The C-Bus OPC Server provides a gateway for C-Bus and the OPC (Data Access, Alarm and Event) protocols. OPC is a broadly supported communications standard supported by many Building Management Systems and a large selection of general automation applications.
OPC also has a wide range of development toolkits available for many popular languages and frameworks, including .Net, Java, Delphi & C++. (A good resource for developers is https://www.opcconnect.com).
OPC Clients can be used to provide a User Interface to C-Bus as well as sophisticated alarms, event management, data logging and trending.
OPC Servers can also be linked together using third party tools to bridge C-Bus to hundreds of other protocols like Modbus and BACnet as well as most PLC's.
The C-Bus OPC Server is specifically designed for high availability in large commercial installations, but is equally suited for small projects where specific requirements are not met by existing C-Bus products.
The C-Bus OPC Server supports versions 1, 2.05a and 3 of the OPC Data Access specification and version 1.10 of the OPC Alarm and Events specification.
The C-Bus OPC Server software is not free software and a license must be purchased from your C-Bus product supplier. The following download will run as a demonstration version when no license is present.
Version 1.5.0 (19.4MB)
List of new features and changes available here:
OPC Server Release Notes (349KB)
C-Bus OPC Server Installation Guide:
C-Bus OPC Installation - 1.4.0.pdf (273KB)
This product includes software developed by the OpenSSL Project for use in the OpenSSL Toolkit.
Product Compatibility Chart
| C-Gate | Toolkit | HomeGate / Schedule Plus / PICED | TICA | MARPA | CIRCA | C-Bus OPC Server |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1.5 | - | 1.0.0 - 2.0.19 | - | - | - | - |
| 2.0 | 1.1.1 - 1.1.3 | 2.0.20 - 2.0.58 | 1.12.1 - 1.15.0 | - | - | - |
| 2.1 | 1.1.4 - 1.1.5 | 2.5.0 | 1.16.0 | - | - | - |
| 2.2 | 1.1.6 - 1.1.7 | 2.6.0 - 3.1.6 | 1.17.0 - 2.0.3 | - | - | - |
| 2.3 | 1.1.8 | 3.2.0 | 2.1.1 | 1.0.0 | - | - |
| 1.1.9 - 1.2.2 | 3.3.0 - 3.4.0 | |||||
| 2.5 | 1.3.0 - 1.5.3 | 3.4.1 - 3.8.0 | 2.2.0 | 1.1.0 - 1.3.0 | 2.0.16 - 2.2.0 | - |
| 2.6.0 | 1.6.0 - 1.6.1 | 3.9.0 - 3.9.1 | 2.4.0 | 1.4.0 - 2.0.0 | 2.3.0 - 2.5.1 | - |
| 2.6.1 build 2242 | 1.7.1 - 1.8.3 | 3.9.0 - 4.3.0 | 3.0.0 | 1.0 | ||
| 2.6.1 build 2246 | 1.9.0 - 1.9.3 | 3.9.0 - 4.7.2 | ||||
| 2.7.0 - 2.7.1 | 1.10.0 - 1.10.9 | 4.0.0 - 4.7.2 | 1.1 - 1.2 | |||
| 2.8 | 1.11.0 - 1.11.7 | 4.8.0 - 4.10.1 | 3.1.0 - 3.1.1 | 3.0.0 | 2.6.0 - 2.6.1 | 1.3.0 - 1.3.1 |
| 1.11.8 - 1.11.12 | 1.3.0 - 1.3.2 | |||||
| 2.9 | 1.12.0 - 1.12.8 | 4.11 - 4.12.1 | 3.2.0 | 3.1.0 | 2.7.0 | 1.4.0 |
| 2.10.0 - 2.10.6 | 1.13.0 - 1.14.8 | 4.13 - 5.0.1 | 3.2.0 | 3.1.0 | 2.7.0 | 1.4.0 - 1.4.2 |
| 2.11.0 | 1.15.0 | 4.13 - 5.0.1 | 3.2.0 | 3.1.0 | 2.7.0 | 1.4.0 - 1.4.2 |
| 2.11.1 | 1.15.1 - 1.15.2 | 4.13 - 5.0.2 | 3.2.0 | 3.1.0 | 2.7.0 | 1.5.0 |
| 2.11.2 | 1.15.3 | 4.13 - 5.0.3 | 3.2.0 | 3.1.0 | 2.7.0 | 1.5.0 |
| 2.11.3 | 1.15.4 | 4.13 - 5.0.3 | 3.2.0 | 3.1.0 | 2.7.0 | 1.5.0 |
| 2.11.4 | 1.15.5 | 4.13 - 5.0.3 | 3.2.0 | 3.1.0 | 2.7.0 | 1.5.0 |
Frequently Asked Questions
Is there a seperate download for the licensed and demonstration versions of the C-Bus OPC Server?
No, when there is no license installed the C-Bus OPC Server runs in demonstration mode. Demonstration mode means the C-Bus OPC Server will only communicate to C-Bus for about 1~2 hours and then will need to be restarted to begin communicating again.
How is the C-Bus OPC Server licensed?
The C-Bus OPC Server is licensed by the number of Networks contained in the C-Gate project it is using. Licenses are available for 2, 10 and unlimited networks. You need the correct license for all networks in the project and not just those being used by the C-Bus OPC Server.
The C-Bus OPC Server is can also be licensed by installing some Citect products, with no need to purchase a license from Clispal. See the included help file or installation guide for more details.
What can the C-Bus OPC Server do on C-Bus?
The C-Bus OPC Server can read and write any C-Bus Lighting Group's value. This works for all Lighting and Lighting Like applications. (Lighting Like applications include Trigger Control and Enable Control Applications.)
Can the C-Bus OPC Server connect to C-Gate on another PC?
Yes, the C-Bus OPC Server can only connect to one instance of C-Gate, but that can be on any PC on the network.
Is my OPC Client application supported?
In most cases the answer is yes. A vast majority of OPC Clients on the market are Data Access V2.05a clients. These are fully supported by the C-Bus OPC Server. The C-Bus OPC Server also supports Data Acess version 1 and 3 clients as well. OPC specifications other than Data Access are currently not supported. Please let your local Clipsal Representative know if you need support for other OPC specifications.
Support for other OPC specifications is available using thrid-party bridging software. For example support for the OPC XML-DA or Universal DA specifications is available as a bridge from several vendors. (example Google search).
I have an Brand X OPC Server I need to connect to the C-Bus OPC Server, is this possible?
This is possible by using third party bridging software.(example google search).
Can C-Bus OPC Server work across a network
Yes, OPC is designed to work on a network using Microsofts DCOM technology. Instructions on how to configure a simple example of this is included in the C-Bus OPC Server documentation. For more complex examples there is plenty of documentation, books, training and consulting available on the Internet. Clipsals Technical Support may be able to help as well.
To simplify networking in complex environments (Domains, WAN's, etc.) third party tunneling sofware, especially designed for OPC, makes networking simple.(example Google search).