There are many different configuration strategies you can use to configure your WITS Field Devices for the first time. The strategy that you choose to use will depend on the capabilities of your Field Device and its Configuration Application, the quality of the communications infrastructure, and other factors such as whether you want to use ClearSCADA's Group Templates feature. These are explained in detail in Choosing a Configuration Strategy for WITS.
Before you choose a WITS configuration strategy, you need to be aware of the general process for configuring a Field Device, and the tasks that are common to several different strategies. The common tasks of the configuration process include:
- Install the Field Device on site. This involves setting up the Field Device so that it has a power supply, connections for communications, etc.
- Configure the Field Device for communications. You may need to use a vendor-supplied tool to configure the Field Device's communication settings, such as DNP3 addresses, baud rate, IP address. You only need to configure the Field Device for communications if you intend to download bulk configuration from ClearSCADA. If you are not going to download configuration, the bulk configuration for the Field Device may include the communications configuration.
- Create the bulk configuration using a vendor-supplied Configuration Application (or other tools, such as integrated configuration features).
- Create the pre-requisite DNP3 and WITS database items in ClearSCADA. These represent the communication connections between ClearSCADA and your Field Device, and also the Field Device itself.
- Pre-configure points and profiles in ClearSCADA. If you prefer, you can pre-configure ClearSCADA and then import or upload the configuration into the items you have created. Pre-configuring the points and profiles is an option for all WITS configuration strategies, but has to be used if you want to use Group Templates without a template bulk configuration file.
- Specify the incremental configuration settings for the Field Device. The incremental configuration settings are those that are included in the incremental configuration file, as specified by WITS (see Incremental Configuration File - Content and Syntax). This configuration can be specified locally (if the Field Device has a suitable configuration tool), via a Configuration Application, or via ClearSCADA.
- Transfer the configuration between the Field Device, Configuration Application, and ClearSCADA. This is required so that the Field Device and ClearSCADA contain the same configuration (for the Field Device).
The order in which you need to perform these tasks will vary depending on the strategy you choose. For some strategies, you will need to perform all of the tasks, whereas for others you will only need to perform some of the tasks.
If you are unsure which strategy is most appropriate to your requirements, see Choosing a Configuration Strategy for WITS.
To make configuration changes to WITS Field Devices that have already been set up to work with ClearSCADA, see Making Changes to WITS Field Device Configuration
Further Information
Pre-Requisite ClearSCADA Configuration for WITS Field Devices
Configure Most Settings using the Configuration Application
Configure Most Settings using ClearSCADA