages - our GetErrorText() method lets you translate hex OPC specfication error messages to meaningful english text to help you get an idea of what went wrong when errors occur. This seems like it should be intuitive, but you'd be surprised at how many products just spit out a big number and give you no way to interpret the number in text.
   
• Documentation - the OPC Data ActiveX control comes with an extensive set of electronic documentation as well as access to our support knowledgebase and sample programs included with the product and on this website.
   
• Supported Product - Unlike "free wrappers and sample code for VB" that many OPC servers give you that don't provide any technical support for the "free" code, the OPC Data ActiveX Control is supported by Software Toolbox's engineering team.
   
• OPC Data Access Specification 2.0 and 1.0 Supported for wide interoperability with OPC Servers
   
• Provides OPC client capability to Visual Basic without less code than other alternatives
   
• Browse OPC servers for available tags DCOM networking support
   
• Sample Visual Basic program and FREE simulation OPC server included
   
• Sample Visual C++ program - the ultimate troubleshooting tool!
   
• Properties, Methods, & Events - the OPC Data Control provides a variety of programmatic interfaces for the programmer wanting to interface with the ActiveX with their custom code.

Properties Methods Events Activated AutoConnect AutoConnectTimeout DefaultDeadband DefaultUpdateRate MaxItemsPerOPCGroup OPCCmdTimeout OPCServer OPCServerTimeout PCName ShowErrorBoxes AboutBox Connect ConnectName ConnectObject Disconnect GetErrorText PropertyChangedName PropertyChangedObject ReadVariable ReadMultiVariables WriteVariable WriteMultiVariables ConnectionError ValueChanged