Data Historian

These instructions do not purport to cover all details or variations in equipment, nor
to provide for every possible contingency to be met during installation, operation,
and maintenance. If further information is desired or if particular problems arise
that are not covered sufficiently for the purchasers purpose, the matter should be
referred to GE Industrial Systems.
This document contains proprietary information of General Electric Company, USA
and is furnished to its customer solely to assist that customer in the installation,
testing, operation, and/or maintenance of the equipment described. This document
shall not be reproduced in whole or in part, nor shall its contents be disclosed to any
third party without the written approval of GE Industrial Systems.
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Indicates a procedure, practice, condition, or statement that,
if not strictly observed, could result in personal injury or
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observed, could result in damage to or destruction of
equipment.
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Section Page
Functional Description.................................................................................................2
Working with Files and Menu Commands ..................................................................3
Menu Commands..................................................................................................3
Data Historian Concepts ..............................................................................................4
Configuration...............................................................................................................4
Creating the Data Historian Configuration...........................................................5
Collections............................................................................................................7
Signals ................................................................................................................13
Dead Bands.........................................................................................................14
Troubleshooting..................................................................................................15
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GE Industrial Systems
GEI-100278B
________
ARCNET is a registered trademark of GE Fanuc Automation North America, Inc.
CIMPLICITY is a registered trademark of GE Fanuc Automation North America, Inc.
Ethernet is a trademark of Xerox Corporation.
Innovation Series is a trademark of General Electric Company, USA.
Windows and Windows NT are registered trademarks of Microsoft Corporation.
Functional Description
For assistance, contact:
GE Industrial Systems
Post Sales Service
1501 Roanoke Blvd.
Salem, VA 24153-6492 USA
Phone: 1 800 533 5885
+ 1 540 378 3280
(International)
Fax: + 1 540 387 8606 (All)
(+ indicates the interna-
tional access code required
when calling from outside the
United States/Canada
This document provides instructions for configuring the Data Historian using the GE
Control System Toolbox. The Data Historian records control signals from Innova-
tion Series drives and controllers and local area networks (LANs) connected to a
personal computer. Data is saved in a Data Collection and Analysis (.dca) file format
The program runs in the background as a service on the computer that is running the
Windows NT

or Windows 2000 operating system.

The Data Historian records the following values:
Signals on a drive LAN (DLAN+) to which an Innovation Series con-
troller is connected
Ethernet Global Data (EGD) signals on any Ethernet connected to
the computer on which the program is running
Control Signal Freeway (CSF) signals if the Data Historian computer
has an ARCNET

board for CSF

DLAN+ signals if the Data Historian computer has an ARCNET board
for DLAN+
Service Request Transfer Protocol (SRTP) signals if the Data Historian
computer has the Programmable Logic Controller (PLC) Interface
Innovation Series Controller Capture Buffers through EGD or DLAN+
Innovation Series Drives Capture Buffers through EGD
Once collected in the .dca format, data can be accessed by the Trend Recorder or by
other GE data analysis applications.
GEI-100278B Data Historian 3
Working with Files and Menu Commands
The Data Historian is configured using one of two types of configuration files:
Data Historian binary (.reb) file is the binary form of the configuration created
through the File \ Save command. The configuration can also be exported to a
project file.
Project (.prj) file is a text file that holds configuration information.
The configuration files generate the following output files, which can be downloaded
to the Data Historian service:
Data Historian build (.rcd) file contains all of the configuration information and is created by the Device \ Build
command.
DATAHISTORIAN.CFG is simply a copy of the .rcd file that is placed in the Data Historians output directory
during a download. This file is read by the Data Historian service when it is started or when a message is received
that the configuration has been downloaded.
Menu Commands
Data Historian menus, such as File, Edit, and View, are managed just as other tool-
box and Windows menu commands.
Device Menu
The Device menu contains the following commands:
Auto Configure is only avail-
able on the Trip Log.
Auto Configure creates the signal list for the live collection of the Trip Log. The
signals are resolved from the open controller file. If the controller file is not open in
the toolbox, then the signals are resolved from the controller directly. If both meth-
ods fail, the signal list will not be updated.
Get From Database retrieves signal information from the database. Use this
command after all signals have been added.
Validate checks the configuration for errors. The results are posted in the Log
View. Before you can validate a configuration, you must:
Specify addressing parameters in the Addressing Parameters dialog box
(host computer and host IP address).
Specify collection information in the Insert Collection dialog box.
4 Data Historian GEI-100278B
Add all signals and then perform a Get From Database.
Build creates the Data Historian build (.rcd) output file. The .rcd file is a binary file
that contains all of the configuration information.
Download sends the configuration file to the specified Data Historian. This com-
mand attempts to open a connection to the Data Historian service and send a copy of
the .rcd file to it. The Data Historian service creates the file
DATAHISTORIAN.CFG on the computer where it resides.
Data Historian Concepts
The Data Historian is configured in the toolbox as follows:
Any errors encountered while
issuing commands are posted in
the Log View.
1. Create a Data Historian configuration. Select a Data Historian host. (Since there
may be different Data Historian services running on different NT Host systems,
specify the service by naming the Host NT box and, optionally, its IP address.)
2. Add collections. A collection is associated with only one network and/or con-
troller with access to the signals on that network.
3. Attach signals to the collection (found on the same network). Signals can be
chosen individually from the Signal Selector dialog box or from the Signal
Database (SDB) browser.
4. From the Device menu, select the commands (or associated buttons) Auto
Configure (Trip Log only), Get from Database , Validate ,
Build , and Download .
5. The configuration (.reb file) can be exported, which produces a .prj file.
Configuration
This section defines the four major areas of interest when configuring the Data His-
torian as follows:
Create configuration
Collections
Signals
Dead bands
GEI-100278B Data Historian 5
Creating the Data Historian Configuration
Or click
To create a configuration
From the File menu, select New. The New dialog box displays.
Select Data Historian
Configuration and
click OK.
Click the System
Configuration tab.
6 Data Historian GEI-100278B
Modifying the Device Name
The Outline View on the left side of the window displays the following:
The Data Historian is given the
default name, dh1. You can modify
this device name and then enter the
Host Name and Host IP Address.
To modify a Data Historian device name
Or double-click on the device
name.
In most cases, the Host Name
and Host IP Address are the
same name.
1. From the Outline View, click on the device name to highlight it.
2. From the Edit menu, select Modify. The Data Historian Addressing Pa-
rameters dialog box displays.
3. Enter the desired device name and the correct Host Name and Host IP Ad-
dress. Click OK.
Host Addressing Parameters
Enter the name of the PC in the
TCP/IP domain. This can be a
text string associated with a
server name or four numbers
separated by dots, such as
255.255.255.255.
The Data Historian Device
Name defaults to dh1. Enter the
new name here.
Enter the name of the computer
in the Windows domain that runs
the Data Historian service.
When finished entering information, click OK.
Then add a collection (refer to the section, Collections).
GEI-100278B Data Historian 7
Collections
The Data Historian is configured by adding collections. A collection is a group of
signals found on the same network. Collections have a data management feature that
automatically deletes old files and also limits the amount of disk space the files can
use. The following type of collections can be added:
Controller Live Data
Controller Capture Buffer
PC Live Data
Drive Capture Buffer
Trip Log
Insert Collection
To insert a collection
Or click the right mouse button
and select Insert First.
1. From the Outline View, click on Collections.
2. From the Edit menu, select Insert First. The Insert Collection dialog box
displays.
Select one of the
following collection types.
Note For descriptions
of the collection types,
refer to the parapgraphs
that follow.
Click OK.
8 Data Historian GEI-100278B
An extra load is placed on the
controller for each collection.
Controller Live Data
Controller Live Data collects data directly from the controller. The controller
must be on a DLAN+ and running a DLAN+ software. The Data Historian computer
does not have to be on a DLAN+. Controller Live Data collection starts a process on
the controller.
Enter the name of the
colection (also the
name of the Data
Historian subdirectory
for the data collected).
Enter the rate (ms)
that the data is
collected from the
data source.
Enter up to 50
characters describing
the collection.
Select the controller
name from which the
data is collected.
Select the name of the
DLAN+ from which the
signals are collected.
Click OK.
Enter the maximum
size (in MB) for the
directory holding the
collected data.
Enter the maximum time
(in hours) that the data will
remain on the disk before
being automatically
deleted.
GEI-100278B Data Historian 9
Controller Capture Buffer
Controller Capture Buffer uploads a capture buffer when the status changes from
capturing to capture complete. The only signals in this collection are the status
signals from the capture buffers. Each capture buffer upload is written to a separate
file in the same collection directory. The status signal can be either on the DLAN+
or EGD network.
Select the controller name from
where the data is
being collected.
Enter the name of the collection
(also is the
name of the Data Historian
subdirectory for the data that the
Data Historian collects).
Select the name of the
network from where the signals
are collected.
Enter the rate (ms) that the data
is collected from the data
source.
Enter up to 50 characters
describing the collection (this
description will be the title for the
CSV file).
Enter the maximum time (in hours) that the data will remain
on the disk before being automatically deleted.
Enter the maximum size (in MB) for the directory holding the collected data.
When finished, click OK.
Select this option to write data to a
.csv file in addition to the .dca file.
Select this option to print the .csv file to the default
printer. This option is only available when "Create
CSV File" option is selected.
10 Data Historian GEI-100278B
PC Live Data
PC Live Data collects data from DLAN+, CSF, SRTP, or EGD networks. This col-
lection takes the data from network memory maps located on the Data Historian
computer. This collection requires that the following hardware, software, and con-
figuration have been installed and are running on the Data Historian computer:
DLAN+ collection requires an ARCNET card and driver.
CSF collection requires an ARCNET card and CSF driver (available from GE-
Toshiba Automation Systems).
SRTP collection requires the PLC interface software, which uses the Host
Communication Toolkit from GE Fanuc. To use this feature, you must have a
GE Fanuc License (available from GE-Toshiba Automation Systems).
EGD collection requirements differ depending on whether or not the Data Histo-
rian is running on the CIMPLICITY

Server computer.
If the Data Historian is running on the CIMPLICTY Server computer, then
this requires that the signals are imported into the CIMPLICITY project and
the EGD Devcom and service are installed.
The network interface can be
created and configured by us-
ing the toolbox on the Data
Historian computer.
If the Data Historian is running on a standard computer, then this requires
that a network interface is created and configured and the EGD initializa-
tion file (ICNSDB.INI) exports for this computer. The standard computer
must be on the control network Ethernet. The EGD Service must also be in-
stalled and running.
Note Any changes to the exchanges received by this computer requires re-exporting
the EGD initialization file (ICNSDB.INI) file and restarting the EGD Service.
GEI-100278B Data Historian 11
Enter the name of the
collection (also is the
name of the Data Historian
subdirectory for the data that
the Data Historian collects).
Select the name of the
network from where the
signals are collected.
Enter the rate (ms) that the
data is collected from the
data source.
Enter up to 50 characters
describing the collection.
Enter the maximum time (in hours) that the data will
remain on the disk before being automatically deleted.
Enter the maximum size (in MB) for the directory holding the collected data.
When finished, click OK.
Select the source of the
timestamp used in the
data files.
Drive Capture Buffer
Drive Capture Buffer uploads a capture buffer when the signal changes. The col-
lection's only signal, Capture Complete, must be on the EGD network.
Select the drive name from
where the data is
being collected.
Enter the name of the
collection (also is the
name of the Data Historian
subdirectory for the data that
the Data Historian collects).
Select the name of the
EGD network from where
the signals are collected.
Enter the rate (ms) that the
data is collected from the
data source.
Enter up to 50 characters
describing the collection.
Enter the maximum time (in hours) that the data will
remain on the disk before being automatically deleted.
Enter the maximum size (in MB) for the directory holding the collected data.
When finished, click OK.
12 Data Historian GEI-100278B
Trip Log
This collection also contains
alarms and events generated
through the Turbine Control
Interface (TCI) system. A menu
button is provided to automati-
cally generate the signal list for
the live data. The live data con-
sists of the signals defined in
the capture buffers.
Trip Log is a combination of live data collected at a rate of one second and multiple
capture buffers collected at a high-speed rate. The signals defined by the user for the
collection are the status signals from the capture buffers. The signals are resolved
from the controller file, if it is open in the toolbox, or from the controller directly.
Both the capture buffer status signals and the collected signals must be on the EGD
network.
. The Trip Log creates two collections: one PC Live collection and one Trip collec-
tion. When a trip occurs (the capture buffer status transitions to capture complete),
this collection reads from the PC Live Collection 24 hours of previously collected
data alarms and events prior to the capture buffer and writes it to the trip file. Then
data from the capture buffers is written to the same file creating a single comprehen-
sive file for the trip. The last 30 trips are saved.
Select the controller name
that contains the capture
buffer.
Enter the name of the unit. The Collection Name will be the <Unit Name>_TRIPLOG.
(The Collection Name is
also the name of the Data
Historian subdirectory for
the data that the Data
Historian collects).
Select the name of the EGD
network from where the
signals are collected.
Enter up to 50 characters
describing the collection.
Enter the name of the site.
When finished, click OK.
Enter name of TCI computer
(default is the Data Historian
PC name). This PC creates
the alarms and events.
GEI-100278B Data Historian 13
Signals
Once the collection is created, signals can be added. Select the desired signals from
the collections network signals.
To add signals to the collection
To add the next signal, click on
the signal you just inserted and
select Insert Next.
1. From the Outline View, click on the collection name.
2. From the Edit menu, select Insert First.
Or, click the right mouse button and select Insert First. The Signal Selector
dialog box displays.
Note The signal must be on the network chosen for collection or the get command
from the database will fail.
Signal Selector
Locate the
desired signal
from the
Regions list.
Click on the
signal to add it
to the Signal
Name list.
Click OK and
the signal
displays under
the collection
name in the
Outline View.
Tip The SDB Browser can be used to add multiple signals. The query used for
the find should include the network chosen in each Insert Collection dialog box.
Using the list of signals returned from the query, you can perform a multiple select,
and then drag-and-drop from the Browser to the collection.
A completed device configuration displays in the Outline View as follows:
14 Data Historian GEI-100278B
Dead Bands
Every signal has a parameter called a dead band. The dead band establishes a range
that the signal can vary before a new signal value is recorded. This function prevents
quantities of insignificant data from being collected. For example, a variable can
vary between 0 12 V, but sit at or drift near zero.
Also, if only changes of 0.1 V or more is desired, a dead band range of 0.1 can be set
to prevent a file of meaningless drift values from being created. A dead band of zero
indicates that all value changes, no matter how small, are recorded.
Set Dead Band
To set the dead band for a signal
From the Outline View, double-click on the signal name. The Modify Signal
dialog box displays.
Change the
signal name or
click Browse to
locate and select
the name.
Enter the
required dead
band and
click OK.
GEI-100278B Data Historian 15
When troubleshooting or re-
porting errors, refer to the Error
Troubleshooting
Number in the error message.
This number relates specific
Not receiving data or data is all zeros while running a Live PC collection on the
DLAN or CSF network.
information regarding the nature
of the encountered problem
The Data Historian computer needs an ARCNET Card installed.
The ARCNET Card requires an ARCNET driver (DLAN) or CSF driver
(CSF) loaded and configured.
Verify that drivers are working properly and receiving data.Are configured
on the DLAN of the target Controller.
Not receiving any data or data is invalid while running a PC Live collection on the
EGD network.
Verify the signal is on the target EGD.
Verify the exchange is being sent to the Data Historian computer.
Verify the Data Historian computer is on the control network Ethernet with the
other controllers. The EGD does not route exchanges.
Verify the installation, configuration and running status of the EGD service.
Verify healthy exchange received by the Data Historian computer. (Use Pro-
gram Files\GE Control System Solutions\ICN_Service\EGDStatus.exe to verify
the status of the EGD exchanges on the computer.)
A Capture Buffer Collection running from the controller or the drive is not re-
ceiving any data when the capture buffer triggers.
Verify a running status signal from the controller capture buffer on EGD or
DLAN.
Verify compatible firmware for capture buffer uploads. Only the Innovation Se-
ries Drives have the capture buffer upload feature.
Verify that the Data Historian is seeing the status transition by creating a PC
Live collection of status signals.
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GE Industrial Systems
General Electric Company
1501 Roanoke Blvd.
Salem, VA 24153-6492 USA
Issue date: 2000-11-15
2000 by General Electric Company, USA.
All rights reserved.