Ovation NetDDE Server User Guide Section Title Page Summary of Changes Section 1. Introduction 1-1. Overview. 1-1 1-2. NetDDE Server Features. 1-1 1-3. DDE Overview . 1-2 1-3.1. Application or Service Name. 1-2 1-3.2. Topic . 1-2 1-3.3. Item . 1-3 1-3.4. Network DDE . 1-4 1-4. Limitations . 1-5 Section 2. Getting Started 2-1. Section Overview . 2-1 2-2. Requirements . 2-1 2-2.1. System . 2-1 2-2.2. Hardware . 2-1 2-2.3. Software . 2-2 2-2.4. License Server . 2-2 2-3. Setup . 2-4 2-3.1. Environment Variables Required for Setup. 2-5 2-3.2. Linked Libraries. 2-6 2-3.3. Files Installed During Setup. 2-7 2-3.4. Registry Entries . 2-8 2-3.5. Security . 2-10 2-4. Setup Procedure . 2-10 2-5. Configuration . 2-11 2-5.1. Permissions . 2-11 2-6. Un-installation. 2-11 Section 3. Using NetDDE 3-1. Section Overview . 3-1 3-2. Syntax for Calls. 3-1 Glossary Index 12/00 i U3-1033 (Rev 1) Westinghouse Process Control, Inc. Proprietary Class 2C Summary of Changes This revision of “Ovation NetDDE Server User Guide” (U3-1033) reflects the following changes: • System topic has now been changed to wwwdde_system. • DataCreate and DataOriginate topics are removed from the WDPF NetDDE Server. • The machine name must appear when the point information (or Item) link is created on the WDPF NetDDE Server machine or accessed remotely in Excel or any other DDE supported application. • DDEShare.exe is no longer needed by the user. • wx_elmd.dll was replaced by wx_slmd.dll. • Registry entries now include the Log Viewer application. • Un-installation is now automatic (see Section 2). • All sections include various corrections and changes. 12/00 Changes-1 U3-1033 (Rev 1) Westinghouse Process Control, Inc. Proprietary Class 2C Section 1. Introduction 1-1. Overview This manual describes the installation, configuration, and operation of the Ovation Network Dynamic Data Exchange (NetDDE) Server. The Westinghouse Ovation NetDDE Server provides an open, standards-based interface to system process data. The continuous bi-directional transfer of real-time process data between an Ovation control system and Microsoft Windows applications is made possible using NetDDE technology. NetDDE is a data interchange protocol supported by Microsoft — which extends the capability of Microsoft’s DDE technology across a computer network. Information exchange is accomplished by communications between the NetDDE Server and NetDDE clients located either locally or elsewhere on an authorized network. This enables users to develop spreadsheets, reports and custom applications for their desktop PCs, which will contain up-to-date information from their Ovation process control system. Decision makers in the process industries rely on accurate and up-to-date information. Now end-users can review current conditions using the desktop applications they use everyday for their data analysis and reporting. Widely used PC tools such as word processors, spreadsheets and database management systems, are NetDDE enabled to provide a standard way to automatically import data from external data sources. This combination of software tools results in the fast development of powerful end-user applications. In addition, developers are able to build application solutions with their own familiar tools—minimizing the training requirements for MIS personnel. 1-2. NetDDE Server Features The NetDDE Server provides the following features: • Supports the transfer of 1000 data items every second. • Provides bi-directional data transfer. • Communicates with several third-party office and process control applications. • Logs transmission and other errors. 12/00 1-1 U3-1033 (Rev 1) Westinghouse Process Control, Inc. Proprietary Class 2C 1-3. DDE Overview 1-3. DDE Overview DDE, developed by Microsoft, is a communication protocol that uses shared memory to exchange information between two or more applications running simultaneously. Applications use DDE for one-time data transfers, control, and ongoing data exchanges. Three pieces of information are needed in order to use DDE. These three pieces of information together uniquely identify a unit for data transfer between programs: • Application or Service name • Topic • Item 1-3.1. Application or Service Name A program that uses DDE has an Application or Service name. For example, the Application name for the Microsoft Excel spreadsheet is ‘Excel’. The Ovation NetDDE Server’s application name is wwwdde. A client specifies the Application name to establish a conversation with the DDE server. 1-3.2. Topic A Topic is a logical data context and is specific to a particular DDE server. The Ovation NetDDE Server supports these Topics: • DataGet — Retrieves information from the Ovation highway. • DataPut — Modifies point information (used to change the values of point record fields). • wwwdde_system — Provides administrative and status information about the wwwdde application. U3-1033 (Rev 1) 1-2 12/00 Westinghouse Process Control, Inc. Proprietary Class 2C 1-3. DDE Overview 1-3.3. Item An Item is a string that names the specific piece of information. For the Ovation NetDDE Server, the Item names are formed from the name of the Data Point Name, the particular field, and an optional bit position. Each of the parts of the Ovation NetDDE items are separated by a delimiter (a configurable character that defaults to an exclamation point). Examples ‘LA222T03!HL’ — The Point Name is ‘LA222T03’ and the field is the HL or high limit field. ‘LP222T03!A2!3’ — The Point Name is ‘LP222T03’ and is assumed to be a Packed point type (LP); bit 3 is requested. The System Topic( wwwdde_system) supports additional administration and status items. The supported items for wwwdde_system are: • Format (supported formats) - This will return ‘TEXT’ but the Wonderware DDE toolkit supports additional data formats. • Status - This will always return “Ready”. • SysItems - This returns the list of items supported by wwwdde_system. • ReturnMessage - This will always return “OK”. • Help - This returns a short message describing the Ovation NetDDE Server. • Topics - This will return the non-wwwdde_system names which are DataGet and DataPut. • TopicItemList - This returns the same list as the “Topics” item. DataGet and DataPut Topics support the “TopicItemList” item which is a list of in- use items for that particular topic. 12/00 1-3 U3-1033 (Rev 1) Westinghouse Process Control, Inc. Proprietary Class 2C 1-3. DDE Overview 1-3.4. Network DDE DDE is able to run in a network environment by the addition of the Network DDE service. The addition of network capabilities has added some requirements for operation: • Instead of connecting directly to a DDE server by using the Application or Server Name, you connect to the Network DDE (NDDE) application on the target machine. • The ddeshare.exe utility associates DDE shares with specific Application and Topic names. Example For a machine named “FlyingFish”, the Network DDE Service Name is: \\FlyingFish\NDDE$ The Topicname is the name of a DDE share. For the Ovation NetDDE Server, the DDE shares are: DDE Share Name DDE Service DDE Topic DataGet wwwdde DataGet DataPut wwwdde DataPut U3-1033 (Rev 1) 1-4 12/00 Westinghouse Process Control, Inc. Proprietary Class 2C 1-4. Limitations 1-4. Limitations This program has been tested with Windows NT 4.0 and Service Pack 5. This program will not run on Windows 95 or Windows 98. 12/00 1-5 U3-1033 (Rev 1) Westinghouse Process Control, Inc. Proprietary Class 2C Section 2. Getting Started 2-1. Section Overview This section describes the requirements, setup, and configuration needed to get started using the Ovation NetDDE Server. 2-2. Requirements 2-2.1. System The minimum system requirements for an Ovation NetDDE Client are: • Windows NT Version 4.0 Operating System • NetDDE Client Application (for example, Microsoft Excel, Word, and Access) • Configured Ovation NetDDE Service 2-2.2. Hardware The typical hardware requirements for an Ovation NetDDE Server are: • Minimum of 200 MHz Pentium II or compatible Personal Computer with available ISA slot • 64 MB of RAM • 2 GB Hard Disk (Program use is 5 MB) • Monitor, keyboard and mouse • FDDI/CDDI network card for connection to the Ovation network • Network Interface compatible with Windows NT 4.0 (for example, Ethernet - this may be a separate card) 12/00 2-1 U3-1033 (Rev 1) Westinghouse Process Control, Inc. Proprietary Class 2C 2-2. Requirements 2-2.3. Software The minimum software requirements for an Ovation NetDDE Server are: • Windows NT Version 4.0 Operating System • Ovation Network software • Westinghouse License Manager Server must be installed (see Section 2-2.4) • Ovation NetDDE software 2-2.4. License Server The NetDDE Server requires a license to operate. If the Westinghouse License Server is not running, the Ovation NetDDE Server will not allow any data operations. The NetDDE Server interacts with a License Server to determine if proper administrative requirements have been met before it can operate. Multiple license servers can run on a heterogeneous network, but each License Server must contain all of the license file information. The License Server must be running on the Ethernet network to which the Ovation NetDDE Server is attached. In order to ensure adequate operation of the Ovation NetDDE Server, the License Server should be run on the same machine. Thus, if the computer is running both the License Server and the Ovation NetDDE Server, this will ensure that a license can be acquired for an operating NetDDE Server. The Westinghouse License Server has its own log file to indicate license operations. It also has a control applet to set parameters. Refer to the License Server help files and documentation for more information on the operation of the license server(s).