MatrikonOPC Explorer

User Manual
Version 1.1
July 2005
MatrikonOPC Explorer - User Manual–Version 1.1

This manual is a product of Matrikon Inc

Matrikon Inc.
#1800, 10405 Jasper Avenue
Edmonton, Alberta
T5J 3N4 Canada
Phone: (780) 448-1010
Fax: (780) 448-9191
http://www.matrikonopc.com

Revision History:
Date Version Description Author
2004-03-17 1.0 Migrated to new template TNN
2005-01-07 1.1 Update Copyright info EJM

© Copyright 2005, Matrikon Inc. All rights reserved.

CONFIDENTIAL
The information contained herein is confidential and proprietary to Matrikon Inc. It may not be disclosed or
transferred, directly or indirectly, to any third party without the explicit written permission of Matrikon Inc.
All rights reserved. No part of this document may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, translated, or
transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without
prior written permission of Matrikon Inc.

Version 1.1—MatrikonOPC Explorer User Manual 7/27/2005

Table of Contents
1 Introduction .................................................................................................................................................................... 1
1.1 Who Should Use This Manual .................................................................................................................................... 1
2 Getting Started ............................................................................................................................................................... 2
2.1 System Requirements................................................................................................................................................. 2
2.1.1 Software Requirements............................................................................................................................................................. 2
2.1.2 Hardware Requirements........................................................................................................................................................... 2
2.2 Contacting Support..................................................................................................................................................... 2
3 Configuration.................................................................................................................................................................. 3
3.1 View Available OPC Servers ....................................................................................................................................... 3
3.2 Connect To An OPC Server ......................................................................................................................................... 3
3.3 Add OPC Groups......................................................................................................................................................... 4
3.4 Add OPC Items ........................................................................................................................................................... 4
3.4.1 ITEM ID ..................................................................................................................................................................................... 5
3.4.2 ACCESS PATH............................................................................................................................................................................ 6
3.4.3 BROWSE THE SERVER ADDRESS SPACE .................................................................................................................................. 6
3.4.4 REQUESTED DATA TYPE........................................................................................................................................................... 6
3.4.5 ACTIVE STATE ........................................................................................................................................................................... 6
3.4.6 VALIDATE THE OPC ITEMS ....................................................................................................................................................... 7
3.5 Read Real-Time Values.............................................................................................................................................. 7
3.5.1 UPDATE RATE........................................................................................................................................................................... 7
3.5.2 ACTIVE STATE ........................................................................................................................................................................... 7
3.5.3 DATA DISPLAY.......................................................................................................................................................................... 7
3.5.4 I/O METHOD ............................................................................................................................................................................. 8
3.5.5 TIME BIAS ................................................................................................................................................................................. 8
3.5.6 DEAD-BAND.............................................................................................................................................................................. 8
3.5.7 ADVISE LOG.............................................................................................................................................................................. 9
3.5.8 WRITE CONTROL VALUES......................................................................................................................................................... 9
3.6 Options..................................................................................................................................................................... 10
3.6.1 GENERAL ................................................................................................................................................................................ 10
3.6.2 DATA TRANSFER..................................................................................................................................................................... 10

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 3.6.3 DATA DISPLAY........................................................................................................................................................................ 10
3.6.4 COM......................................................................................................................................................................................... 10
3.7 Save The Session...................................................................................................................................................... 10
Appendix A - Distributed COM (DCOM).................................................................................................................................. 11
A.1 DCOM Configuration Utility............................................................................................................................................. 11
A.2 Default Properties ........................................................................................................................................................... 11
A.3 Security Permissions........................................................................................................................................................ 12
A.4 Server Identity................................................................................................................................................................. 15
A.5 Default Protocols............................................................................................................................................................. 15
A.6 Remote Program ID ........................................................................................................................................................ 16
Appendix B - Standard Data Types ........................................................................................................................................ 17

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 1 Introduction
MatrikonOPC Explorer is a general-purpose OPC client. It is included with all MatrikonOPC Servers
to ensure that users always have a reliable means to test the capabilities of the software. Choose
MatrikonOPC Explorer from the Start menu, directly under the Programs folder, to start the
program.
OPC Explorer supports the following OPC specifications:

• OPC DA (Data Access) 1.0a

• OPC DA (Data Access) 2.05

1.1 Who Should Use This Manual

This manual is intended for all users of MatrikonOPC Explorer. It explains how to configure the
software as well as how to perform common tasks.

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 2 Getting Started
2.1 System Requirements
The server has both Software and Hardware minimum system requirements. These requirements
must be met in order for the server to work properly.

2.1.1 Software Requirements

The server requires, at a minimum, the following software:
• Microsoft Windows XP Service Pack 1 OR
• Microsoft Windows 2000 Service Pack 2, OR
• Microsoft Windows NT 4.0 Service Pack 6
• Internet Explorer 4.01 Service Pack 1 (or better)

2.1.2 Hardware Requirements

The server requires, at a minimum, the following hardware:
• Intel Pentium II 300MHz
• 128MB RAM

2.2 Contacting Support

MatrikonOPC’s support is available Monday through Friday, 9AM to 5PM Mountain Time.
Email: opcsupport@matrikonopc.com
Phone: 780 448-1010, extension 4011
Fax: 780 448-9191

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 3 Configuration
3.1 View Available OPC Servers
MatrikonOPC Explorer is an OPC client application. It connects to OPC server applications and
displays real-time values as they are received. When OPC Explorer starts up, it searches the registry
on the local computer and generates a list of program ID’s for available OPC servers. It displays this
list in a browser view in the left-hand window.

Figure 1 – Server List

Every OPC server has a unique program ID. This is a human-readable text string that is converted to
a globally unique identification number which COM then uses to identify the server. Each server may
have a version-specific program ID (with a number appended to the end of the string), a version-
independent program ID (no number), or both. All Matrikon OPC Servers have both types, but only
the version-dependent program ID shows up in the list.
If an error occurs during the communication session between OPC Explorer and an OPC server, a
message box appears explaining this. Click the Details button to get a more descriptive explanation
of the error. Deselect the “Disconnect Server” checkbox to ignore the error and continue without
disconnecting from the server. Choose Error Log from the View menu to display a log of past errors.
Right-click on the window and choose “Clear Log” to clear the log.

3.2 Connect To An OPC Server

Select a program ID in the browser view. Choose Connect from the Server menu and then choose
Connect. The browser window allows users to choose OPC Servers on the Local or Networked
machines.
Another option for remote connections is the “Other Network Computers’ dialog. This dialog
allows users to manually enter a host name/IP address and OPC Server Prog ID.

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 Figure 2 – Other Network Computers Dialog

COM will attempt to launch the OPC server if it is not currently running when the first client
attempts to connect to it. If the server runs as a local executable then COM will run it. If the server
runs as an NT service then COM will start it up.
Similarly, when the last client application disconnects from an OPC server, the server will shut down.
Matrikon OPC Servers wait for one minute before shutting down to avoid unnecessary processing
when client applications connect and disconnect frequently.

3.3 Add OPC Groups

Choose “Add Group” from the Server menu to create a new OPC group on the connected OPC
server. Enter a name for the group. If the edit box is left blank then the OPC server will assign a
unique name for the group. Change the other settings as desired and click OK to create the group.
Choose Properties from the Group menu to change these settings after the group is created. See the
section on reading real-time values for a further explanation of what these settings do.

3.4 Add OPC Items

An OPC groups serves as a logical collection of data items. Choose “Add Items” from the Group
menu to display Tag Studio – a utility for creating, validating, and adding OPC items.

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 Figure 3 – Add Items Dialog

To create an OPC item, enter an item ID in the edit box and click the right-pointing arrow. The item
appears in the list box on the right-hand side of the window. Double-click on an item to edit its
settings (the appearance of the arrow changes). Choose “Update and Return to Explorer” to add the
created items to the OPC group and return to MatrikonOPC Explorer.
In addition to an item ID, users can also specify an access path, a requested data type, and an active
state. The following sections describe these settings in further detail.

3.4.1 ITEM ID
All OPC items must be identified by an item ID. This identifier is a server-specific string of
characters that uniquely identifies a source of data to an OPC server. More than one OPC item may
refer to the same item ID at the same time. Enter the item ID in the Item ID edit box. Click the
button next to this edit box to bring up the Tag Generator – a utility for creating large numbers of
tags that follow a known pattern.
Some examples of item ID’s might be “PLC1.4:0001”, “North:FIC101/CV”,
“\\ARCSVR:DBTAG001”, etc. Check Appendix A for information about the specific syntax of the
item ID’s.

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3.4.2 ACCESS PATH
Some OPC servers may allow clients to specify an access path in addition to an item ID. An access
path may suggest to the server how it should get the data for a particular item. For example, it might
specify the method of communication to use for accessing the data (i.e. radio, satellite, or modem).
Servers are under no obligation to use the access path, although they will return errors if the access
path is invalid. Click the ellipsis button next to the Access Path edit box to browse the access paths
that are available for the selected item ID (if the server supports this feature). Matrikon OPC Servers
do not use access paths. Leave the access path blank if it is not used.

3.4.3 BROWSE THE SERVER ADDRESS SPACE

Some OPC server support browsing as a means of isolating users from the exact syntax of its item
ID’s. Browsing allows users of OPC clients to view the “contents” of a server to find a particular
data item and resolve it into a valid item ID. It is not primarily intended for auto-generating OPC
items. If the OPC server supports browsing then a tree view and list view appear in tag studio.
The tree view displays “branches” in a hierarchical address space, while the list view displays the
“leaves” that are available under the selected “branch”. Each “leaf” either represents an actual item
or else it may provide a “hint” indicative of available items. For example, if there are thousands of
numbered items under a “branch”, the server might simply provide a single “leaf” representing the
range of numeric addresses available.
While browsing, the user may apply a number of filter criteria to search for a particular type of item.
The syntax of the filter is vendor-specific, but the algorithm recommended by the OPC Foundation
follows the same pattern as the Visual Basic “Like” function with respect to item names. For
example, “A*” filters out any item names that do not begin with the letter “A”. This filter may also
apply to branches.
Items may also be filtered by data type and access rights. Choosing a type other than Empty/Default
causes the browser to display only those items with the same canonical data type as that selected.
Access rights are non-exclusive. For example, selecting write access and deselecting read access will
display only items that can be written to, regardless of their read accessibility. Selecting both should
filter nothing out.
Double-click on a “leaf” and Tag Studio will place the fully qualified item ID for that item in the edit
box. If the item ID is a “hint” then change it to a “real” item, following the pattern provided by the
hint. Alternatively, right-click on the item and choose “Add to Tag List” to add the item using the
previous item’s settings. “Add All Items to Tag List” adds every item under the branch.

3.4.4 REQUESTED DATA TYPE

All OPC items have a native (“canonical”) data type. That is to say, there is a default format to the
data that the server supplies for an item. When creating OPC items, client applications can specify a
requested data type for each item. The OPC server will attempt to covert any data from the item to
this format if possible. If the requested and canonical data types are incompatible, then the server will
fail to validate the item when it is added.

3.4.5 ACTIVE STATE

Like groups, OPC items may be active or inactive. See the section on reading real-time values for
more information about this setting.

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 3.4.6 VALIDATE THE OPC ITEMS
Choose “Validate Tags” from the File menu to check the created items for validity. Tag Studio will
query the OPC server to determine whether the items are correct. A small red X next to an item
indicates that it did not validate properly. A green checkmark indicates that the item is valid. A blue
question mark indicates that the item has not been validated yet.

3.5 Read Real-Time Values

Once items are added to an OPC group, MatrikonOPC Explorer continually updates the display for
that group with real-time data. The data values appear in the list view on the right-hand side of the
window. Each item is listed along with its item ID, access path, active state, value, quality, and
timestamp.
When there are a number of groups created on an OPC server, use the group list view to navigate
between different groups and to view the items in those groups. Use the drop-down box to navigate
between the groups on different server connections.

3.5.1 UPDATE RATE

The OPC server tries to keep Explorer informed with values for an OPC group at the requested
update rate for that group. If the requested update rate is too fast for the server to handle then it will
return a revised update rate that it will use instead. Internally, the server tries to keep the data items at
least as “fresh” as indicated by the update rate. However, the server will send values to the client no
faster than the update rate in order to avoid overwhelming it.

3.5.2 ACTIVE STATE

OPC servers only update values for active items in active groups. When an individual item is set
inactive, the server stops sending updates for the item. When a group is set inactive, the server stops
sending values for any items in that group. Client applications (such as HMI applications) can help to
reduce the processing load on an OPC server by deactivating groups and items that are not currently
needed.
Choose Activate/Deactivate from the Group or Item menus at any time to change the active state of
an OPC group or individual OPC items.

3.5.3 DATA DISPLAY

Although the OPC server may supply data changes to MatrikonOPC Explorer at the update rate of
the group, a global setting specifies the refresh rate for the display in OPC Explorer. Choose
“Update Speed” from the View menu and select one of the four available options: High, Normal,
Low, or Paused. If the update speed is “Paused” then the user will have to refresh the display
manually (F5).

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 Figure 4 – Data Display

In the item display, the Value field shows the real-time value for the item. The Quality field indicates
whether or not this value is valid, and why (see the annex for a list of quality values). The Timestamp
field indicates how “fresh” the value is (the time that it was received from the data source).
The information panel at the bottom of the window displays status information about the selected
server and group. Choose “Info Panel” from the view panel to hide and show this panel.

3.5.4 I/O METHOD

MatrikonOPC Explorer allows the user to specify the method of communication to use with a group.
Synchronous I/O is generally reserved for testing and special operations. Explorer also allows the
user to choose between the 1.0a or 2.0 style of asynchronous I/O. The normal recommended setting
is “Asynchronous I/O”, which attempts to use 2.0 first, and 1.0a if that fails.

3.5.5 TIME BIAS

Some OPC client applications may use the OPC server time bias setting as a storage area for time
zone information. This information might be used to display server timestamps in a time zone other
than UTC or the local time zone. MatrikonOPC Explorer does not use this information, but allows
the user to write the information to the server as a test.

3.5.6 DEAD-BAND
Some OPC servers support dead-band for updates from analog data sources. The dead-band value is
a percentage of full-scale deflection and so the high and low limits for the item must be known ahead
of time. Dead-band only affects updates between an OPC client and a server. It has no effect on
communication between an OPC server and its respective device(s).

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3.5.7 ADVISE LOG
Choose Advise Log from the View menu to display a log of ongoing I/O transactions. Right-click on
the window and choose “Clear Log” to clear the log. Use the options to keep the window above all
other windows in the desktop and to keep the most recent entry visible at all times.

3.5.8 WRITE CONTROL VALUES

MatrikonOPC Explorer allows the user to write control values to items in an OPC group. Select the
desired items in the list view and choose “Write Values” from the Item menu. In the dialog box,
enter the control values to be written in the “New Value” column. Specify the data types of for the
control values in the “Data Type” column. Use the checkboxes to avoid writing to individual items.
When ready, click the OK or Apply button to perform the write.

Figure 5 – Write Values Dialog

Control values may be written to items regardless of whether they or the group that they are in are active or
inactive. If the items and the group containing the items are both active then the written control value
should appear when the next update occurs. Also, some OPC servers may contain read-only item. Values
written to these items will be discarded.

MatrikonOPC Explorer also contains a Signal Generator to write ramping control values to OPC
items. Choose the “Signal Generator” tab in the “Write Values” dialog box. Enter the high and low
limits and the increment factor for the ramp wave. Finally, enter the time period in milliseconds and
press Start. Press Stop or close the dialog box to finish writing the ramp wave.

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3.6 Options
Choose Options from the View menu to display the Options dialog box. Users can change certain
aspects of OPC Explorer’s behavior with these options. Click the Defaults button to restore the
original settings

3.6.1 GENERAL
Use the Errors checkboxes to specify whether the error dialog box should be displayed when COM
or OPC errors occur, or when errors occur for individual items. The sanity check option ensures that
the OPC server keeps track of lists of groups and items properly. At present, session files may only
be stored as text files, so the binary format is unavailable.

3.6.2 DATA TRANSFER

Use the Data Source radio button to specify the data source that OPC Explorer should use when
requesting values from the OPC Server. The data source should be CACHE for normal operation.
Only use DEVICE for special testing operations. DEVICE reads yield a serious performance penalty
and can prevent OPC servers from functioning properly if they are used too often.
For 1.0a asynchronous I/O, select the “Request time stamps with notification” to receive timestamps
from the OPC server. Otherwise, OPC Explorer will assume the current time when it receives new
values.
Select “Request asynchronous refreshes” to use asynchronous refresh transactions when updating the
display. When grayed, OPC Explorer will use synchronous reads for 2.0 I/O or asynchronous reads
from CACHE for 1.0a I/O when updating the display. When unselected, OPC Explorer simply
receives values passively from the server.
Select “Respect access rights when writing values” to avoid including read-only items in the Write
Values dialog box. Otherwise, OPC Explorer will allow users to write values to any items.

3.6.3 DATA DISPLAY

Select “Display value qualities as text” to show a text description of the item quality in the Quality
field. Otherwise, OPC Explorer will display a numeric value. You might want to do the latter if the
quality value contains vendor-specific information in the upper byte. Deselect “Display timestamps
using local time zone” to display the timestamps in UTC rather than local time.

3.6.4 COM
Use these checkboxes to specify the class context flags to be used when OPC Explorer attempts to
connect to an OPC server. Do not deselect any of these flags unless absolutely necessary.

3.7 Save The Session

Choose Save from the File menu and enter a file location to save the current session configuration,
including all server connections, groups, and items. These session files may be reloaded by choosing
Open from the File menu and reselecting the saved file. Choose “New Session” from the File menu
to clear the session.

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Appendix A - Distributed COM
(DCOM)
DCOM is an object protocol that enables COM components (such as OPC clients and servers) to
communicate directly with each other across a network. A certain amount of configuration is
required on the system where the OPC server is installed to allow remote clients to connect to it over
the network.

Note:
The following steps are suggestions only. Ask your Windows NT/2000 System Administrator for more
information about the settings that you should use, especially between different domains.

Readers should be familiar with DCOM and with Windows 2000 security features and security
administration. Information regarding Distributed COM and various links to related sites, white
papers, specs, etc, can be found at http://www.microsoft.com/com/tech/DCOM.asp.
Specifications on DCOM/COM and release notes on COM+ can be found in the MSDN Online
Library at http://www.microsoft.com/com/resources/specs.asp.

A.1 DCOM Configuration Utility

Start the DCOM configuration utility either from the server configuration utility or from the
command-line (DCOMCNFG). Answer, yes to any message boxes that appear (allowing the utility to
assign application ID entries to those servers that don't already have them).
The main window for DCOMCNFG allows the user to either configure default settings for all COM
servers or else to configure settings for a specific server chosen from the list. The former will affect
all servers configured to use the default settings. The latter will affect the selected server only.

Note:
DCOM settings are stored in the registry and loaded by COM (and OPC) servers at start-up. Therefore,
server processes must be shut down and restarted in order for these changes to take effect.

A.2 Default Properties

The Default Properties tab contains settings that affect all DCOM communication on the machine.
• First of all, ensure that the Enable Distributed COM on this computer is selected in so that
the machine is available to others via DCOM.
• Select the Enable COM Internet Services on this computer to allow DCOM access to the
machine from the Internet (check with your administrator).
• In general, the other settings do not need to be changed.
The Authentication Level specifies when COM should authenticate the identity of calling clients
(each call, each packet, etc).

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• Normally, it should be set to Connect, indicating that COM should authenticate clients when
they first connect to a server. If it is set to None, then COM performs no authentication and
ignores any access permission settings.
The Impersonation Level specifies whether servers can ascertain the identity of calling clients and
whether they can then perform operations on the client's behalf (as if the server is the client).
• Normally, it should be set to Identify, allowing the server to identify the calling client to see if it
is allowed access to a certain resource but not to actually access any of these resources as the
client.
• Select the Provide additional security for reference tracking to make even the reference
counting on COM objects secure. This setting is not generally required.

A.3 Security Permissions

The most important DCOM settings for an OPC server are the security permissions.
There are two ways for you to set these:
1. Change the specific settings for the server (recommended).
2. Change the default settings (not recommended) and make sure that the OPC server will use
these.
Either way, be certain that the access and launch permissions are correct for the server.

Setting Security Permissions

To set the security permissions for an OPC Server:
1. Open the DCOM configuration utility.
2. Select the OPC server, and then click Properties.
The Distributed COM Configuration Properties dialog box appears (see below).

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3. Click on the Security tab to set the security for the server.
The Distributed COM Configuration Security tab appears (see below).

The Access Permissions contain an Access Control List of principals that are allowed to interact
with objects supplied by a server.
The Launch Permissions contain an Access Control List of principals that are allowed to start up
a server process or service.
4. Include the names of users or user groups from trusted domains that you wish to be able to use
the OPC server on this machine. Include the Everyone group to allow access to all users on a
particular domain.
5. To set the Access permissions, click Use custom access permissions and then click Edit.

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 The Registry Value Permissions dialog box appears (see below).

6. To add users to the list click Add.

The Add Users and Groups dialog box appears (see below).

7. To add a user to the list, select the user, and then click Add. If the user you wish to add does not
appear then click Show Users.
8. When you are done adding users, click OK to close the Add Users and Groups dialog box.
You can then choose to Allow Access or Deny Access for each user.
The procedure to set the launch permissions is similar to the above, but instead of choosing
Allow Access for a user you would choose Allow Launch.
The Configuration Permissions contain an Access Control List of principals that are allowed to
modify the configuration information for a server. In other words, it indicates who is allowed to
alter the registry entries for installed servers as well as who is able to access the registry for the
purposes of installing new servers. It is usually simpler to install and configure servers as a user
with local administrative rights.
9. To connect to an OPC server from outside of the domain, create a local user account on both
the server and the client machine with identical username and password. Then, add the local user on

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 the OPC server to the DCOM permissions. Use the local account on the client machine to
connect to the OPC server.

A.4 Server Identity

The Identity tab for a selected COM (or OPC) server specifies the user account that should be used
when COM starts up the process. The available settings are different for servers that run as local
executables as opposed to those that run as NT services.

Note:
It is strongly recommended that OPC server should be installed to run as NT services if they are going to be
accessed by remote clients via DCOM. This ensures that the server can always be accessed even if no one is
presently logged on to the machine, and only one server process ever starts up. It also adds a greater degree of
security in terms of who is able to shut down the server process.

Servers that run as local executables have the option of running as the launching user (the calling
client–this is the default), the interactive user (the one currently logged onto the machine), or a
specified user. It is usually best to use the interactive user or a specified user. Otherwise, remote
clients might start up multiple separate server processes that are not accessible to others.
Servers that run as NT services should generally run as the local System account. Alternatively, the
server can be set to run as a specified user, although this is usually done from the Service Control
Manager applet rather than DCOMCNFG. Access and Launch permissions are particularly important
when installing a server to run as an NT service.

A.5 Default Protocols

The Default Protocols tab specifies the communication protocols available to DCOM. The order
that protocols appear in the list indicates the priority in which they will be used (the topmost having
the highest priority).
The more protocols that appear in the list, the better the chances of connecting to an OPC server on
an unknown remote machine (such as at an OPC Interoperability Workshop). However, it may also
take longer for DCOM to time out if a server machine is not present since it has to try each protocol
in turn.
For most situations, it is best to remove all unused protocols from the list and only include those that
are necessary for your network. For example, on a TCP/IP network, one would include the
Connection-oriented TCP/IP protocol. Contact your IT personnel for more information about
your network.

Note:
Evidence indicates that there are problems with the datagram-oriented protocols (such as UDP/IP) that
can cause memory leaks in DCOM. Therefore, it is strongly recommended that these protocols be removed
from the list of default protocols. Datagram-oriented protocols are not supported under Windows 2000 at
all (although the DCOM configuration utility still allows you to configure them).

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A.6 Remote Program ID
Before the OPC Server Browser became available, OPC client applications had to search the
registry to generate a list of available OPC servers. Therefore, some older OPC clients need to have a
program ID in the local registry in order to connect to a particular OPC server.
The simplest solution is to install the OPC server software on the client machine even if it is not
used. Alternatively, use the following steps to copy a program ID to the client machine.

Note:
This method may not work for every OPC client. Please check the client documentation for more
information.
1. On the server machine, run REGEDIT as a user that has access rights to the local registry.
2. Expand the HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT key.
3. Find the program ID(s) for the desired OPC server(s).
In the case of Matrikon OPC Servers, the ID has the form Matrikon.OPC.Device. If you quickly
type the first few letters then REGEDIT should jump to the location of that key. Some servers
may have both a version-specific as well as a version-independent program ID. In this case both
ID's should be copied to the client machine.
4. For each program ID, select the key and choose Export Registry File from the Registry menu.
Enter a file name, and then click Save. Be careful not to overwrite other export files that you are
creating.
5. Copy the exported REG files to the client machine.
6. Merge the REG files into the registry of the client machine.
This should simply be a matter of double clicking on the file from the desktop of the client
machine. Alternatively, run REGEDIT on the client machine and choose Import Registry File
from the Registry menu, selecting each file in turn. This must be done as a user who has write
access to the local registry.
7. Use REGEDIT to check that the program IDs have in fact been copied.
8. Delete the REG files since they are no longer needed.

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Version 1.1—MatrikonOPC Explorer User Manual 7/27/2005

Appendix B - Standard Data Types
Table 3-1. Expressions Constructs for Alias Scaling

Hex Dec Data Type Description

0000 0 VT_EMPTY Default/Empty (Nothing)
0002 2 VT_I2 2-byte signed integer
0003 3 VT_I4 4-byte signed integer
0004 4 VT_R4 4-byte (single-precision) real
0005 5 VT_R8 8-byte (double-precision) real
0006 6 VT_CY Currency
0007 7 VT_DATE Date
0008 8 VT_BSTR Text (UNICODE)
000A 10 VT_ERROR Error code
000B 11 VT_BOOL Boolean (TRUE = -1, FALSE = 0)
0011 16 VT_I1 1-byte signed integer
0012 17 VT_UI1 1-byte unsigned integer
0013 18 VT_UI2 2-byte unsigned integer
0014 19 VT_UI4 4-byte unsigned integer
2002 8194 VT_ARRAY | VT_I2 Array of 2-byte signed integers
2003 8195 VT_ARRAY | VT_I4 Array of 4-byte signed integer
2004 8196 VT_ARRAY | VT_R4 Array of 4-byte (single-precision) real
2005 8197 VT_ARRAY | VT_R8 Array of 8-byte (double-precision) real
2006 8198 VT_ARRAY | VT_CY Array of currency values
2007 8199 VT_ARRAY | VT_DATE Array of dates
2008 8200 VT_ARRAY | VT_BSTR Array of text values
200A 8202 VT_ARRAY | VT_ERROR Array of error codes
200B 8203 VT_ARRAY | VT_BOOL Array of Boolean values
2011 8208 VT_ARRAY | VT_I1 Array of 1-byte signed integers
2012 8209 VT_ARRAY | VT_UI1 Array of 1-byte unsigned integers
2013 8210 VT_ARRAY | VT_UI2 Array of 2-byte unsigned integers
2014 8211 VT_ARRAY | VT_UI4 Array of 4-byte unsigned integers

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Version 1.1—MatrikonOPC Explorer User Manual 7/27/2005