OASIOT.OASWinFormHMI 20.0.135

If you do not have a copy of Visual Studio you can download a free version of Visual Studio Community (formerly Visual Basic Express or C# Express) from https://visualstudio.microsoft.com/vs/express/. You can choose whether to use Visual Basic or C#, but if you have no experience with either language, Visual Basic is easier for new developers. No programming is required to use WinForm HMI.

The following steps can be used to add visualization to a C#, C++, or Visual Basic.NET application. Refer to the VB.NET example for programmatic interface of using the OPCControls components. All properties are programmatically accessible.

The following example demonstrates the use of WinForm HMI with no code required.

Step 1: Create New Project Load the default DemoTags Tag configuration file if you have replaced your tag configuration with your own tags. Start Visual Studio and select File->New->Project to create a new C# or VB project for Windows Forms App (.NET Framework). Visual Studio New Project When prompted choose C# or Visual Basic as language to target Windows Desktop applications. Visual Studio Project Selection Choose Windows Forms App (.NET Framework) as the new project type for C# or Visual Basic. Visual Studio Windows Forms App Set the Project name, Location, and the Framework of 4.6.2 or greater. Visual Studio WinForm New Project Select Create in the lower right corner. VS Project Create

Step 2: Add Controls to Form Select View-Toolbox to select controls from the Open Automation Software group. VS View Toolbox From the Toolbox if OPCControls components are not available right click in the Toolbox and select Choose Items. .NET WinForm HMI 294 NOTE: If you have installed Visual Studio after Open Automation Software you can either right click on the Toolbox and select Choose Items to include the OPCControls.dll assembly from C:\Program Files\Open Automation Software\OAS\Controls\NetFramework\OPCControls\ or uninstall Open Automation Software and reinstall to register the OPCControls.dll assembly with Visual Studio. From the .NET Framework Components select all of the OPC Controls components and then select OK. .NET WinForm HMI 295 Label Add an OPCControlsLabel component onto the Form. .NET WinForm HMI 296 Right click on the OPCControlsLabel window and select Properties. .NET WinForm HMI 297 Select the TextOPCSystems_Tag property and use the browse button at the right to set the Open Automation Software Tag to Ramp.Value. .NET WinForm HMI 298 NOTE: If you wish to run this application on remote PCs make sure to include the Network Node or IP Address of the OAS Engine. Select your Network Node or IP Address in the Browse Tags window. Value is the most commonly used Variable. See Tag Variables for a complete list of all variables possible. Local Tag myGroup.myTag.Value Basic Networking \\192.168.0.1\myGroup.myTag.Value Live Data Cloud Networking from local OAS Engine RemoteSCADAHosting.myLiveDataCloudNode.myGroup.myTag.Value Live Data Cloud Networking though remote OAS Engine \\192.168.0.1\RemoteSCADAHosting.myLiveDataCloudNode.myGroup.myTag.Value The following is an example of accessing an element of an array as a read only variable. myGroup.myTag.Value[0] Note: All Tag names are case sensitive. Ramp.Value is valid, ramp.value is not. Button Add an OPCControlsButton to the Form. .NET WinForm HMI 299 Set the TextOPCSystems_Tag to Pump.Value. If the Pump Tag does not exist create a Boolean Tag using Configure-Tags with the name Pump. Set the Format fields as defined below. .NET WinForm HMI 300 Set the BackColorOPCSystems_Tag to Pump.Value. .NET WinForm HMI 301 Set the SetValueOPCSystems_Tag to Pump.Value and the SetValueOPCSystems property to True. .NET WinForm HMI 302 TextBox Add an OPCControlsTextBox to the Form. .NET WinForm HMI 303 Set the TextOPCSystems_Tag property to Pump.Value. The Format properties for Boolean to Off and On. .NET WinForm HMI 304

Step 4: Build Project Set the compile mode on the Visual Studio toolbar to Release. VS Release Mode Select Build from the VS menu and select to build the application. VS Build App

Step 5: Run Project Use Windows File Explorer to browse for the application located in the bin\Release directory and run the application. .NET WinForm HMI 307

Step 6: Deploy Application NOTE: For remote deployment first make sure the Tags as described in steps 4, 5, and 6 are set to a Network Node or IP Address. You can optionally use the OPCControlsNetworkNodes component and assign a network node alias to change all �localhost� tags to the desired remote node. This is done with the AddNetworkNodeAlias method. Refer to the VB.NET Example on the exact syntax of how to use this method. Notice how all OPC Controls data sources for a particular node can be reassigned to a remote node with one simple call. To deploy the application simply copy the files in the bin\Release directory to the target systems, or follow the Smart Client Deployment guide using Click Once Deployment. The remote system that will run the application should have the .NET Framework version installed that the application targets.

Step 7: Other Controls and Properties There are other OPCControls Components to add to the project with different properties to each control. ImageIndex is available in many of the controls to display different images based on analog or discrete data. The OPCControlsData component can be used to access data via code with very simple methods. Refer to the .NET Real Time Data Access Programmatic Interface.

Requirements

For all .NET development, Microsoft Visual Studio 2015+ is recommended. For developing cross-platform .NET Standard or .NET Core solutions, Visual Studio 2019+ is recommended. For developing Android and/or iOS solutions, be sure to include Xamarin extensions to Visual Studio. With the exception of Xamarin apps which require C#, all code can be written in either VB.NET or C#.

For more information go to: https://openautomationsoftware.com/knowledge-base/getting-started-net-winform-hmi