Winlog is a flexible, convenient and easy-to-use software package for the development of multi-language SCADA/HMI applications. It is available in the basic version Winlog Pro and in the advanced version Winlog Evo, more suited for Industry 4.0 applications. Development tools include the libraries Symbol Factory (static graphic symbols) and Industrial Gadgets ActiveX (animated graphic objects).

Winlog supports most popular communication protocols (Siemens, Omron, Allen Bradley, Modbus RTU/TCP, KNX, BACnet, etc.) and provides OPC interfaces DA and UA (Client and Server). Furthermore it allows you to manage process recipes and to generate reports in both pdf and csv formats. It also provides an interface with external DB (MySQL, …) to record data (datalogger function) or directly access data through API. The “SecureBridge” function allows the remote user to directly operate on the PLC linked to the SCADA. Winlog allows you to set up distributed Client/Server architectures and create web applications accessible from smartphone or browser.

Key Features:

• Multi-language SCADA/HMI applications
• Thousands of symbols and animated objects
• Protocols Modbus, Siemens, Omron, KNX, etc.
• OPC Client interface and ODBC support
• History files exportable in CSV format
• Integrated programming language
• Distributed Client/Server architectures
• Applications with Web Server support

Product Features

Graphic Libraries

Development tools include Symbol Factory 2.5, the popular library of graphic symbols for industrial automation with over 5,000 manufacturing and industrial objects. These include graphics such as pumps, valves, motors, tanks, PLCs, piping, ISA symbols, etc; an integrated editor allows resizing and changing colour, scheme and orientation of objects (bitmap or metafile).

Development tools also include two libraries of animated graphic objects. The Industrial Gadgets ActiveX Basic Edition comes with animated objects both digital (e.g. buttons, switches, LEDs) and numeric (e.g. pointer indicators, potentiometers, led displays). The Industrial Gadgets ActiveX PRO Edition provides complex animated objects such as motors, pumps, valves, tanks, pipes.

Client/Server Architectures & Web Server Support

Distributed Client/Server architectures can be set up on Intranet/Internet networks. Several Winlog Pro applications installed on remote stations can communicate to each other via a TCP/IP protocol. Multi-master structures can be defined to allow both reading and writing between the various stations.

It is also possible to create supervisory applications with a Web Server support, hence accessible from any Internet Client with a simple browser. Two different solutions are provided to allow you to access the Server application. Firstly Web Client solution allows you to access the Server from fix devices supporting Java technology. Secondly the Smart Client solution provides access to the Server from mobile devices such as Smartphones and Tablets equipped with iOS or Android.

Graphical Trends

Trends give a graphical representation of monitored and recorded tags over time. It is possible to display simultaneously up to 10 trends relating to tags of different types, each with its own colour and scale. Various display options are available for trends (e.g. grid, line thickness, type of interpolation), backgrounds (colour, font) and positioning of the various elements (e.g. legend, buttons, cursor coordinates). It is possible to shift backwards and forwards the time axis, change scale, zoom the image or display the values of all tags plotted according to time coordinates.

Events & Alarms

Events and alarms are types of gates activated or deactivated in relation to the value of an associated reference tag. A dedicated area of the screen allows an instantaneous display of alarms. Access to online information (active or not managed events) and historical (event beginning and end) is organized according to different freely assignable classes (e.g. priority, location, competence). In addition to date and time, any event can be associated with the value of multiple gates. This then provides a picture of the state of the system at the time of the onset of the event. Simple code routines allow sending of emails or SMS when a specified event occurs.

Recipes

Recipes are sets of characteristic values of a particular working process or a specific setting of the machine. It is possible to create several recipe models, each of which refers to a set of process variables (gates). Variables can be grouped together to allow application of joint actions. For every recipe model, it is then possible to create several recipes, each of which is made of a set of values assigned to the process variables defined in the recipe model. You can create, rename or delete both recipes and recipe models. In addition you can also create new recipes by importing values directly from the process. Furthermore you can send a recipe to the process manually (on operator request) or automatically (on software start-up), or following a trigger condition (e.g. in batch processes).

Reports

Reports contain a collection of historical information (production data, process quality, alarms) to be directly examined by production managers or imported and processed later by other Windows applications (e.g. Excel). In the first case reports are explanatory documents, drawn up in a predefine format, available on screen, printed or saved on disk as pdf files. In the second case, reports consist of files in a CSV format with data records registered at predefined time intervals. Reports can be either requested by the operator, or automatically generated on a cyclic basis (time interval, day of the week, etc.), or triggered by a specific condition (e.g. production end).

Security

Each menu item, template, tag, etc., can be protected assigning the groups authorized to access it and those who can modify it. A name, password, and membership of one or more groups can then be defined for an unlimited number of operators.

Every operator’s action that has produced a data modification is recorded in a history file by date, time, event description and operator’s name. This makes it possible to determine the causes of any irregularity in the operation of the system resulting from an operator action.

Development Tools

Project Manager is the integrated development environment that provides different tools (Gate Builder, Template Builder, Code Builder, Application Builder) for the easy and intuitive creation of any Winlog Pro application. 

Gate Builder

Gate Builder is a tool for creating and managing the gates (tags) database. Different types of gates can be defined (numeric, digital, string, compound, event, alarm) and properties assigned (name, description, address, measurement unit, scale factor). Gates can be external (sampled from external devices such as PLCs, controllers, indicators, etc.) or internal. The sampling method can be configured for each gate or set of gates to obtain a satisfactory update frequency without using too much disk memory.

Template Builder

Template Builder is the tool for an easy and intuitive creation of templates and display pages; all you have to do to build a template is to arrange on the screen the objects (bitmaps, metafiles, text, values, status bars, LEDs and control icons) and to define their properties (dimensions, styles, associated tags, etc.).

Each object of the template can be assigned to a control that allows access only by the class of operators with a specific password level.

Template Builder includes Symbol Factory, the popular library with over 5000 symbols (pumps, valves, motors, tanks, PLCs, piping, ISA symbols), and Industrial Gadgets ActiveX, the graphical library with lots of animated objects: digital (buttons, switches, led), numeric (pointer indicators, potentiometers, led displays) and complex (motors, pumps, valves, tanks, pipes).

Code Builder

Code Builder is the integrated development environment that gives the possibility to enrich and customize the application; a simple C-like programming language allows the programmer to interact with all the components of Winlog Pro (tags, templates, recipes, reports, etc.), to define loops or “if-then-else” conditions, to create functions (Macro) that can be executed automatically or under operator control. The editor allows an easy recalling of all functions and language structures and provides a series of syntactic controls.

Application Builder

Application Builder is a powerful tool that allows the automatic creation of SCADA applications, resulting in a dramatic reduction in development timescales. You can create a software application by simply taking up from a library and putting together objects relating to various automation instruments such as PID controllers, indicators, I/O modules, etc.

In addition to tags and protocols, objects may include supervisory and configuration templates (front panel, trends, etc.) and a list of events and alarms with their management procedures. Objects can be built using the Multi-language option to allow the automatic creation of Multi-language applications.

Smart App Builder

Smart App Builder is the visual development tool for the quick creation of web applications (Smart Apps) that allow mobile devices (iOS, Android, Windows Phone) to interact with the Server application, in order to monitor and modify the variable values of the supervisory process (SCADA).

After defining the project variables, you can assign each of them a category and the display mode (item).

For each item, you can display and set data using a series of standard graphical controls including: Label, StatusBar, Bitmap UpDown, Edit Box, Slider, Combo Box, N-States Box, Switch.

The final structure of a Smart App consists of a menu composed of categories and their items and sub-items; browsing through the items is similar to that provided by all popular mobile devices.

Winlog Smart Client

Winlog Smart Client allows you to connect to a Winlog Server application through all popular mobile devices (iOS, Android, Windows Phone), in order to provide monitoring and control of remote plants and production processes. It takes advantage of the characteristics of JavaScript language to provide an encrypted TCP connection between remote Clients and Winlog Server. Thanks to an interface developed using the latest technologies (HTML5, JavaScript, CSS3), the user can access to plant information from a smartphone or tablet, by directly connecting to the Winlog Server application installed on the supervisory station. By entering the specific address (IP or hostname) into the address bar of a web browser (Internet Explorer, Firefox, Chrome, Safari…), you will see the home page from which to access the Server application.

Winlog web Client

Winlog Web Client allows you to connect to a Winlog Server application from any device equipped with a web browser. So you can remotely monitor and control plants and production processes, thus resulting in a dramatic reduction of maintenance costs. Winlog Web Client takes advantage of the features of JavaScript language to provide an encrypted TCP link between remote Internet Clients and the Winlog Server application. An interface developed with the latest technologies (HTML5, JavaScript, CSS3) allows the user to connect to the Winlog Server application installed on the supervision station, in order to access the information of the remote production plant. By entering the specific address (IP or hostname) into the address bar of a web browser (Internet Explorer, Firefox, Chrome, Safari…), the user will see the starting page from which to access supervision.

A special development tool allows you to turn a Winlog application into a Winlog Web Server application and to create a Winlog Web Client application that can access the Server and display or modify data through a subset of graphical objects including Frame, Group Box, Label, Button, UpDown, Edit Box, BkBitmap, Bitmap, Switch, Check Box, Radio Button, Combo Box, Led, Gauge, StatusBar, Chart, Historical Alarm/Event View. Multiple Clients can simultaneously connect to the same Server. From Winlog Server you can define which users are allowed to access (with username and password) via Web Client and assign to each of them the proper access level. The automatic data updating is ensured throughout the whole observation period. CSV and PDF reports generated by Winlog can be deployed in a special folder in the HTTP Server public area and then downloaded by remote browsers.

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