Introduction to Advanced Drivers

The advanced drivers that are supported by ClearSCADA allow the ClearSCADA server to communicate with, for example, SCADAPack controllers and various third-party devices, including loggers.

Each driver provides extra features in the ClearSCADA database to present the data from the measuring instruments on those devices and to send controls to plant.

Use this Advanced Drivers Guide in conjunction with the ClearSCADA Guide to Drivers and the relevant driver-specific guide(s) for a comprehensive understanding of the configuration associated with your drivers. The Advanced Drivers Guide explains how to configure the features that are common to many advanced drivers (see Add a Driver-Specific Item to the Database, and see Tabs that are Common to Many Configuration Forms). It also explains the order that the configuration should take (see Configuration Order) and the additional Terminology used throughout the advanced driver documentation suite. For more information, see the following sections:

• Configuring Advanced Driver Server Settings
• Outstation Types and Communications Set-ups
• Scanning Direct Outstations
• Retrieving Data from PSTN Outstations
• Configuring a Channel
• Configuring an Outstation Set
• Configuring an Outstation
• Points on Advanced Drivers
• Processing Alarm Data for Point States
• Dynacard Stores
• Dynagraphs
• Configuring a File Upload
• Quick Reference to Configuring Specific Features.

For aspects of configuration that are specific to a particular driver, see the driver-specific guide(s).

For aspects of configuration that are common to most types of database item (for instance, saving configuration changes, and renaming, copying, and deleting database items), see the ClearSCADA Guide to Core Configuration.

If additional fields have been added to any Forms specifically for your system, you should also refer to the system-specific documentation that explains those fields. For information on adding such fields, see Extra Database Fields in the ClearSCADA Guide to Server Administration.

You can use the core ClearSCADA features, such as Lists, Actions, and Mimics, with advanced driver items. For more information on the core database items, please refer to the general documentation (the non-driver specific documentation).

The Advanced Driver documentation also explains features that are of interest to system administrators and engineers when:

• Running a new system in parallel with an existing system (see Using Eavesdropping to Test a New Server’s Configuration)
• Diagnosing any abnormal conditions that ClearSCADA has detected (see Common Advanced Driver Log File Options, and see Troubleshooting).