OPC DataHub First to Put All of OPC data into Excel

Now you can drag and drop OPC timestamps, quality, and data type into an Excel spreadsheet, in addition to data values.

Georgetown, Ontario (October 8, 2008) Cogent Real-Time Systems announces that the OPC DataHub is the first OPC-to-Excel product capable of feeding OPC timestamps, quality, and type, as well as data values, into an Excel spreadsheet in real time. Unlike other products that offer only data values, the OPC DataHub's unique technology now provides all the information that any regular OPC client receives, live in Excel.

[Image: Drag and drop point value, timestamp, quality and type into Excel]

"There are other products on the market that claim the ability to connect OPC to Excel," said Andrew Thomas, President of Cogent. "But they only write the value, so you only get part of the picture. The commonly-used properties of OPC are value, timestamp, quality and type. Most OPC clients receive all of these, and now the OPC DataHub puts all of them into Excel."

OPC, or Open Connectivity, is a Windows protocol for industrial automation. It provides a common language for software to exchange data in real time. The basic elements of this communication are:

the value of a particular data point,
a timestamp at the instant the point was updated,
the quality of the connection,
and the type of data.

Putting all that information into Excel gives a complete picture of what is happening in the connected process.

In addition this expanded capability, the OPC DataHub provides a convenient user experience. With the OPC DataHub, users can drag and drop point values directly into their spreadsheets. It can display OPC array points as Excel ranges and transmit Excel ranges as array points. And the OPC DataHub acts as both a DDE client and server, so you can both write data to Excel and also read data from Excel.

Excel connectivity is one important piece of the complete OPC DataHub package. The OPC DataHub is an integrated tool that gives quick, reliable, and secure access to valuable information direct from the factory floor. It seamlessly links Excel to live process data coming from any OPC server or client, embedded system, or database. It can then extract and present critical data in real time to an engineer or manager in a form most suitable: OPC client, database, spreadsheet, email, web page, or custom program.

Founded in 1995, Cogent Real-Time Systems is the leader in real-time cross-platform data integration between Windows, Linux and QNX. Customers include the Bank of Canada, Cadbury Chocolate and the European Space Agency. Cogent leverages its experience in real-time data communications to provide the next generation of OPC products.