Reconcile OPC UA nodes
To be able to use OPC UA nodes in the Avelon ecosystem, they must first be transferred to the system and synchronized (reconciled) with the Avelon database. To reconcile nodes, first select the appropriate server from the Server dropdown.
The node reconciliation creates a data point for each selected OPC UA node, which can then be used in the Avelon control system.
Reconcile individual nodes
To reconcile a specific individual node, select it in the OPC UA node tree, then click on Reconcile Node at the top.
Reconcile multiple nodes
To reconcile multiple nodes from the selected OPC UA server, click on More above the node tree and then on Reconcile Node.
This not only reconciles existing data points or adds new data points, but also deletes those data points whose OPC UA nodes no longer exist.
This option is more convenient than reconciling individual nodes, and it automatically cleans up and removes old data points that no longer exist. However, the process also takes longer than when individual nodes are reconciled.
Two different comparison strategies are available to enable the system to assign the OPC UA nodes to the existing data points:
- Reconcile by ID
The reconciliation takes place by node identifier. Use this mode if the display name of the OPC UA nodes has changed since the last reconciliation.
- Reconcile by Name
The reconciliation takes place by display name. Use this mode if the node identifiers have changed since the last reconciliation.
Note
You can select any comparison strategy for the first-time reconciliation.
Warning
If both the node identifier and the display name have changed since the last reconciliation, automatic reconciliation is no longer possible. Data points that have been deleted by the reconciliation cannot be restored. Therefore, always make sure that only one of the two characteristics is modified, if changes are necessary at all.
First, a preview of the potential changes is displayed. This does not change any data. The preview shows all data points that will be either created, changed or deleted by the reconciliation. Use the tabs in the action bar at the top to toggle between the three different views.
If the changes displayed are correct, you can start the reconciliation by clicking on Reconcile at the top right.
Reconciliation options
Before starting the reconciliation, you can adjust some settings in the Options sidebar on the right hand side.
- Show changes in preview
This option shows the changes that will be made by the reconciliation in the table in the center. The option itself has no effect on the reconciliation process though.
- Reconciliation
- Create new data points
Enable this checkbox if you want new data points to be created for OPC UA nodes that do not have a corresponding data point yet. If this option is disabled, no new data points will be created.
- Update existing data points
Enable this checkbox if you want existing data points to be updated with the new information from the OPC UA nodes. If this option is disabled, existing data points will not be updated.
- Delete data points whose identifier is missing
Enable this checkbox if you want data points to be deleted that do not have a corresponding OPC UA node. If this option is disabled, no existing data points will be deleted.
If you initiated the reconciliation process from the OPC UA node import, this options is disabled by default, because the imported file might contain only a partial list of OPC UA nodes, and enabling this option might delete data points that should not be deleted. Only enable the option if you are sure that the imported file contains all OPC UA nodes of your project, or that you selected all OPC UA nodes if you initiated the reconciliation process from the Objects on the Network page.
- Naming
- Strategy for data point system name
Select a strategy that should be used to determine the system name of the data points.
- Browse Name
The value corresponds to the node’s browse name.
- Description
The value corresponds to the node’s description.
- Display Name
The value corresponds to the node’s display name.
- Display Name of All Ancestors + Display Name
The value is a concatenation of the display name of all ancestor nodes from the root node to the current node. When this option is selected, you can specify a separator that should be used to separate the display names of the different nodes involved.
- Display Name of Parent Node + Display Name
The value is a concatenation of the display name of the parent node and the display name of the current node. When this option is selected, you can specify a separator that should be used to separate the display names of the two nodes involved .
- Override existing system names
Enable this checkbox if you want to override the system names of existing data points.
- Strategy for data point label
Select a strategy that should be used to determine the label of the data points.
For a detailed description of the strategies, see Strategy for data point system name above.
- Override existing labels
Enable this checkbox if you want to override the label of existing data points.
- Data point filters
- Create nested data point filters based on the OPC UA structure
Enable this checkbox if you want to create nested data point filters based on the OPC UA structure. If this option is enabled, data point filters will be created for each level in the OPC UA tree for which data points are created. This will allow you to filter data points more easily in the data point sidebar of many widgets (like Schematic, Chart, Meter network, Calculated data points etc.).
Note that this option is only available when the reconciliation process is initiated from the Objects on the Network page, but not when importing OPC UA nodes from an external file as documented in the section below.
Import OPC UA nodes via CSV file
If you have a large number of OPC UA nodes to reconcile, it may be more convenient to import them via a CSV file instead of selecting them from the OPC UA tree individually. For more information on how to import OPC UA nodes via CSV file, see OPC UA node import.