# Communicate with programmable logic controllers

You can collect programmable controller data via OPC servers to Allen-Bradley® and non-Allen-Bradley devices.

FactoryTalk View Studio is an OPC client. The default OPC server installed with FactoryTalk View Studio is FactoryTalk Linx. However, you can use third-party OPC servers to communicate with your application's data sources. Most OPC servers are capable of communicating with a variety of devices over a variety of networks using a variety of protocols.

## To communicate with programmable controllers

1. Specify a FactoryTalk Linx or OPC server for your application.
2. Configure a device shortcut, that is, a path between the data server and each controller you want to use as a data source.
3. Add device tags to the tag database for your application, or use direct references to objects in the graphic displays.

## To specify an OPC server for your project

1. In the Explorer window, select the application name at the root of the tree and right-click; then select New Data Server.
2. Select FactoryTalk Linx or OPC Data Server.
3. In the OPC Data Server Properties tab(s), specify the OPC server name (ProgID), host computer name (if the server is remote), your name for the server and, optionally, a description. Click the Browse button to select from the list of available servers.

## To configure third-party OPC communications

Once you have added a third-party OPC server to your application, the Tag Browser should display that server's data items in the correct syntax for that server.

## To configure FactoryTalk Linx communications

If you are using a FactoryTalk Linx data server, this step creates the communications configuration file that your application uses to communicate with the devices on the network. You can create separate configurations for testing during development and for actual use at run time.

1. In the Applications Explorer, select the FactoryTalk Linx data server.
2. Double-click Communications Setup to open the Configuration Wizard.
3. Create a new configuration and click Finish.
4. In the Communications Setup editor, add devices, set up device shortcuts, and construct a communications tree. As you add devices, you define their IP addresses. In the left pane, create and name shortcuts between the server and devices. Then select a device in the right pane and click Apply. You can continue to add devices by right-clicking the elements of the tree and selecting from the applicable devices.

   Tip: | Shortcuts configured on the Target tab apply to the communications configuration of the run-time terminal. This file is downloaded to the run-time terminal with the application and can be used with the application at run time. Shortcuts configured in the Local tab apply to the communications configuration of the development computer. The same shortcut names are used in both instances, but they can be configured to refer to different devices. The tree in the Local tab is reflected in the Communications Explorer. Changes made in one will also appear in the other.

## To add OPC server tags

1. In the Tag Database editor in FactoryTalk View Studio, create a new analog, digital, string or array tag. Block tags are not supported in an OPC server.
2. In the Data Source box, select Device.
3. Click the Browse button in the Address box to open the Tag Browser.
4. In the left pane, select the OPC server that your application is using.
5. Open the Online item to show the single element processor tags in the right pane. Multi-element tags and program tags are listed in the left hand pane, below the Online heading. Click any of them to show their elements in the right hand pane.
6. Select the tag you want to use and then click OK. The full path to the tag you selected appears in the Address box, in the correct syntax for the data server you are using.
7. Click Accept.

   Tip: | The OPC server is configured separately. Before you can add a data server to your application, the data server must be correctly installed on the local computer or on a remote computer accessible via a network.

## See also

Set up OPC communications

Add a data server to an application

Keywords: communicate