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Features & Benefits
Jump to features | Customer Testimonials
Benefits - Why Use the OPC Data Control Instead of Other VB to connectivity solutions for OPC ?
- Simplicity - Using a free "wrapper" for VB and pure VB code it'll take you 30-50 lines of code to get everything setup right and read/write a few points. The more data you want to read, the more complicated the code will get. We've seen it for ourselves before we developed this product. (see ISA1999 presentation). With this product you can read data with no code required and write data with just a few lines of code - setup is performed with easy to use property pages.
- Performance - the OPC Data ActiveX was built as a 32-bit multi-threaded application in Visual C++ so that we could insure optimum OPC connection performance. By having us handle all the details of the OPC connection inside the ActiveX control, you are saved from not only having to write and maintain a large volume of VB code, you receive a performance benefit from the fact that your VB program only needs to be concerned with what it does with the data and some requesting of it with simple statements and property configurations.
- DCOM connectivity that works - with our ability to configure the connect, command, and OPC server timeout and multi-threaded technology, we've overcome the traditional headaches that you have with DCOM - free wrappers and other VB connectivity tools don't offer this capability. In fact, many OPC clients written in Visual C++ haven't implemented the capabilities we've implemented.
- Lightweight - only 240 Kb base in-memory overhead, marginal
incremental based on how much data you move, only 1.6 mb total install - compare to some at > 15 mb just to install
- OPC Interoperability - the OPC Data ActiveX has been involved in multiple OPC Foundation Interoperability Workshops and has been tested with over 75 OPC server drivers from over 30 different vendors. Software Toolbox has invested the time to go to and participate in these OPC Foundation sponsored workshops to insure that our products behave well in a multi-vendor environment. At the January 2001 and January 2002 OPC Interop Workshop Software Toolbox was the only company there to test a pure Visual Basic OPC Client solution. This investment of time and resources is part of our committment to providing you with the best products. See who we tested with at the latest workshop.
- OS Support - OPC Data Control supports Windows NT 4.0 SP4 and higher, Windows 2000 Pro, Server, Advanced Server, Windows XP and Windows 2003. If you are using Windows NT or XP Embedded, the OPC Data Control will work, but you need to make sure DCOM is included in your OS image.
- Flexibility - the simple OPC Data Binding feature allows you read data with no code writing yet for the developer wanting to have more finite control, our properties, methods, and events give them an interface to manipulate the ActiveX programmatically.
- Support - when you call Software Toolbox at 704-849-2773, humans answer the phone. That may sound silly, but our clients tell us all the time how pleasantly surprised they are to call us and get to talk with our knowledgeable, helpful staff. Granted we have normal business hours like most companies, but when we're open, there are humans here that return phone calls promptly. Try us and see for yourself what over 3,000 clients from 40 countries have learned. Also, our staff makes sure you have access to the same knowledge they have by sharing our expertise in our Support Expertise Knowledgebase available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week to all of our clients.
- Powerful Feature Set - the features we have built into this product were created after our frustration and our client's frustration with trying to use free wrappers with a bunch of VB code with the goal of making VB to OPC connectivity easier.
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